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A Bullet Bill is an enemy and an item in the Mario Kart series. First appearing in Mario Kart DS, it has been famous for being the most powerful item in the Mario Kart series. It's usually obtained when one is at the back of the pack and transforms the player into a flying rocket that can zoom past other players and bring one back into the race. The Bullet Bill can help anyone win a race even when it seems like all is lost.

Uses[]

Bullet Bill item in Mario Kart Ds

What amazing speed!

The Bullet Bill is a recovery item in the Mario Kart series. When a player uses it, they are transformed into an extremely fast Bullet Bill, racing through the track with incredible speed, as well as automatically steering the player. The player can however slightly swerve in either direction to hit players (see below paragraph). The Bullet Bill's duration is lengthier the farther back a player is, in terms of places.

If a player is in the way, the racer who is using the Bullet Bill will knock them over, which causes them a great deficit in their time. It may also make them drop their items. However, the game designers are nice enough to give the opponents in the way a warning alarm. A defense against a Bullet Bill is being equipped with a Star. You may also avoid this item if they are far ahead of the person using it, or out of the flight path, which may allow some overtaken players to easily regain their place.

Bullet Bill

Bowser Jr. using a Bullet Bill.

While this item is undoubtedly a powerful force that could help you catch up easily, it can sometimes be a curse. When on any courses with sharp turns or obstacle on the track, the Bullet Bill may sometimes auto-pilot itself straight into them and then disappear at the most inopportune time possible, causing the kart to either get hit or fall off the track and lose some of the spots gained using this item. However, the pros overshadow the cons. This is also one of four items which can be used to dodge a Spiny Shell (the others being a Mushroom, a Star, and the Mega Mushroom). It can also be used to destroy the Thunder Cloud and dodge Lightning, the POW Block, and any form of shell.

Bullet Bills also appear as obstacles on the Airship Fortress track from Mario Kart DS. In Mario Kart 7, they are replaced by their bigger counterpart, the Banzai Bills.

In its earlier appearances, only one player at a time could get a Bullet Bill but as of Mario Kart 8, up to 2 players can have a Bullet Bill at once. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it cannot be stolen by a Boo while it is in use.

In Mario Kart 8 and its switch port, the bullet bill lasts until:

  • It has been active for at least 8 seconds, in which it will end at the first possible exit point.
  • It has been active for 12 seconds without finding a possible exit point (like the winding paths in Cheese Land clearly doesn't give enough space for the bullet bill to drop the player off safely), in which it will end instantly, if not abruptly.
  • It passed at least 1/3 of the whole lobby, rounded up (for example, at least 4 players in a full lobby), then it will end at the first possible exit point.
  • The user is in first place.

In Mario Kart Tour, with the introduction of the Frenzy Action, drivers with three item slots can receive a Bullet Bill Frenzy when they are behind. When this happens, the Bullet Bill glows rainbow similarly to the driver if they get a frenzy for a different item, and two smaller, regular-colored Bullet Bills appear beside the bigger Bullet Bill. These small Bullet Bills home in on nearby opponents when launched, and they will respawn with the bigger Bullet Bill afterwards until the end of the frenzy.

Probabilities of Obtaining the Item[]

Mario Kart DS[]

Rank
1st 0%
2nd 0%
3rd 0%
4th 0%
5th 0%
6th 5%
7th 10%
8th 22.5%

Mario Kart Wii[]

Rank
1st 0%
2nd 0%
3rd 0%
4th 0%
5th 0%
6th 0%
7th 0%
8th 5%
9th 10%
10th 15%
11th 20%
12th 25%

Mario Kart 7[]

Rank
1st 0%
2nd 0%
3rd 0%
4th 0%
5th 0%
6th 5%
7th 15%
8th 30%

Mario Kart 8[]

Distance (units)
400 0%
1000 0%
2000 0%
3300 0%
5500 5%
8000 15%
13000 30%
26000 42.5%
999998 35%
999999 35%

Trivia![]

  • In Mario Kart Wii, a Bullet Bill lasts longer if it is inside a cannon, and ends after it is out of the cannon.
  • It is one of the fastest items in the Mario Kart series, second only to the Spiny Shell.
  • The bullet bill will not drop the player off around tight sections of the track after the timer reached 8 seconds and will instead keep going until it finds a safe spot to drop the player off. This is commonly known as the "bullet bill extension" trick, which is infamously effective for closing the distance between the user and the leader faster due to the speed of the bullet.

Gallery[]

Mario Kart DS items
Banana ā€¢ Triple Bananas* ā€¢ Green Shell ā€¢ Triple Green Shell ā€¢ Red Shell ā€¢ Triple Red Shell ā€¢ Spiny Shell ā€¢ Bob-omb ā€¢ Fake Item Box ā€¢ Mushroom ā€¢ Triple Mushroom ā€¢ Golden Mushroom ā€¢ Bullet Bill* ā€¢ Blooper* ā€¢ Lightning ā€¢ Starman ā€¢ Boo
* - New to the series.
Mario Kart Wii items
Banana ā€¢ Triple Bananas ā€¢ Green Shell ā€¢ Triple Green Shell ā€¢ Red Shell ā€¢ Triple Red Shell ā€¢ Spiny Shell ā€¢ Bob-omb ā€¢ Fake Item Box ā€¢ Mushroom ā€¢ Triple Mushroom ā€¢ Golden Mushroom ā€¢ Bullet Bill ā€¢ Blooper ā€¢ Lightning ā€¢ Starman ā€¢ Mega Mushroom* ā€¢ Thunder Cloud* ā€¢ POW Block*
* - New to the series.
Mario Kart 7 items
Banana ā€¢ Triple Bananas ā€¢ Green Shell ā€¢ Triple Green Shell ā€¢ Red Shell ā€¢ Triple Red Shell ā€¢ Spiny Shell ā€¢ Bob-omb ā€¢ Mushroom ā€¢ Triple Mushroom ā€¢ Golden Mushroom ā€¢ Bullet Bill ā€¢ Blooper ā€¢ Lightning ā€¢ Starman ā€¢ Fire Flower* ā€¢ Super Leaf* ā€¢ Lucky Seven*
* - New to the series.
Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe) items
Banana ā€¢ Triple Bananas ā€¢ Green Shell ā€¢ Triple Green Shell ā€¢ Red Shell ā€¢ Triple Red Shell ā€¢ Spiny Shell ā€¢ Bob-omb ā€¢ Mushroom ā€¢ Triple Mushroom ā€¢ Golden Mushroom ā€¢ Bullet Bill ā€¢ Blooper ā€¢ Lightning ā€¢ Starman ā€¢ Fire Flower ā€¢ Boomerang Flower ā€¢ Potted Piranha Plant ā€¢ Super Horn ā€¢ Crazy 8 ā€¢ Coin ā€¢ Feather*/** ā€¢ Boo*
* - Exclusive to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. ā€¢ ** - Only available in Battle Mode.
Mario Kart Tour items
Regular Items Banana ā€¢ Green Shell ā€¢ Red Shell ā€¢ Spiny Shell ā€¢ Bob-omb ā€¢ Mushroom ā€¢ Bullet Bill ā€¢ Blooper ā€¢ Lightning ā€¢ Starman** ā€¢ Mega Mushroom ā€¢ Super Horn ā€¢ Coin ā€¢ Feather***
Special Items Boomerang Flower ā€¢ Bubble* ā€¢ Triple Green Shells ā€¢ Double Bob-ombs* ā€¢ Dash Ring* ā€¢ Giant Banana ā€¢ Heart ā€¢ Fire Flower ā€¢ Yoshi's Egg ā€¢ Triple Mushrooms ā€¢ Ice Flower* ā€¢ Giga Bob-omb* ā€¢ Bowser Shell ā€¢ Banana Barrel* ā€¢ Lucky Seven ā€¢ Bob-omb Cannon* ā€¢ Birdo's Egg ā€¢ Hammer* ā€¢ Mushroom Cannon* ā€¢ Triple Bananas ā€¢ Coin Box* ā€¢ Super Bell* ā€¢ Super Leaf ā€¢ Capsule*
* - New to the series. ā€¢ ** - Exclusive as an Item in some Challenges and in Multiplayer. ā€¢ *** - Only available in Battle Mode.
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