Mario Canon (and Fanon, while we're at it)

[The Chef]

CrossEyed's post in that "Mario's parents" thread made me want to do something I've wanted to do forever: Start up a discussion about continuity and misconceptions in the Mario series.

So here's a thread where we can discuss inconsistencies, plotholes, explanations, fan theories, stuff about the characters' personalities and interactions, etc. etc.

And before the discussion begins, let me be the first to point out that yes, Mario DOES have continuity to some degree. It may not have an official timeline with a list of works considered "non-canon" like so many other franchises out there, but it DOES maintain some sort of connection from one game to the next, however lose they may be. It should also be noted that yes, the continuity of the games is seperate and distinct from the continuity of the cartoons, comics or Mario movie, largely because Nintendo and everyone within clearly doesn't acknowledge them anymore. (and I swear Chup, you come within three feet of this topic I'll swat you down)

So, for our first subject, Is Mario from Brooklyn?

By which I mean, should the idea of Mario being from Brooklyn be acknowledged as a part of his backstory or should it remain relegated to only the cartoons and movie?

[CrossEyed7]

Yoshi's Island DS implicitly introduces the possibility of a split timeline. Maybe in one timeline, Mario and Luigi get sent to Brooklyn when the Koopa Troop invades the Mushroom Kingdom (the classic Mario continuity -- including the movie and cartoons), and in the other, they spend their whole lives in the Mushroom World (the modern Mario continuity).

(Also, couldn't this be in Mariology?)

[Lizard Dude]

(Or in one of the many threads you locked?)

[Ultima Shadow]

and in the other, they spend their whole lives in the Mushroom World (the modern Mario continuity)

It doesn't really explain their different attributes though (moustache, height, ability, accent), especially in relation to the other inhabitants of the Mushroom World.

I'm not familiar with the storyline in Yoshi's Island DS, so correct me if I'm being totally incorrect, but maybe it's possible that the Baby Mario & Luigi were sent to Brooklyn some time after the events of YIDS? It would explain how they got their accents, at the very least, and leaves the timeline open to a bit of flexibility with regards to how they (re?)discovered the Mushroom World.

[BP]

It doesn't really explain their different attributes though (moustache, height, ability, accent), especially in relation to the other inhabitants of the Mushroom World.

Their cartoonish, exaggerated looks are normal for human males in the world they live in. The women are all supposed to be good-looking and were as such given more believable proportions--not uncommon for a cartoony setting. I'd expect that a human female character who was supposed to be ugly would be less realistic than Peach, Daisy and Rosalina. The rest of the men are even wackier-looking than the Mario Bros. Wario and Waluigi have the excuse of being twisted versions of Mario and Luigi, but E. Gadd provides a more concrete example.

Abilities: They're super for a reason. Don't talk to me about blue and yellow Toads though because I got nothin'

As for their accents? The ladies have American ones, the guys in overalls have Italian ones and Gadd has a... something.
I don't know what to make of that.

[The Chef]

Let's not forget that there's plenty of other characters who have real world foreign accents, including Chef Torte, Cork and Cask, Broque Monsieur, Flavio, Cortez, Pa-Patch, Jonathan Jones, the moles of Moleville, the list goes on.

As for the thing about appearance, the people of WarioWare are an even more extreme example, but some fans seem to think that it doesn't place in the Mushroom World.

(Also, couldn't this be in Mariology?)

It could, but then nobody would read it.

(Or in one of the many threads you locked?)

Aren't you the one who talks about having MORE threads all the time?

[Toad]

Gadd is an old man. Any accent he once had has become an old man voice.

Not to say that the Mario series isn't any less epic, but let's not turn this into Zelda. There is no need for multiple timelines. There is/was a time machine at some point in the series (Partners in Time) so that explains some. I agree  with Ultima Shadow though: maybe some events happened after events in the YI games. I also am not very familiar with the YIDS story, but I've heard enough about it to get the general idea.

They were sent to Brooklyn at some point in their very young lives (between YIDS and Donkey Kong) and then came back the Mushroom Kingdom (Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros).

[CrossEyed7]

I'm not familiar with the storyline in Yoshi's Island DS, so correct me if I'm being totally incorrect, but maybe it's possible that the Baby Mario & Luigi were sent to Brooklyn some time after the events of YIDS? It would explain how they got their accents, at the very least, and leaves the timeline open to a bit of flexibility with regards to how they (re?)discovered the Mushroom World.

That's pretty much what I was thinking with the split timeline.

Basically, the story of Yoshi's Island DS is that adult Bowser traveled back in time to find the seven Star Children (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi, though Bowser doesn't know that), as whoever can collect all seven of them will rule the world or something. It's kinda like Star Trek 09. So let's say that in the YIDS timeline, things got dangerous more quickly because of adult Bowser showing up and shaking things up. Maybe Prince Bowser and/or Morton Sr. were inspired by future Bowser and launched a full-scale assault on the Mushroom Kingdom, causing Mr. and Mrs. Mario to send Mario and Luigi away to Earth where they would be safer. The queen of Sarasaland did the same with Daisy, leaving her to be raised by nuns at St. Teresa's. Twenty years later, Mario and Luigi, who run their own plumbing business, met Daisy and ended up back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Also, their mother seen on the Super Show is their adoptive Earth mother.

Can't explain where their accents come from in the unaltered timeline, though, other than "the same place as all the other real-world accents in Mario."

Aren't you the one who talks about having MORE threads all the time?

LD wants more threads, so he ought to support threads being locked?

[BP]

Oh, oh, I got one

So apparently, according to a guide for Mario Kart Wii (I guess), Daisy is related to Peach now? A guide not directly made by Nintendo at that, but one Nintendo officially endorses/recognizes, so it's accepted as canon?

What

[BP]

Ooh and here's a fan theory: Toad's Turnpike is actually HELL. For people who died in car crashes in the case that it was THEIR FAULT. Now they are punished by driving in an endless loop with no escape. Where it will never be safe to change lanes EVER.

In featureless cars and trucks.

And yeah those schoolbuses must be full of dead kids too

[The Chef]

Maybe I should've said something about theories that actually would fit in the games, but that's actually pretty funny.

[CrossEyed7]

What relation did Mr. and Mrs. Mario have with the royal family? Because in Partners in Time, Babies Mario and Luigi are already having playdates with Baby Peach, even though the Mario family didn't seem to live in or particularly near the castle from what we saw in Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS.

[CrossEyed7]

According to Mario Wiki, Mario tells a character that he's from Brooklyn in Mario's Time Machine (though they don't specify whether that's in the PC or SNES version). The intro to the PC version of Mario is Missing (which, unlike the scene from MTM, is readily findable on YouTube) refers to Mario and Luigi as "those stouthearted pipefitters from New York," and Mario then says "Whaddya say we give Bowser the old Brooklyn one-two," to which Luigi responds "The Brooklyn what??? Hey, lookit, there's his pad. But the walls are awfully high. Say, M, I left my toothbrush back in the Big Apple." The MiM SNES manual also calls them "the brave brothers from Brooklyn."

Mario Wiki also says there's a reference to Mario growing up in Brooklyn in the Mario 64 Player's Guide, which would probably be considered a bit more canonical than the Software Toolworks series (still, though, they are in-game references). If anyone has it, can you check it and put up the exact quote?

[The Chef]

Oh I remember that line. Fortunately, I return home today so I'll be able to find the quote in question.

[CrossEyed7]

Did you find it yet?