Pit: Difference between revisions

{{about|the obstacle found in many [[Mario (franchise)|Mario games]]|the game commonly abbreviated as "PiT"|[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]|the protagonist of the [[icaruspedia:Kid Icarus (series)|Kid Icarus series]] who appears as a character in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros. series]]|[[Pit (character)]]}}

A '''pit''', also called an '''abyss''' or '''bottomless pit''', is a common obstacle in platforming video games where no solid ground is programmed. If a character falls or [[jump]]s into a pit, they will be affected negatively, usually by immediately losing a life. Aesthetically, many of these pits appear to have no bottom; after falling a varying distance down (usually simply below the camera or screen), the player will die, even if an invincibility-granting item is in effect. In various 2D platformers, certain pits may be only one block wide; in such cases, the player can often [[dash|run]] straight across the pits without falling down as long as they have enough speed. Walking across these narrow pits without running will generally not work.

[[File:AbyssSML.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Mario running across many narrow pits]]

While most pits will cause instant death, some will instead warp the player backward or to a particular location (sometimes in addition to losing a life). Other pits, such as those found in ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'', are clearly not bottomless (although the player will still lose a life upon hitting the bottom). The pits in ''[[Wario World]]'' lead to [[Unithorn's Lair]], a subterranean cavern, and because players can resume progress once a specific goal has been reached, these cannot be considered bottomless pits.

Aesthetically, pits can take many forms. Although [[Mario]] can swim in some [[level]]s of ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', if he falls into water in a non-swimming level, he will lose a life just as if it were a pit. In ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', allowing the player's character to sink through [[quicksand]] is the same as falling into a pit. In 2D platformers, [[lava]] is essentially a pit. In ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' and ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]'', pits often take the form of [[black hole]]s, appearing in island-like [[galaxy|galaxies]] such as [[Beach Bowl Galaxy]] and [[Matter Splatter Galaxy]].

In 3D ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' platformers, many levels consist of landmasses or platforms floating in a large void. Examples of this are [[Whomp's Fortress]], [[Pianta Village]], the [[Metro Kingdom]], and many levels of the ''Super Mario Galaxy'' games and ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]''. These voids are essentially considered to be massive pits.

In ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', in the mansion of [[Big Boo's Haunt]], if Mario falls into a pit, he will end up in the mansion's basement rather than losing a life. Also, in the [[Super Mario 64 DS|DS remake]], if Mario falls into a pit in [[Big Boo Battle]], he will be teleported back to the starting area.

Pits also appear in the [[Mario Kart (series)|''Mario Kart'']] series, appearing in certain courses such as [[Mushroom Gorge]] from ''[[Mario Kart Wii]]''. When a character drives off the course into a pit, they will yell out as the camera pans down into darkness, and a few seconds later, [[Lakitu]] will lift the character back up and drop them back onto the course, essentially making the pits act as a large time penalty, though they also cost the player a few [[coin]]s in the games featuring them.

It is unknown if the pits in ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' are bottomless because if Mario, [[Princess Peach]], [[Bowser]], or [[Luigi]] falls into a pit, they will flip back onto solid ground and lose one [[Heart Point|HP]]. A few pits in ''Super Paper Mario'' (on the outskirts of [[Flipside]] and [[Flopside]]) do not hurt the player, instead sending them to a secret room with a [[Trampoline|spring]] and (a) valuable item(s). Also in ''Super Paper Mario'', some [[Shayde]]s are tasked with cleaning pits as punishment in [[The Underwhere]].

In ''[[Super Mario Maker]]'', the game may play an [[Easter egg]] sound effect upon the player falling into a bottomless pit, with a landing noise suggesting that the pit apparently has a bottom. In these sound effects, Mario is heard to be doing something offscreen. On some occasions, the sound effect will be accompanied by other objects such as a car and several other Marios.

In ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', once Mario hits the pit's event horizon, several coins will spill out in each direction and he will lose them before respawning; this is due to the game lacking a life system. If the player falls into a pit in Assist Mode, a bubble brings them back out and they lose one health point.