Maybe Mario doesn't have the greatest video game franchise of all time (although it is arguable), but there is no question whether he is the most iconic video game characters of all time. Growing up, everyone played at least one Mario game. In most cases, the experience was a memorable one.
One of the greatest aspects of Mario games are the power-ups. The most common one of these is the mushroom. The best Mario power-up though, dating back to the first Super Mario Bros., is the fire flower. Here are 10 things you didn't know about this strange, power-granting flora.
10 They've Existed Since The Stone Age
Mario hasn't only been in video games. He's also had a television show, movies, and even a comic. In Mario's comic, Super Mario: Verloeren in der Zelt, the origins of the Fire Flower are explored.
In that comic, it is revealed that the Fire Flowers have been around for quite some time. Their origins actually date all the way back to the Stone Age. Perhaps it was the Fire Flower that helped man first create fire.
9 Terraria
Terraria is a very fun action-adventure game created for Microsoft Windows. Over the years it has gained quite a bit of popularity and built quite a large fan base. It is one of the few 2D games to remain popular in the modern age of gaming,
Throughout Terraria is a plethora of interesting easter eggs hinting at other video games. One of these easter eggs is an appearance from Mario's Fire Flower itself. There is an item in Terraria called the "Flower of Fire" that looks almost identical to the Fire Flower, nodding to the Nintendo franchise.
8 They Taste Awful
Mario has been in all sorts of different properties. He has had his very own television show, comic, and movie among other things. In the Club Nintendo comic that mentioned how the Fire Flower was from back in the Stone Age, another interesting factoid about the plant was revealed.
As Mario ate the Fire Flower in the comic, he exclaimed about how awful they tasted. In his exact words, the Fire Flower was "disgusting." Nevertheless, it was worth it since eating the flower gave him the power to throw fireballs.
7 The Flower Cup
Within every single Mario Kart game are a series of Cups that the players can rase in. Made up of four individual races, each Cup has a consistent difficulty and theme that unifies the four races.
One Cup that has appeared in every installment to the franchise is the Flower Cup. Its symbol is a flower, and that flower is the very same one that Mario eats in order to gain fire powers. The Fire Flower is so iconic that it can't help but cross over into other Nintendo franchises.
6 Robot Chicken
Perhaps one of the greatest comedy shows in all of nerddom is Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken. Made up of a series of sketches, the wacky animation of Robot Chicken appropriately matches the tone of its completely insane writing.
Obviously written by a bunch of pop culture geeks that love film, television, video games, and comics just as much as their viewers, episodes of the show are often chalked full of references to different franchises. One episode even includes a Fire Flower, which was used by then-Nintendo CEO Reggie Fils-Animé in a hilarious sketch.
5 Scribblenauts Unlimited
Scribblenauts is another very successful video game franchise that has connected with a very large fan base. Much like with Terreria and Robot Chicken, the creators of Scribblenauts are no doubt huge fans of everything pop culture.
Another great easter egg exists with Scribblenauts Unlimited. In the Wii U version of that game, there are Fire Flowers that appear throughout. The Fire Flower is such a big part of one of video games' first great franchises that it can't help but appear in many other games.
4 Moonview Highway Poster
In the Mario Kart Wii game, the Fire Flower makes a very interesting appearance. When racing on a track called Moonview Highway, you might spot this fun little easter egg, but you only will if a certain number of specifications are met.
First off, you must be using your Mii character in order for this to work. Secondly, you have to be paying attention to the billboard with the Fire Flower on it. Then, if you are doing all of these things, the face of the Fire Flower changes to a face of one of the player's created Miis.
3 Animal Crossing
Yet another game that has a Fire Flower appearance is Animal Crossing. Within that game, there is a whole system set up for building houses and filling them with furniture. One of the furniture items that you can choose is a Fire Flower.
In a later installment to the Animal Crossing series, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the Fire Flower appears again with several other Mario-themed easter eggs and items.
2 Minecraft
One of the hottest video games of the last decade was unquestionably Minecraft. Gamers of all kinds, young and old, casual and hardcore, they all loved Minecraft. Just like with the many other great franchises on this list, the creators of this game paid homage to some of the great games that came before.
Included in these games that Minecraft paid homage to is Mario. Unlike some of the other entries on his list, however, there isn't just an easter egg of Fire Flowers in this one. Minecraft actually has its own Super Mario Mash-Up Pack with all sorts of Mario goodies. When using the pack, flint and steel are both replaced with Fire Flowers.
1 Superball Flower
In one of the games of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, the Fire Flower was completely included. Nowhere to be found, it was instead replaced with a much different yet similar looking flower.
In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins the Fire Flower was replaced with the Superball Flower. That flower looked exactly like the Fire Flower except it was blue instead of red. Being able to throw "superballs" was not nearly as cool as throwing fireballs.