P-Wing Cap

The P-Wing Cap is the name of an anomalous power-up found in some personalized copies of Super Mario 64. It is a more powerful version of the Wing Cap and it’s name is believed to be a reference to the P-Wing from Super Mario Bros. 3. It functions similarly to how the P-Wing did in that game, although it also comes with the added cosmetic effects of Mario’s shirt and hat appearing more “shiny” and having sparkles come off, similarly to when riding a Koopa shell. The common belief is that it was a scrapped power-up reimplemented by the Personalization A.I. due to how it seems fully functional and the reference to the P-wing is likely not coincidental, meaning it likely was made by the developers.

Function
The P-Wing Cap functions similarly to the Wing Cap, as would be expected, although it acts similar to how the P-Wing did in Super Mario Bros. 3. People claim that it grants the ability to infinitely fly in any direction without slowing down and it’s effects do not wear off over time (although they do wear off if the player dies or otherwise exits the level) and some reports even claim that they do not take damage while it is active.

Unlocking
The P-Wing Cap has so far always been found from pressing an anomalous version of the Wing Cap Switch with a similar “shiny” effect to the P-Wing Cap. The stage holding the switch is usually unlocked at 120 Power Stars, although some people claim to find it at lower amounts or even completely replacing the Wing Cap from the beginning. The switch has been reported to appear in multiple areas, but most common is a variant of Tower of the Wing Cap with extra challenges. People usually report that the level entrance replaces the regular Tower of the Wing Cap at 120 stars (with the beam of light reappearing) but many people also claim that a beam of light appears on the Third Floor instead, leading to a night-themed variant of the usual course. When the Switch is pressed, a dialogue box will show up and, while it varies from copy to copy, it typically goes along the lines of:

"You stepped on the P-Wing cap switch. The Red boxes from this point onwards will now be shiny, and give you the P-Wing Cap. With it, you can soar much higher than the Wing Cap."