Bull's-Eye Bill

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Template:Species-infobox Bull's-Eye Bills, formerly known as Missile Bills[1][2], are heat-seeking variants of Bullet Bills typically fired from Bull's-Eye Blasters. They attack by homing in on the player. Prior to New Super Mario Bros. Wii's introduction of the current Search Killer (サーチキラー), which eventually became known in English as Bull's-Eye Bill, earlier games gave the homing abilities to normal Bullet Bills or their behavioral or color variations, as various sources treat them as.[3][4][5][6] Following the introduction of their modern iteration, whenever Bullet Bills do not home in on Mario, Bull's-Eye Bills usually appear along them for that purpose.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3

Missile Bill as it appears in Super Mario Bros. 3, provided the player is Small Mario or Super Mario

Missile Bills are introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3. In this game, a Missile Bill turns around once if it misses its target, but continues going forward without turning around after missing twice. In the original version, the colors a Missile Bill flashes are dependent on the palette the player character uses, as they cycle between all four palettes currently used on their graphical layer.[7] As such, playing as Frog Mario or any of the normal-colored versions of Luigi causes them to flash green, while playing as Hammer Mario or Luigi causes them to flash white with bright orange arms. In the remakes, they consistently flash between black, orange, and red, while having tan-tinted arms unlike the Bullet Bill's yellow-tinted ones. Missile Bills only appear in World 4-5.

Super Mario Sunshine

Purple Bullet Bill
A Purple Bullet Bill from Super Mario Sunshine

Mario-seeking Bullet Bills known as Purple Bullet Bills[8] appear in Super Mario Sunshine at Pinna Park's beach. As their name implies, they are purple with a blinking red nose, and are shot from the Monty Mole's cannon. They always home in, meaning that Mario must dodge out of their way to outrun them, since they often take several seconds to turn around. They are required to break open the baskets on the beach which hold Blue Coins. Purple Bullet Bills explode when they make contact with an object, or if Mario squirts water at them. During the final battle, Bowser Jr. sends a derivative known as Guided Bullet Bills.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

World 9-3 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Missile Bills from New Super Mario Bros Wii

Missile Bills appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Despite having the same name of the flashing Bullet Bills of Super Mario Bros. 3 in the Prima Games guide, their Japanese name indicates that this game is the first one to use its modern iteration. They resemble normal Bullet Bills, but when one sees Mario, it will make a beeping noise and start flashing red. Here, they have a similar attack pattern to the one they had in Super Mario Bros. 3; however, in this game they can change the angle they are flying at and will not stop pursuing the player until they are defeated, or the player has gotten far enough away. They can be defeated the same way as normal Bullet Bills. They only appear in World 9-3, alongside Mario-seeking Banzai Bills referred to as King Bills.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

In New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the Missile Bills of New Super Mario Bros. Wii make a comeback, appearing only during the Roy Koopa battle at Rock-Candy Mines. They are seen being shot out of Roy's Bullet Bill cannon. In this case, though, after some time unsuccessfully chasing Mario, it self-destructs like a Flame Chomp.

Super Mario Maker series

A Bull's-Eye Bill
A Bull's-Eye Bill

Bull's-Eye Bills reappear in Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, and Super Mario Maker 2. As they did not appear in the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, new sprites were created for those two game styles.

While they do operate similar to their appearances in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the Bull's-Eye Bills in these games do not turn as sharply, and they will only chase after Mario for a limited time period, instead of relentlessly pursuing him.

In Super Mario Maker 2, they are replaced by Cat Bullet Bills in the Super Mario 3D World game style.

Super Mario Run

Bull's-Eye Bills appear in Super Mario Run, exclusively in Bullet Bill Barrage. Bull's-Eye Bills appear from the left of the screen and position themselves behind Mario if they are level with him. After a few seconds they will charge forward, whether or not Mario is in front of them. Like the similar Bullet Bill, they cannot be vaulted over.

Yoshi franchise

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3

Unused red Bullet Bill from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (used in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3)

Red Bullet Bills capable of following the player are unused in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island; however, they do appear in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 in the final secret level, Endless World of Yoshis. They are fired from red Turtle Cannons and appear to make a biting motion as they fly, though this is purely for show. As they fly, they gradually slow down, eventually shrinking away in light blue and vanishing with a pop. They can be defeated by simply stomping or swallowing them; they look like regular Bullet Bills if spat back out, but they fly downwards.

This is the first game to have them be able to follow the player at any angle, due to the ones in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Sunshine being restricted to lateral movement.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World

Bull's-Eye Bills make their non-reissue debut in the Yoshi franchise in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. They are made out of red wool. They can only be found in Knot-Wing the Koopa's Sky Fort, where they are launched from red Bill Blasters in the level itself, as well as during the boss fight with Knot-Wing the Koopa, where they are launched from the boss's Bill Blaster in addition to Bullet Bills.

Mario Party 9

Missile Bills from New Super Mario Bros. Wii make a comeback in Mario Party 9 in the minigame, Billistics, where they appear alongside Bullet Bills. In this game, Missile Bills make beeping radar noises. This is a way to tell if a Missile Bill is coming. Like in other appearances, Missile Bills will home in on the player, but when a Missile Bill misses, it will not turn around, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3 when a Missile Bill misses twice.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Bull's-Eye Bill
A Bull's-Eye Bill, as seen in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Bull's-Eye Bills first appear under their current name in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Unlike standard Bullet Bills, Bull's-Eye Bills are fired from red Bill Blasters. They behave like in past games and similarly to the Cat Bullet Bills in Super Mario 3D World, homing in on Captain Toad or Toadette and chasing them.

Profiles

Super Mario Run

  • Notebook bio: "A friend of Bullet Bill, this foe will try to seek you out from behind. You can jump over it with careful timing."

Game appearances

Title Description Release Date System/Format
Super Mario Bros. 3 Enemy 1988 NES
Super Mario All-Stars Enemy 1993 SNES
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World Enemy 1994 SNES
Super Mario Sunshine Enemy 2002 GameCube
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Enemy 2003 GBA
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Enemy 2003 GBA
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Enemy 2009 Wii
Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition Enemy 2010 Wii
Mario Party 9 Enemy 2012 Wii
New Super Mario Bros. U Enemy 2012 Wii U
New Super Luigi U Enemy 2013 Wii U
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Enemy 2014 Wii U
Yoshi's Woolly World Enemy 2015 Wii U
Super Mario Maker Enemy 2015 Wii U
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Enemy 2016 3DS
Super Mario Run Enemy 2016 iOS / Android
Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World Enemy 2017 3DS
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Enemy 2018 Switch / 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Enemy 2019 Switch
Super Mario Maker 2 Enemy 2019 Switch

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese キラー[4][5]
Kirā
往復キラー[3]
Ōfuku Kirā
キラー(紫)[6]
Kirā (murasaki)
サーチキラー[9][10]
Sāchi Kirā

Killer; same as Bullet Bill (Super Mario Bros. 3 and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3)

Roundtrip Killer (Super Mario Bros. 3)

Killer (purple) (Super Mario Sunshine)

Search Killer (New Super Mario Bros. Wii onwards)

Dutch Bull's-Eye Bill
-
German Vefolgungs-Willi
Treffer-Willi
Pursuit Bill
Hit Bill
Italian Pallottolo Segugio
Sleuth Bullet
Portuguese (NOA) Busca Bill
Search Bill
Russian Билл-яблочко
Bill-yablochko
Bull's-Eye Bill

Spanish (NOA) Bill buscablancos
Target searcher Bill
Spanish (NOE) Bill Bala Buscador
Searcher Bullet Bill

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Nintendo Power Volume 13, page 9.
  2. ^ Bueno, Fernando. New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Page 16.
  3. ^ a b Page 192 of 「スーパーマリオ全百科」 (Super Mario Zen Hyakka, or "Super Mario Complete Encyclopedia"). 「おなじみの砲弾普通のキラーは、1方向にまっすぐむだけ、『マリオ3』新登場の「往復キラー」は、いったん発射されると、左右にいったりきたりをす。」
  4. ^ a b 「キラー砲台から発射され、まっすぐに飛んでくる。Uターンするタイプもいる。」 ("Fired from Killer Cannons, they fly straight ahead. There is also a U-turning type.") - Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario Bros. 3 section, page 36.
  5. ^ a b 砲台固定式で、黄色砲台回転式いキラーは ヨッシーをいかけ、黄色いキ ラーはかべにたるとはねる。砲台すならアイス攻撃で。」 ("Green and red cannons are a fixed type, while yellow cannons are a rotatable type. Red Killers pursue Yoshi, and yellow Killers bounce off walls. The cannons can be defeated by an ice attack.") - 「スーパーマリオアドバンス3任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Super Mario Advance 3 Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook), page 15.
  6. ^ a b Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario Sunshine section, page 99.
  7. ^ The Spriters Resource
  8. ^ Hodgson, David S J, Bryan Stratton, and Stephen Stratton. Super Mario Sunshine Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 19.
  9. ^ Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, New Super Mario Bros. Wii section, page 145.
  10. ^ Omoide Theatre, Yoshi Wool World (Japanese)