Lava (hazard)

Lava is a common hazard in the Mario franchise, especially inside castles. Depending on the game, contact with lava either results in Mario losing some health (as seen in Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Paper Mario) or losing a life (as seen from most 2D Mario platformer games, such as Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, Super Mario Sunshine in Corona Mountain, Super Mario 3D Land, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in Bowser's interlude following Chapter 6). Using a Super Star or equivalent power-up does not protect the player from lava. The effect lava has on Bowser varies as well, ranging from not affecting him to defeating him.

Super Mario Bros.
Lava makes its debut in Super Mario Bros., where it appears in the castle level of each world. If Mario or Luigi falls into the lava, they will instantly lose a life. At the end of the level, Mario or Luigi must destroy the bridge that either Bowser or an impostor is standing on, causing him to fall into the lava.

Due to the graphical limitations of the NES at the time, the "lava" is simply a palette swap of water and is only a background object (proven by characters falling through the lava and not losing a life the moment they touch it). In the All-Stars remake, lava has a boiling animation and Mario falls behind it.

SMB: The Lost Levels
Lava reappears in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, where it has the same appearance and purpose as it did in Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, lava occasionally appears in the Fortress levels in some worlds, usually appearing at the bottom of the level but sometimes appearing on the ceilings. Mario and Luigi always lose a life if they touch lava; however, in the Super Mario Advance 4 port, they will strangely be unaffected when touching lava on the ceiling.

Super Mario World
In Super Mario World, lava appears in fortress and castle levels. Once again, Mario or Luigi will instantly lose a life if they fall into the lava. In certain caves, there is a brighter color of lava which frequently has skull rafts on it; these rafts are the only way to complete these levels. If Yoshi, a power-up, or an enemy falls into the lava, it slowly sinks into the lava and eventually disappears; if Mario is riding Yoshi at the time, he will lose a life (although a glitch allows Yoshi to stand on slanted lava slopes). There is also a grey lava found in Chocolate Fortress and Chocolate Island 4 which functions the same as normal lava to match the theme of Chocolate Island.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, lava appears in Pipe Vault, Barrel Volcano, and Bowser's Keep. Contact with lava causes Mario to warp back to the entrance of a room. In the two platforming challenges in Bowser's Keep, which Mario gets ten chances to complete, falling into lava will remove one of his chances along with several coins, and warp him back.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Magician's Sword
Lava is a glowing red/orange liquid found deep in the Cavern layer and in Muspelheim, appearing instead of Water at depths below 1,500 feet (750 tiles) in a small world, 2,300 feet (1,150 tiles) in a medium world, and 3,350 feet (1,675 tiles) in a large world. Contact with Lava deals 80 damage per hit on players and 50 damage per hit on enemies. However, Hawth Bowserth, Providence is indestrucble in lava and inflicts the On Fire! debuff on both. Lava also slows movement the way Water does. The Obsidian Skin Potion makes players immune to Lava damage, and the Lava Charm will allow players to be safely submerged in lava for 7 seconds. Lava flows downwards and horizontally, settling and taking the shape of any block formations below and beside it, the way Water does; however, Lava is more viscous than Water, flowing more slowly. It also emits a medium amount of flickering light. Lava can be moved by the player via a bucket or pump. After flowing 50 blocks in a direction, lava will begin to evaporate, causing the source to be lost.

Most dropped items of a Rarity lower than blue (which includes all Coins) will be destroyed when submerged in Lava past their vertical midpoint. Blocks cannot be placed directly within Lava, but falling blocks like Silt and Sand can fall into it, resulting in placement at its bottom, and these can be stacked until reaching the Lava's surface to form a safe bridge over it. Silt and Sand blocks placed this way will revert back to Lava if mined away. However, one can use this method and log out. Upon logging back in, most of the lava will be gone.