Super Mario Bros./Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• So Shigeru Miyamoto originally based Bowser's design on an ox, which eventually ended up as a part ox-part turtle. So, a creature that's part bovine and part turtle, in a land where characters can change their size by eating mushrooms. Where have we heard that before?
• In Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time I always wondered why some Shroob beings would keep the Cobalt Star pieces apart when we find out it had the Elder Princess Shroob inside. I assumed it was because her sister wanted to be in charge. But I still was bothered by how much the Elder cared for the Younger, would the Younger really have such dislike? Then, while fighting the Elder and noting the repetitive move of blowing up her ships, I realised the Younger wasn't keeping the shards apart- the regular Shroobs were. Why would they restore the monarch that kills you for fetching her a drink when there's a nicer, and perhaps more attractive from their point of view, substitute? The Younger probably never even knew they had collected any shards, they were just feed into their creatures to hide them.
  • And ironically it leads to kind of an endless cycle or paradox or whatever. If we do go in that theory based on the events you justify it with, then the events themselves are justified as revenge for being kept trapped in the star. It's actually kind of funny.
  • Why was Baby Luigi crying when the Colbalt Star spirit was talking? It wasn't really a Star Spirit, it was Elder Princess Shroob! Apparently Baby Luigi could tell somehow!
• I played Mario 64 for years, probably more than any other game. Quite recently, I was in Snowman's Land and I realized that it was a spoof on "no man's land!" Which makes sense because no man's land is usually a war term describing a dangerous place that nobody wants to occupy, which is exactly what that level is!
  • Uh ... "no man's land" in wartime is the contested area between two encamped forces. The reason no one wants to go there is because you'll get SHOT.
  • I know. It's a spoof because Snowman's Land is one of the hardest levels in the game.
• Let's talk about the original Super Mario Bros for the NES, shall we? In the first seven castles, if you defeat Bowser with fireballs instead of getting the axe at the end of the bridge, he turns into a Mook of some kind while he falls into the lava. I always thought that was kind of random. Only just now did I realize that in the first seven castles, it's not really Bowser you're fighting--it's a random Mook magically transformed into Bowser's likeness! Killing that Mook breaks the spell! Not only is the Princess in another castle, so is her kidnapper! How did I miss that all this time? --Karalora
  • Maybe because you didn't read the enclosed instruction book, where it's stated.
    • To be fair, there's a great many of us who never got those instruction books, especially if we were born a bit later on and thus started playing NES games secondhand.
• This troper loved the story in Super Paper Mario, but two things bugged her about it: it was too wordy, and even though Mario and his friends were the "four heroes of legend", they weren't the ones who ultimately saved the world. Sure, they gathered the eight Plot Coupons needed to destroy the final boss, but thanks to Dimentio's Xanatos Gambit, that was wasted. Then I went back and watched the opening cinematic Framing Device again, and realized that the game's plot was brilliant. It was introduced by a narrator as a "story of love," so it was really wordy because the whole game was a book that was being read, and Mario and the others were not the main characters. The actual heroes were Timpani and Blumiere, so it made more sense for the fulfillment of their love to ultimately restore power to the Pure Hearts so Dimentio and the Chaos Heart can finally be destroyed. Some love stories destroy plots. Sometimes, they save them. -Sweet Madness
  • Also, the Chaos Heart was created by marrying two people who were never meant to be together (Bowser and Peach) in a forced, formal marriage; a perversion of an act of love and commitment. It was destroyed by reuniting two people never meant to be apart ( Blumiere and Timpani) in a spontaneous, heartfelt reciting of vows, the truest expression of love for each other even in the face of death. -Sweet Madness
  • It used to bug me that Count Bleck would seem to randomly switch from referring to himself in the third person to doing so in the first person. While reading through TV Tropes, however, I noticed someone mention that Bleck's third-person speech could be him reading from the Dark Prognosticus. I remembered then an important plot point: Blumiere became Count Bleck after reading from the Dark Prognosticus, and it is heavily implied he was possessed by it. I realized that Count Bleck has split personalities! Whenever he refers to himself as Count Bleck, it's the will of the Prognosticus bent on destroying the multi-verse. When referring to himself in the first-person, it's Blumiere who's speaking. In fact, whenever he ends a sentence with something like "...said Count Bleck," it's actually the Prognosticus narrating itself through him. This turned what was a bizarre yet funny Verbal Tic into a disturbing example of Count Bleck's insanity. -Genji
  • I always figured that Blumiere considered Count Bleck to be a separate personality. If I remember correctly, when he starts calling himself Blumiere again his monocle and mouth change color. -Dann Woolf
  • I never really took note of how people Flipped in the first play-through. Well, that is not entirely true: I did see how the characters' different styles of Flipping showed but when Princess Peach was Flipped from a dead end in Castle Bleck, I didn't take much note of the way she was Flipped. It took me until a new play-through (equipped with in-depth knowledge of the plot from when I beat the game before) to realize that the way Princess Peach was Flipped was exactly how Dimentio Flips. It was foreshadowing that Dimentio was pulling some strings in how the events were playing out.
  • Notice how Mimi's barrier in the first fight with her is nullified by Merlee's cheering? It's the first demonstration in the game that positive emotions like love can counter the Chaos Heart's powers. Bleck's Chaos-Heart-powered barrier and later, Dimentio's falls the same way once you fight him.
  • Very minor compared to the other examples here, but at some point in SPM, Mr. L refers to himself as "Green Thunder". On one hand, it's common to see thunder and lightning used in an over-the-top title (Orange Lightning, anyone?), but later, during a playthrough of Superstar Saga it clicked; the hand power Luigi had in SS was (rather ham-tastically) referred to as "Thunder!". Though the game never really made us wonder "Who is Mr. L?", it's a nice touch/would-be-clue.
    • Adding onto that, in one of the Mario Kart games, Luigi had a kart called the "Green Lightning".
• From the previous game in the series, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, one of the mook species guarding the X-Nauts' base is called "X-Yux." Using Goombella's "tattle" ability reveals that the name is actually pronounced "Cross Yux." What is the significance of that? Perhaps all of the X's relating to the X-Nauts are actually pronounced "Cross," making the organization the "Cross Nauts." That does include, of course, the sentient computer that eventually decided to side with Peach over the X-Nauts. The computer's name? "Tec-XX." Given the pronunciation, that would be "Tec Double-Cross."
  • Embarrassingly, the above finally made me realize that the name "X-Nauts" or "cross-naughts" is an Incredibly Lame Pun related to tic-tac-toe.
• In Super Mario RPG, there's a Whack-a-Mole like game where you whack Goombas instead. The mole is the one running the game. It took this troper years to pick up on the joke.-Ryusui
  • There's another minigame in Mario Party 7 that has the players trying to stick their heads out of holes in the ground while moles try to hit them with hammers.
• Early in Super Mario RPG, Mallow mentions that he can't jump. Apparently it runs in the family, as Nimbus Castle is designed so that no jumping is required to get around it. This troper has been playing the game since it came out in 1996, and just noticed that the other day. Mystical Chicken
• Sort of a Stealth Pun, but it makes too much sense to just be a joke. Almost all of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga takes place in the Beanbean Kingdom-- in Japanese, this is the "Mameria Kingdom". "Mame" means "Bean" (predictably), but say 'Mameria' out loud. Given the r/l translation issues, it sounds an awful lot like "Mamalia", from the animal kingdom. The beanish people are humanoid, humans are mammals... it makes sense to me, at least...
  • Mama Mia!
• An example from Super Mario 64 that probably borders on Stealth Pun: In course one, Mario encounters a character called Koopa the Quick who will race him for a Power Star. At one point he randomly walks off a cliff to take a shortcut to the finish. This seems utterly pointless and random, until you think back to the days of Super Mario Bros. What was the defining character trait of green-shelled Koopas again? Probably unintentional, but still funny in a weird way. -Edofenrir
• In this GameFAQs thread, the "clues given after it is too late" aspect was implied earlier on to be Fridge Logic. However, as T_bird pointed out: "It makes sense that the clue for a whistle would be given after it's too late. That way you have something to look for the next time you play." So perhaps the arrangement of clues was that way on purpose after all. - neoYTPism
• For a while, even though he's now my favorite character, I thought the Speedo on Petey Piranha was a pretty silly idea. But then I realized that his first game was Super Mario Sunshine, which was on an island, and it suddenly made perfect sense! It then also made me realize why he has a reggae theme for Mario Strikers Charged. - Zooty Cutie
• Have you ever wondered why you fight giant Bowser after you beat Bowser in most games? This troper found an explanation in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Every time Bowser is nearly dead, Mario and Luigi help make him turn giant. I think that it usually works on its own, but Bowser inhaling most of the kingdom probably messed it up. - insanekirby
• Wario's Gassholery may not be his defining character trait, but it does add a layer of significance to his rivalry with Mario, a plumber.- Candy Entrails.
• Super Mario Bros. 2 (the USA version we got) is notable for being the only main Mario platformer where the Goomba Stomp proves to no significant effect. The events of the game take place in Sub-Con, a world corrupted by nightmares. Being in a world where Mario's trademark attack does not hurt enemies makes this more of a nightmare for him, would it not? - Mr Yoshbert
• In Super Mario Bros. 2 Peach and Toad aren't just playable (for once), but they actually excel at things (Toad's speed/strength, Peach's flight). What's more, Luigi is one of the best characters to use due to his long jump. Now, remember that the game takes place in a dream world. You know what this means? Mario, who usually works alone, secretly dreams of getting some decent backup. - Kingler
• In both Galaxy games, I've often wondered why Thwomps and Whomps kill you instantly when they didn't in 64. Then, it hit me; They did 3 damage to Mario's 8-part health meter in 64, but in the Galaxy games, you only HAVE 3 units of health. - Oath To Oblivion
• In most recent games it always seems like Luigi's more eager to announce his name than Mario. It seems a bit egotistical, until you see the fact that Bowser and even Princess Peach can't seem to remember his name. Poor guy. - Kashima Kitty
• Luigi used to be pretty badass early on. Then he got downgraded a bit and nobody seems to care about him anymore. What happened? He missed out on a whole lot of stuff between then and now, and the stakes have been raised since his heyday. He's playing "adventurer catch-up". - Kingler
• Super Dimentio is a pushover for a final boss. Then you remember that he fused with Luigi. To add to this, the most vulnerable part of Super Dimentio is the Luigi head.
• Wondering about it, this troper finally understood why did Bowser kept a button (or in the old games, an axe) into the room which we fight him (or his kids, or a fake, or whatever) to destroy the room's bridge in the 2D games. He keeps it because if he needs to run, he destroys the bridge and open the back door with the key that he usually carries-on and drops upon death. Why doesn't he makes it after fighting Mario? It must be because he usually is in World 8: there is nowhere else he could run. Mario destroyed all his castles. Or he is just dumb, or won't accept a loss to a plumber with a mustache. - Victin

Bowser has only ever lost a fight with Mario due to the environment. Mario has never beat him in hand-to-hand combat. It's more likely that he includes the switches on purpose to give Mario an opportunity to beat him because he... wants to lose I guess...

• Going by release dates, the Shy Guys first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2/USA, which took place in a dream (or some sort of dream world, it's not clear). Of course, the Shy Guys went on to appear in plenty of other titles, which seems to cause a problem when it was All Just a Dream... except Yoshi's Island has Shy Guys as the main Mooks, and Yoshi's Island takes place before any of the main Mario games. So Shy Guys did exist in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the ones in Subcon were based on Mario's memories of them.
  • Then what about Birdo? She debuted in Super Mario Brothers 2 as well!
• In Super Mario 64, there are 120 stars to collect. When you collect all of them, Bowser laments at the fact that he missed the 15 secret stars. In SM 64 DS, there are 150 stars, 30 of which are secret stars. Once you collect all 150, Bowser again laments at the fact that he missed the secret stars. Therefore Bowser managed to find and steal 120 stars the second time around, just like Mario told him in the original game! Too bad for Bowser that there were even more stars that he couldn't find!
• The Mario Circuits in the Mario Kart games don't really show elements of the courses belonging to Mario. But look at the course. They usually consist of rolling greens, warp pipes, Mario enemies, Peach's Castle... The Mario Circuits don't represent Mario, they represent the game series, since it includes many of its elements!
• The colors of the three princesses' dresses: Peach=magenta, Daisy=yellow, Rosalina=cyan.
  • Their dress designs also appear to reflect the time of day: Peach and Daisy=day, Rosalina=night. Guess who either Peach and/or Daisy will look like when asleep...
    • Daisy seems more like sunrise/set to me...
• From the film: When Koopa is walking, you might notice that he keeps his hands at chest level, curling his hands. He is transformed into a Tyrannosaurus later.
  • Also, check out the Tyrannosaurus's coloring, just before it turns into slime. Yellow muzzle and belly, green elsewhere... it's Bowser's color scheme!
  • The Mushroom King is Exactly What It Says on the Tin!
  • Scapelli is Mario's biggest enemy before he meets Koopa. Scapelli is turned into an ape. Scapelli is Donkey Kong.
  • When Mario and Luigi are escaping via police car, they accidentally ramp on top of another car. Meaning their escape is aided by doubling in height.
  • As mentioned above in Evolutionary Levels, there are separate settings on the de-evolution ray for physical and intellectual transformation. This means Koopa intentionally let the King retain his intelligence as a way of tormenting him. This comes back to bite him when the King intentionally chokes the city and helps the Mario Bros.

Fridge Horror

• In Super Mario Bros for the NES, part of the plot is that the Mushroom people were turned into inanimate objects like bushes and bricks. The very bricks that you can break by jumping into.
  • They were transformed, yes, but then also mortared together in blocks. Mario is merely separating them. The plot also states that the reason you sometimes find items in blocks is because they're a gift from the people who were stuck together.
    • That, and it was the American plot...for some reason...
  • "Why Mario, WHY?" by Andrew Dickman
• YMMV a little bit: It's already established that Bowser is a wizard. Now, think back to how all of the enemies in the old Super Mario games were dull, rarely changed movement without bumping into something, completely oblivious to Mario (usually). Now, remember Boo and all the skeleton monsters? It makes sense to assume the Bowser is a necromancer (discussed in the Headscratchers page)... the enemies like Goombas are zombies.
• Playing the games, we usually sort of come to assume the Toads are the good guys and the Koopas are evil invaders. Yet the existance of occasional friendly Koopas and Goombas (such as in the RPG games) hints that those races are not Exclusively Evil... Ever pondered that the enemies ruthlessly stomped by Mario might be innocents forcibly recruited by Bowser? Adds a dark layer to a light-hearted game, doesnt it?
• According to the theory of special relativity, anyone or anything travelling in space at the speed of light will cause the time around them to move slower than the time outside. If there were two people of the same age, one travelling in space and the other staying on Earth, once the spacefaring person returns from his/her journey, he/she will actually age much slower than the one on Earth, or that the latter would be long dead after the former returns. No wonder why Rosalina's an orphan.