Mario Brothers Plumbing

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! had the unique format of having the cartoon episode be bookended by live action segments featuring Mario and Luigi’s actors Lou Albano and Danny Wells getting into live action shenanigans from the brothers’ workshop/apartment.

The stage will likewise recreate the set from the original show, probably built around the area where Ratigator liked to stick his head out. Their electrician friend will occasionally stick his head out from a manhole on the floor, creating an extra platform, and players will be able to see feet passing the window at the top.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65uNCLBTje0

Lego Mario Set

In 2020, Nintendo and Lego worked out an arrangement that allowed Lego to release a number of sets based on the Mario franchise, complete with a little blocky Mario and, just recently, a Luigi to match.

The stage will be made up of the various Lego sets released in the line so far, stacking and restacking themselves and rotating through the various lines. The features of the sets will be likewise interactive for the characters.

Potential theme: My brother found this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7qkWfhnYWc, at least something like it.

King Koopa's Kool Kartoons

King Koopa’s Kool Kartoons was a short-lived series that ran on only one channel for one winter season in L.A., but has since become infamous for its uncanny rubber King Koopa costume, its state as a piece of lost media, and the time Koopa’s actor threatened a child live on television.

This stage will recreate the set of the show, with King Koopa’s desk acting as a platform at one end, and Ratso’s hangout area as another, Ratso sticking his head out and watching the fight.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uflm_O7G-E

Flying Ship

The 1986 anime movie Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu dai Sakusen! mostly followed the plot of the original Super Mario Bros., one major difference coming in their water level section when Mario, Luigi, and Kibidango discover a sunken ship capable of flight that takes them the rest of the way to Bowser’s Castle.

This stage will be set on that ship, the deck forming the bulk of the stage’s terrain. As the combatants fight, it will tour the Mushroom Kingdom of the movie, passing several familiar locations and characters.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aO4NsthMic

Fire Escape

While there weren’t too many set locations throughout the Saturday Supercade episodes featuring Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., the title sequence featured a recreation of sorts of the original arcade game, with Mario chasing Donkey Kong up a building’s fire escape as the ape threw barrels back at him.

This stage will be set on that fire escape, being a large and tall stage of flat platforms with ladders leading up between them. Through the windows of the building, players will be able to see various characters who appeared in the Saturday Supercade segments.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOE8Psqt8eI

Dome City

The third season of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! leaned heavily into the dinosaur aspect of Super Mario World as well, placing Mario, Luigi, and the princess in the middle of a city full of domed buildings inhabited by a society of cavepeople.

This will be the setting for the stage representing the season. A pair of domed buildings will be raised up from the rest of the city, acting as platforms for the fighters to stand on, the rest of the city in the background behind them.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTSUvoTKRwI

Dinohattan

It’s fair to say that the Super Mario Bros. live action movie took a lot of creative liberties with the source material. For instance, rather than the Mushroom Kingdom, the movie instead took place in an alternate dimension inhabited by dinosaurs, in the middle of a grungy, fungus-covered city surrounded by an endless desert.

The stage will be set in the central street area of the city where the final battle occurs, with two raised platforms on either side of the stage. Bouncy fungus will fill the space between the platforms, bouncing any characters who fall on it. The bucket President Koopa spends much of the climax in will rise up and down as an extra platform, and his tower will appear in the background.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNyJrd2Px68

Club Mario

Club Mario was short-lived and only lasted long enough to fill the space Lou Albano and Danny Wells’ live action segments left behind before the show was reformatted for the second season. It featured the teenage Mario fans, Tommy Treehugger and Co-MC, hanging out on an apartment rooftop that they had dressed up with a TV and couch.

The stage would be set on that rooftop, with the two neighboring buildings acting as walls. The couch will act as a cushiony platform, and the TV will play in the background, showing clips from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHlhovepKw

Mario Multimedia Roster

And that's it for all Mario characters not originating from games (excluding Donkey Kong TV series characters). They ranged from well-known to super-obscure and almost all from some really weird stuff over the years.

My question to you: if this were a real roster from a real game, who ya mainin'?

Lego Mario

Though the multimedia branches of the Mario series wouldn’t particularly dry up, most would not be so ambitious to introduce major unique characters after the poor box office returns of the live action movie. However, in 2020, Nintendo would strike a deal with Lego, producing a line of Mario-themed Lego sets.

Among them was a blocky Lego version of Mario. This toy had a sensor on its bottom so that when it landed on various parts of the sets, they would light up and make sounds from the game or cause various effect to happen.

As a character, Lego Mario will have more stilted movements to him, something like Mr. Game & Watch but will be similar to his game counterpart in most stats. His moveset will pull from some of the more interactive features of the different sets and feature parts and pieces.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Big Bertha

Mario and Luigi quickly lose their way in the enormous, crowded city covered in fungus, Daisy and her captors lost in the crowd. They immediately get mugged by an old woman, who takes Daisy’s necklace still in Luigi’s hand, only for it to be immediately taken from the old woman by a gigantic woman in a spiky red dress.

This is Big Bertha, the owner and proprietor of the Boom Boom Bar and nothing like her in-game fish counterpart. Soon realizing that necklace is central to stopping President Koopa’s plan, they find their way to her bar to get it back, only for her to prove a valuable ally in their fight.

As a fighter, she is for sure a heavy hitter, with a lot of weight to her and unparalleled strength. Her moveset will not only pull from her own tremendous strength but also from the items and gadgets the brothers end up using, which they received from her.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

President Koopa

Daisy is dragged to a tall skyscraper in the middle of the city and brought before a well-groomed man in a suit, with slicked-back blonde hair and a long lizard-like tongue, who seems to be a massive germophobe.

This is President Koopa, what the movie seems to think is its version of Bowser. Portrayed by Dennis Hopper, he is a ruthless, power-hungry politician who used his de-evolution technology to turn Daisy’s father, the king, into a fungus that has since spread all over the city. He would eventually be hit by his own de-evolution ray, briefly taking on a Bowser-like appearance before melting into primordial goop.

As a fighter, he will be a far cry from other versions of Bowser, nowhere near as strong or heavy, with more of an average human speed to him. His moveset will pull more from his weaponry and his de-evolution technology that forms a central part of his plan.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Film Goomba

The Mario brothers give chase after Daisy and her captors, diving through the portal and suddenly finding themselves in a strange grungy world filled with people who look like humans but with odd features like spikes and long tongues. Lurking around the corner, watching their progress, is a tall, hulking figure with a tiny head wearing an overcoat.

These are what the film decided were Goombas, the primary minions of Koopa. He built himself a de-evolution device that would return the people of his world to an earlier more saurian state, and these are apparently the results. One of the few truly bad designs in the film aside, they pose a serious threat to the brothers throughout the movie.

As playable characters, the Goomba that used to be Toad will be the main color swap with other designs acting as the remainder. They will be big and slow with a lot of strength, and their moves will pull from the weapons they use and the tools used by other minions of Koopa.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Film Daisy

Though the Mario brothers are the main characters of the film, it arguably centers around the film’s version of Daisy. The movie opens with a baby being dropped off at a convent. Twenty years later, we first see her as an adult working at an archeological dig site when she and Luigi bump into each other. They agree to go on a date, only for her to be abducted by a pair of strange goons and taken into the sewers and through the portal to the dinosaur world.

Samantha Mathis portrays this version of Daisy, who they probably went with instead of Peach probably to be able to have a steamy romance between their two younger leads. All things considered though, she basically is Peach in all aspects but name. She is the long-lost princess of this dinosaur world, taken to the human world as an infant to hide her from the evil Koopa.

As a fighter, she will be light and fast, but with not much power behind her moves. Her moveset will pull from her various actions throughout the film, and will also incorporate the film’s version of Yoshi, who sticks close to her throughout her end of the story.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Film Luigi

We first see the Mario brothers resting at their small Brooklyn apartment before they get a call to a plumbing job where Luigi first meets and falls for the film’s version of Daisy, setting up the start of the plot.

John Leguizamo portrays Luigi in this film, creating a nearly unbelievable age gap between them, rather than them being pretty consistently twins in most other continuities. He is younger and sprier than his brother, leaping into action to contrast with his more hesitant brother.

As a fighter, Luigi will be an echo fighter of his film brother, using all of the same moves based on their gadgets and plumbing equipment, but he will be lighter and quicker, though still probably slower than his game counterpart.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Film Mario

That same year, 1993, saw a full live action adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. series, or rather, kind of an adaptation, produced by Hollywood Pictures and starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the titular plumbers. The film presented the idea that the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs actually split the planet into two different dimensions, one with dinosaurs and one without, except the dinosaurs eventually evolved to look just like humans, because that’s how that works.

Bob Hoskins portrays the film version of Mario, presented here as an older, world-weary plumber who runs a plumbing business with his little brother Luigi, the pair encountering a portal to this dinosaur world when Luigi’s girlfriend is abducted and taken through it.

In this game, the film version of Mario will be much, much slower than regular Mario, being an older man in his, probably, forties, heavier too thanks to the sizable super boots he is wearing. His moveset will pull from the movie, both the gadgets and items he uses in the dinosaur world as well as the plumbing tools he uses here and there.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Tomboy Peach

Much like the game series, they are based on, the comics, movies, and television series will continue to branch out in new directions. One unique comic came out in 1993, published by Shogakukan, the publishers behind Super Mario-Kun, and depicted Princess Peach as a particularly troublesome child with a penchant for pulling pranks.

This version of Princess Peach I will be calling Tomboy Peach, the literal translation of the comic’s name. The short-lived series saw the young princess pulling numerous pranks on her friends, most of which tended to be really nasty and messed up, such as dousing them in cicada pee.

As a fighter, Tomboy Peach will be light and floaty just like her adult self, but she’ll also be faster and more full of energy. Her moves will incorporate both the rainbow wand she wields as well as the various pranks she pulls.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Dino Riders

Super Mario World’s series wouldn’t last long, but just long enough to get a few guest stars in. Three of these come from an “educational” episode warning kids away from gang violence. An upset Yoshi, having been scolded by Mario and Luigi, comes across a trio of dinosaurs in a motorcycle gang who recruit him to join them.

These are the Dino Riders: Duke, Lulu, and Rockman; thugs hired by King Koopa to use Yoshi to get to Mario and Luigi. They tempt Yoshi and exercise bad influence over him using all the favorite buzzwords and stereotypes of the early nineties, eventually capturing the brothers for King Koopa.

As fighters, they will color swap between the three members, Duke acting as the first. Their bikes will be an integral part of their playstyle, making them quite fast and decently strong. Their moves will pull from their PG gang activities shown in the episode.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Wizenheimer

Numerous enemies and creatures introduced in Super Mario World, including a recurring Magikoopa character who would precede Kamek by a couple of years, living alone in a spooky forest, casting horrible curses on those that disturb him.

This was Wizenheimer, a cantankerous Magikoopa who mostly just wants to be left alone. The Mario brothers and their friends stumble across his path a couple of times, paying a terrible price each time as a result thanks to his ensuing curses.

As a fighter, he will certainly be slower and less sky-bound than his fellow Magikoopas Kamek and Kammy, due to his round belly and lack of a broom. His moveset will pull from the various curses he casts throughout his handful of appearance.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Oogtar

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! entered its third season, just in time for the release of yet another brand-new game, Super Mario World. This meant another rebranding and another upheaval for the series formula. Toad disappeared altogether, and Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool now lived in a society of cavepeople, now joined on their adventures by Yoshi and a friendly caveboy.

This is Oogtar, Yoshi’s best friend among the cavepeople who accompanies the Mario brothers on their adventures from time to time, or actively contributes to the problem in others. As the most prominent member of their society in the series, he also acts as a bit of a representative for them.

Oogtar will be fast and nimble, used to swinging around trees on vines and such, but will also have a good amount of strength to him too. His moveset will pull from his various appearances in the series, as well as the actions of his fellow cavepeople.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Mario-Kun

In 1991, Japanese magazine CoroCoro comics published the first issue of the most famous manga of the series, Super Mario-Kun, a joke comic that follows the plot of most of the games as they release and is still running to this day. The comic featured a more comedic take on Mario, full of silly sight gags and puns based on the games in question.

Mario is presented here as Mario-Kun, a random and erratic agent of chaos more interested in his next lame pun than the adventure at hand. Thanks to this, he has demonstrated many slapstick-style abilities not seen in any other medium, making him thoroughly different from any other version.

The comic version of Mario will be fast and jumpy, far more erratic in his movements than any of his other incarnations. His moveset will pull from the entire history of his manga, incorporating some of the most unique power-ups or gags seen within it.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Crime Wave Clyde

As King Koopa worked to raise his children up to be good little villains, he thought to give them instruction under the worst criminal he could possibly find. So, he flew his mighty flying battleship into the real world, invaded one of the highest security human prisons, and broke out its most high-profile criminal.

This is Crime Wave Clyde, a career criminal serving a sentence of 12,423 years. He initially goes along with the plan, teaching the Koopalings everything he knows. That is, until they both drive him crazy with their shenanigans and end up stabbing him in the back and leaving him behind. This leads him to join forces with the Mario brothers, helping them take the Koopalings down and agreeing to return to prison.

As a fighter, he will be big and hard to move, with lots of muscle and a few underhanded tricks behind him. His moveset will pull from the crimes and violent actions he takes in the episode, as well as the crimes performed by the Koopalings after his instruction.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Junior

Another episode sees Mario and Luigi stumbling back into the real world, into the middle of a house with a pair of very frazzled parents and one very naughty little boy. The parents, believing the brothers to be the babysitters they hired, leave the child in their care and head off to dinner.

This little boy is Junior, a child with no sense of discipline or control ever instilled upon him. His antics against the brothers eventually lead him into the Mushroom Kingdom, where the Koopalings use him against the brothers, making him see the consequences of his actions for the first time in his life and leading him to help the brothers take them down.

As a fighter, Junior will be incredibly fast, fast enough for any regular babysitter to struggle to keep a handle on him. His moves will pull from the pranks and destruction he wreaks across the episode, as well as the tricks he pulls both under the instruction of and against the Koopalings.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

The Wizard King of the West

Another episode saw a neighboring king reaching out to Princess Toadstool for help in delivering his new wand to him from the factory where it was being made. Toad is sent to fetch it, but he ends up playing with the wand and causing a nearly disastrous mess as a result.

This king was the Wizard King of the West, supposedly one of the most powerful wizards in the kingdom, who had ordered the wand hundreds of years before in order to perfectly toast . . . his lunch. Though he does not use the wand much in the episode, the mess Toad makes with his property makes a compelling case for his inclusion.

As a fighter, the Wizard King will certainly be slow, but will make up for it with powerful magical attacks. His moveset will pull both from the accidental spells cast by Toad with his wand as well as the spells he casts himself to clean up the mess.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Mighty Plumber

Once again, the world of this animated series must really worship its plumbers. In one episode, Mario and Luigi sit down to watch their favorite plumbing-based action show that is not about Dirk Drain-Head, only for Cheatsy the Koopaling to catch the show as well and get the idea to build a device to pull the show’s hero into their world.

This hero is known simply as Mighty Plumber, with a distinctly Indiana Jones-inspired design and style of fighting, just using plumbing implements instead of his whip and gun. King Koopa convinces Mighty Plumber that Mario and Luigi are evil plumbers who use their skills for personal gain, sending him to take them down.

As a fighter, Mighty Plumber will be fast with a good amount of muscle behind him. His moveset will pull from the various moves he uses in the show, loosely based on Indiana Jones but with a plumbing bent to them.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Queen Mushroomkhamen

A more set location aside, the series still saw a number of one-off characters here and there. One such came in an episode where Hip and Hop broke into a pyramid in Desert Land to steal a sarcophagus, only for the mummy inside’s mother to awaken from her own tomb and confuse Mario for her stolen son.

This is Queen Mushroomkhamen, an ancient mummy who ruled the Mushroom Kingdom centuries before. She spends most of the episode as a secondary antagonist, chasing Mario around while he tries to reclaim her real lost son from the Koopalings.

As a fighter, she will be fast and she will also be surprisingly strong, most of her hits hitting with stunning force. Her moveset will pull from her magical abilities that she shows and the earth-shaking tantrum she throws over her son’s kidnapping.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

TV Koopalings

A brand new season with a brand new Mario game having been released in the interim, the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! saw a rebranding as The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and an upheaval in the regular story formula. Now, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad tended to stay in one general location, the doorways between the Mushroom Kingdom and the real world had apparently been blown wide open, allowing the heroes to pass back and forth as they pleased, and King Koopa was now accompanied by an adaptation of his seven Koopaling children.

These Koopalings, renamed, and sometimes redesigned, as Kooky, Bully, Kootie Pie, Cheatsy, Big Mouth, and the twins Hip and Hop, differ from their game counterparts here and there in terms of personality and design, but they still fill the basic role of King Koopa’s main henchmen who help him carry out his schemes.

In game, just like their video game counterparts, they will act as different color swaps of each other, possibly with different stat levels depending on the individual. Rather than the moves of their game boss battles, their moves will pull from the various hare-brained schemes they pull in different episodes.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Evil Eric & Tammy Treehugger

Though Tommy and Co-MC would be the stars of Club Mario, they wouldn’t be the only recurring characters in its short-lived run. Frequently, Co’s evil twin and Tommy’s troublemaking sister would team up against the pair, tying them up and taking over the hosting of the show for themselves.

These two, Evil Eric and Tammy Treehugger, would act as loose villains of sorts for the hosts to contend with from time to time. Tommy would eventually end up befriending Eric, leading the pair to ease up on their troublemaking and start simply hanging out with the hosts on the set.

They will be echo fighters of their siblings in game, with a bit more punch to their attacks than their more benevolent counterparts. Their moves will likewise mirror the hosts’, though with slight tweaks here and there to match their personalities. Side note: Tommy with Tammy as a color swap and Co with Eric as a color swap is also a viable alternative.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Tommy Treehugger & Co-MC

When the first season of Super Mario Bros. Super Show ended, Lou Albano and Danny Wells left the show, meaning no live action segments could be filmed either to fill out the runtime left at the beginning and end of each episode. To remedy this, the show’s produces hired a pair of teenage actors to act as hosts of their own “kewl” Mario-watching talk show of sorts.

These two teenage hosts went by the monikers of Tommy Treehugger and Co-MC, two dudebros who adored watching Mario, having talented guests here and there, and otherwise being obnoxious to everyone around them. The show wouldn’t last long, but just enough to leave an imprint.

As fighters, Tommy and Co would act as color swaps of each other, taking turns switching back and forth. They won’t have much strength or skill, but will make up for it with speed and energy. Their moves will pull from across the short-lived series.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Dirk Drain-Head

Within this comic run, Mario also had a different plumbing idol to look up to, because he apparently lives in a world where plumbers are gods. This comes in the form of a comic book character within our pre-existing comic book, who Mario often dreams of emulating and even cosplays as.

This is Dirk Drain-Head, the heroic plumbing superhero. He fights crime using plumbers’ tools and implements, accompanied by his faithful sidekick Snakey and fighting villains such as Pipe Ooze and Muck.

In game, Dirk Drain-Head would be fast and strong, like many superheroes, and would have his trusty plunger and other plumbers’ tools at his side. His moves will pull from the various moves Mario re-enacts, incorporating Snakey, Pipe Ooze, and Muck as well.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Mushroom King

A different continuity of comics put out under the Nintendo Comics System label seemed to be set within the same universe as the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! with a few distinctions. First and foremost, Princess Toadstool’s father was a major and constant player in the story, one of his few true appearances.

This is the Mushroom King, who is portrayed as egregiously incompetent and stupid, prone to fits of irrational rage. It is often all the princess can do to keep him in line and run the kingdom herself to defend it from King Koopa. Although well-meaning most of the time, most of his contributions tend to be accidental at best.

In the game, Mushroom King will have some similar attributes as his daughter, probably passed on to her, but he will be heavier and slower, with less power behind his punches. His moveset will pull from across the series of comics, sometimes his general stumbling around, sometimes from various artifacts held by the royal family.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Herman Smirch

Comics continued to be published while the animated series ran, including many under the Nintendo Comics System label by Valiant Comics. One of the most unique of these was another based on Super Mario Land, set in the real world where a selfish man’s dark heart acted as a gateway to free Tatanga and his forces from the world inside the video game.

This evil man was Herman Smirch, a video game store employee who spent every minute of his time complaining about how the world owed him, and frequently shoplifted from his own store. Though initially dragged into Tatanga’s schemes against his own free will, and frequently tried to flee and pass his Game Boy onto other unsuspecting victims around him, he eventually declared his allegiance to Tatanga and became his faithful follower in his schemes to conquer both worlds.

As a fighter, he won’t have much going for him attribute-wise, lacking in strength, speed, or any kind of defense, his only major advantage being his large size. His moveset will pull from his trilogy of comics, both the video game releasing various Super Mario Land minions into the world, as well as his occasional actions to help out or flee.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Bunsen

Our heroes sent running from the might of King Koopa’s upgrade, they soon find themselves rescued by a friendly female robot created by the same inventor forced to build Koopa’s robo suit.

This is Bunsen, the assistant of Dr. Nerdnik and one of the few who can understand him. She helps the Mario brothers across the episode in their fight against Robo Koopa, helping to build a giant super suit for the brothers to wear in battle against him.

As a fighter, she will be quick and nimble, though surprisingly heavy given her metal body. She will use moves that pull from across the episode, including her own personal abilities as well as the abilities she and Dr. Nerdnik programmed into the Mario mech.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Robo Koopa

One of the final and most epic episodes of the series proved to be a parody of various media like Transformers and Power Rangers, shows and movies that featured giant robot battles. Traveling to the high-tech Robo Land, Mario and his companions find themselves under attack by King Koopa in a giant robotic suit of armor.

Calling himself Robo Koopa, this form proves to be among the most memorable of King Koopa’s various disguises. The suit comes equipped with a number of high-tech weapons that he uses in combat against the Mario brothers, spreading a reign of terror across Robo Land.

In battle, he will be heavier and stronger than regular King Koopa, but also faster due to his enhanced leg armor. His moveset will pull from the various abilities his suit grants him, demonstrated in multiple battles.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Waldo the Wizard

After that came the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids parody. Held hostage in King Koopa’s summer castle, our heroes find themselves thrown into a dungeon where they meet the powerful wizard who had once been the true master of the castle.

This is Waldo the Wizard. Before the heroes had arrived, he had been concocting a plan to take back the castle using a magical shrinking potion. Caught up in the excitement, Toad accidentally spills the potion and ends up shrinking the Mario brothers down to miniature size, forcing the group to work together to form a new plan.

As a fighter, Waldo will be similar to his fellow wizard Mervin, perhaps being a bit more floaty with his tendency to hover in the air. His moveset will pull, of course, from his shrinking potion, as well as the various magical spells he uses throughout the episode.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Misaki

The Karate Kid is next on the parody block, as well as many other stock martial arts films, as the Mario brothers and their friends travel to the Japan-inspired city of Sayonara, only for the princess and Toad to be captured by King Koopa dressed as an old-timey shogun. Desperate for help, they turn to a local martial arts master to train them.

This is Misaki, their guide and mentor in the ways of martial arts. Though the brothers struggle initially, Misaki uses their already existing skills in plumbing to devise a brand new style of martial arts: Plumb Fu, which they use to beat Koopa.

As a fighter, Misaki’s attributes will mirror real world or at least stereotypical martial artists, with good strength, speed, and agility across the board. His moveset will pull from his own martial arts training, as well as the Plumb Fu style he later teaches the brothers.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Sergeant Kooperman

Way back when Mario and Luigi could only dream of becoming plumbers, they attended the prestigious Plumbers Academy founded by Salvador Drainado. Their first year experience was hampered, however, by their cruel, pompous instructor, a man with similar appearance and attitude to their later foe, King Koopa.

This was Sergeant Kooperman, a teacher at the academy who believed rigorous drills bordering on torture were the best methods to teach or dissuade prospective students. He set unfair challenges on the brothers, eventually forcing them to quit the school, before he was ultimately publicly disgraced by his own arrogance.

Much like Salvador and the brothers before him, his moveset will be based entirely around plumbing, though mixed with his own cruel teaching methods used against the brothers. As a fighter, he will be strong and overbearing, with little real technical skill.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Mugga the Medicine Woman

Next we have an episode set in the stock plot setting of ancient volcano-jungle-caveman land, where, after a chase by a “Mousersaurus Rex,” Mario becomes poisoned and comatose. Desperate for a cure, a young cavetoad leads the party to the medicine woman living in a cave nearby.

This is Mugga, a wise mystic among the cave people whose recommended cure for Mario’s state is a pizza crafted from ingredients around their jungle world. She would help them build the pizza, then help them escape when King Koopa ultimately found their location.

 In game, her moveset will pull from her own magic arts and remedies used to heal Mario as well as the various actions of her cavetoad assistant and the general theme of the episode. She will be slower, but quite limber with good aerial maneuvers and magical attacks.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Zero

Being the late eighties, I would have been surprised not to see a Zorro parody. The party travel to El Desert Land in search of a masked vigilante they’d heard about operating out there, only for King Koopa to show up and cause trouble before they can start their search.

This masked vigilante is Zero, who shows up in the nick of time to help the heroes fight Koopa off. She is soon revealed to be a young waitress working at the local taco shop, who puts on an aloof persona to avoid suspicion. Although she would ultimately get herself captured by Koopa, she would put up a heck of a fight against him in the meantime.

As a fighter, Zero will be fast with strong aerials and good evasion. Her rapier will be her primary weapon, but her moveset will pull from all across the episode, especially her fight scenes against Koopa and his men.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

The Flab Boys

The party then travel to Rap Land, a rap music-themed world that I’m pretty sure the Mario Kart 8 track Electrodrome took place in. They find that King Koopa has enslaved the place with his hypnotic music, the only two not affected being a pair of heavyset twins wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

These are the Flab Boys, the backup DJs to Rap Land’s ruler King James and parodies of real world rappers, the Fat Boys. They assist the Mario brothers throughout their adventure to free Rap Land, using their sizable bodies and various elements of music production as weapons.

In battle, the brothers will certainly be heavy and strong, but with a surprising amount of speed behind them too. Their bodies will have a slight bouncy quality to them, and their moves will pull from all over the episode, with moves used by them or relating to the episode’s theme.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Captain Abidab

The Mario brothers and their friends return to the sea once again for a 2,000 Leagues Under the Sea/Moby Dick/Jaws parody featuring a small port town terrorized regularly by a fearsome sea monster, our heroes volunteering to join a brave captain on her vessel to head out and hunt the beast.

This is Captain Abidab, a large, busty amalgam of Captain Ahab, Captain Nemo, and Quint. She is bound and determined to take down the creature, even more so when she learns it is merely a submarine manned by Koopa and his minions.

As a fighter, she will be large with lots of brute strength behind her. Her moveset will pull from the various weapons she uses in her battle against the beast, her harpoon her first and foremost weapon of choice.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Vampa White

Said James Bond parody came with all the trappings of a 007 movie, including sadistic traps set by King Koopa and muscly goons doing his bidding. Naturally, it would be remiss to leave out a femme fatale to fight by the villain’s side.

Enter Vampa White, a Vanna White parody with vampiric powers and fiery breath, who works the Wheel of Fortune-themed torture device King Koopa uses against the heroes. Another episode would likewise have a strong vampire theme, but Vampa would not return.

As a fighter, Vampa will be slower but with vampiric moves and abilities to make up for it. Her moves will pull both from her actions in her home episode, with some embellishment from the Dracula-themed episode without a good representative.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

James Blond

Next came a James Bond 007 movie parody, with the Mario brothers and their friends being recruited by a secret agency within the Mushroom Kingdom to take down “Koopfinger” after their top agent ends up turned to stone.

This top agent was James Blond, a natural James Bond knockoff. Although he sees little action, his boss provides our heroes with a number of standard Bond-style gadgets to use, gadgets he would likely have used if given the chance.

As a fighter, James Blond will get his chance to shine and utilize the tools the Mario brothers used in his place. He will be fast and a decent hand-to-hand fighter, with skills befitting a spy.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Captain Clump

Next we come to a high-seas pirating adventure parody following the Mario brothers and company as they sign up to work as crew aboard a ship passing through dangerous waters, finding themselves attacked by a band of pirates led by King Koopa.

The captain of this ship they board is a man named Captain Clump, with a cartoonishly huge peg leg and a parrot on his shoulder. Captain Clump will work together with our heroes to man the ship and fight off the pirates across multiple battles.

In game, Captain Clump will move a little awkwardly, hopping along on his giant peg, but other than that, he will be quick with fast, strong attacks worthy of a buccaneer. His moves will pull from his ship and the battle he partakes in, making use of both his parrot and his peg leg as well.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Hercufleas

Another parody episode focused on the legends of Heracles and other ancient Greek myths by having Toad take the brothers to meet his old friend, a former great hero who has let himself go thanks to years of inaction.

This is Hercufleas, one time a legendary hero who faced many battles, he retired to become the full time guardian of the great balls of fire, getting fat and out of shape as a result. When the great balls of fire are stolen, he must get back into fighting form with the help of the Mario brothers to get them back.

As a fighter, he will definitely be heavy and on the slower side, but with a heck of a lot of power to back it up. His moveset will pull from his various heroic actions, both his standard hero weapons and the few times he uses his size to his advantage.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Salvador Drainado

Did I mention this series leans heavily into their plumbing occupation? During one episode, while fleeing from King Koopa, the Mario brothers and their companions encounter the brothers’ hero, a legendary plumber who had accidentally stumbled into the Mushroom Kingdom and had been lost there for years.

This was Salvador Drainado, the greatest plumber in the world and the founder of the plumbers’ academy that Mario and Luigi attended. While stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom, he had been working diligently on a method to return home, a method the brothers nearly accompanied him in using. Ultimately though, they let him go on ahead and went back for their friends.

As a fighter, he will be slow with not too much of a focus on offense. While the Mario brothers’ moveset will combine their plumbing skills with their love of pasta and other demonstrated abilities, his will pull entirely from plumbing as well as the machine he built to escape the Mushroom Kingdom.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Quirks

Then came an episode based on the common tropes of popular space operas and sci-fi adventures. Having headed into space for some reason, our heroes end up getting attacked and crash-land on a planet inhabited by small green aliens enslaved by King Koopa.

These are the Quirks, generic little-green-men types with weird horn appendages sticking out of their heads that they can use to make loud sounds, which they eventually use to fight back against King Koopa when Mario and his companions inspire them to fight back.

In the game, they will be small and fast, with not much in terms of strength and defense. Their moves will pull from their own horn blasts, as well as the various forms of advanced space-age technology and weaponry shown in the episode.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Brutius Maximus Grouchimus

Next came a parody of Gladiator, or at least Gladiator movies in general. Lured to a Roman-themed town under the pretense of a charity banquet for orphans, the heroes are captured and forced to compete in gladiator games by King Koopa and the large musclebound proprietor of the arena.

This is Brutius Maximus Grouchimus, a secondary villain of the episode and an experienced Roman warrior. He is well-trained in the use of the various weaponry and tools used in the coliseum and uses them against the Mario brothers.

As a fighter, he will be fast and strong, aspects to be expected of someone trained to fight for their lives in an arena. His moves will pull from the various weaponry and tools he uses in combat during the episode.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

The Genie

Another parody episode that followed shortly after was a parody of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, during which the Mario brothers spent a lot of time riding around on magic carpets and find a lamp containing an all-powerful genie inside.

This genie, portrayed as a parody of the nagging wife stereotype in old sitcoms, accompanies Mario and Luigi as they work against Koopa’s scheme, using her magic to aid their quest.

As a fighter, the Genie will be floaty and slippery, with powerful attacks to back it up. Her moveset will pull from the magic she uses in the episode, as well as the flying carpets and other aspects of the episode’s parody.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Mervin the Magician

As our heroes fight against King Koopa, they travel around the kingdom, stopping off in different locations wherever they find a situation. Most of these tend to be parodies of famous movies or generic plot concepts, one of the earliest being a parody of the stories of King Arthur and Camelot. During this adventure, they find help in a wizard who guides them to the legendary weapons they’ll need to fight this specific battle.

This is Mervin, a parody of Merlin doing a Mel Brooks impression. He protects the kingdom of Cramalot, awaiting the one destined to be king. When that turns out to be Mario, Mario quickly passes the buck, giving Mervin the legendary weapons and telling him to be king.

As a fighter, Mervin will be slow and floaty, with a greater emphasis on magical trickery rather than physical attacks. His moves will pull from across the episode, making use of the golden plunger and plumber’s snake Mario and Luigi wield.

Likelihood rating: Non-game