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

[Dark Jaguar]

I wish I could find a source for this, but I recall reading a Miyamoto interview where Miyamoto basically said that each game, outside of clear sequels, can be considered it's own sort of reality, and are "all true at once".

Basically I took it to mean that as far as continuity we should look at it the same way we look at Looney Toons, or to put it another way reality and everyone's memories are constantly in flux and the only things in common for the most part are the personalities of the characters.  In other words there's probably as much point in figuring out a timeline of the Mario games as there is trying to tie together "Duck A Muck" with "Duck Rabbit, Duck!".

[PaperLuigi]

I recall reading a Miyamoto interview where Miyamoto basically said that each game, outside of clear sequels, can be considered it's own sort of reality, and are "all true at once".

That's a fancy way of saying "I just don't give a ****."

[Dark Jaguar]

Heh, though in all "seriousness" it's true that Mario is closer to a cartoon than something where continuity matters like Fire Emblem.

[BP]

I thought Fire Emblem had a broken, "Another time, another place," continuity a la Final Fantasy or Breath of Fire

[Dark Jaguar]

I don't get into the Fire Emblem stories as much as some fans, but from what I've put together from the games I have played, it all takes place in the same overall history, though generations apart.  I can say that with Final Fantasy, officially, every game's story takes place in it's own separate universe with no connection except Dissidia and a few dimension hoppers like Gilgamesh (spinoffs of individual games are the exception, like FFX-2).  I would bring up Zelda, but that's inviting trouble and I'm already guilty of derailing the thread a bit.

Back on topic, my thoughts are that general overarching ideas get carried from game to game, but I currently take the view that each game is it's own entity.  The whole "it's like Looney Toons or Disney cartoons" thing puts things like Mario Tennis, Mario Party, Mario Kart, and all those other games into a different perspective.  Those are just their own little worlds, kinda.  While we're at it, one thing about the DKC series is how it breaks the 4th wall all the time.  That sort of got into the Mario games too, with things like Donkey Kong being jealous of Mario's popularity and action figures and wanting to steal them all, or Wario starting his own video game company, and that sort of thing.

[The Chef]

...So basically you posted in here just to say there's no point is discussing the topic at hand. Lovely. -___-

PS: Sorry CrossEyed, but I completely forgot about the SM64 guide. >.>

[BP]

In any case, what is canon does not depend on continuity in the first place. Mario jumps, mushrooms power him (or his car) up, Piranha Plants like to live in pipes, Yoshi eats fruit, Wario likes money, E. Gadd likes ghosts, and coins float and spin. Whether or not the continuity is as elastic as a Saturday morning cartoon doesn't have too much to do with canon at all.

Okay, next theory: Rosalina is a heavy racer in Mario Kart Wii because she is fat! Opinions??

[The Chef]

I thought it was because she was made of the same dense material found in a collapsed star.

[Dark Jaguar]

...So basically you posted in here just to say there's no point is discussing the topic at hand. Lovely. -___-

My apologies.  I didn't mean to come across that way.  I just wanted to add my perspective on it.  Are the Mario Bros. from Brooklyn?  In my conception, I think of them as being from there in the first trilogy (since that's the idea I was getting as a kid from all those cartoons and such, and the original Donkey Kong gives a strong impression of that too considering the setting), then being from Mushroom Kingdom at least as of Yoshi's Island, and then it varies.  Mario Galaxy, to me, is it's own story, as well as Mario Lands being self contained, and also the various Mario RPGs are their own iterations.  Paper Mario is it's own little world (of paper) with connection between those games, and Super Mario RPG is again it's own entity.  Super Mario 64 seems to stand alone as well, and this was especially notable considering that if you took it as a timeline, it's odd that Bowser had completely forgotten about teaming up with Mario, and how rather than 7 stars, there's a castle now with over 100 of them.  That's fine though.  I also imagine Mario "taking breaks" from gaming just to get an ear full from Wario about how much better than Mario he is.

Long story short, it's how I explain all those oddities that crop up thanks to Nintendo themselves basically ignoring any sense of continuity.  This is as opposed to Sonic, where they actually do attempt to create a continuity but lately have just had the whole overly complicated thing collapse on itself since the audience has basically been lost since Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

This does kinda hinge on the idea that my recollection of that interview I failed to provide a link for is right, so feel free to dismiss it.

[PaperLuigi]

Okay, next theory: Rosalina is a heavy racer in Mario Kart Wii because she is fat! Opinions??

Yeah she needs to go on a diet. That skinny emo look isn't doing it for her. Time to go skeletal.

[WarpRattler]

Dry Rosalina for MK3DS.

She's so                 HEAVYYYYYYYYYYY

[Ultima Shadow]

Dry Baby Pararosalina (Outfit B)

Fixed that up for you :)

[Enchanted_Esperanza]

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.

I think E.Gadd's accent is kind of...British...or something like that :/

[Enchanted_Esperanza]

Honestly, I thought Mario and Luigi were from Italy. In other games they're from Brooklyn? So what's their hometown? Brooklyn, Mushroom Kingdom, oe some town in Italy? Ugh, canon is comfusing. :/

[The Chef]

They're not from Brooklyn in any existing game. At all. They're clearly seen being born in the Mushroom Kingdom in Yoshi's Island. Then they're clearly being raised there in Partners in Time.

Mario has only ever been shown to be from Brooklyn in the cartoons and movie. Nowhere else.