Hat-in-Hand

Hat in hand is a glitch that causes Mario to hold his hat during normal movement.

Execution

The hat in hand glitch is performed by picking up two or more caps in quick succession. The glitch works with duplicated normal caps as well as special caps. During the animation of putting on a cap, the hat appears in Mario's hand. If the animation is interrupted at the very end with picking up another cap, then Mario will not update to having the hat on his head instead of in his hand.

Ending the Glitch

Mario will put his hat back on after any textboxes (except for sign textboxes) or any cutscenes. The hat will also go back onto Mario's head if he leaves the course.

Side Effects

When Mario is holding his hat in his hand, it cannot be stolen by enemies.

While holding his hat, Mario will take damage as if he was not wearing his hat.

The HOLP will not update while Mario is holding his hat in his hand, since the hat is rendered in his hand and consequently the object is not rendered, which is required for updating the HOLP.

Use in Challenges

Due to its property of causing the HOLP to not update, the Hat in Hand glitch has come in useful in some challenges such as the A Button Challenge.