Banana

The Banana is an item found in the Mariokart series. They are also known as Banana Peels.

Uses & Effects
A Banana Peel causes a kart to spin-out if the vehicle touches the slippery item, slowing them down by a little. Banana Peels can either be placed behind a kart, or be thrown forward down the track. It can also be held behind the kart as a defensive countermeasure against homing red shells and, to a lesser extent, green shells. Bananas can also come in threes, known as Triple Bananas. When used, three bananas automatically attach themselves to the back of the kart. However, in Mario Kart 8, the Bananas orbit the kart, similarly to Triple Green or Red Shells.

Banana Bunch
In Mario Kart 64, along with single bananas, bananas appear in fives instead of threes, and are known as Banana Bunches. Banana Bunches function the same as Bananas, except that when a racer runs into the center of the Banana Bunch line when another player is carrying it, a sound effect will play and the player will get considerably slowed down. The icon for Banana Bunches displays only four bananas as opposed to five. In addition, only one of the bananas features eyes. (See Reference 1)

Triple Bananas
Triple Bananas act the same as the Banana, except there are three of them. They are similar to the Banana Bunch, except there are less Bananas. Just like the Banana Bunch, when activated for the first time, the bananas follow players' karts and can then be dropped or thrown one at a time. Triple Bananas follow the same physics as single Bananas. In Mario Kart 8, when a triple variant is used, the three bananas rotate around the driver's vehicle instead of trailing the vehicle upon usage, similar to the Triple Green Shells or Triple Red Shells.

Giant Banana
The Giant Banana is the signature item used by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, as well as King Boo and Petey Piranha in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! The Giant Banana is much larger than a regular banana, making it harder to avoid. If a kart collides with one, it spins out much longer than a normal Banana would make. After someone hits the Giant Banana, the Giant Banana breaks up into three normal Bananas. Only certain items can destroy it.

Gallery
See: Gallery:BananaVariants