Il Piantissimo

"And now, we shall race to that flag!"

- Il Piantissimo

Il Piantissimo is a dark-skinned man disguised as a Pianta that the player must race in Super Mario Sunshine, similar to Koopa the Quick races in Super Mario 64. He can be raced in Gelato Beach, Noki Bay, and Pianta Village.

Piantissimo is very overconfident, and finds himself much superior to others. According to various locals at Pianta Village, he is considered a rogue, a creep, and not related to the Piantas. This could show that due to his attitude, he is left alone and barely challenged, adding to his superior personality with no one to go against it.

When Mario races against Il Piantissimo, the two must head to a flag that represents the finish line. If Mario wins, he gets a Shine Sprite, then completing the mission. However, Mario will lose a life if Il Piantissimo finishes first. Also, if the player replays a completed Il Piantissimo episode, Il Piantissimo will be more difficult to beat, as he will finish the course with the player's previous time. However, Il Piantissimo can't utilize any tactics involving F.L.U.D.D..

If the game is beaten without all 120 Shine Sprites collected, the ending screen will show Il Piantissimo finding Bowser Jr.'s Magic Paintbrush.

Trivia

 * When looking from under Il Piantissimo's mask's chin or through his eye holes, Il Piantissimo resembles The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's Running Man or the mailman from twilight princess. If players have his model and remove the mask polygon, his face has the same texture as Running Man.
 * Sometimes, when Shadow Mario stops, he strikes a pose and moves his head exactly in the same motion as Il Piantissimo does, implying that the developers used the same bones for both characters.