Slimybug Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 One of the things that's always frustrated me about Mario as a franchise is that, despite existing for 41 years, we've never gotten any info on the character of Mario himself. Has any other character existed for so long and become so iconic with so little known about him? Sure, he saves Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser from time to time, but where is he from? Our world? Their world? What's his story? In the original 1985 game it establishes that Mario saves Princess Toadstool from King Koopa, who has invaded The Mushroom Kingdom. But who is he? Where's he from? The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show seemed to answer this back in the day, saying that he was from Brooklyn and he and Luigi were sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom where they helped Peach. The show even opened with the line "Me and my brother Luigi had just rescued Princess Toadstool from King Koopa, and were looking for the magic that would set her kingdom free, and get us home to Brooklyn." So, heck, the show seemed to exist in perfect continuity with the game! Exactly when Charles Martinet started voicing the character, giving him a thick Italian accent, is a bit unclear, but it definitely didn't become super famous until Super Mario 64. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn storyline was used for the 1993 movie. Then, all continuity was destroyed. In 1995, came the game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a prequel to the main games in which Mario is born in Yoshi's world, which is presumably the same universe as the Mushroom Kingdom. So he is from their world, not ours! But that's all we're given. Adding to that, in 1996, Super Mario 64 came out, featuring Charles Martinet's Italian-accented voice, seemingly destroying the idea that the show was in continuity with the games, and further denying the idea that he was from Brooklyn. So...is he from Italy? Is he from the Mushroom Kingdom? What? Who is this guy? WHO IS HE? Heck, there's not even a story for his evil twin Wario. Who is he? Why is he so much like Mario? Geesh, this is insane! Again, no character has existed for so long, and become so iconic, without an actual...character! Some time ago, a fan wrote a nice summation of their own little unofficial story, saying that Mario and Luigi were taken from the Mushroom Kingdom's world as babies, after the events of Yoshi's Island, and raised in Brooklyn. However, they were raised by Italian immigrants, which is where they got their accents (even though, as evidenced by millions of first-generation Americans, that's now how that works). Anyone remember this, and know where to find it, or who wrote it? And I don't even know what the comics have had to say about this! I'm hoping the movie might shed some more light on this, but it will probably just be in it's own continuity. DC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shagger Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) Honestly, I envy anyone tasked with figuring out Mario's cannon. It's something that has ripped and and re-built so many times, not to mention the character was created at a time stories and lore for video games were any never complex than "Save the Princess". I hate to make this worse, but somehow Donkey Kong has to factor into this as Mario first appeared as the hero in Donkey Kong before Mario Brothers. Even if we ignore the movie (and frankly, we should) this is a jigsaw puzzle where half the pieces have changed shape and colour. Edited June 20, 2022 by Shagger Withywarlock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality vs Adventure Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Mario was first called Jumpman in Donkey Kong where Mario's pet gorilla escaped and took Jumpman's girlfriend Pauline as hostage. Mario breaks up with Pauline and falls in love with Princess Peach. Then it gets confusing, or I'm confused because supposedly Princess Daisy is related to Princess Peach and Mario supposedly marries Daisy, but at the same time Luigi loves Daisy??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clasher Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 On 6/16/2022 at 1:43 AM, Shagger said: Honestly, I envy anyone tasked with figuring out Mario's cannon. It's something that has ripped and and re-built so many times, not to mention the character was created at a time stories and lore for video games were any never complex than "Save the Princess". I hate to make this worse, but somehow Donkey Kong has to factor into this as Mario first appeared as the hero in Donkey Kong before Mario Brothers. Even if we ignore the movie (and frankly, we should) this is a jigsaw puzzle where have the pieces have changed shape and colour. If super Mario first came out in this our gen when storyline meant more to gamers as much as the game play itself I believe there would have been a permanent solution to this puzzle. Though I haven't thought about it before there is supposed to be a story more like a clarification about who super Mario is, Super Mario is popular but with very little known about him. Well I could as well just stick to enjoying the super Mario videogames series as some questions can't get immediate answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Now that you mention it, Mario's lore has so many continuations that'd be impossible to decipher which is cannon. However, it'd probably still be able to figure this out before ever coming close to understanding Kongdom Hearts' lore. Mario is an easy premise to understand though, Mario - a big-nose italian plumber with superpowers saves his princess peach from the arms of Bowser (how comes she always gets kidnapped?). Along the way, Toad/Yoshi/Luigi will help you to save her and then Bowser makes some stupid speech like "This isn't the last you've seen of me!" and the cycle continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Blackangel Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 This is something that seems to be a trait of Nintendo. Their other major franchise, Zelda, is riddled with so many inconsistencies that not even a rhodes scholar with a Ph D in biology could figure any of this out. To me it's not something you want to think about much unless you're intentionally trying to give yourself an aneurysm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 On 6/22/2022 at 7:32 PM, The Blackangel said: This is something that seems to be a trait of Nintendo. Their other major franchise, Zelda, is riddled with so many inconsistencies that not even a rhodes scholar with a Ph D in biology could figure any of this out. To me it's not something you want to think about much unless you're intentionally trying to give yourself an aneurysm. I agree - I've never really tried to follow the continuity of most of the Nintendo games because of how many alternate scenarios that are involved and some of them are actually "cannon" which adds to the confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
