Mario Mindscrews

**Valigarmander** · 03-03-2010, 03:34 PM

For all those weird instances, strange beings, surprises and other miscellania which mess with your mind in Mario games. Is there something that bugs you about one of the games? Something you found out about a game that sounded pretty interesting? Things that weird you out the more you think about them? For anything and everything you can think of, post it here. I'll start off with a few I can remember.

The story of the original Super Mario Bros. states that Bowser used his black magic to transform the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into blocks, weeds, and other odd objects. Does that mean whenever you're smashing blocks, you're killing innocent Toads? When you collect items, are they the lost souls of these poor people or something? And is that why all the hills and everything have those creepy eyes?
Remember this guy? Il Piantissimo, the marathon runner from Super Mario Sunshine. He's odd and claims to be a Pianta... but doesn't look like one. So what is he? Well, if you look into his mask from underneath or through the eyeholes, he may look familiar. By hacking into the game and removing the mask completely, you'll see (and I'm not making this up) that Il Piantissimo is really Spoiler Below
a dark-skinned version of the running man from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Also in Super Mario Sunshine, there is an a certain level in Noki Bay where you have to swim around in a bottle and collect red coins. At the bottom of that bottle is a sand castle with a door cracked open too narrow for Mario to enter, yet wide enough for him to be able to look in. Inside the castle is a single brown book, that does absolutely nothing in game. This has led to a lot of fan speculation, though in truth it's just a beta element that was left in the game. Still, pretty peculiar if you ask me.
Thanks to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Peach is the first (and currently only) Mario character who's appeared completely nude on screen. It's too bad she was invisible the whole time, though.
In WarioWare: Touched!, there's a mode where you can listen to music from the game on a turntable. If you listen to Ashley's theme in reverse at a certain speed, there's a point at which she seems to say "I have granted kids to Hell!" Subliminal message? This coupled with Ashley's witch persona caused some controversy, despite Nintendo's statements that it was completely coincidental.
In the Battlerock Galaxy of Super Mario Galaxy, there's an area where you can feed a Hungry Luma some star bits, causing him to transform into a planetoid. However, when you arrive at the planetoid, you discover it's a platform covered in garbage with a Gearmo complaining about it. It's even implied that he's been working hard there for a long time. Where the heck did he come from, considering the planet's no more than a few seconds old?

Metal Mario · 03-03-2010, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valigarmander

And is that why all the hills and everything have those creepy eyes?

Luigiman7 · 03-03-2010, 05:52 PM

Well, there is this stuff.

Metal Man · 03-03-2010, 06:21 PM

Wow, the II Piantissmo one is the freakiest one.

too bad he doesn't return...

Dark Seraphim · 03-03-2010, 06:25 PM

One that that always confused me, remember in Super Mario World? Those levels that had the weird slippery lavender land and the boiling pits of purple stuff? What the heck WAS that stuff? Its not ice, because there was boiling whatever . . . so what was it? I think as a child I just assumed maybe it was soap, and Mario was running around the catacombs of Zest and Irish Spring, but now that I am older that seems quite a bit unlikely, so what is the slippery stuff? And for that matter, what was with that purple stuff? It certainly didn't look like water, and lava's not purple . . . was it pollution? Was it boiling grape soda? Was it the smooze? No one can stop the smooze!

For that matter, speaking of boiling traps and SMW, does anyone realize how graphic the deathes of Yoshi was sometimes, he gets thrown into lava, drowned in water, thrown off of cliffs, and left in boiling pits of smooze . . . the concept of Yoshi seemed a little strange, and especially so when they designed it so when he gets thrown into lava he just keeps bouncing around while he slowly sinks in . . . kinda morbid if you think about it!

Metal Mario · 03-03-2010, 10:01 PM

What about in Luigi's Mansion, when Madame Clairvoya talks about Bowser as if he's dead? She sees Bowser in her crystal ball, and wonders if it's possible that King Boo could have "revived" him. I mean, we're not talking about Ganon here. We're talking about Bowser. Bowser doesn't get killed. Granted, the last Mario adventure to take place before Luigi's Mansion was Paper Mario, and yeah, Bowser did get blown up pretty good at the end of that game, but still..........

Along the same lines, I was kind of unsettled the first time I played New Super Mario Bros. and saw Bowser get all his flesh burned off in the lava. Cripes.

Speed · 03-03-2010, 10:23 PM

Super Mario Bros - Television Tropes & Idioms

I'll just leave this here.

***CaptHayfever*** · 03-03-2010, 10:31 PM

The bushes are clouds.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Luigiman7 · 03-03-2010, 10:45 PM

^^

Quote:

The trial at the beginning of Super Mario Sunshine was deliberately unfair

AHAHAHAHA

Quote:

The Shroobs aren't finished with yet.

oh **** this makes complete sence

Antisocial · 03-04-2010, 12:28 AM

All I can remember is the green Thwomp from Mario Kart 64's Bowser's Castle.

That always creeped me out, especially since it laughed evilly when you rammed its cage.

Dark Seraphim · 03-04-2010, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Man

Wow, the II Piantissmo one is the freakiest one.

too bad he doesn't return...

There's a rumor he did return in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, disguised as Shadow Mario, based on the fact that Bowser Jr was already in the same so it couldn't be him, and Shadow Mario acted like a very energetic athlete, and at the end of Mario Sunshine Il Piantissimo discovers the Magic Paintbrush in the sand . . .

Granted I think its just a rumor.

Quote:

Mario's job was not carpenter, plumber, or construction worker; instead, he was a building superintendent

This is why he's called Super Mario - it describes his occupation. It also matches up to the naming scheme of the Alternate Universe Doctor Mario.

This strangely makes so much sense its scary!

Metal Mario · 03-04-2010, 01:16 AM

^About that second one:

In the live-action segments of The SMB Super Show, Mario and Luigi lived in the basement of a tenement building and kept the utilities running.

Dark Seraphim · 03-04-2010, 01:25 AM

How about this?

Prof. Professor E. Gadd created the Magic Paintbrush, it has strange, almost haunting powers, including partial invisibility and shape-shifting. Now Mario Sunshine takes place AFTER Luigi's Mansion, when after Luigi captured the boss ghosts, Professor E. Gadd turned them into paints . . . obviously made with paint. The conclusion? Professor E. Gadd somehow learned how to either copy this ghost paint, or use the ghost paint he already had to create the Magic Paintbrush, thus the paintbrush isn't magical, its paranormal, powered by the ectoplasm paint from the ghost boss paintings from Luigi's Mansion!

Since we all know what ghosts are, its to say that Professor E. Gadd created the Magic Paintbrush that is powered by the SOULS OF THE DAMNED! No wonder the paint/pollution from the paintbrush was so bad for the environment (the chemical reaction from the damned souls protoplasm may even explain why the Boo's in Sunshine looked so stoned as well, the fumes of ghost paint made them high/woozy, while it destroyed everything else)

This could also explain how Bowser Jr was able to become Shadow Mario, the paint used to change Bowser Jr into Shadow Mario was the paint from the portrait that had trapped Mario in Luigi's Mansion, but the Shadow Mario form is imperfect, because Mario was let out, thus it only has his silhouette or form left, but none of his essence.

***Ace Mercury*** · 03-04-2010, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valigarmander

The story of the original Super Mario Bros. states that Bowser used his black magic to transform the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into blocks, weeds, and other odd objects. Does that mean whenever you're smashing blocks, you're killing innocent Toads? When you collect items, are they the lost souls of these poor people or something? And is that why all the hills and everything have those creepy eyes?

If I recall correctly, it's only certain bricks --- bricks which give you items or coins. The thought train was that finding them would free the citizen, and in gratitude they'd give you a coin or a mushroom. There's some abstraction between hitting the brick and then freeing the citizen which is not at all present in the gameplay.

Quote:

Also in Super Mario Sunshine, there is an a certain level in Noki Bay where you have to swim around in a bottle and collect red coins. At the bottom of that bottle is a sand castle with a door cracked open too narrow for Mario to enter, yet wide enough for him to be able to look in. Inside the castle is a single brown book, that does absolutely nothing in game. This has led to a lot of fan speculation, though in truth it's just a beta element that was left in the game. Still, pretty peculiar if you ask me.

Reminds me of Perfect Dark's mystery cheese. Meant to be a hard-to-collect items, but the idea was scrapped; they left them in the game though for lulz.

Quote:

Thanks to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Peach is the first (and currently only) Mario character who's appeared completely nude on screen. It's too bad she was invisible the whole time, though.

Yeah, I guess Yoshi at least had boots and a saddle on.

Now you have me thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle. Now you are thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle. Enjoy the rest of the day.

***Booyakasha*** · 03-04-2010, 07:47 AM

...now that I'm thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle, I think I will enjoy the rest of my day.

Does the monster piano from the Boo level in SM64 count as a mindscrew? Because that's the effect it had on me.

Glux · 03-04-2010, 09:37 AM

Meh... I don't see it.

Dr. Furball · 03-04-2010, 12:18 PM

To some, the ending of Super Mario Galaxy counts. Not to mention Birdo.

The big one for me, is the "Really Final Chapter" in Wario Land II.
What the heck was up with that place? Parts of faces (eyes, noses) in the wall, accompanied by the occasional Spear Man (with a terrified expression stuck on their faces).

Dark Seraphim · 03-04-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Furball

The big one for me, is the "Really Final Chapter" in Wario Land II.
What the heck was up with that place? Parts of faces (eyes, noses) in the wall, accompanied by the occasional Spear Man (with a terrified expression stuck on their faces).

I don't think I remember that one, do you have a picture of what you mean?

Metal Mario · 03-04-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ace Mercury

Now you have me thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle. Now you are thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle. Enjoy the rest of the day.

I saw a picture of that on Deviant Art, actually.

Deviant Art is awesome.

I REALLY HATE POKEMON! · 03-04-2010, 03:04 PM

^ I think it is now.

03-03-2010, 03:34 PM	#1
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,701 Times in 2,581 Posts Blog Entries: 20	Mario Mindscrews For all those weird instances, strange beings, surprises and other miscellania which mess with your mind in Mario games. Is there something that bugs you about one of the games? Something you found out about a game that sounded pretty interesting? Things that weird you out the more you think about them? For anything and everything you can think of, post it here. I'll start off with a few I can remember. The story of the original Super Mario Bros. states that Bowser used his black magic to transform the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into blocks, weeds, and other odd objects. Does that mean whenever you're smashing blocks, you're killing innocent Toads? When you collect items, are they the lost souls of these poor people or something? And is that why all the hills and everything have those creepy eyes? Remember this guy? Il Piantissimo, the marathon runner from Super Mario Sunshine. He's odd and claims to be a Pianta... but doesn't look like one. So what is he? Well, if you look into his mask from underneath or through the eyeholes, he may look familiar. By hacking into the game and removing the mask completely, you'll see (and I'm not making this up) that Il Piantissimo is really Spoiler Below a dark-skinned version of the running man from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Also in Super Mario Sunshine, there is an a certain level in Noki Bay where you have to swim around in a bottle and collect red coins. At the bottom of that bottle is a sand castle with a door cracked open too narrow for Mario to enter, yet wide enough for him to be able to look in. Inside the castle is a single brown book, that does absolutely nothing in game. This has led to a lot of fan speculation, though in truth it's just a beta element that was left in the game. Still, pretty peculiar if you ask me. Thanks to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Peach is the first (and currently only) Mario character who's appeared completely nude on screen. It's too bad she was invisible the whole time, though. In WarioWare: Touched!, there's a mode where you can listen to music from the game on a turntable. If you listen to Ashley's theme in reverse at a certain speed, there's a point at which she seems to say "I have granted kids to Hell!" Subliminal message? This coupled with Ashley's witch persona caused some controversy, despite Nintendo's statements that it was completely coincidental. In the Battlerock Galaxy of Super Mario Galaxy, there's an area where you can feed a Hungry Luma some star bits, causing him to transform into a planetoid. However, when you arrive at the planetoid, you discover it's a platform covered in garbage with a Gearmo complaining about it. It's even implied that he's been working hard there for a long time. Where the heck did he come from, considering the planet's no more than a few seconds old?

03-03-2010, 05:52 PM	#3
Luigiman7 ヽ(◔ ◡ ◔)ノ.･ﾟ*｡･+☆ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: ~)´◡｀(~ Gender: Posts: 17,605 Thanks: 1,134 Thanked 1,012 Times in 713 Posts Blog Entries: 8	Well, there is this stuff. __________________ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ＷＯＮ’Ｔ　ＹＯＵ　ＢＥＣＯＭＥ　Ａ　ＭＡＧＩＣＡＬ　ＧＩＲＬ？

03-04-2010, 12:28 AM	#10
Antisocial Janitor Join Date: May 2000 Gender: Posts: 11,471 Thanks: 14 Thanked 1,296 Times in 536 Posts	Racist undertones! All I can remember is the green Thwomp from Mario Kart 64's Bowser's Castle. That always creeped me out, especially since it laughed evilly when you rammed its cage.

03-04-2010, 01:25 AM	#13
Dark Seraphim Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Gender: Posts: 431 Thanks: 4 Thanked 20 Times in 15 Posts	How about this? Prof. Professor E. Gadd created the Magic Paintbrush, it has strange, almost haunting powers, including partial invisibility and shape-shifting. Now Mario Sunshine takes place AFTER Luigi's Mansion, when after Luigi captured the boss ghosts, Professor E. Gadd turned them into paints . . . obviously made with paint. The conclusion? Professor E. Gadd somehow learned how to either copy this ghost paint, or use the ghost paint he already had to create the Magic Paintbrush, thus the paintbrush isn't magical, its paranormal, powered by the ectoplasm paint from the ghost boss paintings from Luigi's Mansion! Since we all know what ghosts are, its to say that Professor E. Gadd created the Magic Paintbrush that is powered by the SOULS OF THE DAMNED! No wonder the paint/pollution from the paintbrush was so bad for the environment (the chemical reaction from the damned souls protoplasm may even explain why the Boo's in Sunshine looked so stoned as well, the fumes of ghost paint made them high/woozy, while it destroyed everything else) This could also explain how Bowser Jr was able to become Shadow Mario, the paint used to change Bowser Jr into Shadow Mario was the paint from the portrait that had trapped Mario in Luigi's Mansion, but the Shadow Mario form is imperfect, because Mario was let out, thus it only has his silhouette or form left, but none of his essence. Last edited by Dark Seraphim; 03-04-2010 at 01:35 AM.

03-03-2010, 06:21 PM	#4
Metal Man Fairy-Slaying Maniac Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: 1592 Miles Away From Here Gender: Posts: 18,062 Thanks: 148 Thanked 683 Times in 482 Posts	Wow, the II Piantissmo one is the freakiest one. too bad he doesn't return...

03-03-2010, 06:25 PM	#5
Dark Seraphim Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Gender: Posts: 431 Thanks: 4 Thanked 20 Times in 15 Posts	One that that always confused me, remember in Super Mario World? Those levels that had the weird slippery lavender land and the boiling pits of purple stuff? What the heck WAS that stuff? Its not ice, because there was boiling whatever . . . so what was it? I think as a child I just assumed maybe it was soap, and Mario was running around the catacombs of Zest and Irish Spring, but now that I am older that seems quite a bit unlikely, so what is the slippery stuff? And for that matter, what was with that purple stuff? It certainly didn't look like water, and lava's not purple . . . was it pollution? Was it boiling grape soda? Was it the smooze? No one can stop the smooze! For that matter, speaking of boiling traps and SMW, does anyone realize how graphic the deathes of Yoshi was sometimes, he gets thrown into lava, drowned in water, thrown off of cliffs, and left in boiling pits of smooze . . . the concept of Yoshi seemed a little strange, and especially so when they designed it so when he gets thrown into lava he just keeps bouncing around while he slowly sinks in . . . kinda morbid if you think about it!

03-03-2010, 10:01 PM	#6
Metal Mario Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 1999 Gender: Posts: 16,435 Thanks: 72 Thanked 190 Times in 127 Posts	What about in Luigi's Mansion, when Madame Clairvoya talks about Bowser as if he's dead? She sees Bowser in her crystal ball, and wonders if it's possible that King Boo could have "revived" him. I mean, we're not talking about Ganon here. We're talking about Bowser. Bowser doesn't get killed. Granted, the last Mario adventure to take place before Luigi's Mansion was Paper Mario, and yeah, Bowser did get blown up pretty good at the end of that game, but still.......... Along the same lines, I was kind of unsettled the first time I played New Super Mario Bros. and saw Bowser get all his flesh burned off in the lava. Cripes.

03-03-2010, 10:23 PM	#7
Speed Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: If there's a bright center to the universe I'm on the planet it's farthest from Gender: Posts: 3,747 Thanks: 1,598 Thanked 320 Times in 224 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Super Mario Bros - Television Tropes & Idioms I'll just leave this here.

03-03-2010, 10:31 PM	#8
*CaptHayfever* Smash SuperMod Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: (n) - the place where I am Gender: Posts: 27,661 Thanks: 1,991 Thanked 2,486 Times in 1,513 Posts	The bushes are clouds. And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

03-04-2010, 01:16 AM	#12
Metal Mario Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 1999 Gender: Posts: 16,435 Thanks: 72 Thanked 190 Times in 127 Posts	^About that second one: In the live-action segments of The SMB Super Show, Mario and Luigi lived in the basement of a tenement building and kept the utilities running.

03-04-2010, 07:47 AM	#15
*Booyakasha* SuperMod of War Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Wisconsinland Gender: Posts: 9,945 Thanks: 157 Thanked 1,481 Times in 763 Posts	...now that I'm thinking about Peach wearing only boots and a saddle, I think I will enjoy the rest of my day. Does the monster piano from the Boo level in SM64 count as a mindscrew? Because that's the effect it had on me.

03-04-2010, 09:37 AM	#16
Glux Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Home Gender: Posts: 7,122 Thanks: 647 Thanked 360 Times in 236 Posts Blog Entries: 3	Meh... I don't see it.

03-04-2010, 12:18 PM	#17
Dr. Furball Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Mad Science Academy, 12th Floor Gender: Posts: 1,125 Thanks: 185 Thanked 97 Times in 60 Posts	To some, the ending of Super Mario Galaxy counts. Not to mention Birdo. The big one for me, is the "Really Final Chapter" in Wario Land II. What the heck was up with that place? Parts of faces (eyes, noses) in the wall, accompanied by the occasional Spear Man (with a terrified expression stuck on their faces).

03-04-2010, 03:04 PM	#20
I REALLY HATE POKEMON! Goku lives on the Sun Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: California, U.S.A Gender: Posts: 12,717 Thanks: 1,334 Thanked 275 Times in 234 Posts Blog Entries: 1	^ I think it is now.