Lightning Bolt



The Lighting Bolt is an item from the Mario Kart series.

Item description
The Lightning Bolt is an item that debuted in the original Super Mario Kart game for the SNES. The Lightning Bolt can be retrieved from an item box. They take the appearance of a miniature sized lightning bolt. In the Mario Kart series, the Lightning Bolts function is almost unchanged. The Lightning Bolt will generally slow shrink the size of the other racers and decrease the speed of their karts. However, the Lightning Bolt has different side effects in each Mario Kart game. In Super Mario Kart, when a character passes a miniature opponent after using the Lightning Bolt, the opponent will spin out. While in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the Lightning Bolt will shrink all other racers.

In the Super Smash Brothers series''
The Lightning Bolt appears as an item in Brawl. The Lightning Bolt in this game is most likely based off of the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! one. When used, it will shrink everybody to minimal size except the one that used it. However, the item can backfire as well, resulting in the player who picked up the item grow small instead or making the other characters size increase (similar to the effects of the Poison Mushroom). Unlike other items, the Lightning Bolt requires a character to simply make contact with it in order to gain its effect. The Lightning Bolt also appears as a collectible trophy.

Trophy description
''An item that goes off the moment you touch it. It may shrink every other character on the screen. Tiny players suffer a reduction in their attack power and become easier to send flying. After a set amount of time, all the characters will return to their normal sizes. In the Mario Kart series, all players but the item user shrunk, and got flattened when run over.''


 * Super Mario Kart (1992)
 * Mario Kart 64 (1997)