Mario is an evil, evil man.
The most popular character in video game history, Mario rose from humble origins as a carpenter out to defeat a psychotic ape to become a plumber, a doctor, a superhero, an athlete, and countless other celebrity roles. However, underneath the exterior of the fun-loving, fearless video game hero is a racist, a coward, and a womanizer. As can be deduced through his video games, Mario is a horrible person.
Continue reading “Mario is Evil”
Consider the Mushroom Kingdom, the most common setting of the Super Mario Brothers franchise. Set aside the fact that its main populace consists of anthropomorphic mushrooms and focus instead on the downright bizarre social and political implications presented by Nintendo’s flagship franchise. Now consider how much weirder things get when you expand outward to games like Mario Party and Mario Kart.
This is a kingdom in a state of constant political upheaval, and yet there is no succession plan should the ruler be deposed. It lacks any sort of organized military despite being under constant assault by a literal fire-breathing dragon. The inhabitants show very little prejudice, and yet the social system is filled with incredible amounts of systemic bias.
Clearly, this strange kingdom bears a more thorough investigation.
Continue reading “The Sociopolitical Implications of the Mushroom Kingdom”
I have a son who is getting interested in role-playing games. He is also extremely interested in the Mario franchise, to the point where he refers to himself as Mario. His sister gets to be Princess Peach, his mother gets to be Princess Daisy, and I’m stuck as Luigi.
Recently, I decided to fuse these two interests together, resulting in a Super Mario Brothers edition of Pathfinder.
Babbling Brooks 