7. Marios Mushrooms Are Real
So you thought Mario was always a bit on the wild side for eating mushrooms and using it as an excuse to power up, particularly when he was feeling a little on the small side? Well, the power-up mushrooms found within the Mario franchise actually exist in reality and are commonly known as the Fly Agaric or officially as the Amanita Muscaria the red-capped and white-spotted mushroom. In fact, the Amanita Muscaria is said to produce hallucinatory effects when eaten, which is why Mario sprouts up in size, and has been used within many literary depictions such as Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland and American novelist Thomas Pynchons Gravitys Rainbow. The mushroom is most notoriously found in woodland areas and, when parboiled, can be eaten without poisoning the host with its toxicity. Sadly, its green-capped and white-spotted counterpart doesnt exist so you wont be getting an extra 1-up any time soon, however you can find several other species with brown, yellow, and pink caps. But to be on the safe side, maybe we should leave Mario to his mushrooms and, most definitely, keep them away from Bowser.