Ummm... Is Mario really a good guy?

[TomGuycott]

I didn't watch the video (I'm at work right now and there is no way it would load all the way), but from my perspective Mario has been generally a good guy.

It takes a new spin on your mind when you get older. You're like "Geez, a psychopath who stomps on turtles for a living", but then you also have to take into account "Hey, those turtles are subjugating mushroom people", and so on. Also most of it is cartoon violence where it's logical for characters of most kinds to survive what is seemingly a gruesome death in any other scenario.

As for Mario's relationship with Luigi, he's been a pretty awesome brother in general. Luigi is sort of the tall, awkward brother, so some of the things he does may be subject to ridicule by most people, but I think Mario would still have his back. The games with the most on-screen interaction between the two are the Mario & Luigi RPGs, and in those their teamwork is tremendous. Some of the unique counterattacks you have to perform really show the lengths they'd go for each other. If anyone has played the latest Mario and Luigi, if you look at the attack where the screen scrolls left at the final boss, you get a pretty good idea for the length Mario'd go to help Luigi.

[Neweegee]

Everyone keeps trying to make Mario seem like something he's not, I've already seen almost every Mario game, and he's always been a good guy and that's what Nintendo wants him to be. But since Game Theorists wants to go as technical as possible(but aparently not enough to prove anything), I'll explain it...

(1)The Mario in the Donkey Kong games before Super Mario Bros. may actually be a different character now(probably named Jumpman and is Mario's father) because Yoshi's island shows Mario was born IN the Mushroom World, not earth, plus the Donkey Kong games' stories were dropped for a new one seen in Donkey Kong '94, it even ends with Mario, Donkey Kong, Pauline, and even DK Jr. taking a happy group photo together in the Mushroom Kingdom(the same thing happened to Wrecking Crew, with Wrecking Crew '98), and the Mario VS Donkey Kong series proves that it's Donkey Kong with the issues. The original Donkey Kong games is seen as a dark past that has been now rebooted(which means Mario HAS been rebooted atleast once). They're all friends in the newer Mario games.

(2)The Wigglers and Cheep-Cheeps, they're listed with the other enemies part of Bowser's Army(seen in Super Mario World) and in every game I've played anything that hurts you when you touch it is evil(some Cheep-Cheeps even swim toward Mario/Luigi to hurt him).

(3)They forgot the part where Wiggler tells Mario he was possessed by the Power Star and he would like Mario to stop by his place anytime then he shrinks back to his normal size, he even gives the star to Mario. Mario Sunshine's Wiggler was messing with the beach and stole Shine Sprites, Mario had to stop it.

(4)Mario punches Yoshi?

That's quite a weird punch
And Mario never really drops Yoshi into a pit, it's what the player does, it's like saying Mario dies all the time because the player kills him.

(5)Mario and Luigi are best bros, it was really no more than a joke in Mario Power Tennis, you treat the people closest to you differently than other people, and that's what it is with Mario and Luigi, it's really like they were trying their hardest to make Mario seem like a bad guy at this point, not using the SNES or DOS versions of Mario is Missing, forgetting the fact that Luigi has victories in the dozens of other Mario spin-off/games without Mario even in sight, and Mario even saves Luigi in SM64DS and SM3DL, and the Year of Luigi? Mario is the closest person to Luigi and vice-versa.

Overall, The Game Theorists has lead me to think one(or more) of these things, 1. They hate Mario 2. They really like Luigi 3. They're very big Sonic Fans 4. They don't like Nintendo.
I don't like what Theorists do anyway because they think too hard into even the simplest things(and sometimes try to ruin them).

[NICKtendo DS]

I started to doubt Game Theorists since they use pixel sprites as size references.

Also, they don't hate Mario. It's merely drawing attention with a controversial topic.

Luigi is the evil one, by the way. Every time my best friend plays as him in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he throws me into a pit or lava or some kind of trap. What kind of brother does that!? (Though common between fathers and sons situations *coughmishimacough*)

[Goemar]

He lives in a shitty little house and just gets cake (or just of kiss, or nothing) for pretty much single handedly saving the world time and time again.
He's a good guy.

[E-Man]

If Mario was just as bad as the people from Game Theory say he is, he would actually live in that castle Peach is in and actually demand more from the Princess.

Goemar, you raise a very good point there!

[Koopaul]

)and the Mario VS Donkey Kong series proves that it's Donkey Kong with the issues.

I dare say that Mario VS Donkey Kong is the one example where Mario really DID act like a jerk. The cutscenes of Mario mocking and laughing at DK, provoking him to lock up the Toads. The ending also shows Mario yelling at a crying DK after beating him. Mario actually feels bad and realizes he made a mistake. He offers DK a Mini-Mario as an apology.

This game features the most three-dimensional Mario out of any game so far. It portrays him as someone who can lose his temper and make mistakes, but realizes those mistakes and makes up for them.

And that's the whole point of this topic. Isn't it better to have a hero who isn't perfect? Someone who is rough around the edges? Someone who is capable of hate and anger but chooses not to act on them and do good, makes them more admirable than an unfeeling perfect angel.

So if they can prove Mario is not a perfect hero, that's a good thing in my eyes.

[Kriven]

He lives in a shitty little house and just gets cake (or just of kiss, or nothing) for pretty much single handedly saving the world time and time again.
He's a good guy.

The island surrounding the castle is "Mario Land".

Mario owns a castle on an enormous private island.


I also want to add that I really don't get the: "Don't argue with it" mentality dominating the last page of this thread. It's kind of scary.

[Koopaul]

That may be true, but he seems to own Stadiums, race tracks, a toy company, and he's a doctor.

The truth is what status Mario is changes from game to game but they are usually the exception. In general, Mario just has a small house which he shares with his brother. This is the most common state Mario is in therefor it must be "normal" state of Mario.

In such a fluid series its hard to determine certain things. So I usually look at the themes and traits that appear the most.

[Gors]

yep. thats what i said, mario is there because he is like an actor pitched in many movies. each universe is different but mario is still mario. in a media that fun matters more than story, the differences become even more glaring.

if you take all games seriously, mario is a plumber, carpenter, painter, soccer player, golfer, tennist, doctor, kart racer, baker owner of islands, worlds, castles, racetracks and all the shit. Obviously those are his just because the game needs a situation to happen.

But just like you consider mario as different series (platformer, 3d plat, rpg, puzzle etc), each iteration of mario is supposed to be different.

[Marth]

Guys face it. Mario has an identity crisis and an a large sum of money due to all the coins he finds. He's an eccentric billionaire just looking for some love.

[E-Man]

Considering how much Mushroom Coins are worth compared to Bean Bean coins in the first Mario & Luigi games and how easy it is to get thousands of them (New Super Mario Bros. 2 proves this point), wouldn't his "vast fortune" be considered worthless by some people due to the questionable economy of the Mushroom Kingdom?

[TomGuycott]

Who is to say the coins are even worth anything to anyone? (Outside the RPG games)

Maybe they eat them. Gold eating freaks. O:

[E-Man]

Who says that they are made of gold? Since the coins are so common, I doubt that they are made of such an expensive substance. Considering that there are other alloys look like gold (i.e. brass), I think those coins are made of something else. Heck! Since you also mentioned something about coins being editable, TomGuycott, they may as well be chocolate coins!

….. Of course, if the Mushroom Kingdom has a habit of making thousands of gold coins, it would certainly explain why gold is so scarce everywhere else… Talk about greedy!

[Gwen]

Who's to say that gold wouldn't be common/abundant in the Mushroom Kingdom.
I also find it hilarious how deep this discussion is getting to that we're getting to the currency of the Mario games.

[Gors]

That's why I said, burning your brain for such trivial things are pointless but hey, opinions are opinions