Mario (SM64)

When he is called to Peach's Castle by Princess Peach Toadstool for some cake, he leaps out from a Warp Pipe with the help of the Lakitu Bros., filming his adventure. Upon entering the castle, however, he finds that Bowser had trapped the Princess in the stained glass window. Only through the power of the Power Stars may free her from her containment.

Abilities
The Mario originating from Super Mario 64 may not be the first Mario to travel on a Z axis, but he is the first with complex abilities to assist him on his quest to save Princess Toadstool and reclaim the Power Stars.

Triple Jump
This Mario is the first to be able to perform a Triple Jump. In order to perform one, however, he must jump consecutively while moving in a forward direction. He doesn't need to Double Jump while running though. He can stand in place and do a Double Jump before moving forward to get a Triple Jump. Triple Jumps are the greatest way for Mario to gain height, and are one of the ways to start flying when equipped with the Wing Cap.

Long Jump
Mario can reach great distances using the Long Jump. By running, crouching, and then timing a jump, Mario will leap forward to reach places he couldn't naturally reach. In versions of Super Mario 64 before the Japanese Shindou update, there is a glitch commonly known as the Backwards Long Jump or BLJ that could be performed if Mario were to Long Jump and move backwards up certain slopes, elevator lifts, and places he'll touch the floor at a quick rate. By doing this, he will gain increments of M-Speed, or Negative Speed Units. After he gains enough M-Speed, he will be fired backwards and through certain walls, sometimes even into areas classified as Parallel Universes.

Backwards Somersault
While crouching, if Mario performs a jump, he will flip in a backwards direction to gain some height. This height is not perfect, and is only really needed to dodge incoming Snowballs thrown by Mr. Blizzard, Rocks thrown by Monty Moles, and Bullets fired from Snufits.

Dive
The Dive is an attack that'll help Mario recover from damage before he strikes the ground. He'll perform a Dive if he's running at a specific speed. If he is slower, he will perform a Punch instead. He can also Dive in midair. Unlike his counterparts appearing in Super Mario 64 DS and Super Mario Odyssey, the Midair Dive does not give him extra time in the air. Diving midair helps after performing a Triple Jump, as he will be thrown farther into the air, especially with a Wing Cap on.

Wall Jump
Mario is capable of performing a move known as the Wall Jump. If he jumps again after jumping into the wall, then he will jump to the other side. This requires precise timing, as unlike his more recent counterparts, he does not slide when preparing to Wall Jump, but bumps backwards. He cannot Wall Jump off from invisible walls. When Mario performs First-Frame Wall Jumps, he will conserve his momentum, meaning that he could theoretically Wall Jump between two walls that are several miles away.

Mario's Cap
Mario's Cap protects Mario from taking extra damage when he is attacked by enemies, burned, squashed, or injured by fall damage. For example, being attacked by a Goomba would normally deal 1 Wedge worth of damage to Mario. When Mario becomes Capless, however, a Goomba would deal 2 Wedges of damage instead. Mario will lose his Cap when attacked by Klepto, when blown by Fwoosh, when picking up Ukiki by the waterfall, or when blown by the Snowman. Unlike his Super Mario 64 DS counterpart, Mario's Cap is not required to use the power of the Wing Cap, or other Power Ups, whereas, if SM64DS Mario were to hit a ? Box capless, a Bob-omb would come out.

If Mario were to perform a glitch that allowed him to put on a Cap while simultaneously putting on another Cap, he would end up holding his Cap until accessing a Teleport, leaving the level, or putting on another type of Cap. He can do this with his Cap, or any of the three Cap power ups in-game.

Power Meter
Mario's Power Meter stands for his increments of health. He has a total of 8 Wedges, which changes colors depending on how much health he has remaining. When 8-7 wedges are remaining, his Power Meter wedges are blue. When there are 6-5, the wedges are green. When 4-3 are left the wedges become yellow. When there are 2-1 wedges remaining, the wedges are red. In red state, Mario will not fall asleep, as his idle animation will be a tired and weak expression, shown to be panting. An alarm sound will also play underwater during red, as his Power Meter also acts as an air meter. His Power Meter will be replenished by Coins, Spinning Hearts, or the Surface of water. His health will also be refilled automatically if returning to the Castle after collecting a Power Star or dying.

Life Counter
Like he does in every core Mario game up until Super Mario Odyssey, the Mario of Super Mario 64 has a Life Counter. When his game is booted up, he always starts with a total of 4 lives. Unlike his Super Mario World counterpart, when he reaches 0 lives, he does not gain a Game Over. In order to reach the Game Over screen, Mario must die while his Life Counter is currently on 0. There is a glitch where Mario can gain M-Lives, or Negative Lives. If he manages to die while his counter is 0, but is thrown out of a level instead, his Life Counter will read M1. From this point on, whenever Mario dies, his Negative Lives will continue to drop. If Mario were to gain a life, his Life Counter would then increase. Mario can gain lives through one of 3 ways: touching a 1-Up Mushroom, have the Coin Score count at least 50 coins, and talk to Yoshi on the top of the roof. Mario's maximum amount of lives is 100. If he manages to get 100 lives, his Life Counter will no longer increase whenever he tries to get a 1-Up.

Coin Counter
The Coin Counter is another Super Mario-series staple, having appearing in every single one of the Super Mario titles from Super Mario Bros. to Super Mario Maker 2. In Super Mario 64, the Coin Counter keeps track of the total coins Mario collected in a level. This Coin Counter is only viewable inside of Courses, so whenever Mario collects a Coin that is within the Castle, it will not add up to any visible counter. In each of the 15 Main Courses, if his Coin Counter reaches 100, a Power Star falling under the 100 Coin missions will appear. At maximum, Mario can only hold 999 visible coins. There are three different types of Coins in Super Mario 64 that will affect the Coin Counter differently: Yellow Coins will add only 1 to the counter, Red Coins will add 2, and Blue Coins will add 5. When he collects a Power Star and is transferred into the Castle, all of his Coins will be added to his Coin Score. If the Coin Score reaches 50, 100, or 150, he will gain a 1-Up for each. A 100 Coin Star guarantees gaining at least 2 lives when exiting with another Power Star. His total Coin Score will only be saved in the 15 Main Courses.

Star Counter
The Star Counter keeps track of the amount of Power Stars Mario currently has. At the start of the game, Mario has 0 Stars, and ideally collects his first Power Star in Bob-omb Battlefield. Whenever he collects a Power Star at the end of a mission, his total will be added to 1 before exiting the level. If he attempts to recollect the Power Star, now a transparent blue, it will no longer add up to his total. Doors and certain levels around the Castle will only open if he has a certain amount of Power Stars. Doors will open if Mario has the total amount of Power Stars:
 * 1 Power Star: Unlocks the Door leading into The Princess's Secret Slide, and the Door leading to Whomp's Fortress.
 * 3 Power Stars: Unlocks the Door leading into Jolly Roger Bay and the Secret Aquarium, and the Door leading into Cool, Cool, Mountain.
 * 8 Power Stars: Unlocks the first Big Star Door leading into Bowser in the Dark World.
 * 10 Power Stars: Unlocks access to Tower of the Wing Cap.
 * 12 Power Stars: Unlocks access to Big Boo's Haunt. Toad in the Basement appears.
 * 15 Power Stars: Causes MIPS to appear in the Basement for the first time.
 * 25 Power Stars: Toad Across from the Tall, Tall, Mountain Portrait appears.
 * 30 Power Stars: Unlocks the second Big Star Door leading into Dire, Dire, Docks and Bowser in the Fire Sea.
 * 35 Power Stars: Toad on the Third Floor appears.
 * 50 Power Stars: Unlocks the third Big Star Door, gaining access to Tick-Tock Clock, Rainbow Ride, Wing Mario Over the Rainbow, and the Endless Staircase. Also allows MIPS to appear in the Basement for the second and last time.
 * 70 Power Stars: Breaks the curse of the Endless Staircase, allowing Mario access into Bowser in the Sky.

Allies and Assist Items
In Super Mario 64, Mario is often shown to be in need of certain items and allies in order to get the job done.

The Lakitu Bros.
The Lakitu Bros. are presumably a pair of Fishing Lakitu that tag along on Mario's journey to film the entirety of his adventure. One of the Lakitu Brothers is implied to always record Mario from when he leaps from the Warp Pipe at the beginning of the game, while the other brother only makes his appearance at the front of the Castle. If Mario crosses the bridge normally, then the Lakitu will speak to him about acting as the camera for the player. The recording Lakitu Bro. stays with Mario on his journey, and his reflection can be seen in the mirror room with Snowman's Land. That Lakitu Bro. leaves after the end credits have finished just before the end card of Super Mario 64.

Hoot
Hoot is an owl that only makes his appearance in Whomp's Fortress, much unlike his counterpart in Super Mario 64 DS, which also appears in Cool, Cool, Mountain; Tall, Tall, Mountain; and Tiny-Huge Island. In missions 3 through 6, Hoot will appear and let Mario grab onto his feet. By doing so, Mario will fly through the air with his aid for a short while. After a great amount of time, Hoot will drop Mario due to him being too heavy. Hoot is the intended method of getting mission five's, ''Fall Onto the Caged Island. ''

Toads
Toads are people in the castle willing to give Mario hints on how to get passed certain obstacles. There are a total of 10 Toads ingame, but eight have dialogue. The remaining two only appear once Mario collects the Jumbo Star after defeating Bowser, and freeing the Princess.

Of the eight Toads in the castle, three have Power Stars that they will give Mario upon being talked to. They're usually found in a corner, hopping in place. Although they very well could have been the same Toad walking around, this would be disproven on the second floor, where two Toads can be seen at once.

Bob-omb Buddies
Bob-omb Buddies are found all over the game. There are 12 individual Bob-omb Buddies that Mario meets, but only 1 serves as a normal NPC. The other 11 function as a way to open the cannon for Mario. Once Mario speaks to a Bob-omb Buddy, the nearest cannon lid will open in a cutscene (this does not exclude the Bob-omb Buddies in Tiny-Huge Island and Snowman's Land, due to both being in a different sublevel. The cannon simply appears open when Mario returns to the world with the cannon). In Super Mario 64 DS, they also appear in Red Coin Missions, holding the ability to make Red Coins on the minimap. Several Bob-omb Buddies also tend to visit courses when certain Caps begin to appear.

Wing Cap


The Wing Cap is one of the first Power Ups that Mario encounters. After pressing the Red ! Switch in Tower of the Wing Cap, all Red ! Blocks in the game become solid, allowing Mario access to the Wing Cap. By touching this item, Mario will transform into Wing Mario for 60 seconds. Wing Mario can fly by using a cannon, or performing a Triple Jump. By holding the A button when falling, Mario will also fall slowly.

Metal Cap
The Metal Cap is a Power Up that grants Mario temporary invulnerability to damage for 20 seconds.