As a kid, the Tanooki Leaf from Mario 3 was always something that boggled my mind.

You pick up a leaf
it gives you a racoon tail
That makes you fly.
And the suit can also turn into a statue.

So much silly, random stuff that made no sense unless you are familiar with Japanese folklore xD
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Same, except learning about Kitsune. "Wow, a lot of fox characters in media have fire and illusion powers, that's cool"
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The "Mario Adventure 3" romhack actually featured a cool new fire fox/kitsune power-up that made Mario both invulnerable to fire damage and also gave him a fire air dash.

It's honestly the most impressive and ambitious Mario 3 hack out there imo.
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It helps that it also made sense in the western world through coonskin caps.
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We can thank the Woodchuck scouts for that
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