| “ | Power-up complete. Thank you for purchasing this item from Gadd Science, Incorporated. Preparing to register customer information. Scanning and classifying subject data... subject identified as Mario, resident of the Mushroom Kingdom. Data storage complete. I am F.L.U.D.D., a Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device. I hope to be of assistance. | „ |
| ~ F.L.U.D.D.'s introduction |
| “ | Was….I…..of……assistance? | „ |
| ~ F.L.U.D.D’s words when fatally injured. |
| “ | The vacation starts now! | „ |
| ~ A repaired F.L.U.D.D.'s last words. |
The Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device, better known as F.L.U.D.D., is the deuteragonist of the 2002 platform game Super Mario Sunshine. It is Mario's ally throughout the game and assists him in various ways. F.L.U.D.D. was originally invented by Professor E. Gadd so Mario can use it to clean up the graffiti all over Isle Delfino.
It is voiced by Kit Harris.
Biography[]
F.L.U.D.D. is Mario's partner throughout Super Mario Sunshine. A water pack and pump in one, it is capable of hosing down various things such as the paint plaguing Isle Delfino, putting out fires, and with the other nozzles, offer Mario hovering capabilities, super jumps, or give a speed boost. Its abilities are vital to aid Mario on his journey.
History[]
Super Mario Sunshine[]
Mario first meets F.L.U.D.D. at the beginning of the game on the Delfino Airstrip right after he arrives with Peach, Toadsworth and several different colored Toads for a vacation, but they are forced to make a rough landing due to there being a mass of paint-like goop in the middle of the airstrip. Right after being tasked with Toadsworth to find some assistance, Mario finds it there, and after introducing itself, F.L.U.D.D. quickly offers its assistance. With its help, Mario is able to clean up the goop on the airstrip and defeat a slime-covered Pirahna Plant hidden in the middle of it.
However, right afterwards, Mario is arrested by a couple of Pianta police officers due to being accused of being the one behind not only vandalizing the airstrip, but the entire island due to eyewitnesses seeing someone who looks just like him using a magic paintbrush to create graffiti and slime everywhere. This has also had the unfortunate side effect of causing all of the Shine Sprites, the source of the island's sunshine, to flee from where they usually gather at the Shine Gate in Delphino Plaza, causing the island to be covered in a veil of darkness. Despite Peach and Toadsworth attending the court trial and trying to protest Mario's innocence, he is still charged as guilty and tasked with cleaning up the entire island. That night in jail, F.L.U.D.D. tries to console Mario, as well as summarizes the situation and tells him they need to track down the real perpetrator when they start investigating in the morning.
The following morning, Mario starts his task by using F.L.U.D.D. to clean up a similar mess of goop in Delfino Square. After similarly defeating the Piranha Plant hidden in the middle of it, he uncovers the Piant statue that was buried in the goop, but much to his surprise, he spots the real perpetrator, a shadowy, somewhat transparent blue doppelganger who goes by the name Shadow Mario, on top of the statue's head. Shadow Mario then spots Princess Peach, leaps off and bounds towards her, proceeding to snatch her up and attempt to kidnap her. However, Mario foils the attempt by pursuing and spraying him with water from F.L.U.D.D., causing him to fall down and drop Peach. The duo then keep giving chase and end up following him through some new graffiti he draws at the base of the Pianta statue, which acts as a portal to another part of the island called Bianco Hills. They lose him after this, but proceed to clear up some more slime they've created there.
After travelling around and collecting 10 Shine Sprites, Shadow Mario kidnaps Princess Peach again and takes her to Pinna Park on a nearby island using a Koopa-like submarine (the first hint towards his real identity), with Mario and F.L.U.D.D. using a cannon to follow. Upon arriving at the theme park and giving chase to Shadow Mario through part of it, the villain leaps into the center of a small body of water, with the water then parting to reveal a giant Bowser robot called Mecha Bowser that he controls (another big hint at his real identity). However, the theme park's manager thinks they're actors shooting a movie and offers to help them do it by letting Mario use the local roller coaster to combat the robot. Equipping F.L.U.D.D. with several water rockets spread out along the ride, Mario manages to land several hits on Mecha Bowser, reducing it to just a head and a pair of feet. Upon this, the head opens up and Shadow Mario reveals, much to Mario and Peach's surprise, that he's really Bowser Jr., Bowser's son in disguise. He then reveals that his father told him that Peach is his mother whom Mario kidnapped, hence why he used a disguise and a magic paintbrush, the latter of which he got from a "strange old man in a white coat" (referencing Professor E. Gadd, who also created F.L.U.D.D.), to pollute the island and frame Mario for it. He then transforms the head of Mecha Bowser into a hot air balloon and uses it to take Peach all the way to Corona Mountain, while Mario and F.L.U.D.D. can only watch.
After doing a lot more travelling across the island, collecting many more Shine Sprites and chasing Shadow Mario through each of the 7 main levels/areas of the island that can be explored, a huge amount of water comes out of Corona Mountain and floods Delfino Plaza, forcing all the residents to seek higher ground. However, now that the entrance to Corona Mountain is finally open, Mario uses the opportunity to finally enter it. After travelling a little ways through the lava-filled caverns and equipping F.L.U.D.D. with the Rocket Nozzle, which he uses to travel upward on a column of moving clouds deep in the mountain, he reaches a giant lava-filled bath in the sky where Bowser and Bowser Jr. are with Peach. Engaging in a battle with the former two, Mario manages to defeat them by using a combination of the Rocket Nozzle and ground pounds to destroy the surrounding platforms, which causes the hot tub to turn upside down and everyone to fall out of the sky.
While Bowser and Bowser Jr. end up on a small platform elsewhere in the ocean, Mario and Peach land on a small island just off of Delfino Plaza. They soon find F.L.U.D.D., who unfortunately, appears to have been damaged in the fall. F.L.U.D.D. weakly asks Mario if it managed to be of assistance before powering down, much to Mario's sadness, but Peach then tells him to look up, upon which they witness the Shine Gate's power being fully restored thanks to all the returned Shine Sprites, with a huge crowd of Piantas and Nokis celebrating thanks to the recent flood waters from Corona Mountain having receded. Later, Mario and Peach watch the sunset on Serena Beach, but much to their joy, Toadsworth and the Toads come along and present F.L.U.D.D., who has been repaired by them and declares that the real vacation can finally start, with pictures over the credits showing the group, including F.L.U.D.D., finally getting to enjoy all the sights and attractions of Isle Delfino.
Super Smash Bros. series[]
F.L.U.D.D. eventually returns as Mario's down special smash attack starting in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to the present.
Trivia[]
- When F.L.U.D.D. scans Mario in Super Mario Sunshine, a little window in the bottom left corner shows short gameplay clips of various Mario franchise games, such as Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. After Bowser is beaten at the end of the game and F.L.U.D.D. is looking at Mario, the window shows the Game Over screen from Mario Bros. In addition, in the bottom right corner, the titles of several other Mario games that Mario had been in up to and including that point are shown, though they are backwards with no spaces between the words, so they normally cannot be read by the player. The game titles as they are displayed when F.L.U.D.D. scans Mario are as follows: MARIO BROS, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and Super Mario Sunshine ("KART" is misspelled "KIRT" in the game titles for Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, which is likely due to a mistranslation of the kā syllable in their Japanese titles).
- During the cutscene at Pinna Park, F.L.U.D.D. is revealed to have the Gadd Science Inc. logo at the base of its nozzle. However, this is the only time F.L.U.D.D. is shown to have it present.
- During development, F.L.U.D.D. was planned to feature a water gun nozzle, but the idea was scrapped due to controversy in the United States at the time.
