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** Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game. It is most promently heard during the first fight with Bowser and when you enter of Metro kingdom.
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** Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game. It is most promently prominently heard during the first fight with Bowser and when you enter of the Metro kingdom.Kingdom.
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** Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game.
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** Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game. It is most promently heard during the first fight with Bowser and when you enter of Metro kingdom.
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* InexplicableStreasureChests: Many unopened treasure chests are located in caves, atop of pillars and other weird locations. These can contain things like coins or even moons.
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* InexplicableStreasureChests: InexplicableTreasureChests: Many unopened treasure chests are located in caves, atop of pillars and other weird locations. These can contain things like coins or even moons.
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* InexplicableStreasureChests: Many unopened treasure chests are located in caves, atop of pillars and other weird locations. These can contain things like coins or even moons.
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** Mario's dancing animation has him swinging his arms from side to side; in other words, doing "[[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow The Mario]]".
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** Mario's dancing animation has him swinging his arms from side to side; in other words, doing "[[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow The Mario]]". Additionally, Pauline's number is about "doing the Odyessy".
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Crosswicking
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* InevitableTournament: Downplayed. In the Snow Kingdom, there is a race mentioned by all the Shiverians and how much they look forward to it. And of course, Mario can participate in it. However, while it's necessary to restore peace in the kingdom, it isn't strictly necessary to beat the game.
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*** The moon is always visible in the sky of every kingdom not set on the moon, even in locations set in the day.
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*** The moon is always visible in the sky of every kingdom not set on the moon, even in locations set in during the day.
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*** Looking at the moon in each world will also let you know how many moons you have left to collect there.
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*** The moon is always visible in the sky of every kingdom not set on the moon, even in locations set in the day.
*** Looking at themoon Power Moon counter in each world will also let you know how many moons you have left to collect there.
*** Looking at the
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** The Seaside Kingdom is based on the French Riviera, with snails wearing berets as the main characters and a huge champagne flute as the main landscape feature. Moreover, the boss fought here has a French name, and so do a few of the missions (''Bonjour, Dorrie!'' and ''Merci, Dorrie!'').
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** The Seaside Kingdom is based on the French Riviera, with snails wearing berets as the main characters and a huge champagne flute as the main landscape feature. Moreover, Adding on to the theme, the boss fought here has a French name, and so do a few of the missions (''Bonjour, Dorrie!'' and ''Merci, Dorrie!'').
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* HandsLookingWrong: The first time Mario uses Cappy's possession powers on a frog, the player is shown a 1st person cutscene of Mario looking down at the ground and realising his hands have turned into a frog's front feet.
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I don't know if the side-scrolling 8-bit sections have an official term/name or not.
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* HelpfulMook: The usually antagonistic Koopa Troopa and Lakitu enemies actually appear as friendly [=NPCs=]. The former often gives Mario challenges, including [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Koopa the Quick]]-type races, while Lakitus can be captured to fish up hidden items. Other [=NPCs=] in the area also don't react in fear if Mario approaches while capturing a Lakitu as they would when he captures other mooks near them.
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* HelpfulMook: The usually antagonistic Koopa Troopa and Lakitu enemies actually appear as friendly [=NPCs=]. The former often gives Mario challenges, including [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Koopa the Quick]]-type races, while Lakitus can be captured to fish up hidden items. Other [=NPCs=] in the area also don't react in fear if Mario approaches while capturing a Lakitu as they would when he captures other mooks near them. While hostile Koopas are still present in the game, it is only in the form of their 8-bit counterparts in wall platforming segments.
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* Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game.
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* Bowser and his minions have a distinct motif that's heard throughout the game.
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Not an Excuse Plot. It starts with the same premise of “save the princess”, but adds a lot more details. Bowser is planning an extravagant wedding and stealing items from across the world, one of those items is the sister of Mario’s companion, Bowser confronts and attempts to stop Mario multiple times, and there’s a gang of sadistic wedding planners wreaking havoc trying to murder the heroes. It’s not the deepest thing ever, but Odyssey’s plot has a lot more going on than usual and goes through the effort of trying to add context to each world; and unlike Sunshine, the plot actually carries through to the end.
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* ExcusePlot: The princess has been kidnapped again. What more do you need?
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Re-commenting out Zero Context Example.
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* FascinatingEyebrow: Cappy makes this face while cycling through his idle animation, as well as on the game's official artwork.
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%%* FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler:Peach and Tiara, if the way they always appear together in various places during the post-game is anything to go by.]]
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** The Luncheon Kingdom is based on Italy, namely the facts that it's famous for its cuisine and is volcanically active. It also has ancient Roman architecture, and cans of tomatoes lying around in addition to living tomato enemies.
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** The Luncheon Kingdom is based on Italy, namely the facts most obvious in that it's famous for its cuisine and is volcanically active. It also has Once you unlock Peronza Plaza the connection is even clearer, with a soundtrack proudly featuring the mandelin and accordion ([[EverythingIsAnInstrument among other things]]), ancient Roman architecture, and cans of tomatoes lying around in addition to living tomato enemies.enemies. Its original Japanese name - Borubōno - is even a pun combining "volcano" with "buono", Italian for "good."
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%%* FascinatingEyebrow: Cappy makes this face every so often, even in the official artwork.
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** In several Kingdoms, there are also mini-bosses called Yoofoes, which Mario can fight by stacking Goombas high enough to stomp on top of them.
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ENL misuse + new trope
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* EyesNeverLie: Among the other changes enemies receive when Mario takes over them (his hat and mustache), most enemies will also inherit his blue eyes, either by gaining more detail to have irises or by their colored eyes changing to blue. Even Lava Bubbles, who gain no color and little detail when Mario Captures them, still have smaller, friendlier dot eyes when Mario's face replaces theirs.
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* EyesNeverLie: EyeDentityGiveaway: Among the other changes enemies receive when Mario takes over them (his hat and mustache), most enemies will also inherit his blue eyes, either by gaining more detail to have irises or by their colored eyes changing to blue. Even Lava Bubbles, who gain no color and little detail when Mario Captures captures them, still have smaller, friendlier dot eyes when Mario's face replaces theirs.
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Removing per Wick Cleaning Projects
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%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
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** In Bowser's Kingdom, the torches actually light up in sync to the music. Watch them and listen to when the music flares up, and the flames flare up at the same time.
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** While the game does use the exploration-based gameplay of ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', the game does not boot players out of the level after collecting a Power Moon, making it more similar to collectathons like ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Also in that vein, there are no selectable story missions for each moon — instead, the area's plot advances permanently upon collecting certain primary objective moons. This also means that one cannot redo certain major objectives or refight certain bosses, until the rematches in the post-game, including the Dark Side for the Broodals and the Moon Kingdom on re-visit for Bowser.
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** While the game does use the exploration-based gameplay of ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', the game does not boot players out of the level after collecting a Power Moon, making it more similar to collectathons like ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Also in that vein, there are no selectable story missions for each moon — instead, the area's plot advances permanently upon collecting certain primary objective moons. This also means that one cannot redo certain major objectives or refight certain bosses, until [[spoiler:until the rematches in the post-game, including the Dark Side for the Broodals and the Moon Kingdom on re-visit for Bowser.Bowser]].
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** A side area in New Donk City has Mario escape from a ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a New York-esque city, much like in [[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 the live-action movie]].[[note]]The ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' cartoon also features the Mario brothers running into dinosaurs on occasion, justifying the location being called "Dinosaur Land".[[/note]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere No explanation]] is given as to why [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a T-Rex is running around]] in an area [[RuleOfFunny inspired by New York City]].
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** A side area in New Donk City has Mario escape from a ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a New York-esque city, much like in [[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 the live-action movie]].[[note]]The ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' ''WesternAnimation/{{Super Mario World|1991}}'' cartoon also features the Mario brothers running into dinosaurs on occasion, justifying the location being called "Dinosaur Land".[[/note]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere No explanation]] is given as to why [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a T-Rex is running around]] in an area [[RuleOfFunny inspired by New York City]].
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--> You can view the main page [[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey HERE!]]
---> Tropes A-D [[SuperMarioOdyssey/TropesAToD HERE!]]
---> Tropes N-Z [[SuperMarioOdyssey/TropesNToZ HERE!]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:E]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: A meta example. The game was one of many then-unannounced titles shown in the Nintendo Switch's reveal trailer, with a woman playing through Tostarena, two months before the game got its official reveal. The two-player mode is also hinted at in this trailer, with that mode not being revealed until eight months later.
* EarthDrift: ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' has now been retconned into taking place in New Donk City rather than Brooklyn on Earth.
* EasterEgg:
** Every kingdom has a hidden [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Pixel Cat Mario and Pixel Cat Peach]] sticker located somewhere. Hitting them with your cap will cause them to dispense coins and a Heart, respectively. There's also a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Pixel Rosalina]] sticker located in both Rabbit Ridge and Culmina Crater.
** In Toastarena, you can throw Cappy at round cacti, and they will dispense coins when they hit the ground and burst. If you knock a cactus into another cactus, a chain reaction will occur where the cactus you hit will launch the next cactus upon making contact, and so forth. When you do a chain this way, the second cactus onward will start playing the Red Coin sound effect from previous ''Mario'' games, and upon breaking four cacti in a chain, the last one will play the relevant fanfare.
** Bowser's dialogue during the confrontation at the wedding will change depending on what Mario is wearing. For example, Bowser will attempt to bribe Mario to go away if he's wearing the Wario outfit.
** Bouncing on the Odyssey's globe repeatedly will play a music box version of either the Cascade Kingdom's theme, or "Jump Up, Super Star!", depending on if you're in one of the Kingdoms before the Metro Kingdom, or if you're in the Metro Kingdom onward.
** If you use the Photo Mode to zoom in on Hint Toad's brochure, you'll find that it's one for ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''[='=]s Bob-omb Battlefield. Zooming in on the newspapers in New Donk City will show one of the T-rexes that appear in the game, and on the New Donkers' laptops, you can see some kind of article discussing the Moon Rock in the Sand Kingdom.
** The version 1.2.0 added another one: if you ground pound the spot marked by some new Hint Art shared by Nintendo on their social networks, you'll find [[spoiler:a hidden 8-Bit Luigi or Captain Toad which gives you 200 coins]].
** Certain Moons are barred by [=NPCs=] who won't let Mario into the rooms they oversee until he's dressed to fit the area, which is usually solved by buying the area's primary or only exclusive outfit with the region's purple coins. However, for some of these objectives, some other costumes will also work, but they're less intuitive due to being so expensive, and only one of them being available before the postgame. However, you can enter the rooms for fun any time if you're dressed right, so these are likely just as nods to curious players and not expected to be players' first solutions.
*** In the Sand Kingdom, you're supposed to buy and wear a sombrero and poncho to enter a party room, but you can also buy the extremely expensive skeleton outfit in the postgame to fit the skeletal Tostarenans' dress code.
*** In the Lake Kingdom, you're meant to get the full swim costume to enter the shop display, but the boxer shorts, the most expensive outfit before the postgame, also qualify as swimwear and will get you in.
*** The Sunshine outfit in the postgame can be used as an alternative to the resort outfit in the Seaside Kingdom due to it being Mario's vacation wear from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''.
** If you jab a metal box with a Pokio's beak over a hundred times, it will actually break. However, this is tedious and it's not very practical, as it's never the only or intended way to break them. As such, it's just a little secret for curious players.
** In the Goomba version of Picture Match, putting Mario's eyes and moustache on the Goomba face will have the overseeing Toad remark that it looks like Mario capturing a Goomba, but you'll still get failed for it.
* EquippableAlly: Much like in ''Galaxy'', Mario gets a new companion inhabiting his hat that gives him a new ability. This time, it's the hat ghost Cappy, allowing him to do all sorts of crazy things with his hat.
* ErmineCapeEffect: Peach averts this during her post-game vacation, as she wears various weather-appropriate outfits in the various kingdoms (including a swimsuit for the Lake and Seaside Kingdoms). None of these outfits even include her trademark crown. She changes back into her standard dress once she becomes a static [=NPC=], but her outfit is randomly chosen from her classic outfit and her travel ones each time the game is loaded afterward.
* EternalEngine: There are plenty of machines to be found in the Wooded Kingdom, as well as in the energy plant of Metro Kingdom. In both worlds, Mario can find and possess a tank enemy known as Sherm, which is capable of shooting projectiles to attack other enemies and destroy certain walls, and in the latter level this is used to defeat the boss Mechawiggler to restore peace in New Donk City.
* EverythingIsAnInstrument: The Peronza Plaza music in the Luncheon Kingdom, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLM8G_zjJcY this behind the scenes video shows]], uses the sounds of knives hitting a cutting board and a ladle hitting a metal pot lid as the sole percussion, to go along with the locale's LevelAte theming.
* ExcusePlot: The princess has been kidnapped again. What more do you need?
* ExposedToTheElements: Mario can run around Shiveria in the Boxer Shorts and impress one of the locals enough to get a Power Moon.
* ExpositoryThemeTune: Rather than describing the plot, "Jump Up, Super Star!" describes the ''gameplay'' of ''Odyssey'', from jumping, collecting coins, and other typical ''Mario'' elements to [[WideOpenSandbox the exploration and freedom available to the player]]. Mixes with ThematicThemeTune, as the lyrics encourage the listener to get out and explore their own world.
* ExtraEyes: The Mechawiggler has five red eyes that glow.
* EyeCam: When Cappy does his first Capture on a frog, we get a view through Mario's eyes as he's opening them before realizing what just happened.
* EyesNeverLie: Among the other changes enemies receive when Mario takes over them (his hat and mustache), most enemies will also inherit his blue eyes, either by gaining more detail to have irises or by their colored eyes changing to blue. Even Lava Bubbles, who gain no color and little detail when Mario Captures them, still have smaller, friendlier dot eyes when Mario's face replaces theirs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:F]]
* FairytaleWeddingDress: The Lochlady Dress, which Bowser steals from the Lake Kingdom for Peach to wear at the wedding. It's shown after the escape sequence following the final boss fight that the dress comes with appropriately-colored high heels thanks to camera angle as Peach uses her slow-descent ability.
* FakeLongevity: The only way to get the maximum moon count of 999 is to grind up an extra 11,900 coins to spend at Crazy Cap to make it happen, as there are only 880 actual moons in the game. Fortunately, coins are easy to hoard over the course of the game, especially after the Balloon World update, and by the time you can buy multiple moons from Crazy Cap, you'll have than likely have amassed enough coins to get a headstart.
* FallingDamage: Unlike ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', you can hit the ground from any height and Mario will be fine, although he will be briefly staggered by a high enough fall when he lands. It's a good thing, too, as the levels can get rather vertical, and Mario has only three hit points by default.
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: One of the Capturable enemy types is the Sherm, which is a ''tank'' that could almost pass off for a real one (almost; they still have headlamp eyes). So, of course, they fire fancy, firework-like shells with rainbow-colored trails, that look silly even by the standards of a franchise where cannon shells tend to have googly eyes and arms.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Cookatiel suffers this after being defeated, falling into the pot of Stupendous Stew and ''boiling alive'' in it, complete with sizzling sounds and bubbles surfacing from where it fell in before [[DefeatEqualsExplosion finally exploding in it.]]
* FantasticFireworks: After defeating the [=RoboBrood=], the mecha blows up, propelling it high up into the air before exploding in big fireworks representing all four Broodals cringing in pain.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Most of the game's settings are based on real-life locations:
** The Cap Kingdom is based on London. It's a densely foggy town, its inhabitants are famous for travelling the world, the backdrop of the level is blocky Victorian architecture, and the top hat is a signature of the town.
** According to Kenta Motokura, the Sand Kingdom was inspired by his own trip to Mexico. This is showcased by the town with sombrero-wearing, sugar skull-headed residents and the {{Mayincatec}} pyramid with its boss Knucklotec.
** Lake Lamode seems to be an amalgam of France (its name is based on ''à la mode'', the country is known for fashion, and the Lochladies speak vaguely French-sounding gibberish) and Greece (the overall architectural style and segmented island-like topography).
** Though there's no hint of it in the final game, the Steam Gardens were originally named Kogwald, which would make the Wooded Kingdom based on German forests ("wald" means "forest" in German). This would be supported by the kingdom's advanced technology; it's German engineering.
** While the lack of civilization doesn't make it clear, Forgotten Isle is based on the jungles of Southeast Asia, according to Rikuto Yoshida in the official artbook of the game. Its music makes this a bit more apparent, as it's based on gamelan, a traditional Indonesian form of music.
** New Donk City is pretty transparently based on New York City in the United States of America, with its high rise buildings and large population of suited businessmen and women.
** Shiveria seems mostly inspired by Scandinavia (with large harp seals wearing traditional knitwear and living in Scandinavian-style wood housing), with a little bit of Russia (as one of its souvenirs is a set of nesting dolls) as well as Antarctica (due to the presence of penguins and the glaciers surrounding the area).
** The Seaside Kingdom is based on the French Riviera, with snails wearing berets as the main characters and a huge champagne flute as the main landscape feature. Moreover, the boss fought here has a French name, and so do a few of the missions (''Bonjour, Dorrie!'' and ''Merci, Dorrie!'').
** The Luncheon Kingdom is based on Italy, namely the facts that it's famous for its cuisine and is volcanically active. It also has ancient Roman architecture, and cans of tomatoes lying around in addition to living tomato enemies.
** Bowser's Kingdom is a painstakingly accurate Japanese castle, with 3 concentric walls (accurately called "maru" in the Japanese version), yagura towers, arrow holes, and even a traditional Japanese garden with a tea house where the level's Crazy Cap is located. Mario can obtain accurate samurai armor and Japanese festival clothing by spending traditional Japanese ''ryō'', the 2D platforming section is a traditional set of Japanese screens, some of the sound effects are replaced by a samisen, the enemies wear traditional Japanese ''jingasa'' and ''sandogasa'' hats, and you can capture ''jizo'' statues common throughout Japan. The main keep is guarded by thunder and wind guardian statues found at Japanese temples and shrines, there are two large shrine buildings visible in the castle, and the entire level is filled with waving Japanese battle flags and festival banners.
%%* FascinatingEyebrow: Cappy makes this face every so often, even in the official artwork.
* FinishingStomp: At the beginning of the story, Mario and Bowser fight on the latter's airship above Peach's Castle, with the Koopa King coming out on top by throwing his hat like a boomerang and landing a hit on the plumber, sending him flying and causing him to lose his hat in the process. It lands in front of Bowser's feet, who stomps on it before gloating about his impending marriage to Peach and letting it glide away to be shredded to bits by the ship's propellers as he flies off to make his preparations.
%%* FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler:Peach and Tiara, if the way they always appear together in various places during the post-game is anything to go by.]]
* FlyingFlightlessBird: Each level has different small birds roaming them; they fly away as Mario approaches. The birds in Shiveria are tiny penguins, which fly just as well as the others.
* FlyingSaucer:
** A big, daisy-like [=UFO=] named Torkdrift appears as a boss in Steam Gardens, where he is found [[IllFatedFlowerbed vacuuming all the flowers from the secret flower fields]].
** Much, much smaller flying saucers appear in [[spoiler:both the Moon Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom]], acting like the various birds from other regions. Close inspection reveals that they are miniature Torkdrifts, with a single white flower inside of them.
** Also, when the Broodals get hit, they retreat into their hats, making them look like miniature flying saucers. Fitting, since they actually come from the Moon.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III, the gigantic octopus boss fought in Bubblaine, hovers above the water during the fight between him and Mario.
* FloatingPlatforms: While some platforms are contextual, others hang mid-air. Floating platforms are most prominent in abstract areas.
* AFoggyDayInLondonTown: Bonneton in the Cap Kingdom seems to be based on London, and it's just as foggy as its real-life counterpart.
* FollowTheMoney: In addition to the traditional yellow coins, each kingdom (except the Cloud Kingdom, Ruined Kingdom, Dark Side, and Darker Side) has 50 or 100 purple coins that act as local currency. They're different in each world: the Metro Kingdom has purple pennies, the Sand Kingdom uses coins modeled after the Inverted Pyramid, the Luncheon Kingdom has tomatoes, the Wooded Kingdom uses mechanical nuts, and so on.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Within the Sand Kingdom, the ancient architecture contains carvings everywhere of a face and some fists amid jewels and Jaxis. It turns out that face and the fists are the three pieces of Knucklotec, the guardian and boss of the ancient kingdom.
** The finale taking place on the moon is heavily hinted at throughout the game:
*** The moon is very prominent in cutscenes and on the world map, and the main collectibles are moons.
*** Looking at the moon in each world will also let you know how many moons you have left to collect there.
*** In any cutscene where Bowser's airship is present, the last shot of the airship is it heading in the direction of the moon in the sky. Ditto for any travel eastward made by Mario.
*** The song "Jump Up, Super Star!" features the line, "Oh we can zoom all the way to the moon / From this great wide wacky world", though it may be hard to notice as the song is first heard in-game during a coin-heavy 2D section.
*** In Japanese folklore, the image of a rabbit can be seen on the moon's surface, instead of the face that Western audiences see; the miniboss squad are a group of rabbits, who are revealed to be from the moon.
** [[spoiler:Mario and Bowser vying for Peach's hand was foreshadowed by the poses of the Wedding amiibo, and [[https://www.pidgi.net/wiki/File:Mario,_Peach_and_Bowser_-_Super_Mario_Odyssey.png the corresponding official art]].]]
** At various points during the Broodals' battles, they'll weaponize their hats, and once the hats start spinning, they take on a distinct resemblance to flying saucers. Fitting, as the Broodals are from the Moon.
** The very first Power Moon you get is encased in a structure that has weird silver squares poking out of it. Those are moon rocks.
* FrenchAccordion: While the Seaside Kingdom is refreshingly subtle in its French references, based on the French Riviera instead of Paris, its bossa nova music manages to slip in an accordion part near the end of the loop.
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Try Frothy Ocean of Water, as the Seaside Kingdom has an ocean of "fizzy water" that the boss creature is trying to suck up. Given the cork-popping symbolism of the cannon fountains, and the wedding themes of all the other stolen items, this is family-friendly champagne.
* FryingPanOfDoom: In the Luncheon Kingdom, Hammer Bros. throw pans at Mario.
* FunnyRobot: The Steam Gardeners, who talk about flowers and silly stuff in RoboSpeak.
-->"We are programmed to grow flowers. The flowers are programmed to grow."\\
"The Steam Gardens are objectively superior to other regions! Wooo."
* FurryConfusion: The Dark Side is home to normal rabbits and the Broodals, who are FunnyAnimal rabbits.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G]]
* GameBreakingBug: If you capture a stack of Goombas and touch a Life-Up Heart at the same time, most of the game will freeze, allowing Mario to run around without getting hit or respawning, but because objects' interactivity is disabled by the freeze, progress is barred, and falling off the level means falling forever with no death to reset things. (No, you cannot open up the menu in this state.)
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: It's noted that the Crazy Cap in Bowser's Kingdom doesn't get a lot of customers. Sure enough in the postgame unlike the other Kingdoms, no tourists are seen wandering around aside from Peach.
* GatelessGhetto: New Donk City is a sprawling metropolis... of about seven or eight blocks at best, surrounded by Bottomless Pits. More of the city is visible in the distance, past the pits, but the only part you're allowed to visit is a tiny group of buildings situated on top of a huge concrete block in the middle of what appears to be a harbor.
* GenreThrowback: While the previous "course-clear" style 3D ''Mario'' games (''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', and the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 duology]]) were driven by linear level design meant to mirror the 2D classics, this game features bigger, more open worlds akin to ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. [[note]]The ''Super Mario Galaxy'' games did have a few open-ended levels, but those were the exception rather than the rule.[[/note]]
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The Ruined Dragon. How did Bowser know where to find it and why did it agree to help him interfere with Mario? It shows up for one battle and then immediately vacates the story (though you can visit it again during the post-game). It also has a completely different aesthetic from the rest of the game, adding to its feeling of being out of place.
* GirlsStareAtSceneryBoysStareAtGirls: During the post-game, you can find two Bubblainian tourists, one male and one female, in the Lake Kingdom. The female one is commenting on the beautiful scenery, while the male says that he only has [[{{Pun}} eyestalks]] for the female.
* GlobalAirship: The eponymous ''Odyssey'', after being repaired in Cascade Kingdom, allows Mario and Cappy to travel from kingdom to kingdom to chase Bowser and foil his plan to forcefully marry Princess Peach. They do need to gather Power Moons to fuel the vehicle, but as they do so the balloon-like orb on top of it will gradually fill up. By the end of the game, when they have enough Power Moons to unlock the BrutalBonusLevel, the orb is ''massive''.
* GlobalCurrencyException: Each world's Crazy Cap shop has a counter that uses the standard golden coins, and another that only accepts the purple coins specific to each world.
* GoFetch: You can play this with the Shiba Inu pups, using Cappy in lieu of a ball or Frisbee.
* GoldenEnding: The Darker Side features a surprise ending sequence when you finally reach the end of the course, where, as you ascend the skyscraper, Cappy reflects on the adventures he and Mario had together. As you climb the pillar to the top, a music box rendition of Cascade Kingdom starts playing, and keeps slowing down the higher you go until you collect the Multi Moon. It really emphasizes this being the "Long Journey's End."
* TheGoomba: Micro-Goombas take on the role of the first, easiest-to-deal-with enemy; they're also too small to be Captured. Actual Goombas are a Capture target, as are Paragoombas.
* GoombaSpringboard: At the ending, [[spoiler:Mario jumps on Bowser to reach the Odyssey in the sky]].
* GorgeousGarmentGeneration: Before taking off for the Moon Kingdom, Cappy changes Mario's clothes into a white tuxedo. If you didn't have the amiibo to get it early, this is when you obtain Mario's wedding outfit.
* GrandTheftMe: By throwing Cappy, Mario can Capture things to temporarily hijack them. He can do this on frogs, Goombas, Koopas, Cheep Cheeps, the RC car-controlling citizens of New Donk City[[note]]every single other New Donker has a hat[[/note]], and even a ''T. rex''. Even inanimate objects aren't immune: trees, binoculars, taxis, enemy tanks, and manhole covers can come under his control. [[spoiler:And Bowser himself, when he loses the only protection he has and is unconscious but needed to break the group out of the caverns they're trapped in.]]
* GreenHillZone:
** Cascade Kingdom mixes this with {{Prehistoria}} as, on top of being a grassy hill with waterfalls, it houses two dinosaurs (one outdoors in the Fossil Falls and the other in a cave); it is actually the second world visited in the game. In comparison, Cap Kingdom (the true first world) is more of a tutorial area and a Gray Hill Zone (mixed with BigBoosHaunt).
** At the very end, the game features [[spoiler:Mushroom Kingdom, featuring Peach's Castle from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', accessible after Bowser is defeated for the last time]].
* GrimyWater: Poison water can be found in at least one sub-area of most kingdoms, in isolated "lakes" in the Sand Kingdom, in moats in Bowser's Kingdom, and utterly surrounding the Lost Kingdom. Per tradition, falling into it is instantly fatal.
* GroinAttack: It's how you take down old-school Donkey Kong during the final 8-bit segment in the New Donk City festival. And Bowser, for that matter; due to the height difference, when you put on his boxing glove hat, it essentially results in Mario punching Bowser in the balls.
* GuideDangIt:
** There is no way to get hints for the local currency locations without the Bowser amiibo. If you don't have one, better hope you like poking your nose into every single nook and cranny looking for those last few coins.
** The Hint Art Moons. Barring those that feature Poochy, which are screenshots of actual overworld locations (and not even those are very helpful sometimes), some of the Hint Art can be ''very'' obtuse, ranging from hard-to-read illusions to spot-the-difference puzzles (the difference marking the spot, of course). Hint Art Moons also count as a different Kingdom's Moon than the one they're found in, meaning that using Uncle amiibo or Hint Toad won't do you any good. The "bonus" Hint Art images released online and through the Switch's news feature are even tougher, but they just grant coin rewards and aren't needed for getting a hundred percent completion.
** A handful of Captures don't tell you all the possible moves you can execute, or that there are alternate ways of executing others. Some examples of the former include the game never stating that you can spin as a Pokio by shaking the Joy-Con, which functions as a DoubleJump when jumping normally, a sweeping attack when your beak is extended on the ground, and as a high-jump when your nose is embedded in a wall, or explaining that both Cheep Cheeps can do a dashing spin by pressing the dive and surface buttons at the same time. For an example of the latter, when you're a Spark Pylon (the electricity wires), you can pick up coins and collectibles around the wires by pressing any button in addition to shaking the controller. Some of these cases can be found out by experimenting, but it isn't always easy to guess.
** There is a Power Moon found in Steam Gardens's Deep Woods that involves Capturing a Coin Coffer, then finding a sapling and spitting ''700 coins'' at it (granted, the sapling is surrounded by a few coins lying in the brook, and uncollectable coins never appear anywhere else). Even if you've stumbled onto every step but the last, it takes a particularly persistent and stubborn player to keep at it for ''that'' long, especially since there's no visible progress after about one-fifth of the way through. Also, just entering the Deep Woods requires [[ViolationOfCommonSense jumping off the edge of the level in the landing area]], which would kill Mario in any other kingdom.
** In various kingdoms, to get a specific Power Moon, you need to use binoculars to look in the sky at the flying ships in the background. But one of those ships is actually a ''taxi'' (or, in the postgame, the Sphynx) and you have to stare at it for a few seconds. You would not even think of doing that the first time you're in the kingdom.
** The Power Moon ''On The Eastern Pillar'' is a bit tricky, and if you try all the Bullet Bills in the Sand Kingdom, their time limits don't get them close enough to break the block the Moon is hidden in. What you're supposed to do is to capture a Bullet Bill, wait a bit so it shoots another, lure it to one of the pillars to the right of the ruins (on the map), jump out of the original Bill, capture the second Bill before it explodes, and go as fast as you can to break the block and get the moon.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H]]
* HailfirePeaks: Many of the levels were designed with this kind of contrast in mind.
** The Cap Kingdom, the first level of the game, is a unique combination of GreenHillZone and BigBoosHaunt. It's essentially your typical first ''Mario'' level, but painted black. It works because the resident ghosts are friendly, and the spookiness stops at its colors and residents.
** The Cascade Kingdom is a [[GreenHillZone grassy plain]] with lots of [[{{Prehistoria}} dinosaurs]], both living and [[RibcageRidge dead]].
** The Sand Kingdom is (obviously) a [[ShiftingSandLand desert area]] with heavy {{Mayincatec}} influences and several [[SlippySlideyIceWorld masses of ice.]]
** The Wooded Kingdom is a [[TheLostWoods large forest]] filled with [[RemilitarizedZone vaguely military-looking]] [[EternalEngine machinery]].
** The Lost Kingdom is a [[JungleJapes tropical jungle]] surrounded by [[BubblegloopSwamp poisonous swamp water]], though these two settings are frequently combined in video games.
** The Snow Kingdom is a [[SlippySlideyIceWorld snow-and-ice world]], but has a [[AthleticArenaLevel racetrack]] that dominates the playable area by land size and is the central trait of Shiverian culture.
** The Luncheon Kingdom seems to be a LevelAte, but all the food-based objects are heavily stylized and polygonal, and [[LethalLavaLand the place has an active volcano]] that erupts [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid bright pink lava]].
** The Moon Kingdom and the Darker Side of the Moon are SpaceZone combined with LethalLavaLand in the underground areas.
** The Dark Side of the Moon is a combination of SpaceZone and LevelAte, with giant stone vegetables.
* HairRaisingHare: The Broodals, a group of fancy-dressed but mean-looking rabbits who serve as Bowser's [[TheDragon personal wedding planners]].
* HairReboot: After the FinalBoss, when Bowser flies into a wall and his tuxedo explodes off of him, his hair, which had previously been coiffed for the wedding, goes back to his usual mohawk.
* HatOfPower: [[IconicItem Mario's Cap]] was just really spiffy before, but now it has eyes, courtesy of its inhabitant, Cappy. He gives the hat the utility of functioning like a boomerang weapon, and as an object that Mario can throw, then jump on, to use as a springboard. And of course, Mario can [[GrandTheftMe Capture]] things using his hat, too.
* HeartContainer: The gold-crowned hearts extend Mario's life meter from 3 to 6 hit points, but losing the extra health will revert the maximum to the standard 3. Fortunately, the hearts allow the effect to be carried over across levels.
* HeartsAreHealth: Rather unusually for the series, there are heart items to heal you instead of hit points being restored by a coin each, and there are also Life-Up Hearts which add three temporary hit points like the ''Galaxy'' Life Mushrooms. This is likely because the amount of coins in the game is greater, more comparable to the 2D ''Mario'' formula, and as such, they'd make healing too easy. Checkpoint flags (when first activated), Moons, and returns to the Odyssey will also heal Mario.
* HeCleansUpNicely:
** Bowser cuts a rather striking figure in his [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:SMO_Art_-_Bowser.png white wedding outfit]]. The in-game description for Mario's version of said outfit even states that Bowser cleans up nicely for a fire-breathing monster covered in spikes, while Bowser himself will compliment you on your choice of clothing before the final fight.
** Mario's [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:SMO_Art_-_Wedding_Mario.png no slouch either]], Cappy even comments on how dapper the white tuxedo makes Mario look.
** And, of course, Princess Peach looks stunning in a white wedding dress. It helps that this dress isn't just a PaletteSwap of her normal gown like in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''.
* HelpfulMook: The usually antagonistic Koopa Troopa and Lakitu enemies actually appear as friendly [=NPCs=]. The former often gives Mario challenges, including [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Koopa the Quick]]-type races, while Lakitus can be captured to fish up hidden items. Other [=NPCs=] in the area also don't react in fear if Mario approaches while capturing a Lakitu as they would when he captures other mooks near them.
* HerdingMission: In the Sand, Wooded, and Mushroom Kingdoms, there are a Tostarenan, a Steam Gardener, and a Toad whose sheep have wandered away from them. Mario can find them and return them to their owners for Power Moons.
* HeroesLoveDogs: More like "Dogs Love Heroes". The Shiba Inu that shows up in some of the kingdoms will follow Mario around after it unearths a treasure, play fetch with Cappy, and curl up to sleep next to Mario if he nods off.
* HighAltitudeBattle:
** The rematch with Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III has the starting platform with a single Gushen, a Glass Tower replica you can't climb, and nothing else. The fight is in the sky during a rainstorm (so you don't run out of water), with that starting platform as the only place to rest.
** The initial battle with Bowser in the [[LevelInTheClouds Cloud Kingdom]] is this in its entirety, though you're on a flat arena and can't see the ground through the clouds.
* HolyPipeOrgan: The church where Bowser plans to marry Peach has [[https://youtu.be/TY-Pk0Xi660 some reverent organ music]] playing inside. But once you confront Bowser, there is a cutscene just before fighting him where the organ switches to [[OminousPipeOrgan playing more sinister music]] as Bowser sends Mario down a trapdoor in the church's floor to the battlefield.
* HomingProjectile: If you shake the Joy-Con while Cappy is in flight, Cappy will home in on the nearest valid target, be it a collectible or enemy. You can use this to compensate for bad aim or squeeze a little extra distance out of your throws.
* HumongousMecha: One boss battle involves Mario fighting a giant robotic Wiggler by Capturing a tank enemy to attack it. Another boss battle involves a gigantic wooden robot which is piloted by all the Broodals together, and it must be defeated by knocking bombs at its legs and climbing the fallen machine to attack the cockpits that the Broodals are in.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IdiosyncraticWipe:
** The scene change transition is an IrisOut with Mario's hat, twirling like he's throwing it away from the screen.
** The wipe when you skip the cutscenes is crescent-shaped, much like the Power Moons.
* IdleAnimation:
** Mario [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 once again]] eventually falls asleep and dreams about pasta if you stand still for long enough. Leave him long enough after that and a bird (type varying by location) will land on his nose.
** On his bed in the Odyssey, he will go to sleep more quickly, and if left idle on any kind of chair, he will sit down on it. Mario can also doze off momentarily on one of the chairs in the ship, but he wakes himself up after a while, unlike when on the bed. During this, Cappy will float around admiring any decorations you’ve placed inside the ship as well.
** Mario will shiver and try to warm his hands in a cold enough area, while he'll wipe sweat off his brow and fan himself in a hot enough area. Though if he's wearing an appropriate outfit, such as the jacket while it's cold, or the boxers while it's hot, he'll go back to his regular idle animation.
** If Mario's standing next to SourceMusic, such as a radio, or the live band in New Donk City, he'll begin dancing to it.
* IFellForHours: Some areas are really tall, even into account that most of the stages seem like islands suspended in the sky like in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. Since Mario doesn't take fall damage in ''Odyssey'', one can take a plunge from such places (such as the top floor of New Donk City Hall or the Moon Kingdom Wedding Hall) and wait a good few seconds before hitting the ground.
* IllFatedFlowerbed: The Steam Gardens feature a secret flower field that is very dear to the Steam Gardeners' robotic hearts. Unfortunately, the field has been found by Torkdrift, a daisy-like [=UFO=] that vacuums up all of its flowers. Mario manages to destroy the monstrosity, but not before it managed to destroy most of the parterre. You can return to restore the field and get a Power Moon, though.
* ImprovisedPlatform: An unusual case. Magmatoes are Luncheon Kingdom enemies which melt into a pool of lava when hit, making them a hazard... to anything except a Captured Lava Bubble, which can swim in their puddles to cross solid ground that would vaporize the Lava Bubble otherwise.
* InASingleBound:
** In this game, Mario can use springy poles to launch his way up and across the New Donk City skyscrapers, and can land safely after leaping from them to street-level.
** A skilled player can make Mario pull off insanely long distance leaps in this game; it's possible to bypass most sections where you have to Capture a creature to progress by pulling off said insane jumps, and many platforming challenges can likewise be made much easier with skilled enough jumps.
%%* InCaseOfBossFightBreakGlass: Torkdrift, the Mechawiggler, and the [=RoboBrood=] all are defeated this way.
* InMediasRes: The game starts with Mario fighting Bowser aboard his airship.
* InsertSong: It ultimately turns out that "Jump Up, Super Star!" isn't the main theme some people thought it was.[[note]]Not only that, but a slightly different version of the song (i.e., from the single version) plays in-game.[[/note]] It plays when Mario gets the band back together, and then goes though the VideoGame/DonkeyKong-inspired {{Retraux}} section during the festival. There's also one other one that plays when [[spoiler:Mario captures Bowser, and he and Princess Peach make their escape from the underground lair under the wedding hall. To be exact, it plays in the last area when Mario has to destroy the four columns]].
* InsistentTerminology:
** Bowser is largely referred to as a monster by other characters.
** [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom's]] collectibles are still called Power Moons, despite the fact that [[spoiler:they're in the form of ''Power Stars'']].
* InterfaceSpoiler: A minor one, but looking at the Moon lists reveals all the potential moons that the world has, including ones that can only be found in the post-game.
* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: You can buy souvenirs from the various kingdoms to customize the interior of the Odyssey, though they all have predetermined spots, so the customization is limited to what you buy, since you cannot decide where the items will be placed or remove them after they're bought.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** If you revisit the final level after beating Bowser, two guys, a snail-like Bubblainian and a fork-like Volbonan, can be seen competing for the affections of a female New Donker, who, like all other New Donkers, looks like a realistic human. Her body language indicates that she's rather flattered.
** In the Moon's chapel after beating Bowser, a skeleton-like Tostarenan and a mermaid-like Lochlady discuss the posibility of getting married in the chapel.
* IntrepidMerchant: Subverted. The Crazy Cap location in Bowser's Kingdom doesn't get a lot of customers due to being located in a very unsafe location filled with dangerous enemies and the entirety of the Kingdom is floating, meaning that you'd need the ability to use a Spark Pylon to even reach the shop.
* InvincibilityPowerUp: Starmen are notably absent, but scanning a Mario Toys/{{amiibo}} achieves a similar effect by granting you a brief period of invincibility.
* InvisibilityCloak: [[spoiler:The Invisibility Hat that Mario gets by collecting the Multi Moon in Cumina Crater.]]
* InvisibleWall: Surrounds the Cap Kingdom and Seaside Kingdom, to prevent Paragoombas and Cheep Cheeps/Gushens from flying/swimming (respectively) out into the distance forever.
* {{Irony}}: The song "Jump Up, Super Star" features "1-Up Girl" and "1-Up Boy" as lyrics, though this is the first main-series game without a lives system.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J-L]]
* JigglePhysics:
** Oddly, the game features this for, [[GagNose of all things]], ''[[http://www.suppermariobroth.com/post/156819276305/in-the-super-mario-odyssey-trailer-marios-new Mario's nose.]]''
** Mario's hats are also affected, bouncing slightly off his head with every step, practically flying off as he runs, and even exposing the hair underneath as it bounces.
** The typical application of the trope is found here, too, with Madame Broode's chest and stomach. [[FanDisservice It's not sexy.]]
* JungleJapes: The Lost Kingdom is a tropical island jungle with a lot of interesting plants.
* KabukiSounds: Stairface Ogres utter a kabuki-like "Yoooooo" when they're defeated.
* KaizoTrap: Inverted. The final battle ''begins'' with Bowser already attacking you, so if you don't move or counter quickly, you'll take damage as soon as it starts. The cutscene right before the boss battle ends with Bowser initiating this attack, making it a small case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration.
* KickTheDog: After Mario's hat is knocked off, Bowser crushes it with his foot. Funnily enough, though, it rebounds right back with no visible damage after he steps off; it's not until it is left to fly into the airship propellers that it gets destroyed.
* KingMook: Mollusque-Lanceur, the boss of the Sea Kingdom, is an adult specimen of the Gushen (and by extension the Astro-Lanceur).
* KungFuProofMook:
** The ''Piranha Plant'', of all enemies, can counter [[GrandTheftMe Capturing]] because it can just eat Mario's hat when he tries to throw it. It is possible to Capture it if you feed it a rock first.
** Trapeetles are also immune to Capturing. Not only can they grab Cappy from any direction, they will then throw Cappy back at Mario as an explosive projectile. Cappy is not harmed, but this move can easily catch you off guard if you're not prepared for it.
* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: "Jump Up, Super Star!" gets an encore performance right before the BrutalBonusLevel.
* LastLousyPoint:
** Because they are scattered widely across kingdoms, chasing down purple coins in each of them can get to be a hassle as they start to dwindle in number.
** If you're trying to fill out the Capture list, Piranha Plants can be tricky to get because they normally eat Cappy when he's thrown at them. The only way to Capture them is to feed them a rock, ''then'' throw Cappy at them.
** One music track can be very hard to track down if you're not the type to mess around throwing Cappy at things: [[spoiler:"Honeylune Ridge: Escape (Japanese)" is obtained in the post-game by throwing Cappy at any radio that normally plays the Crazy Cap theme. Prior to the post-game, hitting said radios will instead play a clip of Bowser kidnapping Peach.]]
** Talkatoo and Hint Toad exist to make exploration easier, as they give free hints to those who interact with them. Talkatoo gives the name of a random unobtained Moon (which can be [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin pretty on-the-nose at times]]), while Hint Toad will mark a Moon location on the map for the price of 50 coins.
* LaterInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[VideoGameLives 1-up lives]] and {{Game Over}}s are completely done away with for the first time in the core games, instead having Mario lose 10 coins upon death.
** None of the typical ''Mario'' power-ups, such as Mushrooms or Starmen, are ever seen in the game; the only recurring items that appear are Coins.
** Though Starmen no longer appear, temporary invincibility is still possible through scanning any Mario amiibo[[note]]This includes Mario, [[Franchise/SuperSmashBros Smash]] Mario, 8-bit Mario (classic or modern), Gold or Silver Mario, and of course, Wedding Mario.[[/note]].
** While the game does use the exploration-based gameplay of ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', the game does not boot players out of the level after collecting a Power Moon, making it more similar to collectathons like ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Also in that vein, there are no selectable story missions for each moon — instead, the area's plot advances permanently upon collecting certain primary objective moons. This also means that one cannot redo certain major objectives or refight certain bosses, until the rematches in the post-game, including the Dark Side for the Broodals and the Moon Kingdom on re-visit for Bowser.
* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: The lava in this game looks pretty normal, with the exception of the strange solid-pink lava in the Luncheon Kingdom, which may literally be boiling Kool-Aid.
* LazyDragon: The Ruined Dragon in the post-game. He hangs off the tower where Mario first fought him and complains of tiredness. (Said tiredness may also explain his Tactical Suicide during the boss fight.)
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** The theme song as a whole, along with uses some clever wordplay to reference everything from ''Odyssey''[='=]s relationship to past 3D ''Mario'' installments, staples of the franchise such as coins and mushrooms, and even the dedication and skill of long-time ''Mario'' fans themselves.
** The brochure for New Donk City mentions that the NDC Festival's schedule is subject to frequent changes, since the player can choose to replay the festival any time they like.
** The fossils in the rocks of the Cascade Kingdom are classic 8-bit enemy sprites, and [[spoiler:there are costumes which re-create Mario's ''64'' model and the 3D form of his 8-bit sprite — one Toad even has nostalgia for Mario looking as he did in ''64'']], implying that the changes in the series' art style are in some way part of the universe's history.
* LeaningTowerOfMooks: Mario can can encounter Goombas standing on top of one another, and can also {{Invoke|d Trope}} this trope by capturing a Goomba and making it jump on another one. That Goomba can them jump on another one, and so on, and so forth, to make a tower of Goombas.
* LeapOfFaith: One Moon in New Donk City, appropriately titled "Leap of Faith", involves attempting to get a scooter into a parking spot situated on top of a roof. The thing is, there is no way to get to the rooftop from ground level[[note]]outside of [[GoodBadBugs performing a certain glitch]][[/note]]. You are thus required to go to the very top of City Hall, where you can find a scooter, and ''drive straight off.'' Thankfully, you can control your aerial momentum so you can aim for the rooftop in question.
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** Captain Toad's theme tune plays every time he appears.
** The melody from Fossil Falls is recurring: examples include the map selection screen, getting a Life-Up Heart, or activating a switch. It's also featured in the second Bowser battle, the moon cave escape sequence, and the credits.
* LethalLavaLand:
** Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom erupts bright pink lava, which the whole level is surrounded by.
** Additionally, there is the Lava Crater inside the Moon Kingdom, which is a more traditional lava-filled corridor.
** Lava is present outside the intended levels as well. In the Seaside Kingdom, Mollusque-Lanceur fills the hot springs with lava and generates lava on his head, and a couple of sublevel challenge areas are surrounded by lava.
* LevelAte: The Luncheon Kingdom is made of heavily stylized food, has living utensils as [=NPCs=], and features [[FryingPanOfDoom pan-tossing Hammer Bros.]] There's even a giant bird dressed in chef attire named Cookatiel menacing the place by cluelessly taking over the cooking.
* LevelInTheClouds: The Cloud Kingdom is located in the cloudy skies above another kingdom. It is here where Mario fights Bowser for the first time in the game, as well as the first level where certain cloud platforms can be activated by hitting their "null" forms with Cappy.
* LifeMeter: While the graphics are different, this game's life meter is functionally identical to the ''Galaxy'' games', with just three hit points, but a power-up[[note]]the ''Galaxy'' games had Life Mushrooms, and ''Odyssey'' has Life-Up Hearts[[/note]] which will add three for as long as the player can keep them.
* LightningBruiser: [[spoiler:The Captured version of Bowser is as fast as Mario, can jump as high as Mario, is strong enough to destroy giant, stone blocks with a single swipe, and starts with doubled [=HP=].]]
* LimitedWardrobe: A significant aversion, for, unusually for a mainline ''Mario'' platformer, not only can Mario can dress up in different outfits, but Peach will do so as well when she tours the different kingdoms in the post-game.
* LivingDinosaurs: The Cascade Kingdom is known for having these. More ''Tyrannosaurus'' can be found in the Wooded Kingdom and the Metro Kingdom, though only the Wooded and Cascade Kingdom ones can be Captured.
* LivingStatue: The Moe-Eyes are walking moai statues with sunglasses. If Mario captures one, he can toggle its sunglasses to see invisible platforms.
* LoadBearingBoss: After the final fight with Bowser in the Moon Kingdom, the interior of the moon begins to collapse, prompting an EscapeSequence. Justified by Bowser hitting and shattering a background pillar when Mario delivers the final punch to knock him out of the arena, which, if it were load-bearing, would in turn destabilize the cavern.
* LoneWolfBoss: Some of the bosses, such as Knucklotec and Cookatiel, don't work with Bowser. The former only fights Mario because he mistakes him for the thieves, and Cookatiel is a random stupid bird who probably doesn't even know that she's a menace to the stew she's taken over.
* LongSongShortScene:
** It's very easy to miss hearing the 8-bit version of "Mollusque-Lanceur Battle" at the only opportunity to hear it, as it only plays when Mario is in an 8-bit area that he has no reason to be in at the time (since, well, an octopus is rampaging around Bubblaine). Fortunately, the song appears in the sound test after beating Mollusque-Lanceur regardless of whether it played or not.
** If you're really good at the game, you won't get to hear much of the second InsertSong that plays when [[spoiler:Mario (who has captured Bowser at this point) has to claw his way through the four columns as he and Princess Peach make their escape from the underground lair under the wedding hall]].
* LostInACrowd: One area in New Donk City features a MobstacleCourse that makes Mario run through a crowd to get to a timed Power Moon. In the postgame, one of the new Power Moon challenges is to find the single New Donker in that crowd who is wearing a Bonneter instead of a normal hat.
* LostTechnology:
** The Steam Gardens are an ancient, high-tech greenhouse tended by watering can robots. These robots are advanced enough to have sentience and free will (think WesternAnimation/WallE but better-spoken). According to the kingdom's Crazy Cap brochure, nobody knows who built the gardens, but they took off centuries ago, leaving the self-sustaining gardens behind.
** Knucklotec, the boss of the Sand Kingdom, seems to be partly robotic — capturing its fists causes them to reveal rocket boosters.
* TheLostWoods: The Wooded Kingdom is a typical forest area, but with a lot of machinery thrown in as well. The semi-hidden Deep Woods area beneath the Steam Gardens is far more natural in appearance.
* {{Lunacy}}: Instead of Power Stars or Shine Sprites, the main collectibles in ''Odyssey'' are Power Moons. [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom has ''64''-style Power Stars, but they're still called "moons", theorized by Cappy to be a different shape for the same object.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* {{MacGuffin}}: Most of the Kingdoms that Bowser passes through have something he wants to steal to furnish his wedding with.
** He kidnapped Cappy's sister Tiara from the Cap Kingdom to serve as Peach's tiara/wedding veil.
** He stole the Binding Band from the Sand Kingdom's pyramid to act as Peach's wedding ring.
** He stole the Lochlady Dress from the Lake Kingdom to be Peach's wedding dress.
** The Wooden Kingdom's Soirée Bouquet field was picked to be Peach's bouquet, though Bowser added some Piranha Plants to it.
** Bowser tried to siphon electricity from the Metro Kingdom for an unspecified purpose.
** The prize for the Snow Kingdom's big race, the Frost-Frosted Cake, was stolen to be Bowser's wedding cake.
** Much of the Seaside Kingdom's Sparkle Water was drained so that Bowser could use it to make a toast at his reception.
** A large amount of Stupendous Stew was stolen from the Luncheon Kingdom to be served at the wedding.
** And, of course, he stole Peach herself from the Mushroom Kingdom.
* MadBomber: Hariet, one of the Broodals, attacks by throwing bombs, and has an ability where she flies around while dropping bombs, laughing crazily in the process.
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Since there is no GameOver in this game, and DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist, there are many different ways to off poor Mario in this game, and different animations to boot. Getting hit by a Bullet Bill or falling into lava, in particular, gives Mario an AshFace as he falls off the screen.
* MarathonLevel: This is a large part of the difficulty behind Darker Side of the Moon. It's 14 sections without checkpoints, with many being about the length of a full Power Moon mission elsewhere in the game.
* {{Mayincatec}}: The primary theme of the Sand Kingdom, in the first departure from ''Mario'' deserts' ubiquitous Egyptian theming. Here, the most Egyptian feature is a Sphynx, but the rest is based on Mesoamerican history, with the pyramid being a step pyramid common to Mayan, Aztec, and other societies, and the boss being based on Olmec statues. There's also a more modern-day Mexican town, a cowboy outfit bought there and moai creatures, further distancing the theme from Egypt.
* MeaningfulName: Tostarena, the village in Sand Kingdom. The first syllable comes from "tostado" (Spanish for "toasted" or "burnt" in some cases), referring to the kingdom's toasty, arid climate (after both its bosses have been defeated) & "arena" is Spanish for "sand", as in the landscape.
* MechaMooks: The game features the Sherm, a tank enemy that shoots explosives at Mario. They can be captured with the help of Cappy (and doing so is necessary to defeat Mechawiggler).
* MechanicalMonster: Mechawiggler is a large robotic specimen of Wiggler which is terrorizing New Donk City and its people, and is capable of attacking with energy spheres as well as warping from one spot to another with portals.
* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The prevalence of 8-bit areas means that enemies get to be seen in slightly dated designs; Mario also has his old sprite, but it's recolored to match his modern look (and also changes to show most of the outfits he can wear). [[spoiler:In the 8-bit segment of Honeylune Ridge's finale, Peach and Mario-as-Bowser keep their ''Super Mario Bros.'' looks unchanged.]]
** [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom's purple coin outfit is the ''[[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Mario 64]]'' hat and suit. Wearing them gives Mario an updated version of his ''64'' look — an update that keeps its blockiness, lack of mouth, blank stare, and fingerless hands, all combining to make him look incredibly weird next to the game's SceneryPorn. Wearing the outfit also opens up a bonus area in Mushroom Kingdom that recreates the fountain area in Peach's Castle, complete with [[SpritePolygonMix the perpetually-frontward tree sprites]] (opening Snapshot Mode lets you break their illusion and see them at an angle). [[ChromeChampion Metal Mario]] also appears as an unlockable outfit.]]
* MercyMode: Failing enough times in certain sections of the game will eventually trigger a Crazy Cap employee to appear nearby, offering items such as Life-Up Hearts for coins. Also, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Assist Mode]] acts as an optional one, wherein Mario will have 3 extra health points, [[BottomlessPitRescueService is saved by a bubble if he falls off of a level]], has arrows that tell him where certain plot-centric objectives are, and ''regains lost health if left idle for a few seconds''. That last one makes getting through [[ThatOneLevel certain levels]] much easier.
* MetropolisLevel: New Donk City is a SkyscraperCity based off of metropolitan New York City, where Mario must navigate a vertical maze of stairways, construction frameworks, skyscraper exteriors, precipitous drops and hanging girders, all while dodging enemies such as giant flies and Goombas in hard hats. Besides the [[NonstandardCharacterDesign realistically proportioned New Donker humans]], it's generally played as cartoonishly silly as any other level theme in the series: the entire level is surrounded with a {{Bottomless Pit|s}} with roads that just drive off into nothingness, the side "island" is actually just a really tall skyscraper below the main area's foundation, and a ton of [=NPCs=] are actively engaging in blatant ArtificialAtmosphericActions, like two people in the park spinning a jump rope around by themselves with nobody jumping over it, or the endless crowd of people leaving one storefront and flowing into another in a singular direction, [[AlienGeometries which you find by walking into a much smaller building]].
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Subtly used. At times, it almost seems like Mario's compelled to act like whatever he's inhabiting when he first inhabits it.
* MiniBoss: The Broodals, which are fought halfway through the Kingdoms' corresponding story arcs, in a fashion similar to the minibosses from the 2D games. In the penultimate level, they realize they're individually no match for Mario, so they join forces as they pilot the Robobrood to face him in a full-fledged boss battle.
* MinskyPickup: One of these begins the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16LDAEkfWkA theme]] used in Koopa Freerunning and Luigi's Balloon World.
* MissedHimByThatMuch: Banktoad mentions that he and the other members of the Toad Brigade haven't found out where Captain Toad went when Mario finds him on the summit of Forgotten Isle. If you went to the cave the Captain was hiding out in before climbing the mountain, it invokes this trope.
* MisterMuffykins: Madame Broode's Chain Chomp pet is named Chain Chompikins, and has a higher-pitched yap than most Chomps.
* MobstacleCourse: One TimedMission involves Mario running through (or jumping over, if you prefer) a large crowd of New Donkers to get to a Power Moon.
* MoneyForNothing: The only things coins are used for are Life-Up Hearts, outfits, and Power Moons. Outfits and Power Moons only need to be bought once and Life-Up Hearts can be found for free in the open world. Because collecting coins are no longer used for earning extra lives, it's easy to wind up with hundreds, even thousands of coins with little to spend on.
* MoneySink: Once you hit the post-game, Crazy Cap ''really'' opens up with its stock. Not only is the purchase limit on Power Moons removed, allowing you to buy as many Power Moons as your wallet allows, but earning more Power Moons progressively adds more and more outfits and hats to buy, including the amiibo outfits and a Skeleton outfit that costs a whopping '''9999 Coins!''' Several outfits were also added post-launch, with many of them going for a thousand coins or more.
* MoodWhiplash:
** Not so much one that suddenly makes the game dark out of nowhere but traveling to the Metro Kingdom is a bit jarring at first. The people there are proportioned like real people, the vehicles are conventional cars, and the building designs have none of the whimsy the series is known for, being very brick-and-mortar city skyscrapers. This is contrasted against locales such as the Sand Kingdom with its cartoonish Dia de Muertos-like skeleton citizens and stylized Mexican-esque dwellings. The robot centipede that takes over the New Donk City Hall is also grimly cold and mechanical in design as opposed to the less sci-fi robots you might see elsewhere. The place is also initially raining, at night, and infested with mosquito-like enemies called Urban Stingbies.
** Within the Snow Kingdom, you start in a dark blizzard with no visibility that does a great job at masking the tiny size of the area and making the player feel lost and unwelcome, but then you end up falling into the cheery, cozy underground town and meet its adorable NPC inhabitants and the tone has completely changed.
** For a more traditional example, after exploring the cold but cuddly Snow Kingdom, the relaxing Seaside Kingdom, and the cheery, goofy Luncheon Kingdom, you're then attacked by a terrifying dragon, and end up in the Ruined Kingdom, which is dark, moody, and very creepy.
** There's also the Deep Woods, deep in the cheery, lively Wooded Kingdom. o get there, you have to jump off the undulating cliff next to the Odyssey, [[ViolationOfCommonSense which wouldn't at all come to mind]].
* MoonRabbit: The Broodals apparently hail from the Dark Side of the moon, more specifically Rabbit Ridge. Rabbit Ridge is also filled with bunnies wearing top hats.
* MoralMyopia: Bowser has transgressed against every civilized Kingdom on the planet by terrorizing the locals and stealing something from them as part of the necessary preparations for his wedding. Then he "invites" some special guests from each of the Kingdoms to bear witness to the marital union between him and Princess Peach and acts like there's nothing wrong about it. All the while obstructing and condemning Mario for being the "bad guy" who has to go out of his way to ruin all of his hard work.
* MorphicResonance: Anything captured by Mario will feature his red hat, mustache, and blue eyes. Including a ''dinosaur''.
* {{Motifs}}:
** As Tanooki tails were to ''3D Land'' and cats were to ''3D World'', hats are to this game. Many [=NPCs=] wear them, the Crazy Cap store appears in many of the worlds, and Mario's airship, the Odyssey, is even shaped like a top hat. And of course, Mario and Peach's hats are possessed by spirits named Cappy and Tiara, respectively.
** The moon. Mario collects moons instead of stars, the moon is visible in every stage, the Broodals are a gang of rabbits [[MoonRabbit who hail from the moon]], "Jump Up, Super Star!" mentions you can zoom all the way to the moon, and there's also the pun of a wedding honey''moon''. And the final kingdom? Moon Kingdom.
* MundaneFantastic: The Moon Kingdom in spades. It's a popular tourist location which also warranted a brochure from Crazy Cap and equally popular for hosting weddings, and the kicker is that it's perfectly accessible by ''taxi'' (but doing so would require a lot of fuel to be replenished) and [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace wearing a space suit or at least a helmet is optional]].
* MundaneUtility: Some Power Moons require you to use Captured enemies for basic tasks, like using a Fire Bro to light a campfire or warming up stew pots by hopping in as a Lava Bubble.
* MusicalNod:
** If you go into the deepest level of the pause menu and back[[note]]activate the menu, go to Options, then Controls[[/note]], you'll notice that the selection jingles form the melody of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy "Rosalina in the Observatory"]]. In addition, pausing and then quickly unpausing will form the classic 1-Up jingle, which is otherwise absent due to this game's lack of VideoGameLives.
** The bassline in the bridge of "Jump Up, Super Star!", the game's main theme, is a variation on the music for the first level from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' (AKA 25m). The "item get" sound is also worked into the bridge during the version played in "A Traditional Festival!".
** Similarly, the bridge for "Break Free (Lead the Way)" is Bowser's {{Leitmotif}} from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', and the version that plays over the final cutscene also contains 25m in the second bridge.
** Various radios in New Donk City play [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bixxb8jSxSg piano versions of the ''Super Mario World'' overworld theme.]]
** Uniquely, a song from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' is prominently referenced; cutscenes involving Bowser's airship use an orchestrated version of that game's opening riffs for the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' airship theme.
** The music during the second half of Bowser's Kingdom is an orchestrated remix of Bowser's boss fight theme from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.
** Bonus rooms have mostly original music. However, the exceptions are NPC minigame challenges like Slots (''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' minigame theme), the RC Car challenge (which uses ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'''s Mario Circuit theme), and those accessed through beanstalks (cue the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' bonus room theme).
** [[spoiler:In the Mushroom Kingdom, the victory theme that plays for getting Power Moons is swapped out for a new arrangement of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'''s Power Star theme. Peach's Castle also uses an orchestrated arrangement of "Inside the Castle Walls" from the same game]].
** The racing theme that plays during the Koopa Freerunning and Shiverian races sounds remarkably similar to "Full of Vigor" from ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party 4]]''.
* MyNaymeIs: "Hariet" is usually spelled with two R's, but has just one to aid the rabbit pun ("hare").
* MythologyGag:
** Various preceding works in the franchise, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'', ''ComicBook/SuperMarioAdventures'', and ''Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach'' had Bowser trying to marry Peach by force.
** The BigApplesauce-ness of New Donk City recalls the original backstory of Mario and Luigi coming from Brooklyn and ending up stranded in the Mushroom Kingdom by Warp Pipe. Mario has finally come home!
** A few of Mario's outfits are taken from [[http://www.mariowiki.com/File:2016_Club_Nintendo_Calendar_Art.jpg the 2016 Club Nintendo calendar]]:
*** The Swim Goggles and Swimwear come from June.
*** The Painter Outfit comes from September, with extra inspiration from ''VideoGame/MarioPaint''. The accompanying cap, however, comes from ''VideoGame/MarioArtist''.
*** The Samurai Helmet and Armor come from May.
*** The Hakama comes from January.
*** The Santa Hat and Outfit come from December.
** [[spoiler:The Mario 64 and Metal Mario clothes change Mario to his low-poly model from his early 3D days.]]
** New Donk City has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoVBtEo-egk?t=2m28s some graffiti]] of original DK and Pauline's old [[https://www.mariowiki.com/images/7/7b/DKNESDonkeyKongPaulineArt.png "Lady"]] design. Upon closer inspection of the [[https://tcrf.net/images/1/13/Super-Mario-Odyssey-New-Donk-graffitiFinal.png text]] underneath it, "New Donk City" was scratched out to say "New Donk [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Cranky]]".
** The ambiguous plaque from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' rumored to say "L is real 2401" is back and [[TheUnreveal just as blurry as before.]]
** The women running the jumprope minigame prompt Mario to "Jump, man!", with "Jumpman" being an earlier concept name.
** Mario's dancing animation has him swinging his arms from side to side; in other words, doing "[[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow The Mario]]".
** Bowser's Kingdom's main export is Hanafuda cards, referencing Nintendo's own origins as a Hanafuda card manufacturer.
** A side area in New Donk City has Mario escape from a ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a New York-esque city, much like in [[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 the live-action movie]].[[note]]The ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' cartoon also features the Mario brothers running into dinosaurs on occasion, justifying the location being called "Dinosaur Land".[[/note]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere No explanation]] is given as to why [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a T-Rex is running around]] in an area [[RuleOfFunny inspired by New York City]].
** One of Pauline's animations during the festival has her turning to the side and kicking her legs in a weird manner... which is actually a recreation of her animation from the original ''Donkey Kong''.
** When the player reaches a certain rank in Balloon World, Luigi will have three balloons, colored blue, red, and yellow. Combined with his green hat, [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/b6d06ae8792a6621e4c7dfa754bb3eb4/tumblr_inline_p4mx2sLrGB1ra17z7_540.jpg it altogether resembles the buttons on a Super Famicom/European/Australian SNES controller turned sideways]].
[[/folder]]
---> Tropes A-D [[SuperMarioOdyssey/TropesAToD HERE!]]
---> Tropes N-Z [[SuperMarioOdyssey/TropesNToZ HERE!]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:E]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: A meta example. The game was one of many then-unannounced titles shown in the Nintendo Switch's reveal trailer, with a woman playing through Tostarena, two months before the game got its official reveal. The two-player mode is also hinted at in this trailer, with that mode not being revealed until eight months later.
* EarthDrift: ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' has now been retconned into taking place in New Donk City rather than Brooklyn on Earth.
* EasterEgg:
** Every kingdom has a hidden [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Pixel Cat Mario and Pixel Cat Peach]] sticker located somewhere. Hitting them with your cap will cause them to dispense coins and a Heart, respectively. There's also a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Pixel Rosalina]] sticker located in both Rabbit Ridge and Culmina Crater.
** In Toastarena, you can throw Cappy at round cacti, and they will dispense coins when they hit the ground and burst. If you knock a cactus into another cactus, a chain reaction will occur where the cactus you hit will launch the next cactus upon making contact, and so forth. When you do a chain this way, the second cactus onward will start playing the Red Coin sound effect from previous ''Mario'' games, and upon breaking four cacti in a chain, the last one will play the relevant fanfare.
** Bowser's dialogue during the confrontation at the wedding will change depending on what Mario is wearing. For example, Bowser will attempt to bribe Mario to go away if he's wearing the Wario outfit.
** Bouncing on the Odyssey's globe repeatedly will play a music box version of either the Cascade Kingdom's theme, or "Jump Up, Super Star!", depending on if you're in one of the Kingdoms before the Metro Kingdom, or if you're in the Metro Kingdom onward.
** If you use the Photo Mode to zoom in on Hint Toad's brochure, you'll find that it's one for ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''[='=]s Bob-omb Battlefield. Zooming in on the newspapers in New Donk City will show one of the T-rexes that appear in the game, and on the New Donkers' laptops, you can see some kind of article discussing the Moon Rock in the Sand Kingdom.
** The version 1.2.0 added another one: if you ground pound the spot marked by some new Hint Art shared by Nintendo on their social networks, you'll find [[spoiler:a hidden 8-Bit Luigi or Captain Toad which gives you 200 coins]].
** Certain Moons are barred by [=NPCs=] who won't let Mario into the rooms they oversee until he's dressed to fit the area, which is usually solved by buying the area's primary or only exclusive outfit with the region's purple coins. However, for some of these objectives, some other costumes will also work, but they're less intuitive due to being so expensive, and only one of them being available before the postgame. However, you can enter the rooms for fun any time if you're dressed right, so these are likely just as nods to curious players and not expected to be players' first solutions.
*** In the Sand Kingdom, you're supposed to buy and wear a sombrero and poncho to enter a party room, but you can also buy the extremely expensive skeleton outfit in the postgame to fit the skeletal Tostarenans' dress code.
*** In the Lake Kingdom, you're meant to get the full swim costume to enter the shop display, but the boxer shorts, the most expensive outfit before the postgame, also qualify as swimwear and will get you in.
*** The Sunshine outfit in the postgame can be used as an alternative to the resort outfit in the Seaside Kingdom due to it being Mario's vacation wear from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''.
** If you jab a metal box with a Pokio's beak over a hundred times, it will actually break. However, this is tedious and it's not very practical, as it's never the only or intended way to break them. As such, it's just a little secret for curious players.
** In the Goomba version of Picture Match, putting Mario's eyes and moustache on the Goomba face will have the overseeing Toad remark that it looks like Mario capturing a Goomba, but you'll still get failed for it.
* EquippableAlly: Much like in ''Galaxy'', Mario gets a new companion inhabiting his hat that gives him a new ability. This time, it's the hat ghost Cappy, allowing him to do all sorts of crazy things with his hat.
* ErmineCapeEffect: Peach averts this during her post-game vacation, as she wears various weather-appropriate outfits in the various kingdoms (including a swimsuit for the Lake and Seaside Kingdoms). None of these outfits even include her trademark crown. She changes back into her standard dress once she becomes a static [=NPC=], but her outfit is randomly chosen from her classic outfit and her travel ones each time the game is loaded afterward.
* EternalEngine: There are plenty of machines to be found in the Wooded Kingdom, as well as in the energy plant of Metro Kingdom. In both worlds, Mario can find and possess a tank enemy known as Sherm, which is capable of shooting projectiles to attack other enemies and destroy certain walls, and in the latter level this is used to defeat the boss Mechawiggler to restore peace in New Donk City.
* EverythingIsAnInstrument: The Peronza Plaza music in the Luncheon Kingdom, as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLM8G_zjJcY this behind the scenes video shows]], uses the sounds of knives hitting a cutting board and a ladle hitting a metal pot lid as the sole percussion, to go along with the locale's LevelAte theming.
* ExcusePlot: The princess has been kidnapped again. What more do you need?
* ExposedToTheElements: Mario can run around Shiveria in the Boxer Shorts and impress one of the locals enough to get a Power Moon.
* ExpositoryThemeTune: Rather than describing the plot, "Jump Up, Super Star!" describes the ''gameplay'' of ''Odyssey'', from jumping, collecting coins, and other typical ''Mario'' elements to [[WideOpenSandbox the exploration and freedom available to the player]]. Mixes with ThematicThemeTune, as the lyrics encourage the listener to get out and explore their own world.
* ExtraEyes: The Mechawiggler has five red eyes that glow.
* EyeCam: When Cappy does his first Capture on a frog, we get a view through Mario's eyes as he's opening them before realizing what just happened.
* EyesNeverLie: Among the other changes enemies receive when Mario takes over them (his hat and mustache), most enemies will also inherit his blue eyes, either by gaining more detail to have irises or by their colored eyes changing to blue. Even Lava Bubbles, who gain no color and little detail when Mario Captures them, still have smaller, friendlier dot eyes when Mario's face replaces theirs.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:F]]
* FairytaleWeddingDress: The Lochlady Dress, which Bowser steals from the Lake Kingdom for Peach to wear at the wedding. It's shown after the escape sequence following the final boss fight that the dress comes with appropriately-colored high heels thanks to camera angle as Peach uses her slow-descent ability.
* FakeLongevity: The only way to get the maximum moon count of 999 is to grind up an extra 11,900 coins to spend at Crazy Cap to make it happen, as there are only 880 actual moons in the game. Fortunately, coins are easy to hoard over the course of the game, especially after the Balloon World update, and by the time you can buy multiple moons from Crazy Cap, you'll have than likely have amassed enough coins to get a headstart.
* FallingDamage: Unlike ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', you can hit the ground from any height and Mario will be fine, although he will be briefly staggered by a high enough fall when he lands. It's a good thing, too, as the levels can get rather vertical, and Mario has only three hit points by default.
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: One of the Capturable enemy types is the Sherm, which is a ''tank'' that could almost pass off for a real one (almost; they still have headlamp eyes). So, of course, they fire fancy, firework-like shells with rainbow-colored trails, that look silly even by the standards of a franchise where cannon shells tend to have googly eyes and arms.
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Cookatiel suffers this after being defeated, falling into the pot of Stupendous Stew and ''boiling alive'' in it, complete with sizzling sounds and bubbles surfacing from where it fell in before [[DefeatEqualsExplosion finally exploding in it.]]
* FantasticFireworks: After defeating the [=RoboBrood=], the mecha blows up, propelling it high up into the air before exploding in big fireworks representing all four Broodals cringing in pain.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Most of the game's settings are based on real-life locations:
** The Cap Kingdom is based on London. It's a densely foggy town, its inhabitants are famous for travelling the world, the backdrop of the level is blocky Victorian architecture, and the top hat is a signature of the town.
** According to Kenta Motokura, the Sand Kingdom was inspired by his own trip to Mexico. This is showcased by the town with sombrero-wearing, sugar skull-headed residents and the {{Mayincatec}} pyramid with its boss Knucklotec.
** Lake Lamode seems to be an amalgam of France (its name is based on ''à la mode'', the country is known for fashion, and the Lochladies speak vaguely French-sounding gibberish) and Greece (the overall architectural style and segmented island-like topography).
** Though there's no hint of it in the final game, the Steam Gardens were originally named Kogwald, which would make the Wooded Kingdom based on German forests ("wald" means "forest" in German). This would be supported by the kingdom's advanced technology; it's German engineering.
** While the lack of civilization doesn't make it clear, Forgotten Isle is based on the jungles of Southeast Asia, according to Rikuto Yoshida in the official artbook of the game. Its music makes this a bit more apparent, as it's based on gamelan, a traditional Indonesian form of music.
** New Donk City is pretty transparently based on New York City in the United States of America, with its high rise buildings and large population of suited businessmen and women.
** Shiveria seems mostly inspired by Scandinavia (with large harp seals wearing traditional knitwear and living in Scandinavian-style wood housing), with a little bit of Russia (as one of its souvenirs is a set of nesting dolls) as well as Antarctica (due to the presence of penguins and the glaciers surrounding the area).
** The Seaside Kingdom is based on the French Riviera, with snails wearing berets as the main characters and a huge champagne flute as the main landscape feature. Moreover, the boss fought here has a French name, and so do a few of the missions (''Bonjour, Dorrie!'' and ''Merci, Dorrie!'').
** The Luncheon Kingdom is based on Italy, namely the facts that it's famous for its cuisine and is volcanically active. It also has ancient Roman architecture, and cans of tomatoes lying around in addition to living tomato enemies.
** Bowser's Kingdom is a painstakingly accurate Japanese castle, with 3 concentric walls (accurately called "maru" in the Japanese version), yagura towers, arrow holes, and even a traditional Japanese garden with a tea house where the level's Crazy Cap is located. Mario can obtain accurate samurai armor and Japanese festival clothing by spending traditional Japanese ''ryō'', the 2D platforming section is a traditional set of Japanese screens, some of the sound effects are replaced by a samisen, the enemies wear traditional Japanese ''jingasa'' and ''sandogasa'' hats, and you can capture ''jizo'' statues common throughout Japan. The main keep is guarded by thunder and wind guardian statues found at Japanese temples and shrines, there are two large shrine buildings visible in the castle, and the entire level is filled with waving Japanese battle flags and festival banners.
%%* FascinatingEyebrow: Cappy makes this face every so often, even in the official artwork.
* FinishingStomp: At the beginning of the story, Mario and Bowser fight on the latter's airship above Peach's Castle, with the Koopa King coming out on top by throwing his hat like a boomerang and landing a hit on the plumber, sending him flying and causing him to lose his hat in the process. It lands in front of Bowser's feet, who stomps on it before gloating about his impending marriage to Peach and letting it glide away to be shredded to bits by the ship's propellers as he flies off to make his preparations.
%%* FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler:Peach and Tiara, if the way they always appear together in various places during the post-game is anything to go by.]]
* FlyingFlightlessBird: Each level has different small birds roaming them; they fly away as Mario approaches. The birds in Shiveria are tiny penguins, which fly just as well as the others.
* FlyingSaucer:
** A big, daisy-like [=UFO=] named Torkdrift appears as a boss in Steam Gardens, where he is found [[IllFatedFlowerbed vacuuming all the flowers from the secret flower fields]].
** Much, much smaller flying saucers appear in [[spoiler:both the Moon Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom]], acting like the various birds from other regions. Close inspection reveals that they are miniature Torkdrifts, with a single white flower inside of them.
** Also, when the Broodals get hit, they retreat into their hats, making them look like miniature flying saucers. Fitting, since they actually come from the Moon.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III, the gigantic octopus boss fought in Bubblaine, hovers above the water during the fight between him and Mario.
* FloatingPlatforms: While some platforms are contextual, others hang mid-air. Floating platforms are most prominent in abstract areas.
* AFoggyDayInLondonTown: Bonneton in the Cap Kingdom seems to be based on London, and it's just as foggy as its real-life counterpart.
* FollowTheMoney: In addition to the traditional yellow coins, each kingdom (except the Cloud Kingdom, Ruined Kingdom, Dark Side, and Darker Side) has 50 or 100 purple coins that act as local currency. They're different in each world: the Metro Kingdom has purple pennies, the Sand Kingdom uses coins modeled after the Inverted Pyramid, the Luncheon Kingdom has tomatoes, the Wooded Kingdom uses mechanical nuts, and so on.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Within the Sand Kingdom, the ancient architecture contains carvings everywhere of a face and some fists amid jewels and Jaxis. It turns out that face and the fists are the three pieces of Knucklotec, the guardian and boss of the ancient kingdom.
** The finale taking place on the moon is heavily hinted at throughout the game:
*** The moon is very prominent in cutscenes and on the world map, and the main collectibles are moons.
*** Looking at the moon in each world will also let you know how many moons you have left to collect there.
*** In any cutscene where Bowser's airship is present, the last shot of the airship is it heading in the direction of the moon in the sky. Ditto for any travel eastward made by Mario.
*** The song "Jump Up, Super Star!" features the line, "Oh we can zoom all the way to the moon / From this great wide wacky world", though it may be hard to notice as the song is first heard in-game during a coin-heavy 2D section.
*** In Japanese folklore, the image of a rabbit can be seen on the moon's surface, instead of the face that Western audiences see; the miniboss squad are a group of rabbits, who are revealed to be from the moon.
** [[spoiler:Mario and Bowser vying for Peach's hand was foreshadowed by the poses of the Wedding amiibo, and [[https://www.pidgi.net/wiki/File:Mario,_Peach_and_Bowser_-_Super_Mario_Odyssey.png the corresponding official art]].]]
** At various points during the Broodals' battles, they'll weaponize their hats, and once the hats start spinning, they take on a distinct resemblance to flying saucers. Fitting, as the Broodals are from the Moon.
** The very first Power Moon you get is encased in a structure that has weird silver squares poking out of it. Those are moon rocks.
* FrenchAccordion: While the Seaside Kingdom is refreshingly subtle in its French references, based on the French Riviera instead of Paris, its bossa nova music manages to slip in an accordion part near the end of the loop.
* FrothyMugsOfWater: Try Frothy Ocean of Water, as the Seaside Kingdom has an ocean of "fizzy water" that the boss creature is trying to suck up. Given the cork-popping symbolism of the cannon fountains, and the wedding themes of all the other stolen items, this is family-friendly champagne.
* FryingPanOfDoom: In the Luncheon Kingdom, Hammer Bros. throw pans at Mario.
* FunnyRobot: The Steam Gardeners, who talk about flowers and silly stuff in RoboSpeak.
-->"We are programmed to grow flowers. The flowers are programmed to grow."\\
"The Steam Gardens are objectively superior to other regions! Wooo."
* FurryConfusion: The Dark Side is home to normal rabbits and the Broodals, who are FunnyAnimal rabbits.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G]]
* GameBreakingBug: If you capture a stack of Goombas and touch a Life-Up Heart at the same time, most of the game will freeze, allowing Mario to run around without getting hit or respawning, but because objects' interactivity is disabled by the freeze, progress is barred, and falling off the level means falling forever with no death to reset things. (No, you cannot open up the menu in this state.)
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: It's noted that the Crazy Cap in Bowser's Kingdom doesn't get a lot of customers. Sure enough in the postgame unlike the other Kingdoms, no tourists are seen wandering around aside from Peach.
* GatelessGhetto: New Donk City is a sprawling metropolis... of about seven or eight blocks at best, surrounded by Bottomless Pits. More of the city is visible in the distance, past the pits, but the only part you're allowed to visit is a tiny group of buildings situated on top of a huge concrete block in the middle of what appears to be a harbor.
* GenreThrowback: While the previous "course-clear" style 3D ''Mario'' games (''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', and the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 duology]]) were driven by linear level design meant to mirror the 2D classics, this game features bigger, more open worlds akin to ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. [[note]]The ''Super Mario Galaxy'' games did have a few open-ended levels, but those were the exception rather than the rule.[[/note]]
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: The Ruined Dragon. How did Bowser know where to find it and why did it agree to help him interfere with Mario? It shows up for one battle and then immediately vacates the story (though you can visit it again during the post-game). It also has a completely different aesthetic from the rest of the game, adding to its feeling of being out of place.
* GirlsStareAtSceneryBoysStareAtGirls: During the post-game, you can find two Bubblainian tourists, one male and one female, in the Lake Kingdom. The female one is commenting on the beautiful scenery, while the male says that he only has [[{{Pun}} eyestalks]] for the female.
* GlobalAirship: The eponymous ''Odyssey'', after being repaired in Cascade Kingdom, allows Mario and Cappy to travel from kingdom to kingdom to chase Bowser and foil his plan to forcefully marry Princess Peach. They do need to gather Power Moons to fuel the vehicle, but as they do so the balloon-like orb on top of it will gradually fill up. By the end of the game, when they have enough Power Moons to unlock the BrutalBonusLevel, the orb is ''massive''.
* GlobalCurrencyException: Each world's Crazy Cap shop has a counter that uses the standard golden coins, and another that only accepts the purple coins specific to each world.
* GoFetch: You can play this with the Shiba Inu pups, using Cappy in lieu of a ball or Frisbee.
* GoldenEnding: The Darker Side features a surprise ending sequence when you finally reach the end of the course, where, as you ascend the skyscraper, Cappy reflects on the adventures he and Mario had together. As you climb the pillar to the top, a music box rendition of Cascade Kingdom starts playing, and keeps slowing down the higher you go until you collect the Multi Moon. It really emphasizes this being the "Long Journey's End."
* TheGoomba: Micro-Goombas take on the role of the first, easiest-to-deal-with enemy; they're also too small to be Captured. Actual Goombas are a Capture target, as are Paragoombas.
* GoombaSpringboard: At the ending, [[spoiler:Mario jumps on Bowser to reach the Odyssey in the sky]].
* GorgeousGarmentGeneration: Before taking off for the Moon Kingdom, Cappy changes Mario's clothes into a white tuxedo. If you didn't have the amiibo to get it early, this is when you obtain Mario's wedding outfit.
* GrandTheftMe: By throwing Cappy, Mario can Capture things to temporarily hijack them. He can do this on frogs, Goombas, Koopas, Cheep Cheeps, the RC car-controlling citizens of New Donk City[[note]]every single other New Donker has a hat[[/note]], and even a ''T. rex''. Even inanimate objects aren't immune: trees, binoculars, taxis, enemy tanks, and manhole covers can come under his control. [[spoiler:And Bowser himself, when he loses the only protection he has and is unconscious but needed to break the group out of the caverns they're trapped in.]]
* GreenHillZone:
** Cascade Kingdom mixes this with {{Prehistoria}} as, on top of being a grassy hill with waterfalls, it houses two dinosaurs (one outdoors in the Fossil Falls and the other in a cave); it is actually the second world visited in the game. In comparison, Cap Kingdom (the true first world) is more of a tutorial area and a Gray Hill Zone (mixed with BigBoosHaunt).
** At the very end, the game features [[spoiler:Mushroom Kingdom, featuring Peach's Castle from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', accessible after Bowser is defeated for the last time]].
* GrimyWater: Poison water can be found in at least one sub-area of most kingdoms, in isolated "lakes" in the Sand Kingdom, in moats in Bowser's Kingdom, and utterly surrounding the Lost Kingdom. Per tradition, falling into it is instantly fatal.
* GroinAttack: It's how you take down old-school Donkey Kong during the final 8-bit segment in the New Donk City festival. And Bowser, for that matter; due to the height difference, when you put on his boxing glove hat, it essentially results in Mario punching Bowser in the balls.
* GuideDangIt:
** There is no way to get hints for the local currency locations without the Bowser amiibo. If you don't have one, better hope you like poking your nose into every single nook and cranny looking for those last few coins.
** The Hint Art Moons. Barring those that feature Poochy, which are screenshots of actual overworld locations (and not even those are very helpful sometimes), some of the Hint Art can be ''very'' obtuse, ranging from hard-to-read illusions to spot-the-difference puzzles (the difference marking the spot, of course). Hint Art Moons also count as a different Kingdom's Moon than the one they're found in, meaning that using Uncle amiibo or Hint Toad won't do you any good. The "bonus" Hint Art images released online and through the Switch's news feature are even tougher, but they just grant coin rewards and aren't needed for getting a hundred percent completion.
** A handful of Captures don't tell you all the possible moves you can execute, or that there are alternate ways of executing others. Some examples of the former include the game never stating that you can spin as a Pokio by shaking the Joy-Con, which functions as a DoubleJump when jumping normally, a sweeping attack when your beak is extended on the ground, and as a high-jump when your nose is embedded in a wall, or explaining that both Cheep Cheeps can do a dashing spin by pressing the dive and surface buttons at the same time. For an example of the latter, when you're a Spark Pylon (the electricity wires), you can pick up coins and collectibles around the wires by pressing any button in addition to shaking the controller. Some of these cases can be found out by experimenting, but it isn't always easy to guess.
** There is a Power Moon found in Steam Gardens's Deep Woods that involves Capturing a Coin Coffer, then finding a sapling and spitting ''700 coins'' at it (granted, the sapling is surrounded by a few coins lying in the brook, and uncollectable coins never appear anywhere else). Even if you've stumbled onto every step but the last, it takes a particularly persistent and stubborn player to keep at it for ''that'' long, especially since there's no visible progress after about one-fifth of the way through. Also, just entering the Deep Woods requires [[ViolationOfCommonSense jumping off the edge of the level in the landing area]], which would kill Mario in any other kingdom.
** In various kingdoms, to get a specific Power Moon, you need to use binoculars to look in the sky at the flying ships in the background. But one of those ships is actually a ''taxi'' (or, in the postgame, the Sphynx) and you have to stare at it for a few seconds. You would not even think of doing that the first time you're in the kingdom.
** The Power Moon ''On The Eastern Pillar'' is a bit tricky, and if you try all the Bullet Bills in the Sand Kingdom, their time limits don't get them close enough to break the block the Moon is hidden in. What you're supposed to do is to capture a Bullet Bill, wait a bit so it shoots another, lure it to one of the pillars to the right of the ruins (on the map), jump out of the original Bill, capture the second Bill before it explodes, and go as fast as you can to break the block and get the moon.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H]]
* HailfirePeaks: Many of the levels were designed with this kind of contrast in mind.
** The Cap Kingdom, the first level of the game, is a unique combination of GreenHillZone and BigBoosHaunt. It's essentially your typical first ''Mario'' level, but painted black. It works because the resident ghosts are friendly, and the spookiness stops at its colors and residents.
** The Cascade Kingdom is a [[GreenHillZone grassy plain]] with lots of [[{{Prehistoria}} dinosaurs]], both living and [[RibcageRidge dead]].
** The Sand Kingdom is (obviously) a [[ShiftingSandLand desert area]] with heavy {{Mayincatec}} influences and several [[SlippySlideyIceWorld masses of ice.]]
** The Wooded Kingdom is a [[TheLostWoods large forest]] filled with [[RemilitarizedZone vaguely military-looking]] [[EternalEngine machinery]].
** The Lost Kingdom is a [[JungleJapes tropical jungle]] surrounded by [[BubblegloopSwamp poisonous swamp water]], though these two settings are frequently combined in video games.
** The Snow Kingdom is a [[SlippySlideyIceWorld snow-and-ice world]], but has a [[AthleticArenaLevel racetrack]] that dominates the playable area by land size and is the central trait of Shiverian culture.
** The Luncheon Kingdom seems to be a LevelAte, but all the food-based objects are heavily stylized and polygonal, and [[LethalLavaLand the place has an active volcano]] that erupts [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid bright pink lava]].
** The Moon Kingdom and the Darker Side of the Moon are SpaceZone combined with LethalLavaLand in the underground areas.
** The Dark Side of the Moon is a combination of SpaceZone and LevelAte, with giant stone vegetables.
* HairRaisingHare: The Broodals, a group of fancy-dressed but mean-looking rabbits who serve as Bowser's [[TheDragon personal wedding planners]].
* HairReboot: After the FinalBoss, when Bowser flies into a wall and his tuxedo explodes off of him, his hair, which had previously been coiffed for the wedding, goes back to his usual mohawk.
* HatOfPower: [[IconicItem Mario's Cap]] was just really spiffy before, but now it has eyes, courtesy of its inhabitant, Cappy. He gives the hat the utility of functioning like a boomerang weapon, and as an object that Mario can throw, then jump on, to use as a springboard. And of course, Mario can [[GrandTheftMe Capture]] things using his hat, too.
* HeartContainer: The gold-crowned hearts extend Mario's life meter from 3 to 6 hit points, but losing the extra health will revert the maximum to the standard 3. Fortunately, the hearts allow the effect to be carried over across levels.
* HeartsAreHealth: Rather unusually for the series, there are heart items to heal you instead of hit points being restored by a coin each, and there are also Life-Up Hearts which add three temporary hit points like the ''Galaxy'' Life Mushrooms. This is likely because the amount of coins in the game is greater, more comparable to the 2D ''Mario'' formula, and as such, they'd make healing too easy. Checkpoint flags (when first activated), Moons, and returns to the Odyssey will also heal Mario.
* HeCleansUpNicely:
** Bowser cuts a rather striking figure in his [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:SMO_Art_-_Bowser.png white wedding outfit]]. The in-game description for Mario's version of said outfit even states that Bowser cleans up nicely for a fire-breathing monster covered in spikes, while Bowser himself will compliment you on your choice of clothing before the final fight.
** Mario's [[https://www.mariowiki.com/File:SMO_Art_-_Wedding_Mario.png no slouch either]], Cappy even comments on how dapper the white tuxedo makes Mario look.
** And, of course, Princess Peach looks stunning in a white wedding dress. It helps that this dress isn't just a PaletteSwap of her normal gown like in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''.
* HelpfulMook: The usually antagonistic Koopa Troopa and Lakitu enemies actually appear as friendly [=NPCs=]. The former often gives Mario challenges, including [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Koopa the Quick]]-type races, while Lakitus can be captured to fish up hidden items. Other [=NPCs=] in the area also don't react in fear if Mario approaches while capturing a Lakitu as they would when he captures other mooks near them.
* HerdingMission: In the Sand, Wooded, and Mushroom Kingdoms, there are a Tostarenan, a Steam Gardener, and a Toad whose sheep have wandered away from them. Mario can find them and return them to their owners for Power Moons.
* HeroesLoveDogs: More like "Dogs Love Heroes". The Shiba Inu that shows up in some of the kingdoms will follow Mario around after it unearths a treasure, play fetch with Cappy, and curl up to sleep next to Mario if he nods off.
* HighAltitudeBattle:
** The rematch with Brigadier Mollusque-Lanceur III has the starting platform with a single Gushen, a Glass Tower replica you can't climb, and nothing else. The fight is in the sky during a rainstorm (so you don't run out of water), with that starting platform as the only place to rest.
** The initial battle with Bowser in the [[LevelInTheClouds Cloud Kingdom]] is this in its entirety, though you're on a flat arena and can't see the ground through the clouds.
* HolyPipeOrgan: The church where Bowser plans to marry Peach has [[https://youtu.be/TY-Pk0Xi660 some reverent organ music]] playing inside. But once you confront Bowser, there is a cutscene just before fighting him where the organ switches to [[OminousPipeOrgan playing more sinister music]] as Bowser sends Mario down a trapdoor in the church's floor to the battlefield.
* HomingProjectile: If you shake the Joy-Con while Cappy is in flight, Cappy will home in on the nearest valid target, be it a collectible or enemy. You can use this to compensate for bad aim or squeeze a little extra distance out of your throws.
* HumongousMecha: One boss battle involves Mario fighting a giant robotic Wiggler by Capturing a tank enemy to attack it. Another boss battle involves a gigantic wooden robot which is piloted by all the Broodals together, and it must be defeated by knocking bombs at its legs and climbing the fallen machine to attack the cockpits that the Broodals are in.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IdiosyncraticWipe:
** The scene change transition is an IrisOut with Mario's hat, twirling like he's throwing it away from the screen.
** The wipe when you skip the cutscenes is crescent-shaped, much like the Power Moons.
* IdleAnimation:
** Mario [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 once again]] eventually falls asleep and dreams about pasta if you stand still for long enough. Leave him long enough after that and a bird (type varying by location) will land on his nose.
** On his bed in the Odyssey, he will go to sleep more quickly, and if left idle on any kind of chair, he will sit down on it. Mario can also doze off momentarily on one of the chairs in the ship, but he wakes himself up after a while, unlike when on the bed. During this, Cappy will float around admiring any decorations you’ve placed inside the ship as well.
** Mario will shiver and try to warm his hands in a cold enough area, while he'll wipe sweat off his brow and fan himself in a hot enough area. Though if he's wearing an appropriate outfit, such as the jacket while it's cold, or the boxers while it's hot, he'll go back to his regular idle animation.
** If Mario's standing next to SourceMusic, such as a radio, or the live band in New Donk City, he'll begin dancing to it.
* IFellForHours: Some areas are really tall, even into account that most of the stages seem like islands suspended in the sky like in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. Since Mario doesn't take fall damage in ''Odyssey'', one can take a plunge from such places (such as the top floor of New Donk City Hall or the Moon Kingdom Wedding Hall) and wait a good few seconds before hitting the ground.
* IllFatedFlowerbed: The Steam Gardens feature a secret flower field that is very dear to the Steam Gardeners' robotic hearts. Unfortunately, the field has been found by Torkdrift, a daisy-like [=UFO=] that vacuums up all of its flowers. Mario manages to destroy the monstrosity, but not before it managed to destroy most of the parterre. You can return to restore the field and get a Power Moon, though.
* ImprovisedPlatform: An unusual case. Magmatoes are Luncheon Kingdom enemies which melt into a pool of lava when hit, making them a hazard... to anything except a Captured Lava Bubble, which can swim in their puddles to cross solid ground that would vaporize the Lava Bubble otherwise.
* InASingleBound:
** In this game, Mario can use springy poles to launch his way up and across the New Donk City skyscrapers, and can land safely after leaping from them to street-level.
** A skilled player can make Mario pull off insanely long distance leaps in this game; it's possible to bypass most sections where you have to Capture a creature to progress by pulling off said insane jumps, and many platforming challenges can likewise be made much easier with skilled enough jumps.
%%* InCaseOfBossFightBreakGlass: Torkdrift, the Mechawiggler, and the [=RoboBrood=] all are defeated this way.
* InMediasRes: The game starts with Mario fighting Bowser aboard his airship.
* InsertSong: It ultimately turns out that "Jump Up, Super Star!" isn't the main theme some people thought it was.[[note]]Not only that, but a slightly different version of the song (i.e., from the single version) plays in-game.[[/note]] It plays when Mario gets the band back together, and then goes though the VideoGame/DonkeyKong-inspired {{Retraux}} section during the festival. There's also one other one that plays when [[spoiler:Mario captures Bowser, and he and Princess Peach make their escape from the underground lair under the wedding hall. To be exact, it plays in the last area when Mario has to destroy the four columns]].
* InsistentTerminology:
** Bowser is largely referred to as a monster by other characters.
** [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom's]] collectibles are still called Power Moons, despite the fact that [[spoiler:they're in the form of ''Power Stars'']].
* InterfaceSpoiler: A minor one, but looking at the Moon lists reveals all the potential moons that the world has, including ones that can only be found in the post-game.
* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: You can buy souvenirs from the various kingdoms to customize the interior of the Odyssey, though they all have predetermined spots, so the customization is limited to what you buy, since you cannot decide where the items will be placed or remove them after they're bought.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** If you revisit the final level after beating Bowser, two guys, a snail-like Bubblainian and a fork-like Volbonan, can be seen competing for the affections of a female New Donker, who, like all other New Donkers, looks like a realistic human. Her body language indicates that she's rather flattered.
** In the Moon's chapel after beating Bowser, a skeleton-like Tostarenan and a mermaid-like Lochlady discuss the posibility of getting married in the chapel.
* IntrepidMerchant: Subverted. The Crazy Cap location in Bowser's Kingdom doesn't get a lot of customers due to being located in a very unsafe location filled with dangerous enemies and the entirety of the Kingdom is floating, meaning that you'd need the ability to use a Spark Pylon to even reach the shop.
* InvincibilityPowerUp: Starmen are notably absent, but scanning a Mario Toys/{{amiibo}} achieves a similar effect by granting you a brief period of invincibility.
* InvisibilityCloak: [[spoiler:The Invisibility Hat that Mario gets by collecting the Multi Moon in Cumina Crater.]]
* InvisibleWall: Surrounds the Cap Kingdom and Seaside Kingdom, to prevent Paragoombas and Cheep Cheeps/Gushens from flying/swimming (respectively) out into the distance forever.
* {{Irony}}: The song "Jump Up, Super Star" features "1-Up Girl" and "1-Up Boy" as lyrics, though this is the first main-series game without a lives system.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J-L]]
* JigglePhysics:
** Oddly, the game features this for, [[GagNose of all things]], ''[[http://www.suppermariobroth.com/post/156819276305/in-the-super-mario-odyssey-trailer-marios-new Mario's nose.]]''
** Mario's hats are also affected, bouncing slightly off his head with every step, practically flying off as he runs, and even exposing the hair underneath as it bounces.
** The typical application of the trope is found here, too, with Madame Broode's chest and stomach. [[FanDisservice It's not sexy.]]
* JungleJapes: The Lost Kingdom is a tropical island jungle with a lot of interesting plants.
* KabukiSounds: Stairface Ogres utter a kabuki-like "Yoooooo" when they're defeated.
* KaizoTrap: Inverted. The final battle ''begins'' with Bowser already attacking you, so if you don't move or counter quickly, you'll take damage as soon as it starts. The cutscene right before the boss battle ends with Bowser initiating this attack, making it a small case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration.
* KickTheDog: After Mario's hat is knocked off, Bowser crushes it with his foot. Funnily enough, though, it rebounds right back with no visible damage after he steps off; it's not until it is left to fly into the airship propellers that it gets destroyed.
* KingMook: Mollusque-Lanceur, the boss of the Sea Kingdom, is an adult specimen of the Gushen (and by extension the Astro-Lanceur).
* KungFuProofMook:
** The ''Piranha Plant'', of all enemies, can counter [[GrandTheftMe Capturing]] because it can just eat Mario's hat when he tries to throw it. It is possible to Capture it if you feed it a rock first.
** Trapeetles are also immune to Capturing. Not only can they grab Cappy from any direction, they will then throw Cappy back at Mario as an explosive projectile. Cappy is not harmed, but this move can easily catch you off guard if you're not prepared for it.
* LastEpisodeThemeReprise: "Jump Up, Super Star!" gets an encore performance right before the BrutalBonusLevel.
* LastLousyPoint:
** Because they are scattered widely across kingdoms, chasing down purple coins in each of them can get to be a hassle as they start to dwindle in number.
** If you're trying to fill out the Capture list, Piranha Plants can be tricky to get because they normally eat Cappy when he's thrown at them. The only way to Capture them is to feed them a rock, ''then'' throw Cappy at them.
** One music track can be very hard to track down if you're not the type to mess around throwing Cappy at things: [[spoiler:"Honeylune Ridge: Escape (Japanese)" is obtained in the post-game by throwing Cappy at any radio that normally plays the Crazy Cap theme. Prior to the post-game, hitting said radios will instead play a clip of Bowser kidnapping Peach.]]
** Talkatoo and Hint Toad exist to make exploration easier, as they give free hints to those who interact with them. Talkatoo gives the name of a random unobtained Moon (which can be [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin pretty on-the-nose at times]]), while Hint Toad will mark a Moon location on the map for the price of 50 coins.
* LaterInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[VideoGameLives 1-up lives]] and {{Game Over}}s are completely done away with for the first time in the core games, instead having Mario lose 10 coins upon death.
** None of the typical ''Mario'' power-ups, such as Mushrooms or Starmen, are ever seen in the game; the only recurring items that appear are Coins.
** Though Starmen no longer appear, temporary invincibility is still possible through scanning any Mario amiibo[[note]]This includes Mario, [[Franchise/SuperSmashBros Smash]] Mario, 8-bit Mario (classic or modern), Gold or Silver Mario, and of course, Wedding Mario.[[/note]].
** While the game does use the exploration-based gameplay of ''64'' and ''Sunshine'', the game does not boot players out of the level after collecting a Power Moon, making it more similar to collectathons like ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''. Also in that vein, there are no selectable story missions for each moon — instead, the area's plot advances permanently upon collecting certain primary objective moons. This also means that one cannot redo certain major objectives or refight certain bosses, until the rematches in the post-game, including the Dark Side for the Broodals and the Moon Kingdom on re-visit for Bowser.
* LavaIsBoilingKoolAid: The lava in this game looks pretty normal, with the exception of the strange solid-pink lava in the Luncheon Kingdom, which may literally be boiling Kool-Aid.
* LazyDragon: The Ruined Dragon in the post-game. He hangs off the tower where Mario first fought him and complains of tiredness. (Said tiredness may also explain his Tactical Suicide during the boss fight.)
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall:
** The theme song as a whole, along with uses some clever wordplay to reference everything from ''Odyssey''[='=]s relationship to past 3D ''Mario'' installments, staples of the franchise such as coins and mushrooms, and even the dedication and skill of long-time ''Mario'' fans themselves.
** The brochure for New Donk City mentions that the NDC Festival's schedule is subject to frequent changes, since the player can choose to replay the festival any time they like.
** The fossils in the rocks of the Cascade Kingdom are classic 8-bit enemy sprites, and [[spoiler:there are costumes which re-create Mario's ''64'' model and the 3D form of his 8-bit sprite — one Toad even has nostalgia for Mario looking as he did in ''64'']], implying that the changes in the series' art style are in some way part of the universe's history.
* LeaningTowerOfMooks: Mario can can encounter Goombas standing on top of one another, and can also {{Invoke|d Trope}} this trope by capturing a Goomba and making it jump on another one. That Goomba can them jump on another one, and so on, and so forth, to make a tower of Goombas.
* LeapOfFaith: One Moon in New Donk City, appropriately titled "Leap of Faith", involves attempting to get a scooter into a parking spot situated on top of a roof. The thing is, there is no way to get to the rooftop from ground level[[note]]outside of [[GoodBadBugs performing a certain glitch]][[/note]]. You are thus required to go to the very top of City Hall, where you can find a scooter, and ''drive straight off.'' Thankfully, you can control your aerial momentum so you can aim for the rooftop in question.
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** Captain Toad's theme tune plays every time he appears.
** The melody from Fossil Falls is recurring: examples include the map selection screen, getting a Life-Up Heart, or activating a switch. It's also featured in the second Bowser battle, the moon cave escape sequence, and the credits.
* LethalLavaLand:
** Mount Volbono of the Luncheon Kingdom erupts bright pink lava, which the whole level is surrounded by.
** Additionally, there is the Lava Crater inside the Moon Kingdom, which is a more traditional lava-filled corridor.
** Lava is present outside the intended levels as well. In the Seaside Kingdom, Mollusque-Lanceur fills the hot springs with lava and generates lava on his head, and a couple of sublevel challenge areas are surrounded by lava.
* LevelAte: The Luncheon Kingdom is made of heavily stylized food, has living utensils as [=NPCs=], and features [[FryingPanOfDoom pan-tossing Hammer Bros.]] There's even a giant bird dressed in chef attire named Cookatiel menacing the place by cluelessly taking over the cooking.
* LevelInTheClouds: The Cloud Kingdom is located in the cloudy skies above another kingdom. It is here where Mario fights Bowser for the first time in the game, as well as the first level where certain cloud platforms can be activated by hitting their "null" forms with Cappy.
* LifeMeter: While the graphics are different, this game's life meter is functionally identical to the ''Galaxy'' games', with just three hit points, but a power-up[[note]]the ''Galaxy'' games had Life Mushrooms, and ''Odyssey'' has Life-Up Hearts[[/note]] which will add three for as long as the player can keep them.
* LightningBruiser: [[spoiler:The Captured version of Bowser is as fast as Mario, can jump as high as Mario, is strong enough to destroy giant, stone blocks with a single swipe, and starts with doubled [=HP=].]]
* LimitedWardrobe: A significant aversion, for, unusually for a mainline ''Mario'' platformer, not only can Mario can dress up in different outfits, but Peach will do so as well when she tours the different kingdoms in the post-game.
* LivingDinosaurs: The Cascade Kingdom is known for having these. More ''Tyrannosaurus'' can be found in the Wooded Kingdom and the Metro Kingdom, though only the Wooded and Cascade Kingdom ones can be Captured.
* LivingStatue: The Moe-Eyes are walking moai statues with sunglasses. If Mario captures one, he can toggle its sunglasses to see invisible platforms.
* LoadBearingBoss: After the final fight with Bowser in the Moon Kingdom, the interior of the moon begins to collapse, prompting an EscapeSequence. Justified by Bowser hitting and shattering a background pillar when Mario delivers the final punch to knock him out of the arena, which, if it were load-bearing, would in turn destabilize the cavern.
* LoneWolfBoss: Some of the bosses, such as Knucklotec and Cookatiel, don't work with Bowser. The former only fights Mario because he mistakes him for the thieves, and Cookatiel is a random stupid bird who probably doesn't even know that she's a menace to the stew she's taken over.
* LongSongShortScene:
** It's very easy to miss hearing the 8-bit version of "Mollusque-Lanceur Battle" at the only opportunity to hear it, as it only plays when Mario is in an 8-bit area that he has no reason to be in at the time (since, well, an octopus is rampaging around Bubblaine). Fortunately, the song appears in the sound test after beating Mollusque-Lanceur regardless of whether it played or not.
** If you're really good at the game, you won't get to hear much of the second InsertSong that plays when [[spoiler:Mario (who has captured Bowser at this point) has to claw his way through the four columns as he and Princess Peach make their escape from the underground lair under the wedding hall]].
* LostInACrowd: One area in New Donk City features a MobstacleCourse that makes Mario run through a crowd to get to a timed Power Moon. In the postgame, one of the new Power Moon challenges is to find the single New Donker in that crowd who is wearing a Bonneter instead of a normal hat.
* LostTechnology:
** The Steam Gardens are an ancient, high-tech greenhouse tended by watering can robots. These robots are advanced enough to have sentience and free will (think WesternAnimation/WallE but better-spoken). According to the kingdom's Crazy Cap brochure, nobody knows who built the gardens, but they took off centuries ago, leaving the self-sustaining gardens behind.
** Knucklotec, the boss of the Sand Kingdom, seems to be partly robotic — capturing its fists causes them to reveal rocket boosters.
* TheLostWoods: The Wooded Kingdom is a typical forest area, but with a lot of machinery thrown in as well. The semi-hidden Deep Woods area beneath the Steam Gardens is far more natural in appearance.
* {{Lunacy}}: Instead of Power Stars or Shine Sprites, the main collectibles in ''Odyssey'' are Power Moons. [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom has ''64''-style Power Stars, but they're still called "moons", theorized by Cappy to be a different shape for the same object.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
* {{MacGuffin}}: Most of the Kingdoms that Bowser passes through have something he wants to steal to furnish his wedding with.
** He kidnapped Cappy's sister Tiara from the Cap Kingdom to serve as Peach's tiara/wedding veil.
** He stole the Binding Band from the Sand Kingdom's pyramid to act as Peach's wedding ring.
** He stole the Lochlady Dress from the Lake Kingdom to be Peach's wedding dress.
** The Wooden Kingdom's Soirée Bouquet field was picked to be Peach's bouquet, though Bowser added some Piranha Plants to it.
** Bowser tried to siphon electricity from the Metro Kingdom for an unspecified purpose.
** The prize for the Snow Kingdom's big race, the Frost-Frosted Cake, was stolen to be Bowser's wedding cake.
** Much of the Seaside Kingdom's Sparkle Water was drained so that Bowser could use it to make a toast at his reception.
** A large amount of Stupendous Stew was stolen from the Luncheon Kingdom to be served at the wedding.
** And, of course, he stole Peach herself from the Mushroom Kingdom.
* MadBomber: Hariet, one of the Broodals, attacks by throwing bombs, and has an ability where she flies around while dropping bombs, laughing crazily in the process.
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Since there is no GameOver in this game, and DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist, there are many different ways to off poor Mario in this game, and different animations to boot. Getting hit by a Bullet Bill or falling into lava, in particular, gives Mario an AshFace as he falls off the screen.
* MarathonLevel: This is a large part of the difficulty behind Darker Side of the Moon. It's 14 sections without checkpoints, with many being about the length of a full Power Moon mission elsewhere in the game.
* {{Mayincatec}}: The primary theme of the Sand Kingdom, in the first departure from ''Mario'' deserts' ubiquitous Egyptian theming. Here, the most Egyptian feature is a Sphynx, but the rest is based on Mesoamerican history, with the pyramid being a step pyramid common to Mayan, Aztec, and other societies, and the boss being based on Olmec statues. There's also a more modern-day Mexican town, a cowboy outfit bought there and moai creatures, further distancing the theme from Egypt.
* MeaningfulName: Tostarena, the village in Sand Kingdom. The first syllable comes from "tostado" (Spanish for "toasted" or "burnt" in some cases), referring to the kingdom's toasty, arid climate (after both its bosses have been defeated) & "arena" is Spanish for "sand", as in the landscape.
* MechaMooks: The game features the Sherm, a tank enemy that shoots explosives at Mario. They can be captured with the help of Cappy (and doing so is necessary to defeat Mechawiggler).
* MechanicalMonster: Mechawiggler is a large robotic specimen of Wiggler which is terrorizing New Donk City and its people, and is capable of attacking with energy spheres as well as warping from one spot to another with portals.
* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The prevalence of 8-bit areas means that enemies get to be seen in slightly dated designs; Mario also has his old sprite, but it's recolored to match his modern look (and also changes to show most of the outfits he can wear). [[spoiler:In the 8-bit segment of Honeylune Ridge's finale, Peach and Mario-as-Bowser keep their ''Super Mario Bros.'' looks unchanged.]]
** [[spoiler:The Mushroom Kingdom's purple coin outfit is the ''[[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Mario 64]]'' hat and suit. Wearing them gives Mario an updated version of his ''64'' look — an update that keeps its blockiness, lack of mouth, blank stare, and fingerless hands, all combining to make him look incredibly weird next to the game's SceneryPorn. Wearing the outfit also opens up a bonus area in Mushroom Kingdom that recreates the fountain area in Peach's Castle, complete with [[SpritePolygonMix the perpetually-frontward tree sprites]] (opening Snapshot Mode lets you break their illusion and see them at an angle). [[ChromeChampion Metal Mario]] also appears as an unlockable outfit.]]
* MercyMode: Failing enough times in certain sections of the game will eventually trigger a Crazy Cap employee to appear nearby, offering items such as Life-Up Hearts for coins. Also, the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Assist Mode]] acts as an optional one, wherein Mario will have 3 extra health points, [[BottomlessPitRescueService is saved by a bubble if he falls off of a level]], has arrows that tell him where certain plot-centric objectives are, and ''regains lost health if left idle for a few seconds''. That last one makes getting through [[ThatOneLevel certain levels]] much easier.
* MetropolisLevel: New Donk City is a SkyscraperCity based off of metropolitan New York City, where Mario must navigate a vertical maze of stairways, construction frameworks, skyscraper exteriors, precipitous drops and hanging girders, all while dodging enemies such as giant flies and Goombas in hard hats. Besides the [[NonstandardCharacterDesign realistically proportioned New Donker humans]], it's generally played as cartoonishly silly as any other level theme in the series: the entire level is surrounded with a {{Bottomless Pit|s}} with roads that just drive off into nothingness, the side "island" is actually just a really tall skyscraper below the main area's foundation, and a ton of [=NPCs=] are actively engaging in blatant ArtificialAtmosphericActions, like two people in the park spinning a jump rope around by themselves with nobody jumping over it, or the endless crowd of people leaving one storefront and flowing into another in a singular direction, [[AlienGeometries which you find by walking into a much smaller building]].
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: Subtly used. At times, it almost seems like Mario's compelled to act like whatever he's inhabiting when he first inhabits it.
* MiniBoss: The Broodals, which are fought halfway through the Kingdoms' corresponding story arcs, in a fashion similar to the minibosses from the 2D games. In the penultimate level, they realize they're individually no match for Mario, so they join forces as they pilot the Robobrood to face him in a full-fledged boss battle.
* MinskyPickup: One of these begins the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16LDAEkfWkA theme]] used in Koopa Freerunning and Luigi's Balloon World.
* MissedHimByThatMuch: Banktoad mentions that he and the other members of the Toad Brigade haven't found out where Captain Toad went when Mario finds him on the summit of Forgotten Isle. If you went to the cave the Captain was hiding out in before climbing the mountain, it invokes this trope.
* MisterMuffykins: Madame Broode's Chain Chomp pet is named Chain Chompikins, and has a higher-pitched yap than most Chomps.
* MobstacleCourse: One TimedMission involves Mario running through (or jumping over, if you prefer) a large crowd of New Donkers to get to a Power Moon.
* MoneyForNothing: The only things coins are used for are Life-Up Hearts, outfits, and Power Moons. Outfits and Power Moons only need to be bought once and Life-Up Hearts can be found for free in the open world. Because collecting coins are no longer used for earning extra lives, it's easy to wind up with hundreds, even thousands of coins with little to spend on.
* MoneySink: Once you hit the post-game, Crazy Cap ''really'' opens up with its stock. Not only is the purchase limit on Power Moons removed, allowing you to buy as many Power Moons as your wallet allows, but earning more Power Moons progressively adds more and more outfits and hats to buy, including the amiibo outfits and a Skeleton outfit that costs a whopping '''9999 Coins!''' Several outfits were also added post-launch, with many of them going for a thousand coins or more.
* MoodWhiplash:
** Not so much one that suddenly makes the game dark out of nowhere but traveling to the Metro Kingdom is a bit jarring at first. The people there are proportioned like real people, the vehicles are conventional cars, and the building designs have none of the whimsy the series is known for, being very brick-and-mortar city skyscrapers. This is contrasted against locales such as the Sand Kingdom with its cartoonish Dia de Muertos-like skeleton citizens and stylized Mexican-esque dwellings. The robot centipede that takes over the New Donk City Hall is also grimly cold and mechanical in design as opposed to the less sci-fi robots you might see elsewhere. The place is also initially raining, at night, and infested with mosquito-like enemies called Urban Stingbies.
** Within the Snow Kingdom, you start in a dark blizzard with no visibility that does a great job at masking the tiny size of the area and making the player feel lost and unwelcome, but then you end up falling into the cheery, cozy underground town and meet its adorable NPC inhabitants and the tone has completely changed.
** For a more traditional example, after exploring the cold but cuddly Snow Kingdom, the relaxing Seaside Kingdom, and the cheery, goofy Luncheon Kingdom, you're then attacked by a terrifying dragon, and end up in the Ruined Kingdom, which is dark, moody, and very creepy.
** There's also the Deep Woods, deep in the cheery, lively Wooded Kingdom. o get there, you have to jump off the undulating cliff next to the Odyssey, [[ViolationOfCommonSense which wouldn't at all come to mind]].
* MoonRabbit: The Broodals apparently hail from the Dark Side of the moon, more specifically Rabbit Ridge. Rabbit Ridge is also filled with bunnies wearing top hats.
* MoralMyopia: Bowser has transgressed against every civilized Kingdom on the planet by terrorizing the locals and stealing something from them as part of the necessary preparations for his wedding. Then he "invites" some special guests from each of the Kingdoms to bear witness to the marital union between him and Princess Peach and acts like there's nothing wrong about it. All the while obstructing and condemning Mario for being the "bad guy" who has to go out of his way to ruin all of his hard work.
* MorphicResonance: Anything captured by Mario will feature his red hat, mustache, and blue eyes. Including a ''dinosaur''.
* {{Motifs}}:
** As Tanooki tails were to ''3D Land'' and cats were to ''3D World'', hats are to this game. Many [=NPCs=] wear them, the Crazy Cap store appears in many of the worlds, and Mario's airship, the Odyssey, is even shaped like a top hat. And of course, Mario and Peach's hats are possessed by spirits named Cappy and Tiara, respectively.
** The moon. Mario collects moons instead of stars, the moon is visible in every stage, the Broodals are a gang of rabbits [[MoonRabbit who hail from the moon]], "Jump Up, Super Star!" mentions you can zoom all the way to the moon, and there's also the pun of a wedding honey''moon''. And the final kingdom? Moon Kingdom.
* MundaneFantastic: The Moon Kingdom in spades. It's a popular tourist location which also warranted a brochure from Crazy Cap and equally popular for hosting weddings, and the kicker is that it's perfectly accessible by ''taxi'' (but doing so would require a lot of fuel to be replenished) and [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace wearing a space suit or at least a helmet is optional]].
* MundaneUtility: Some Power Moons require you to use Captured enemies for basic tasks, like using a Fire Bro to light a campfire or warming up stew pots by hopping in as a Lava Bubble.
* MusicalNod:
** If you go into the deepest level of the pause menu and back[[note]]activate the menu, go to Options, then Controls[[/note]], you'll notice that the selection jingles form the melody of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy "Rosalina in the Observatory"]]. In addition, pausing and then quickly unpausing will form the classic 1-Up jingle, which is otherwise absent due to this game's lack of VideoGameLives.
** The bassline in the bridge of "Jump Up, Super Star!", the game's main theme, is a variation on the music for the first level from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' (AKA 25m). The "item get" sound is also worked into the bridge during the version played in "A Traditional Festival!".
** Similarly, the bridge for "Break Free (Lead the Way)" is Bowser's {{Leitmotif}} from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', and the version that plays over the final cutscene also contains 25m in the second bridge.
** Various radios in New Donk City play [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bixxb8jSxSg piano versions of the ''Super Mario World'' overworld theme.]]
** Uniquely, a song from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' is prominently referenced; cutscenes involving Bowser's airship use an orchestrated version of that game's opening riffs for the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' airship theme.
** The music during the second half of Bowser's Kingdom is an orchestrated remix of Bowser's boss fight theme from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.
** Bonus rooms have mostly original music. However, the exceptions are NPC minigame challenges like Slots (''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' minigame theme), the RC Car challenge (which uses ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'''s Mario Circuit theme), and those accessed through beanstalks (cue the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' bonus room theme).
** [[spoiler:In the Mushroom Kingdom, the victory theme that plays for getting Power Moons is swapped out for a new arrangement of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'''s Power Star theme. Peach's Castle also uses an orchestrated arrangement of "Inside the Castle Walls" from the same game]].
** The racing theme that plays during the Koopa Freerunning and Shiverian races sounds remarkably similar to "Full of Vigor" from ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party 4]]''.
* MyNaymeIs: "Hariet" is usually spelled with two R's, but has just one to aid the rabbit pun ("hare").
* MythologyGag:
** Various preceding works in the franchise, such as ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'', ''ComicBook/SuperMarioAdventures'', and ''Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach'' had Bowser trying to marry Peach by force.
** The BigApplesauce-ness of New Donk City recalls the original backstory of Mario and Luigi coming from Brooklyn and ending up stranded in the Mushroom Kingdom by Warp Pipe. Mario has finally come home!
** A few of Mario's outfits are taken from [[http://www.mariowiki.com/File:2016_Club_Nintendo_Calendar_Art.jpg the 2016 Club Nintendo calendar]]:
*** The Swim Goggles and Swimwear come from June.
*** The Painter Outfit comes from September, with extra inspiration from ''VideoGame/MarioPaint''. The accompanying cap, however, comes from ''VideoGame/MarioArtist''.
*** The Samurai Helmet and Armor come from May.
*** The Hakama comes from January.
*** The Santa Hat and Outfit come from December.
** [[spoiler:The Mario 64 and Metal Mario clothes change Mario to his low-poly model from his early 3D days.]]
** New Donk City has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoVBtEo-egk?t=2m28s some graffiti]] of original DK and Pauline's old [[https://www.mariowiki.com/images/7/7b/DKNESDonkeyKongPaulineArt.png "Lady"]] design. Upon closer inspection of the [[https://tcrf.net/images/1/13/Super-Mario-Odyssey-New-Donk-graffitiFinal.png text]] underneath it, "New Donk City" was scratched out to say "New Donk [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Cranky]]".
** The ambiguous plaque from ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' rumored to say "L is real 2401" is back and [[TheUnreveal just as blurry as before.]]
** The women running the jumprope minigame prompt Mario to "Jump, man!", with "Jumpman" being an earlier concept name.
** Mario's dancing animation has him swinging his arms from side to side; in other words, doing "[[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow The Mario]]".
** Bowser's Kingdom's main export is Hanafuda cards, referencing Nintendo's own origins as a Hanafuda card manufacturer.
** A side area in New Donk City has Mario escape from a ''Tyrannosaurus'' in a New York-esque city, much like in [[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 the live-action movie]].[[note]]The ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' cartoon also features the Mario brothers running into dinosaurs on occasion, justifying the location being called "Dinosaur Land".[[/note]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere No explanation]] is given as to why [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a T-Rex is running around]] in an area [[RuleOfFunny inspired by New York City]].
** One of Pauline's animations during the festival has her turning to the side and kicking her legs in a weird manner... which is actually a recreation of her animation from the original ''Donkey Kong''.
** When the player reaches a certain rank in Balloon World, Luigi will have three balloons, colored blue, red, and yellow. Combined with his green hat, [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/b6d06ae8792a6621e4c7dfa754bb3eb4/tumblr_inline_p4mx2sLrGB1ra17z7_540.jpg it altogether resembles the buttons on a Super Famicom/European/Australian SNES controller turned sideways]].
[[/folder]]
