Mario Fans Argue Over What To Call The Blue Shell Thanks To Movie Reference

thegamer.com:

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is quite rightly being celebrated for how faithful it is to the source material and for how many references it managed to cram into 90 minutes. However, there's one moment in the film that has left long-time fans arguing over what a certain Mario Kart item should be called. The flying shell that can be used to take out whoever is leading the race. Is it a blue shell or a spiny shell?

Mild spoilers for the Mario movie ahead. There's a section of the film where a large chunk of the cast is racing down Rainbow Road, Mario Kart-style. Fearing a loss to the good guys, a Koopa Troopa launches a blue shell at Mario, sending the plumber and Donkey Kong down into the sea below. We've all been there except in the film, Latiku wasn't on hand to save them.

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That moment has sparked debate because the item that sends Mario and DK plummeting into the water is referred to as a blue shell. Even though that's likely what most of you have been calling them for years (I know I have) turns out that's not what the shells are officially known as. They're actually spiny shells, and there's a lot of evidence backing that up.

Turns out the item has been referred to as the spiny shell ever since it was first introduced to the Mushroom Kingdom in Mario Kart 64. A picture of the item can be found in the game's instruction booklet and right there above it is its name, spiny shell. It has seemingly been called that in every Mario Kart game since, right up to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which includes a Spiny Shell Cup.

While there's an argument to be made that the item being referred to as a blue shell in the Mario movie has changed the lore