Mips: the basement rabbit of Super Mario 64

CharacterSuper Mario 64Peach's Castle

His name is the name of the Nintendo 64's processor. This yellow rabbit from the castle's flooded basement hands a Star to anyone who manages to catch him, first at 15 stars and then at 50. The article tells how Mips was one of the very first 3D models created for the game, used in the console's test runs, and how speedrunners turned him into the heart of the "MIPS Clip" that lets you slip through locked doors.

Down in the basement of Peach's Castle scurries the most elusive celebrity of all: Mips, a little yellow rabbit that Mario has to catch with his bare hands. No fight, no puzzle — just a slapstick chase between a plumber and a thoroughly uncooperative critter.

A tiny hero of Super Mario 64, this hare nonetheless hides two unsuspected claims to fame: a name lifted from the Nintendo 64's processor and an accidental starring role among speedrunners. Portrait of the most technical rabbit in video game history.

Contents

• The runaway rabbit of the basement
• An engineer's name: the N64 processor
• The very first character ever created for Mario 64
• "MIPS Clip": glory among speedrunners
• Small role, big legacy
• Quick facts
• FAQ

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The runaway rabbit of the basement

Mips lives in the flooded basement of Peach's Castle, the darkest floor of the Super Mario 64 hub (Nintendo 64, 1996). As soon as Mario gets close, the rabbit bolts off at full tilt down the corridors, forcing the player into desperate dives to cut him off.

The reward is worth the effort: once cornered, Mips shakily admits that something went down the wrong way… and hands Mario a Power Star. The critter shows up twice over the course of the adventure — first when the hero reaches 15 stars, then again at 50 — which means two stars to be won on the run.

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An engineer's name: the N64 processor

Behind the gag hides the geekiest nod in the entire game: "MIPS" is the name of the architecture of the processor that powers the Nintendo 64. Naming the castle's rabbit after the console's chip was a way of signing the era: that of a team of engineers having fun with their own machine.

The choice is anything but trivial: it writes into the game itself a tribute to the hardware that made it possible — a developer's christening, like carving a dedication into the concrete of a foundation.

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The very first character ever created for Mario 64

Mips can boast a title that not even Mario holds in this game: that of technical pioneer. The rabbit was indeed one of the very first characters modeled for Super Mario 64, used early on in the test simulations of the future console.

The team had grown fond of its guinea pig: rather than shelving him once the trials were over, they gave him a place in the final game, deep down in the basement. So every player chasing Mips is running, without knowing it, after a relic of the labs where Nintendo's 3D took its very first steps.

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"MIPS Clip": glory among speedrunners

Thirty years on, Mips has become a password among speedrunners. In Super Mario 64 races against the clock, the rabbit serves as a glitch tool: held in Mario's arms, he makes it possible — through a camera manoeuvre framed to the millimetre — to slip through certain locked doors of the castle, including the famous 50-star door.

The technique, dubbed the "MIPS Clip", shaped the game's most celebrated racing categories for years. A modest basement NPC promoted to strategic cog in the world records: the unlikeliest destiny in all of Super Mario 64.

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Small role, big legacy

Mips has never left his castle: his official career comes down to Super Mario 64 and its DS remake, where the population of rabbits to catch actually multiplied. But his legacy reaches far beyond his screen time: an engineer's name, the rank of elder among 3D models, and glory in speedrunning…

The yellow rabbit brings together, all by himself, three layers of video game history — the technology, the game and its community. Not bad, for a critter whose only line of dialogue is a star-studded coughing fit.

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Mips at a glance

Name	Mips
Species	Rabbit
Game	Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996)
Habitat	Flooded basement of Peach's Castle
Reward	One Star per capture (at 15 and 50 stars)
Origin of the name	MIPS architecture of the N64 processor
Honorary title	First character modeled for the game
Modern fame	The speedrunners' "MIPS Clip"

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FAQ

• Where do you find Mips in Super Mario 64?
  In the flooded basement of Peach's Castle. You have to chase him down and catch him with your bare hands to receive a Power Star.
• How many stars does Mips give?
  Two: he appears a first time when Mario has 15 stars, then a second time at 50 stars, with one star at stake for each capture.
• Where does the name Mips come from?
  From the MIPS architecture of the processor that powers the Nintendo 64: a nod from the developers to the console's hardware.
• Why is Mips said to be the game's first character?
  Because he was one of the very first 3D models created for Super Mario 64, used in the console's test simulations before joining the final game.
• What is the "MIPS Clip"?
  A speedrun technique: while carrying the rabbit, Mario can slip through certain locked doors of the castle, including the 50-star one, which saves a huge amount of time.

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