Cat Mario

"Woohoo! Meow!"

- Cat Mario

Cat Mario is a form of Mario introduced in Super Mario 3D World which he can transform into by using a Super Bell. This suit is not limited to Mario, and can also be used by Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, Rosalina, Toadette in Super Mario Maker 2, and Bowser. Mario's suit is yellow with some faint orange stripes in a few places, while Luigi's is green, Peach's is pink, and Toad's is blue, matching their colors (Luigi's suit, however, has a spotted body, darker rounded ears and tail tip, making him resemble either a leopard, a jaguar, or a cheetah). Rosalina's is black, and resembles a tuxedo cat due to a request from producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, while Bowser uses a Super Bell to become Meowser, the final boss of the game. Toadette's suit is a dark pink version of Toad’s and also has her pigtails added on. In Mario Kart 8, Cat Peach appears as a playable character of her own in the first DLC add-on pack for the game, and reappears alongside Cat Toad, Cat Rosalina, Cat Mario, and Cat Luigi in Mario Kart Tour.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Cat Mario makes its debut in Super Mario 3D World and returns in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, serving as the main form of the game, much like Tanooki Mario was in Super Mario 3D Land, and is gained upon collecting a Super Bell. In this form, Mario can briefly climb up or cling to both walls and the Goal Pole. Mario also has the ability to claw dive on enemies from midair to slam into them, similar to a dive attack. He can also claw swipe enemies in front of him (which can spin Cat Wheels, similar to Tanooki Mario tail-whipping Tail Wheels in Super Mario 3D Land), as well as slide into them; however, he cannot defeat Bullet Bills or Banzai Bills with this method, which simply causes them to change direction instead. Cat Mario runs at a crouching height, and he also breaks into a sprint significantly sooner than in any other form. If any character touches the Goal Pole in Cat form in a level that uses the regular level victory music, that character says "meow" while doing the victory pose. A jingling sound can sometimes be heard when the player jumps. When Peach is in her Cat form and uses her Floating Jump, she performs an animation similar to a Scuttle while clawing at the air.

There is an alternate version of the form that is obtained by grabbing a Lucky Bell, which is the same as normal Cat Mario except that it has a red collar and a bronze bell that looks like the Lucky Bell. During that state, Mario can turn into Lucky Cat Mario, similar to Tanooki Mario's Statue form in Super Mario 3D Land (though the Lucky Cat form is invincible, rather than invulnerable and ignored, and it gives bonus coins while falling); its appearance is similar to that of a . If Mario collects a Super Bell while in this form, he "downgrades" to normal Cat Mario, unlike collecting a Super Mushroom while Mario already has a power-up (similar to the Super Leaf and Tanooki Suit/Statue Leaf).

There is an enemy in the game which mirrors Cat Mario as an enemy form known as the Cat Goomba, which, like him, is colored yellow and has the ability to pounce at others, which it does after having climbed up a steep (but usually short) area. Bullet Bills and Banzai Bills also gain Cat forms, known as Cat Bullet Bills and Cat Banzai Bills, respectively. Both of them have white undersides, cat ears and a black tail with a white tip, and resemble, and unlike the normal entities of their species, they tend to follow the player around until they explode or come in contact with them, similarly to Bull's-Eye Bills and Bull's-Eye Banzais.

When Bowser becomes Meowser, he uses a different transformation scene from that of the other characters: instead of shifting between his normal and Cat forms during the transformation, he becomes surrounded by orange light, and a jingling sound can be heard. As Meowser, Bowser has white and orange fur with brown stripes, similarly to a tiger, a ringed tail, cat ears instead of horns, whiskers, and his nose is black. Also, his hair is colored red, white and brown, and his shell appears to become more blueish. Like Cat Goombas and Cat Bullet Bills, his form is more akin to a transformation than an actual suit. However, in addition to this form's abilities, he can also tail whip, like Tanooki Mario, and he retains his fire breath.

In the game's ending cutscene, the protagonists will always leave the Sprixie Kingdom and return to the Mushroom Kingdom in their Cat forms, even if they did not use them for the final battle against Meowser.

The form reappears in the original game's Nintendo Switch port, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, serving the same role as it did in the previous game. Its claw dive move's duration has been extended to the point where it will almost always last until it reaches the ground instead of lasting only two seconds, although in Bowser's Fury, it may stop automatically due to there being higher structures than in Super Mario 3D World. It is also involved in a glitch that allows it to claw dive while in another form. Most of the enemies and bosses gain Cat forms in Bowser's Fury, but these are only visual changes; this characteristic also applies to Goombas, despite already having Cat forms in Super Mario 3D World. The only exceptions to this are Cat Bullet Bills, which retain their homing behavior from Super Mario 3D World. Kittens, who have the same coloration of the playable cast's forms except for the red and calico ones, follow Cat Mario around and become affectionate towards him by nuzzling him, but if Mario approaches while in any other form, they flee from him. Additionally, Plessie gains a Cat appearance during the final battle, and stays that way afterwards.

The form gains two new enhanced versions of itself: the first one is White Cat Mario, which like its name suggests, is a white variant of Cat Mario with all of its abilities in addition to permanent invincibility, similarly to White Tanooki Mario and White Raccoon Mario, which is given by an Invincibility Bell that can only be accessed by scanning the Cat Mario amiibo (which only works once per level) and occasionally the Cat Peach amiibo. The second one, which is exclusive to Bowser's Fury, is Giga Cat Mario, a larger and more powerful version of this form with a lion's mane and a tuff on its tail that is accessed after collecting a Giga Bell. The form must be used to confront Fury Bowser. Upon collecting all 100 Cat Shines, Bowser Jr. and his Clown Car also gain Cat features, and Mario's Cat form changes to resemble his Giga Cat form.

Super Mario Maker
Cat Mario and Cat Peach are available as Mystery Mushroom costumes in Super Mario Maker. They are only obtainable after beating Cat Mario's Course and Cat Peach's Course, respectively. Their transformation sound is the Super Bell transformation sound from Super Mario 3D World, and their death tune and course clear themes are the corresponding ones from the same game. Cat Mario's running animation has him running on all four legs, and both costumes' jumping sounds are their corresponding jumping voice clips from Super Mario 3D World. Pressing causes them to pose with their paws in the air, making the "claw swipe" sound from Super Mario 3D World. The Goal Pole sound effect is taken from Super Mario 3D World, but without the cheering.

Super Mario Odyssey
In Super Mario Odyssey, 8-bit sprites of Cat Mario and Cat Peach's costumes from Super Mario Maker can be seen in various locations throughout the game. When hit using Cappy, Cat Mario sprites drop 10 coins and Cat Peach sprites drop a heart.

Super Mario Maker 2
In Super Mario Maker 2, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Toadette can transform into their Cat forms after collecting a Super Bell in Super Mario 3D World-style levels. As in Super Mario 3D World, they have the ability to claw swipe, climb up walls and Goal Poles, perform a sliding tackle, and claw dive while in the air (the last two abilities are performed by pressing, , , or while crouching and in midair, respectively). They can also climb up Semisolid Platforms.

Additionally, knocking on the Warp Door in the Super Mario 3D World style may cause Weird Mario to appear in this form.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Cat Peach appears as a downloadable character in Mario Kart 8. She is part of the The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack along with Tanooki Mario and Link, as well as four karts and eight race tracks. The Cat Cruiser also has a design that resembles Cat Peach. Cat Peach, along with the female Villager have more acceleration at the cost of their weight stat. They are the lightest middleweight playable characters in the game, being slightly lighter than Peach, Daisy, and the various Yoshis, but heavier than Toad, Koopa Troopa, the various Shy Guys, Lakitu, Toadette, Larry, Lemmy, Wendy, the babies, and Isabelle. Nin★Anne uses Cat Peach as the staff ghost for. Similar to Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach has different animations and quotes from her original counterpart, with many of them being meowing noises, or puns (e.g. "Meowtastic!").

Cat Peach returns as a playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, now included within the base game and available from the start. She now shares stats with the female Villager and the Inkling Girl, but is still among the lightest middleweight characters. As of version 2.2.0, Cat Peach won't be selected as a CPU if Peach or Pink Gold Peach are in the race.

Mario Kart Tour
Cat Peach returns as a High-End driver in Mario Kart Tour, first appearing in the 2021 Cat Tour. The tour also introduced Cat Toad, a new playable character in the Mario Kart series. Both of them have the Super Bell as their special item, which, when used, strike the user's surroundings, similar to the Super Horn. Cat Toad uses Toad's usual emblem instead of his Super Mario 3D World emblem, despite Builder Toad using the latter. In Mario Kart Tour, Cat Toad's stripes are more visible than in Super Mario 3D World. Cat Rosalina is also playable and debuted in the New Year's 2022 Tour; she also has the Super Bell as her special item. Cat Mario and Cat Luigi also appear as playable characters starting from the 2022 Cat Tour; Cat Mario also has the Super Bell as his special item, but Cat Luigi has the Giga Bob-omb as his special item. Cat Mario has his own set of voice clips distinct from Mario, similar to Tanooki Mario and Cat Peach, despite not appearing in Mario Kart 8. While sharing a few voice clips with his regular self, Cat Mario's voice clips are recycled from his cat suit sounds in Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Maker 2.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Cat Mario and Cat Luigi appear as leader characters in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. Cat Mario is a Dark/Fire attribute member that is unlocked by clearing ★World 3, and Cat Luigi is a Dark/Wood attribute member that is unlocked by clearing ★World 4. Both of these characters can be trained so they reach level 99, and have similar HP, attack, and recover ratings with only a few differences. Cat Mario's main skill is called "Cat Walk", and it can be performed once every 12 turns; it increases by 1.5, for one turn, the attack power of any team member that has the Dark attribute. He also has a leader skill, the "Bell Rhythm", which raises every member's attack power by 3.5 after performing six combos consequently. Meanwhile, Cat Luigi's main skill is "Cat Dash", which lets the player move freely any orb that is on-screen for 10 seconds. His leader skill is "Bell Tempo", and it raises the attack power of all team members by 5.5 after attacking with five elements (attributes) at once.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Cat Peach appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate under the name Cat Princess Peach as an Ace-rank, Shield-type, primary spirit with three support slots. The spirit reduces the fighter's weight but also makes them faster. It can be summoned using Rover's and Baby Peach's cores.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
"HA! You got the cat box!"

- Donkey Kong

Cat Mario makes an appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with Mario obtaining this form from a ? Block while battling Donkey Kong inside the Great Ring of Kong, which causes everyone in the audience, including Peach and Toad, to be enamored by it while Donkey Kong laughs hysterically, to Mario's annoyance, before attempting to punch Mario. However, the plumber gains enhanced speed and reflexes as Cat Mario, as well as visible claws that are retractable, unlike the games, that allow Mario to scratch Donkey Kong until he is eventually defeated.

Other appearances
The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U's eShop and Play Nintendo offer a video series called The Cat Mario Show which stars both Cat Mario and Cat Peach. The purpose of the series is to provide viewers with facts, strategy tips, quizzes and other content regarding the latest video games released for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. The former is no longer available due to the eShop shutting down on March 27, 2023.

Mario's Fat Cat, Rabbid Peach's No Pity Kitty, and Rabbid Luigi's Jade Jaguar from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle are modeled after Cat Mario, Cat Toad, and Cat Luigi, respectively.

In the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft, Cat Mario and Cat Peach are playable skins. Leather Armor is replaced by the Cat Suit. Ocelots are replaced by Cat Mario, while cats have many skins replaced by Cat Luigi, Cat Peach, Cat Toad, Cat Rosalina, Meowser and Lucky Cat Mario.

Development
Concept artwork shows that Princess Peach's Cat form was originally going to incorporate her brooch. It also shows that the Cat forms of characters would wear normal gloves, rather than having cat paw gloves. In an earlier version of Super Mario 3D World, whenever Mario transformed into Cat Mario, he would say "nyaa", the Japanese sound for a cat's meow. In the final version, this was changed to "meow".

Super Mario 3D World

 * Digital instruction manual bio: Climb walls and claw enemies.
 * North American website bio: You've never seen Mario like this! Pick up a Super Bell to transform into a cat. Scamper up walls to find secrets, pounce from above, and attack enemies with your claws—while looking pawsitively adorable.

Super Mario Maker 2

 * North American website bio: You can’t mention Super Mario 3D World without showing some love for Cat Mario. Climbing walls...scratching...sliding, clawing at the air—there’s nothing quite like it.
 * Play Nintendo: Cat Mario in the house There are things you can do in the style of Super Mario 3D World that you can’t do in any other style! For instance, you can add the Super Bell item, which turns Mario into Cat Mario. You can also add walls, trees, and semi-solid platforms for Cat Mario to climb. To learn more about Cat Mario’s moves—like Climb wall, Scratch, Slide, and Lunge—you can visit Yamamuro’s Dojo in the game to see a tutorial.

Cat Peach

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
 * Cat Peach made her debut in the Super Mario 3D World game. Once the player grabbed the Super Bell special item, Cat Peach leaped into action! And now she's riding in the cute Cat Cruiser, complete with tail!
 * In addition to Funky Kong, you can find Cat Peach and the Cat Cruiser in pipes. This includes the All-Clear Pipe, which you can fire by clearing all of this tour's cups in blue. Be sure to cross every finish line!

Cat Toad

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
 * The second half of the Cat Tour is inspired by the Super Mario 3D World game! The smiley Cat Toad is here!

Cat Rosalina

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
 * Part 2 of the New Year's 2022 Tour is full of cats! Cat Rosalina debuts, equipped with the Super Bell skill. Her ride is the Gray Cat Cruiser! Coordinate your setup with these paw-some colors and ride into the second part of the tour!

Cat Mario

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
 * Meeeow! Cat Mario is finally here in blue! The Cream Cat Cruiser and the Cream Toe-Bean Balloons glider debut, along with the Goo-Goo Buggy, a kart perfect for Baby Mario (Koala)! It's time for the Cat Tour!

Cat Luigi

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter:
 * Cat Luigi shows up for part two of the tour in blue! The Green Cat Cruiser, his ride of choice, and the Green Cat Parafoil glider debut, along with the Goo-Goo Pink. That one's perfect for Baby Peach (Cherub)!