The Fire Flower/Fire Mario/Luigi/Toad/Princess
This was going to be an article on the items in the Mario cartoons, but there are so many appearances of the Fire Flower that I think it’s required that I make it a separate article (not to mention the amount of pics that I need to use…)
This was going to be an article on the items in the Mario cartoons, but there are so many appearances of the Fire Flower that I think it’s required that I make it a separate article (not to mention the amount of pics that I need to use…)
First thing’s first, the very first appearance of the Fire Flower was in Super Mario Bros. The Super Mario Bros Super show used the Fire Flower occasionally, however as you’ll see below, Fire Mario was very different in the Super Show, so the same effect occurred when Mario got a star or magic pendant or other things. Above is the modern Fire Flower, the original art and the cartoon version. Humorously perhaps, in colouration at least, the cartoon version is closer to the most modern art than the art it was based on. 
Now, the Fire Flower in AOSMB3 was based upon the in game sprite of SMB3 which was more white than blue, but had slight blue tints. The cartoon version is mainly blue, and strangely enough has a similarity to the Ice Flower, which has only appeared recently, long after the cartoon series.
Finally we have the Fire Flower that appeared in SMW and the cartoon. They’re very similar except the cartoon version looks more like a plant and has no eyes.
Finally we have the actual form anyone who uses a Fire Flower takes, Fire (name). Fire Mario appeared a lot more than Fire Luigi so I’ll only briefly touch on Fire Luigi. Firstly, I have to explain the difference between the game and cartoon versions of the very first Fire Mario. In the game Mario gained the power to shoot fireballs at enemies. In the cartoon Mario became ‘Super Mario’ which meant he gained the power to shoot fire, but also super strength and strange abilities, which once even allowed him to fly through flapping his arms… Now whilst the picture above from this version (with Mario and Luigi) doesn’t resemble any of the game art, it is actually the colour that he was in the original game. Next up, in TAOSMB3, Fire Mario has what is in my opinion the coolest look in the series, basically he’s orange and red, in game it looks like he’s actually on fire (well not literally). He’s a direct adaptation of the game version. Finally Fire Mario appeared in SMW exactly as he did in the game.
And that’s it for the Fire Flower and Fire Mario, but there’s one other part I forgot to mention, Princess Toadstall became Super Princess, although this was through a Starman as opposed to a Fire Flower, but since I included ‘Super Mario’ on here I thought that I’d include her too, despite the fact she doesn’t actually shoot any fire. Peach or Toadstall never used any power’s in the games (beyond a mushroom) so there’s nothing to compare. Toad also had a turn as Super Toad, although this time he was more like Fire Toad, as he used fireballs. Interestingly there are Toad’s in NSMBW who use Fire Flowers, their Heads change colour similarly with the colours becoming inverted, however the Toad’s who have shown this ability are Yellow and Blue Toad so technically Fire Toad still hasn’t appeared yet…
And that’s it for the Fire Flower and Fire Mario, but there’s one other part I forgot to mention, Princess Toadstall became Super Princess, although this was through a Starman as opposed to a Fire Flower, but since I included ‘Super Mario’ on here I thought that I’d include her too, despite the fact she doesn’t actually shoot any fire. Peach or Toadstall never used any power’s in the games (beyond a mushroom) so there’s nothing to compare. Toad also had a turn as Super Toad, although this time he was more like Fire Toad, as he used fireballs. Interestingly there are Toad’s in NSMBW who use Fire Flowers, their Heads change colour similarly with the colours becoming inverted, however the Toad’s who have shown this ability are Yellow and Blue Toad so technically Fire Toad still hasn’t appeared yet…
