Small Mario

Small Mario, also known as Mario, is Mario's and Luigi's weakest form in the platformer games. He doesn't have any special abilities, and it also does not take any power-ups to assume this form, unlike other forms. Super Mario turns into Small Mario when he is hit by an enemy. Mario almost always starts the game off in this form (Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World are notable exceptions).

One hit from any enemy in Small Mario form will cause him to lose a life. If Mario is Super Mario when he is hit, he will return to Small Mario form and be given momentary invulnerability depicted by his flickering sprite. Sometimes this invulnerability can be extended by Mario not moving but he can still die if the time ran out or he fell into the abyss or lava. His actual size depends on the game. Usually, before being able to assume even stronger forms, Small Mario first must become Super Mario by eating a Super Mushroom. There are exceptions, however, such as the green ! Blocks in Super Mario World. In Super Mario Bros., if Mario gets a Fire Flower out of a box, the Fire Flower will only turn him into Super Mario, but this was changed in later games so, for instance, if Mario gets a Fire Flower out a Block but then gets damaged, grabbing the Fire Flower will still turn him into Fire Mario.

In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario or Fire Mario can also become Small Mario by touching a Poison Mushroom. Being Small Mario can sometimes be useful; in some games, like Super Mario Land, there are small crevices that can be reached only with Small Mario.

In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool start out each level in Super form with two hit points, regardless of what their form was upon exiting the previous level. By finding the two Mushrooms hidden in Subspace, Mario can extend his maximum hit points to four (five in the remake); also upon the Mushroom's collection, the character always regains full health.

This form also appears in Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. with the same effect.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the Toads to be saved in the levels become Small Toads after being hit once by enemies.

Bowser was also turned small in the ending of Super Mario Galaxy 2, possibly as a side effect of using the power of the Grand Star's to make himself giant. When in this form, he could be jumped on by Mario and Yoshi, and could be hit by Yoshi's tongue.

In Super Mario 3D Land, Mario also can be turned into Small Mario after getting hit by the enemy. In this form, Mario loses his cap. This hat-less transformation is similar to Wario's smaller form, as first seen in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. He also has a higher-pitched voice. However, if Mario collects the maximum number of lives, which is 1,110 lives, Small Mario will wear his hat. Also like Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario will start out in his super form.

This form also appears in New Super Mario Bros. 2, having the same effect as previous games.

In Super Mario 3D World, all six playable characters (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Rosalina, and Captain Toad) can get affected by this transformation. As well a special feature of each character changes in their small forms from their super forms. Mario and Luigi lose their caps, just like in Super Mario 3D Land, Princess Peach's and Rosalina's hair gets shorter, and either Toad's cap colors are reversed.

When Mario gets a Double Bogey or below in Mario Golf: World Tour, his animation depicts him getting hit by a shell, which turns him into Small Mario.

A similar form appeared in Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as Tiny. This state could be inflicted by Hammer Bros. in the original, X-Naut PhDs and Bonetail in the sequel, or using a Mini Mr. Mini (or Yoshi Kid using Mini-Egg) in the sequel.

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, there was no Small Mario. Regular Mario was Mario's weakest form. Mario could become Super Mario (actually Fire Mario) by using a Fire Flower, Starman or some other source of power. The concept of Super Mario was dropped for The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, which followed the physics of their respective games more closely.

Trivia

 * In Super Mario 3D World, Peach's small form's hair is similar to Baby Peach's hair.
 * Additionally, Rosalina small form's hair is reused in Mario Kart 8 for Baby Rosalina.