Rip Van Fish

From SMWiki

The official Super Mario World artwork for the Rip Van Fish

Rip Van Fish are an underwater enemy in Super Mario World. Their name is derived from Rip Van Winkle, who slept for 20 years in a famous Washington Irving story.

[edit] General Information

Rip Van Fish live in the waters of Dinosaur Land. Normally, they sleep soundly, slowly drifting downwards and letting out "Z's" which float up and pop. If Mario swims near them, however, they wake up and begin to chase him. They swim at about the same speed as Mario, but he can outswim them by tricking them into getting stuck behind walls. If they lose Mario's trail for a few seconds, they will fall back asleep.

If a Whistlin' Chuck has whistled, Rip Van Fish does not wait for Mario to get near to start chasing him. Often great swarms of them are located around Whistlin' Chucks, and they will flock after Mario without relenting.

Rip Van Fish seem to be a replacement of sorts for Bloopers, which do not appear in Super Mario World. They are not limited by Blooper's rising and falling swimming pattern, but since they share the similarity of following Mario, some hackers give them Blooper graphics.

[edit] Hacking Information

Rip Van Fish are usually used in underwater levels. Sprite bouyancy must be turned on for them to be able to swim. Interestingly, they can also be used on land. While they cannot chase Mario from all directions like they can in water, they still quickly follow him along the ground. (Not unlike a Monty Mole) Trying to stomp them will hurt Mario, but he can use a spin jump to bounce safely off of them. If Mario leads them into a pool of water, they will not be able to come back out.

[edit] Related ROM Addresses