Bullet Bill
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Bullet Bill is an enemy character from the Mario video game series. He is a huge, slow-moving bullet that is fired from a cannon. Bullet Bill first appeared in Super Mario Bros. The only way he could be destroyed was by jumping onto it or running into it after obtaining the star power up. Using fireballs has no effect on him and there is no way to destroy the cannon that he is fired from. Generically, "Bullet Bills", are used to refer to the plural. Bullet Bill's larger incarnations, called Banzai Bills, are occasionally used by gamers as a comparison to overpowered weapons in shooter games, a reference to how insanely large these shells are, and the surprise of their first appearance to players. Bullet Bills generally have beady eyes and a fierce scowl painted on them, a clear reference to the shark-faced Flying Tigers of World War II.
[edit] Game appearances
Super Mario Bros.: Bullet Bill first appears in World 5-1. It is usually discharged from a large cannon, known simply as a Bullet Bill Blaster (or, rarely, a Bullet Bill Dispenser). On occasion, Bullet Bills will be shot from random locations somewhere offscreen.
Super Mario Bros. 2: Bullet Bills did not appear in the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 by name, but there are similar missile creatures that are shot from Autobombs, which are ridden by Shy Guys. However, Bullet Bills were abundant in the Japanese game that was later released in the U.S. as Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels.
Super Mario Bros. 3: Bullet Bills didn't appear as much in Super Mario Bros. 3 as they did in previous games, mainly appearing in later worlds and on the bosses airships. A new type of Bullet Bill appeared in this game, the red Missile Bill, that follows Mario rather than flying in a straight line.
Super Mario Land: Starting in the third world, Bullet Bills appeared and acted in the typical manner, although the manual calls them "Gira" (which is probably a corruption of kiraa, its Japanese name).
Super Mario World: This game features the first appearance of Torpedo Ted, which is a Bullet Bill that is launched underwater. Banzai Bill also makes its first appearance, which is a larger version of a Bullet Bill. The Pidgit Bill replaces Bullet Bill once the Special World is completed.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: This game introduces a yellow Bouncing Bullet Bill that bounces and ricochets off walls after being fired. In the Game Boy Advance incarnation there are red Bullet Bills with gnashing fangs that home in on Yoshi.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: In this game, Bullet Bills are fired by cannons or Snifits as an attack.
Super Mario 64: Bullet Bill was only found in one location in the level Whomp's Fortress. In the levels after the player defeats the big Whomp, a Bill Blaster will appear at the top of the fortress. The Bullet Bills shot out would home in on Mario. Bullet Bill can be defeated in the DS remake,but only by Mario (or any other character) eating a mushroom, becoming bigger and invincible , and able to kill him by running into him.
Paper Mario: Gold Bullet Bills known as Bombshell Bills are introduced in Paper Mario, and appeared again in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorthey also have upgraded cannons of the same colour being gold.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The Bullet Blaster, which is the shape of a Bullet Bill, is Bowser Jr.'s Kart.
Super Mario Sunshine: This game contained a Monty Mole that manned a cannon, firing Bullet Bills at Mario. These Bullet Bills are purple, with a red nosecone. They homed in on Mario and exploded after a short time. They could be destroyed with a burst of water from FLUDD. Rarely, Monty Mole would fire a golden Bullet Bill, which when destroyed, would yield extra coins. Bullet Bills were also fired by Mecha Bowser, one of the bosses at Pinna Park. Finally, in the final battle against Bowser and Bowser Jr., Bowser Jr. would fire regular black Bullet Bills and the occasional blue Bullet Bills, which when jumped on, gave Mario a 1-Up Mushroom or a water bottle.
Super Smash Bros. Melee In the Peach's Castle stage, Banzai Bill would randomly shoot at the castle tower with a timer. It would explode, hurting players in a large radius. Bullet Bills were also present in the background of the Yoshi's Island stage.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: Bullet Bills and Bill Blasters returned as enemies at Stardust Field. The game also featued Sniper Bill, a large Bullet Bill that uses a Super Scope as a weapon. It is found in Bowser's Castle.
Mario Kart DS: Bullet Bills appear as items in this game, and would transform drivers into a large Bullet Bill, careening drivers through the course and into other characters for 4 to 7 seconds, but can only be obtained when the player is in 6th, 7th, or 8th position. They are also obstacles on the Airship Fortress level.
New Super Mario Bros.: Bullet Bills appear in some stages in this game as enemies. Banzai Bills also appear, shot out of huge cannons.
Super Mario Galaxy: Bullet Bills (Although with red eyes) appeared in the demo playable at the E3 2006 Demo.
[edit] Cameo appearances
Bullet Bill has not appeared in many spinoffs, other than occasionally as an enemy in a Mario Party minigame, or in the form of a baseball bat in early screenshots for Mario Superstar Baseball (note that Bowser's Power Shot is also a Bullet Bill). He also appeared in Mario Power Tennis in a mini-game, fired by a giant Bowser robot. There is a Bullet Bill shaped hole in the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Golf. There was a Bullet Bill type missile in Donkey Kong 64, at the boss of crystal caves(Armydillo 2)at the end when hes almost finished he fires a Huge red missile similar to the Banzai Missiles mentioned above.
Other minor appearances include an appearance on the last episode of The Super Mario Brothers Super Show! and a Banzai Bill in the background of a Wii tech demo. Bullet-bills are related to Bob-ombs.
[edit] External links
- Super Mario Brothers Monster Compendium - Bill
- Mario Wiki Information of Bullet Bills.
- Bullet Bill (side scrolling high speed flash game)
- Bullet Bill 2 (more speed, better levels, boss fights, and more characters)
