The Tanooki Suit is one of the power-up suits in Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Famicom or the Nintendo Entertainment System gaming console.
When wearing it, Mario becomes Tanooki Mario. Like the Super Leaf power-up, after a running start it allows Mario to jump up and fly/glide in the air for a certain period of time. The Tanooki Suit differs in its unique ability to transform Mario into a statue for a few seconds, during which he is invincible but unable to move. In statue form, he can destroy some otherwise invincible enemies by landing on them.
If Mario uses a P-Wing while wearing the Tanooki Suit, he keeps the suit while gaining the permanent flight ability of the wing.
The Tanooki Suit is most certainly inspired from the Japanese tanuki, a racoon dog that has a mischevous behavior and shapeshifting powers in Japanese mythology.
