Cosmic Mario

Cosmic Mario is a character that appears in Super Mario Galaxy. His physical shape is identical to Mario, while his outer appearance is blue with stars all over, as if he were made out of cosmic matter. He also has an unusually high-pitched voice. If Mario or Luigi enter a galaxy when a Cosmic Comet is orbiting a galaxy, Cosmic Mario appears at the beginning at the level and challenges the player to a race. The player must then race through numerous obstacles and reach the finish before Cosmic Mario to earn a Power Star. If Cosmic Mario manages to reach the Power Star first, Mario will lose a life and must restart the race.

If the player is playing as Luigi, Cosmic Luigi will appear in place of Cosmic Mario. Cosmic Luigi utilizes shortcuts and many long jumps. As a result, he is faster and much more difficult to beat than Cosmic Mario.

Cosmic Mario appears to be the equivalent of Koopa the Quick and Il Piantissimo from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, respectively. Spooky Speedster, also from Super Mario Galaxy, is a racer as well.

Similar entities based on Cosmic Mario appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the form of the Cosmic Clones and the Cosmic Spirit. Cosmic Clones are slightly different in appearance and mimic Mario's movements, all the while spawning more of themselves, usually in areas where if Mario waits too long, they'll multiply to the point where he can't get around and they'll catch up to him. The Cosmic Spirit is the equivalent of New Super Mario Bros. Wii's Super Guide Block, controlling Mario to guide him to a Bronze Star (the Power Star can only be obtained without the help of the Cosmic Spirit).

Another entity of the Cosmic Clones resembling Cosmic Mario appears in the Special Worlds in Super Mario 3D Land, but is in Small Mario form. He seems to conduct the same tactics as before, with the addition of him attacking Mario when he gets in his way. In the latter Special World courses, there is a giant version of him which slows things down whenever Mario or Luigi gets too close to him.

Trivia

 * At the start of a race, if the player holds the up, then  when the timer hits 2, and then hits  just as the race starts, Mario or Luigi will get an extra boost at the beginning of the race, shown by a yellow color appearing on Mario/Luigi, shrinking gradually, being as a marker of the end of the bonus effect. This move is called the Starting Boost.
 * During the "Underwater Cosmic Mario Race", Cosmic Mario's Koopa Shell is blue.
 * If the player collides with Cosmic Mario/Luigi, Star Bits will come out of him and scatter.
 * Cosmic Mario resembles Shadow Mario from Super Mario Sunshine. The German name for Cosmic Mario means Shadow Mario.
 * Additionally, the theme played in Super Mario Sunshine when Shadow Mario first appeared can be heard in the Cosmic Mario theme.
 * Cosmic Clones have the same voice as Cosmic Mario.