The Sun Spirits Hypothesis
So an icon enemy that first showed up in Super Mario Bros. 3 is the Angry Sun, which later shows up in games like Mario Kart DS and Super Mario Maker. But someone might wonder why the Sun is attacking Mario....
So in Paper Mario 64 you come across the Sun of Flower Fields which can't not enter the skies of Flower Fields to bring light to Flower Fields. This implies there there is a sun in every location that serves as a local sun separate from the main sun.
So I think these suns are Sun Spirits similar to the Star Spirits, and provide light for people. In addition it seems their collectible version that also provides light and whose absence results in less light it Shine Sprites of Isle Delfino.
This is a theme I've noticed is there is common theme of collectibles that mirror spirits in the Mario world. You have the various Star Spirits, then the Power Stars and Super Stars, and then the Silver Stars and the Mini Stars. Several Power Stars Make up a Grand Star, and several Super Stars make up an unnamed giant Star seen in Mario Party. With 5 Mini Stars making up a Super Star and 5 Silver Stars making up a Power Star. Alongside all types of Power Star variants being Copper and Green Stars for example. Or the Power Moons which are just Power Stars in a different shape. These Stars I believe make up the the side of stars and star spirits, or as Mario Party DS says. "This brilliant, shining Star radiates courage and strength for everyone to soak up everywhere. And you can't have a Mario Party without a Star!"
From here one can easily see the Dark Star is Star Spirit gone bad, with Dark Star or Ztars alongside Mini Ztars being it's equivalent to Super Stars and Mini Stars. Or in other words, polar opposites. This representing the dark side of stars and star spirits, or as Mario Party DS says. "This dark, gloomy icon oozes with sadness and regret. Unfortunately, where there is light, there is dark. Where there's a Star, there's a Ztar!" I think this may extend out to power-ups as well. As I have brought up in a previous post I believe power-ups are created by Lumalees, which is similar to how Lumas can become Power Stars. If this is indeed the case the Super Mushrooms and other power-ups represent the positive side of power-ups, while Poison and Rotten Shrooms representing the side of the Dark Star, most notably Rotten Mushrooms being Mushrooms that have gone bad.
I think the same goes for these Sun Spirits, with them being a variant of the Star Spirits but focus on provides light more than granting wishes. By extension Shine Sprites and Cat Shines are a variant of Power Stars that provide light. And on top of that the Angry Suns is the Sun Spirit equivalent of the Dark Star. Written by Eris the Lorekeeper