Starlow

Starlow (referred to as Chippy by Bowser) is a recurring character who debuted in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. She is a Star Sprite who helps Mario and Luigi by giving hints and holding items. She has a similar role and personality to Stuffwell from the previous game. Her name is a portmanteau of the words "star" and "yellow".

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Starlow is sent to Princess Peach's meeting as a representative of the Star Sprites. Starlow believes that the cause of the blorbs was from Blorb Mushrooms sold by a man in a white cloak. Later, she is inhaled into Bowser, along with Mario, Luigi, and other citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. When Mario finds her, she is trapped by an amoeba who is holding her inside him. She remarks on how the amoeba is tickling her with rage. She has the same purpose as Stuffwell does in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: helping Mario and Luigi. Also like Stuffwell, she holds the Mario Bros. items and equipment. However, the difference between Stuffwell and Starlow is that she has a demo version of all the abilities learned throughout the game. She can combine her powers with Princess Peach to telekinetically control people, such as Bowser, and also help Mario and Luigi to perform certain action commands. Starlow often talks to Bowser from inside of him to give him information. Starlow uses Chippy as her name for Bowser, not wanting him to know that she is helping the Mario Bros. She also helps Mario and Luigi in their encounter with Bowser. She can also save the player from nearly unavoidable attacks from bosses like Bowser, the Dark Star and the Dark Star Core, by having Mario and Luigi grab her feet so she can fly up to the top screen.

Starlow appears to have negative feelings towards Luigi, and this negativity towards him sometimes generates humorous results, such as when Starlow angrily knocks Luigi into Alpha Kretin after Luigi suggests that Starlow fight it alongside Mario rather than him. She only demonstrates this when Luigi is acting particularly cowardly. Also at the cyrogenic chamber at Bowser's Castle, she teases him by saying that he supported his older brother by crying in the events of the previous game. However, she nonetheless cares about him, recognizes his courage, and even was surprised when Mario tells her it was actually Luigi (as a baby) who saved the day.

If the bros. travel to Bowser's Castle and engage in the optional boss fight against the Shroobs, Starlow expresses curiosity on how they handled this fight as babies. Starlow immediately expresses confidence that Mario was the one who came out on top overall. This somewhat upsets Luigi and Mario explains that Luigi did just as much as himself, and actually saved the day in the end. This refers to when, at the end of Partners in Time, Baby Luigi cried while on a Shroob Mushroom that used to be Baby Bowser. This restored Baby Bowser, leading to the revelation that baby tears can defeat the Shroobs. It is unclear how Starlow felt hearing this and whether this gave her more confidence in Luigi's abilities or if she still lacks confidence in him based on his prior cowardly actions.

At the end of the game, when Bowser hears Starlow's voice, he easily recognizes her as Chippy and gets furious, deciding to pick a fight with the Mario Bros. and her. Once Bowser and Peach's Castle are remodeled, Starlow and Birdley deliver a present to Bowser from Peach as a thanks for all he did, and they have a small chat, ending with Starlow teasing him and him yelling at her to leave his castle, which she does.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, Starlow makes an appearance with Mario and Luigi in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode, where she tells Bowser Jr. that Bowser has been working very hard.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
"First the stache, now the nose?! What're you, five years old?!"

- Starlow

Starlow returns in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. She was invited to Pi'illo Island to represent the Star Sprites. Like in the previous game, she acts as Mario and Luigi's partner and guide. She also causes Luigi's in-dream reactions by pulling and tapping on various parts of his face and moving his hand towards buttons. Her looking down on Luigi remains, and Luiginary Works are discovered when she pulls on Luigi's mustache because she is mad at him for causing all the trouble. However, chemistry develops between the two as the game progresses.

When Bowser is confronted at the top of Neo Bowser Castle at the very end of the game, together with Peach under Prince Dreambert's command, Starlow destroys the Dream Stone, only for its broken shards to be inhaled by Bowser, leading to his transformation into Dreamy Bowser.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Starlow reappears in the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series crossover, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. She is the only Mario & Luigi-exclusive character to appear in the game. Like in the previous games, she still acts as the brothers' guide. In this game, however, she is the one who gives out the fighting tutorial, unlike in the predecessors where it was Toadsworth instead. Starlow is also shown to be powerful when she attacks Larry and Ludwig in Twinsy Tropics Dungeon using her "Supernova Sparkle". She is even able to hold onto ledges using her teeth, when Kamek was trying to blow them away. In the mission Bombs Away, Starlow can accidentally be used as a projectile whenever she forgets to bring a bomb for the trio to use.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
Starlow appears in the Minion Quest portion of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions. She appears during the Oho Ocean segment and gets kidnapped at one point by Hermie III. She also claims that she wants to enter the "cute contest," which she, Spangle, and two Starkisses end up winning. She is also a secret Flying unit in Minion Quest, unlocked by getting the initial ending, starting off at level 34. Starlow's special skill, Dive Attack, allows her to dive into an opponent from the air. She has a high amount of speed, and is strong against Mecha-Fawfuls.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Starlow appears as a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Personality
Starlow is generally a cheerful and kind character with a few perky traits to her. She is shown to get along with most people, even if she isn't acquainted with them. She is very intelligent, often shown through the help and advice she gives Mario and Luigi through their adventures, as well as Bowser during Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and also acts as a helpful guide, as well as helping Mario and Luigi by storing items and gear for them. However she does have a stubborn side to her and can get easily annoyed by certain characters, specifically Bowser and Luigi. Her stubbornness doesn't get in the way of having good relations with others, another trait mainly shown through her relationship with Luigi. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam shows off a more arrogant side to her, going as far as to view herself as the leader of the group of heroes. In general, Starlow is portrayed as a sweet and kind character with a few feisty traits to her.

Powers and abilities
Like Tippi, Kersti, Huey, Pixls, Pi'illos, and Prince Dreambert, Starlow has the ability to float, which she uses to move around freely in midair. She can also open up the star menu, which is similar to Stuffwell from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, though it has demos of the special attacks that Mario and Luigi unlocked. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Starlow is shown to be quite strong, as in three boss battles, she could carry both Mario Bros. easily. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Starlow can summon a gust of wind, though this ability is only seen once in the entire game.

When she teams up with Peach, Starlow can lift heavy objects using telekinesis and shoot a pink laser beam from her star.

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Starlow attacks Larry and Ludwig with a Supernova Sparkle.

Friends
Starlow admires Mario's bravery and treats him very kindly, although she doesn't hesitate to speak her mind if she needs to. Her relationship with Luigi starts out far colder in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, with her often expressing annoyance at his cowardice and focusing her attention on Mario. Even so, she acknowledges that he is a hero like his brother, and in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, she is much more open with him, saying he looks cute when he sleeps and expressing genuine concern when his dreams seem to be troubling him. Starlow claims she's jealous of Luigi's ability to sleep. Her attitude towards Luigi remains similar in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as she treats Luigi with more respect while still taking the occasional jab at him.

Starlow shares a very good friendship with Peach, with the two being very like-minded and even being able to produce powerful combo attacks together. Starlow holds a high amount of respect for the Princess, and puts her safety before anything else.

Starlow gets along well with Prince Dreambert, although his lapses in memory over key pieces of information cause her great frustration, leading her to even call him "Forgetbert" on occasion.

Foes
Starlow and Bowser's relationship is dominated by open hostility. She views him as a hotheaded monster and only works with him in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story out of necessity, even then knowing to hide her true identity in order to get him to cooperate. Calling herself "Chippy", Starlow directs Bowser from inside of him, but her bossy attitude irritates him as much as his stubbornness vexes her and the two bicker more often than not. Despite that, however, Bowser comes to think of Starlow as a reliable and useful ally and deems her an honorary member of the Koopa Troop, but eventually becomes enraged when he learns the truth about her. Starlow also showed a bit of concern for Bowser, such as when she was worried after Bowser got flattened by his own castle, and felt sorry for him when he was trapped inside his safe. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team the two are enemies once again, and aside from Bowser's comment that he "hates Starlow's voice", no reference is made to their past teamwork. For her part, Starlow views Bowser with disgust and feels that he should give up while he can.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

 * "YELLO GOODBYE!"
 * "I'll guard the princess."
 * "VERY FUNNY!"
 * "HELLO YELLO!"

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

 * "First the stache, now the nose?! What're you, five years old?!"
 * "HEY NOW! Who's nude?! Open your eyes! I have SHOES!"

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions

 * "LEAVE. ME. ALONE!"
 * "Hey! You! UNHAND ME!"
 * "Why is everyone here insane?! Especially YOU! Take the hint! For the last time, I am NOT your honey pie!"
 * "You are ALL on my very last nerve!"
 * "Whatever. I'm gonna go an enjoy the rest of my vacay."
 * "Well, I'd like to anyway. But there's a "cutie battle contest" going on... Maybe I should enter! If I strut my stuff, I'll win for sure..."
 * "Huh? Did she just say what I think she said?!"
 * "This is all really strange... Oh, well! I guess it's OK."
 * "And hey, I didn't have to use my super secret cutie smile attack!"

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

 * "Let's just pretend we didn't see Bowser's kid, OK?"
 * "WHOA, BUDDY! I've also got a shiny star above my head! Let's not forget about that!"
 * "Ooh! If you only knew how important I am... And for the record... I AM NOT A BALL!"

Trivia

 * Starlow's dialogue sound effect has been replaced by a different one in all of the games she has appeared to date:
 * In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, her sound effect is replaced with Peach's in the game's ending.
 * In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Starlow is often erroneously given Britta's dialogue sound effects.
 * In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, sometimes her dialogue sound effect is replaced by Toadette's, however sometimes it is replaced by Toad's.
 * The Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Prima guide erroneously refers to Starlow as male.
 * Starlow erroneously refers to herself as a representative of the Star Spirits, rather than the Star Sprites, when she introduces herself to Paper Peach in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
 * This is different in the PAL releases of the game, as Starlow correctly refers to herself as a representative of the Star Sprites.

Glitzerstern Dorastella