Super Leaf

A Super Leaf is one of the many power-up items in the Super Mario franchise. Super Leaves originated in the game Super Mario Bros. 3, where they turn Mario or Luigi into Raccoon Mario or Raccoon Luigi, respectively. As such, they grow raccoon ears and a raccoon tail, the latter of which lets them glide, fly after a running start, and tail whip.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Leaves first appear in the game Super Mario Bros. 3. The item transforms Mario or Luigi into Raccoon Mario or Raccoon Luigi, respectively. Mario or Luigi can descend slowly by wagging the tail (by tapping ); he can briefly fly instead if he fills the Power Meter (by running) beforehand. Mario or Luigi can also tail whip (by pressing ) to hit blocks and enemies. In the NES version, Super Leaves are green while in the inventory or taken inside Toad Houses, and brown when found in a level.

In the same game, the rarer Tanooki Suit grants the same abilities as the Super Leaf, while also letting Mario and Luigi turn into a statue. The P-Wing also turns Mario or Luigi into the Raccoon form, but with infinite flight for one level.

Super Mario World
The Super Leaf was going to appear in Super Mario World, but it was scrapped. The final game introduces a similar power-up, the Cape Feather.

Super Mario 3D Land
After a 23-year absence, Super Leaves reappear in Super Mario 3D Land. However, they turn Mario and Luigi into their full-suited Tanooki forms, though Luigi's Tanooki form is now kitsune-themed and called Kitsune Luigi. Also, the Super Leaves were redesigned by being given stripes, eyes, and a hole. In spite of the changes, the Tanooki forms granted by Super Leaves still act as Raccoon Mario, but without flight. Gliding is executed by holding or, rather than tapping the buttons. The tail whip is still done by pressing or.

Two new Leaf power-ups also debut in this game. The Invincibility Leaf, whose Assist Block only becomes available if the player has lost five lives in a (skipped) normal world level, turns Mario into White Tanooki Mario, making him invincible for the level. The Statue Leaf, which is exclusive to the Special Worlds and Deluxe StreetPass Gifts, gives Mario the Super Leaf's abilities and lets him turn into a statue (by ground pounding), replacing the Tanooki Suit; the statue now lasts for twelve seconds upon landing, rather than five seconds from activation, as in Super Mario Bros. 3.

The Super Leaves are also tied into the game's plot, rather than just being in-game power-ups. It is revealed in the game's opening that the Mushroom Kingdom's Super Leaves grow from a rare tree called the Tail Tree. Bowser steals the tree's leaves after a storm blows them off; he uses them to power-up his minions, giving them "Tail" forms to attack and flutter around; two of them even become Tail Bowsers this way.

Unlike in Super Mario Bros. 3, in this game, all three Leaves have the normal power-up effects when grabbed, instead of the original "poof" effects.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Leaves also appear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, having the same design from Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. Unlike in Super Mario 3D Land, they retain their original form and abilities from Super Mario Bros. 3. However, like in Super Mario 3D Land, Luigi's Raccoon form is kitsune-themed and called Fox Luigi, and the gliding controls are retained, which are also used for flight. While in this form, the P-Meter appears in the bottom left corner of the top screen. In addition, if Mario loses five lives in a level, an Invincibility Leaf Assist Block appears, just like in Super Mario 3D Land. The only difference is that the leaf inside changes Mario or Luigi into White Raccoon Mario or White Fox Luigi, respectively. In this form, Mario is invincible for the level, he can run on water, and the P-Meter fills up much faster.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Super Leaves make a return in Super Mario 3D World and its port, albeit significantly less common than in its predecessor; they appear from World 3 onwards. They are used as they were in Super Mario 3D Land, still granting that game's basic Tanooki form. Tanooki Peach will use her floating ability before using the form's gliding ability. The Invincibility Leaf and its Assist Block also return, still granting the White Tanooki form, as in Super Mario 3D Land.

Super Mario Maker / Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS / Super Mario Maker 2
The Super Leaf appears in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS and Super Mario Maker 2, where it is exclusive to the Super Mario Bros. 3 style, retaining its properties from that game. In Super Mario Maker 2, Super Leaves move upwards in the nighttime ground theme.

Super Mario Odyssey
Super Leaves themselves do not appear physically in Super Mario Odyssey. However, there are two references: the Tail Tree makes an appearance in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Lost Kingdom's regional coins look similar to Super Leaves. Additionally, a green Super Leaf was used in concept art for Princess Peach's mask worn in Bowser's Kingdom, but was instead replaced by a Boo design in the final game.

Nintendo Comics System
In the Nintendo Comics System comic book story "It's Always Fair Weather", Super Leaves are grown on a plant labeled as "Magic Leaf Raccoonius".

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
The Super Leaf commonly appears in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, appearing in almost every episode.

In "Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas", Mario and Luigi use a Super Leaf to escape from an Angry Sun and fight the Koopalings at Prince Hugo's castle. Annoyed at Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi's distraction, powered-up Big Mouth effortlessly blows away Mario, causing him to crash into a pipe and get bitten by a Piranha Plant, while he jabs and captures Luigi.

In "Mind Your Mummy Mommy, Mario", Raccoon Luigi tows his Steam Cloud Balloon, which Princess Toadstool and Toad are riding in, into Kastle Koopa. Before they make it, however, they get caught in a Mushroom Kingdom twister and crash-land on one of the castle's towers.

In "Never Koop a Koopa", when escaping Kastle Koopa, Mario searches for Super Leaves by bashing blocks in the ceiling after Toad comments that they would be free if they could fly. Later on, when Cheatsy Koopa usurps King Koopa's throne and informs him that Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad are all locked in his bedroom as prisoners, they both witness them flying out of the castle in their raccoon forms.

In "Toddler Terrors of Time Travel", at the end of the episode, Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi return to the present day and stop King Koopa and Kooky von Koopa from making Princess Toad surrender the Mushroom Kingdom to them by throwing a drain clog from earlier at Koopa, which prompts them to retreat into a Warp Pipe. Despite being in their raccoon forms, Mario and Luigi transforming into said forms via a Super Leaf is not shown.

In "A Toadally Magical Adventure", when being held by a pipe creature, Mario transforms into Raccoon Mario after gaining a Super leaf from a Jump Block and escapes.

In "Misadventures in Babysitting", Mario and Luigi each find Super Leaves when fleeing from a flood of lava in the Pipe Maze with Junior, who they then grab ahold of and fly into a Warp Pipe to escape.

In "Do the Koopa", when needing to cross a wide gap in Dark Land's Temple of Gloom, Mario breaks blocks containing Super Leaves after Toad suggests he does. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad then transform into their raccoon forms and fly over the gap. However, the group are later reverted back to their normal forms after taking damage from two Koopa statues.

In "Mush-Rumors", Mario and Luigi don their raccoon forms when rescuing a family of real-world residents from the Koopalings, which they keep for the remainder of the episode.

In "Crimes R Us", Mario uses a Super Leaf (while Luigi uses a Fire Flower to transform into Fire Luigi) when they discover that the Koopalings are pulling a bank heist at the First Mushroom Bank. When fighting the Koopalings, Raccoon Mario uses his tail to whack a sack of Gold Coins out of Bully Koopa's hands and into Hip and Hop. Mario loses his raccoon form when Kootie Pie wrap him up in a stolen fur scarf. Later on in the episode, Mario gets another Super Leaf from a Jump Block by luring a Boom Boom towards him.

In "Up, Up, and a Koopa", Mario and Luigi find Super Leaves from bashing blocks with their fists and proclaim that they will fly to Koopa's Doomship and destroy the Koopas' Kooper-Dooper Raiser-Upper. They then carry Emperor Ed to his castle in Sky Land, while Ed gives directions. Later on, the Mario Bros. fly onto a porthole of the Doomship, when King Koopa spots them and traps the brothers in a cage, causing them to lose their raccoon powers.

In "7 Continents for 7 Koopas", Mario, Luigi and Toad use their raccoon forms they can fly up to King Koopa's Doom Ship and rescue Princess Toadstool, but lose them when crashing into a large, spherical force field appears in the Warp Pipe that the Doom Ship went through. The three later regain their raccoon forms and attempt to pull the force field out of the pipe using a giant plunger, but end up pulling the plunger off the force field, flinging themselves onto the ground and losing their raccoon forms.

In "True Colors", Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi chase away a swarm of Para-Goombas and Para-Beetles.

In "Recycled Koopa", Mario and co. collect Super Leaves from blocks and transform into their raccoon forms to flee from a Koopaling attack at the princess' castle.

In "Super Koopa", King Koopa uses the Power Pendant to use a Super Leaf and transform into "Raccoon Koopa". When Mario, Luigi and the submarine captain are imprisoned in the Bastille, Mario gets a Super Leaf Super Block smuggled in by Toad and uses his raccoon powers to break down a wall in his cell, allowing him, Luigi and the captain to escape. When Toad sees Raccoon Koopa in the sky, he tosses a Super Leaf to Luigi, allowing him to transform as well. Raccoon Mario and Raccoon Luigi pursue Raccoon Koopa, but Koopa whacks Mario and reverts him back to normal, and Luigi catches him before he can fall.

Super Mario-kun
A Super Leaf appears in volume 4 of Super Mario-kun, although the arc deals primarily with Super Mario World. Luigi, who is apparently controlled by Boos, traps Mario and Yoshi with a rope. Mario hits a ? Block, and he grabs the Super Leaf that appears and transforms into Raccoon Mario. He then frees Yoshi and himself and knocks the Boos from Luigi, returning Luigi to normal.

Mario Kart series
The Super Leaf can be seen as the logo for the Leaf Cup in Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. As of Mario Kart 7, the Super Mario 3D Land redesign is used for the logo.

Mario Kart 7
Super Leaves also appear as an actual item in Mario Kart 7, with the same design as the Leaf Cup logo. They can be obtained if the player is anywhere from 1st to 4th place, with CPUs being unable to obtain it in 1st place in VS races. Here, they create a striped tail on the back of the kart which doubles as an offensive and defensive feature. Pressing or  swings the tail which can hit other karts, collect coins, and protect the player's kart from other items such as Green Shells. However, if the tail is hit by shells while idle, it disappears. When activated, the Super Leaf lasts for 10 seconds, or until the player spins out, tumbles over, or is hit by a Spiny Shell. The Tanooki Mario transformation sound from Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 plays when the tail is equipped, and the tail whip sound from the same game plays when it is used.

The tail replaces the kart's propeller when used underwater, and it lengthens air glides.

Mario Kart Tour
The Super Leaf reappears in Mario Kart Tour starting from the 2021 Autumn Tour. It is the special skill of Tanooki Mario, Tanooki Rosalina and Kitsune Luigi. It functions similarly to its appearance in Mario Kart 7, with some additional functions: nearby coins are drawn to the player when used, similarly to the Boomerang Flower, and the player will hover in the air while using the item, which prevents the player from performing Jump Boosts, similarly to the Bubble. To use the item, the player has to tap the screen once, causing the tail to spin multiple times before disappearing. When Super Leaf+ is active, the player will have their movement speed increased when using the item.

Nintendo Puzzle Collection
In Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Super Leaves make a very brief appearance in Yoshi no Cookie, appearing on flags held by Toad audience members at the beginning of a Versus Mode match.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Super Leaves were originally going to be in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, but were removed and likely replaced with Tail stickers.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
A single Super Leaf appears in Mario's Figure Skating Spectacular in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. It appears after defeating the Tail Bowser, similarly to Super Mario 3D Land.

Super Smash Bros. series
The Super Leaf appears as an item in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It transforms characters into the Raccoon form and allows them to float in the air by holding the jump button.

Mario Party 10
In the Mario Party 10 minigame Shape Up, the shadow of a Super Leaf mobile can be seen in the background.

Mario Party: Star Rush
In Mario Party: Star Rush, Super Leaves can be requested to be bought by some Toads in the minigame One-Stop Toad Shop.

Minecraft
In the Nintendo system releases of Minecraft, the included Super Mario Mash-up replaces Lily Pads with green Super Leaves.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Although Super Leaves themselves do not appear physically in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, a rank based on the item does.

Monopoly: Super Mario Celebration!
The Super Leaf appears as one of the six metallic playing tokens in the Monopoly: Super Mario Celebration! board game.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, while fighting Bowser's minions alongside Donkey Kong, Mario loses his Super Mario transformation after taking a hit from one of Bowser's minions, but briefly powers up again afterward after a small struggle to grab a Super Leaf, which grants Mario his Tanooki Mario form, like its appearances in Super Mario 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, and Bowser's Fury. Afterward, Mario uses the power-up to fight off more of Bowser's minions, rescue Luigi, intercept Bowser and Princess Peach's wedding, and stop a Bomber Bill from striking Peach's Castle. He loses the power-up after being blown away by the impact of the Bomber Bill's blast and colliding into Bowser's ship. Unlike its appearances in the aforementioned games, Tanooki Mario is fully capable of flight within the film.

Super Mario Bros. 3

 * Wii Virtual Console manual: Changes Mario into Raccoon Mario.
 * Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual bio: Turns Mario into Raccoon Mario.

Super Mario 3D Land

 * North American website bio: Mario's classic power-up returns to put a spring in his step! Grab a Super Leaf and suit up as Tanooki Mario to add a powerful tail-spin, and the ability to gently float down from jumps for extra distance.
 * European website bio: Grab one of these to turn Mario into Tanooki Mario!

New Super Mario Bros. 2

 * North American website bio: Grab this to turn into Raccoon Mario, and get a running start to fill up your P-Meter and fly for a short period of time. You can also whack blocks and enemies, or slow your descent with your tail.
 * European website bio: Whack bad guys with your tail, float down gently from a jump, or dash and then leap to fly as Raccoon Mario. It's amazing that such power can come from snatching up a simple Super Leaf.

Super Mario 3D World

 * Electronic manual description: Transforms Mario into Tanooki Mario.
 * North American Website bio: Turn into a Tanooki to float during long jumps and spin your tail at bad guys.

Mario Kart 7

 * Electronic manual description: The Super Leaf gives your kart a tail, which you can swing to knock over opponents or deflect items such as shells. Press or  to swing the tail.
 * North American website bio: This new item outfits your kart with a swinging Tanooki Tail, which you can use to swipe at your opponents and swipe away (pesky items/attacks/incoming items/incoming artillery).

Mario Kart Tour

 * Tips & Tricks: Wag the Tanooki tail to attack nearby opponents. The tail will collect any surrounding coins for you while it's wagging!
 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter: The Autumn Tour is on now! With a Super Leaf in hand, fluffy-tailed Tanooki Mario has leaped into action in his trusty Tanooki Kart. And of course, the Tanooki Parafoil glider is also available! blue
 * Driver info: Swing the fluffy tail to knock over nearby opponents!
 * Driver info (Super Leaf+): Spin the tail to increase movement speed.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophy
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Trivia

 * In "Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas", Mario and Luigi managed to find a huge Super Leaf hidden within an equally large block in Giant Land. Due to the Super Leaf's size, Mario and Luigi were both seemingly able to obtain Raccoon Power by touching the single leaf at the same time.