Graffiti

Graffiti
Shadow Mario's signature M Graffiti
First appearance	Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Variant of	Goop

Graffiti is a substance closely related to goop that first appears in Super Mario Sunshine. It is a paint-like substance painted on various surfaces by Bowser Jr. using his magic brush. Unlike regular goop, graffiti is typically harmless on its own, but it can have various other effects.

History

Super Mario Sunshine

In Super Mario Sunshine, graffiti is usually painted on walls, though it also appears on other flat surfaces. Mario can clean it off surfaces by spraying it with water using FLUDD, and he must do so all at once, or the graffiti regenerates once he stops spraying. It is most commonly seen in the form of M Graffiti, plain red paint in the shape of Shadow Mario's distinctive M signature, which also appears in the game's opening titles and is painted by Shadow Mario using regular goop on the Delfino Airstrip and in Delfino Plaza, as well as with burning goop in Pianta Village. Rainbow Ms also resemble M Graffiti, and they are painted by Shadow Mario in Delfino Plaza. M Graffiti varies wildly in size, with most being roughly the same length as Mario's height but sometimes appearing slightly smaller or much larger, with a single M Graffiti covering a large portion of Pianta Village during its third episode, The Goopy Inferno. Cleaning M Graffiti usually rewards Mario with a Blue Coin, except for the two M Graffiti painted on water tanks on the Delfino Airstrip, which reward Mario with standard coins instead. These M Graffiti are also the only graffiti in the game that reappear if Mario revisits the area. Similar types of graffiti that appear as paired symbols are titled Paired Graffiti. The symbols that appear are "✕" (called X Graffiti), "◯" (called O Graffiti), and "△" (called Triangle Graffiti). Like M Graffiti, Paired Graffiti is usually drawn in plain red paint, though Ricco Harbor contains dull green Paired Graffiti as well. Unlike M Graffiti, Paired Graffiti always appears in a consistent size, being roughly the same length as Mario's height. When Mario cleans an instance of Paired Graffiti, a Blue Coin appears at the location (or former location) of the other symbol of the same design in the area, and Mario has a limited time to collect the coin. If he does not collect the Blue Coin in time, it disappears, and the graffiti he cleaned off reappears. He must then backtrack and clean the same graffiti a second time to make the Blue Coin appear once again. Two Blue Coins are obtainable for each pair of Paired Graffiti, one for each individual symbol.

Black graffiti is also used to deface the Shine Gate's Shine Sprite effigy as well as the bells inside Delfino Plaza's two bell towers. Mario can earn a Shine Sprite each for cleaning the graffiti off the Shine Gate's effigy and each of the two bells. Unlike other graffiti, this graffiti does not regenerate if it is not all cleaned at once.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Bowser Jr. painting on a graffiti spot

Graffiti reappears in the Bowser's Fury campaign of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. In the introductory cutscene of the campaign, Mario comes across a black M Graffiti that transforms into a portal, taking him to Lake Lapcat. Throughout the islands of Lake Lapcat, ?-shaped graffiti appears on various walls and surfaces. When Bowser Jr. joins Mario, the former can use his magic brush to create other graffiti art in these spots, yielding a reward once complete. While painting, he produces paint colored and textured similarly to electric goop. In single-player mode, the player must either use the touch cursor or press when next to a graffiti spot to send Bowser Jr. to investigate. In multiplayer, only the second player can paint graffiti by approaching a graffiti spot and pressing . Once a graffiti spot has been painted, it shines briefly before the shine fades. The art remains in place of the ? mark permanently, but if the current save file is reloaded, the art appears in black and white. If Bowser Jr. approaches the spot again, he repaints the art in color, producing the same effect.

The different types of graffiti are listed below:

Image	Effect	Locations
	Produces a Super Bell	On the left wall of Fort Flaptrap Near a raised platform on the inner wall of Clawswipe Colosseum Below the last rotating platform in Crisp Climb Castle On the left side of the entrance platform of Risky Whisker Island On the right side of the tallest tower in Roiling Roller Isle, close to the ground
	Produces a Super Mushroom	On a cliff wall above some crates near the middle of Scamper Shores On the inside wall of the tunnel under Fort Flaptrap On a wall in the middle of Slipskate Slope
	Produces a Boomerang Flower	Below the metal platform behind the Wasteland Giga Bell To the left of the stairs at the base of Mount Magmeow Close to the Ruins Giga Bell On Pounce Bounce Isle
	Produces a Fire Flower	On the right edge of Scamper Shores, near a wooden platform Near a raised platform on the outer wall of Clawswipe Colosseum On the northmost edge of the first tower of Crisp Climb Castle Next to some stairs slightly southwest of the Wasteland Giga Bell
	Produces a Super Leaf	On the ceiling of a tunnel near the entrance of Slipskate Slope Under the bridge before the entrance to Trickity Tower At Mount Magmeow At Pipe Path Tower At the watergate east of Pipe Path Tower
	Produces a Lucky Bell	On a wall in an alcove towards the back of Scamper Shores Near the top of Mount Magmeow
	Raises a golden Warp Pipe from the ground	On the right side of a pillar to the far right of Scamper Shores At the very top of Mount Magmeow On Roiling Roller Isle At Crisp Climb Castle
	Produces the "Junior's Graffiti Gratitude" Cat Shine. The art is notably larger than all others, and the graffiti spot is accessible only after Giant Bowser has been defeated at least once.	In the middle of the crashed airship on Fur Step Island

The coin-filled bonus room

The golden pipe in particular can be destroyed by Plessie, and if removed this way, it does not reappear until the current save file is reloaded. If entered, the pipe takes Mario to a bonus room filled with coins that he can use to add power-ups to the item storage. While the Warp Pipe can be reentered, the coins do not respawn until the save file is reloaded.

Gallery

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  Artwork of M Graffiti from Super Mario Sunshine

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  Texture of graffiti on a poster from Super Mario Sunshine

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  Screenshot of O Graffiti from Super Mario Sunshine

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  Screenshot of X Graffiti from Super Mario Sunshine

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  Screenshot of Triangle Graffiti from Super Mario Sunshine

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  Height map for the O Graffiti from Super Mario Sunshine. This controls the way that the graffiti animates when being washed off.

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  Height map for the Triangle Graffiti in Super Mario Sunshine

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  Height map for the X Graffiti in Super Mario Sunshine

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ラクガキ[?] Rakugaki	Graffiti
French	Graffiti	-

Paired Graffiti

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ラクガキ(図形) Rakugaki (zukei)	Graffiti (shapes)
French	Graffiti (figure géométrique)	Graffiti (geometric figure)