Il Piantissimo

"And now, we shall race to that flag!"

- Il Piantissimo

Il Piantissimo is a dark-skinned man disguised as a Pianta that the player must race in Super Mario Sunshine, similar to the Koopa the Quick races in Super Mario 64. He could be raced in Gelato Beach, Noki Bay, and Pianta Village.

Piantissimo is very overconfident, and finds himself superior to others. According to various locals at Pianta Village, he is considered a rogue, a creep, and not related to the Piantas. This could show that due to his attitude, he is left alone and barely challenged, adding to his superior personality with no one to go against it.

When Mario races against Il Piantissimo, the two must head to a flag that represents the finish line. If Mario wins, he gets a Shine Sprite. However, Mario will lose a life if Il Piantissimo finishes first. Also, if the player replays a completed Il Piantissimo episode, Il Piantissimo will be more difficult to beat.

Once the game is beaten with 119 Shine Sprites or less, the ending screen will show Il Piantissimo finding Bowser Jr.'s Magic Paintbrush. This alludes to the possibility that he took it. In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Shadow Mario is playable. A likely possibility is that this is Il Piantissimo wearing the disguise, as Bowser Jr. is also playable in the game.

Trivia

 * When looking from under Il Piantissimo's mask's chin or through his eye holes, Il Piantissimo resembles 's Marathon Man. If players hack into the game and remove his mask, his face has the same texture as Marathon Man.
 * His name in Italian translates roughly to "Very Pianta". This may be due to the fact that he wants to be a Pianta, and considers himself to be extremely Pianta-like.
 * Sometimes, when Shadow Mario stops, he strikes a pose and moves his head exactly as Il Piantissimo does.
 * The end picture of Super Mario Sunshine, when the player has less than 120 Shine Sprites, depicts Il Piantissimo looking at the Magic Brush in the sand of Gelato Beach. This has caused many fans to speculate that Il Piantissimo took the Magic Brush after Jr.  While this is not confirmed, the Cosmic Mario of Super Mario Galaxy could be Il Piantissimo having used the Magic Brush to become Cosmic Mario, since he challenges Mario to foot races and has look very similar to Shadow Mario.