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Starman (Mario Kart Wii) This article is not to be confused with the replays of previous Time Trial attempts known as, Ghosts. Starman (Mario Kart Wii)
Starman (Mario Kart Wii) This article is not to be confused with the character, King Boo. Starman (Mario Kart Wii)

A Boo is a haunting enemy in the Mario series. It makes its appearance in the Mario Kart series as an item, first in Super Mario Kart, and then in Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart DS, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The item is also in the arcade games Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.

Boos are also harmless (but still scary) characters that fly around in courses such as Ghost Valley 1, Ghost Valley 2, Ghost Valley 3, and Banshee Boardwalk. However, they are dangerous on Broken Pier in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, because encroaching on their territory will cause one to grab onto you and make you lose speed and Coins.

The Boo item temporarily left the Mario Kart series for 12 years, and then came back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Boo item in Mario Kart Ds

Mario in posession of a Boo item.

Uses[]

A Boo, probably the sneakiest Item in Mario Kart, temporarily turns the racer who is using it completely invisible to all other opponents. The player themself sees their kart turn into a ghost, similar to the ones in Time Trials. While invisible, the racer cannot be hit by any Items whatsoever, and they are also not hindered by driving off-road. However, they still slow down when they crash into walls (sorry, no passing through walls. That would be, like, cheating) and you can drive off the track. But it is still extremely convenient for cutting corners and avoiding incoming Items, making a Boo a great recovery and defensive Item.

In addition to invisibility, a Boo will go and fly off to another racer who has an Item. They will steal it, and then fly back to bring it to you (yes, stealing is perfectly legal in Mario Kart)! It could be anything from a Starman (a great Item) to a Green Shell (an okay Item). It just depends on whatever the other opponents have. In all games except for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it will steal the strongest item in play, and in Super Mario Kart, the steal will work even if the opponent's Item Roulette has not yet stopped. If no one has anything, the player does not get any items. But the Boo will still come back to say goodbye. It just will not deposit anything in your Item inventory.

In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Boo will steal from the main item slot of a random racer who is ahead of the user, and place it in the user's reserve slot. Fire Flowers, Boomerang Flowers, Golden Dash Mushrooms and Triple items will be fully restored as if the player had just gotten them from the Item Box. It will not steal Piranha Plants or Bullet Bills that are currently in use, nor will it steal Crazy 8s or other Boos as it is impossible to have more than one in play at a time. If there is nothing to steal, the Boo will give its user a free Mushroom. The invisibility no longer prevents slowdown from driving off-road.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit[]

Finally, exclusive to Mario Kart: Super Circuit, a Boo will do all the things mentioned above, but it's also a nice attack Item as it will fly over to the first place racer and latch on to them, slowing them down and stealing their Coins (similar to the Shy Guys on Sunset Wilds in the same game).

Trivia![]

  • In the Super Mario Kart instruction booklet, Boo was simply called a Ghost.
  • Players can actually race as a Boo, specifically the regal King Boo, in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
  • Nintendo removed the Boo from Mario Kart Wii and so forth. It had a long absence of 3 games, but it has returned in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and has the same purpose stealing items and bringing them back to the user while making them invisible but this time, Boos are much more common with sometimes up to six appearances in one race. It's also notable that King Boo has been a returning racer.
  • In the Mario Kart DS kiosk demo, the item texture used the Mario Kart 64 Boo sprite.

Gallery[]

Super Mario Kart items
Regular Items BananaGreen ShellRed ShellMushroomLightningStarmanFeatherCoinBoo
CPU-only Items Poison MushroomYoshi EggFireball
Mario Kart 64 items
BananaBanana Bunch* • Green ShellTriple Green Shell* • Red ShellTriple Red Shell* • Spiny Shell* • Fake Item Box* • MushroomTriple Mushroom* • Golden Mushroom* • LightningStarmanBoo
* - New to the series.
Mario Kart: Super Circuit items
BananaGreen ShellTriple Green ShellRed ShellTriple Red ShellSpiny ShellMushroomTriple MushroomLightningStarmanBoo
Mario Kart DS items
BananaTriple Bananas* • Green ShellTriple Green ShellRed ShellTriple Red ShellSpiny ShellBob-ombFake Item BoxMushroomTriple MushroomGolden MushroomBullet Bill* • Blooper* • LightningStarmanBoo
* - New to the series.
Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe) items
BananaTriple BananasGreen ShellTriple Green ShellRed ShellTriple Red ShellSpiny ShellBob-ombMushroomTriple MushroomGolden MushroomBullet BillBlooperLightningStarmanFire FlowerBoomerang FlowerPotted Piranha PlantSuper HornCrazy 8CoinFeather*/** • Boo*
* - Exclusive to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. • ** - Only available in Battle Mode.
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