Lakitu

Lakitu is a Koopa Troopa with a green shell, orange or yellow body, glasses with thick black frames, and is usually seen flying in a cloud bearing a smiling face. In its role as an enemy character, Lakitu typically flies about and throws Spiny Eggs at Mario, although variant types employ other attack patterns. The Spiny eggs hatch into Spiny, a small, red, spike-backed Koopa creature, that is thrown indefinitely until the Lakitu is defeated. Depending on the game, the Lakitu's Cloud can be ridden for a limited time after it is defeated. When asked what video game character would represent him the best, Shigeru Miyamoto responded that Lakitu would, as he "seems to be very free, floating in the air, going anywhere," a type of personality Miyamoto can apparently relate to.

Lakitu first appears in Super Mario Bros., and goes on to be an enemy in various platformers and RPGs. Lakitu plays a neutral role in a number of Mario-series titles. This trend began with Super Mario Kart. Here Lakitu flies about the Mario Grand Prix racetrack and aids the go-kart drivers who race there. The Lakitu Brothers in Super Mario 64 are another example; they hold the camera that "films" Mario's exploits, thus personifying the player's point of view of the three-dimensional game stages. However, in later worlds, there are Lakitu that still attack you with Spiny Eggs. Additionally, in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time for Nintendo DS, a Lakitu with a camera shows the player how to use the map on the upper screen (the game being played on the DS' lower screen).