Lakitu ( or ), known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the
Mario franchise. Created by
Shigeru Miyamoto, it first appeared in the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) video game
Super Mario Bros., where it dropped enemies called
Spinies on the stage. It has a striped green shell, wears aviator goggles, and rides around in a smiling
cloud. It has since appeared in several main
Mario titles since, as well as
Mario spin-off titles, notably the
Mario Kart series where it acts as the referee and a playable character in
Mario Kart 7 and
Mario Kart 8. He has appeared in non-
Mario titles, including the
Super Smash Bros. series, specifically
Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His most recent appearance in the
Mario series was in
Super Mario Maker.
