Prince Haru

After Mario became established firmly as a brand apart from Donkey Kong, the original Super Mario Bros. saw an anime movie adaptation the next year. The movie mostly followed the plot of the game, though it saw Mario and Luigi accompanied by a strange dog with a segmented body.

This dog is Kibidango, who turns out to be Princess Peach’s fiancé Prince Haru, transformed into a dog by Bowser and believed dead by the princess. He will spend much of the movie in his dog form until he is healed in the end by the crystal Peach wears.

In game, the relationship between his two forms will be a bit more fluid, and he will be light and quick on his feet. His moveset will pull from all over the movie, his own actions as well as anything distinctly unique to the film.

Likelihood rating: Non-game

Character Sheet: Prince Haru

PRINCE HARU

Today, let us begin a new era of character sheets. Not video game characters this time, but characters appearing in the Super Mario-based movies. We only have a few, but each was distinct enough on their own or from their video game counterparts to warrant a character slot of their own. Let's take a look:

1. Film Mario

2. Film Luigi

3. Film Daisy

4. Prince Haru

5. President Koopa

6. Film Goomba

7. Big Bertha

Today, let's cover Prince Haru, or Kibidango, Princess Peach's fiance turned dog from the anime movie Peach-hime Kyushutsu dai Sakusen! As an original character of the movie, never seen anywhere else, and a major party member throughout the film's runtime, he is perfectly suited to act as a gimmick rep, plus on his own. As he spends most of his time in the movie in his dog form, I'd say he could be in that form by default, but he could also swap between the two as well if needed.

First off, Haru/Kibidango himself is seen lunging and biting at his enemies and stealing objects. He can also transform obviously, and he can play the guitar. His fiancee, the Princess, is also shown using magic to transport herself through a TV, and uses a stick and hammer to fend off enemies and even tricks Bowser into a box at one point. She also has a magical necklace that restores Haru to his true form. Finally, the brothers he acts as companion to throughout the film can climb, grow gigantic, ride a cloud, throw fireballs, throw a super punch, use a shovel and pickaxe, and dance around with a sombrero and guns. I think we have more than enough to go off of.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Bite

For this move, he really lets his canine side show through as he lunges at his opponent and clamps onto them with all of his might, not letting go.

Side B: Super Punch

This is based on the strong punch used by Mario in the film. He'll reel back and sock an opponent very hard, sending them flying.

Up B: Paratroopa Baby

This is based on a section of the film where Mario is kidnapped by a Paratroopa and almost fed to one of her babies. One of the Paratroopa babies, based on their design from the film, will appear and pick up Prince Haru, carrying him into the air.

Down B: Peach's Hammer

This one is based on the hammer Peach uses to fend off Bowser's troops. He will pull it out and slam it down very hard, sending an opponent flying or burying them in the ground, depending on where it hit.

Final Smash: Magical Necklace

Peach's magical necklace will activate and start to glow, sending powerful magic all over the stage and causing various effects. Other possibilities include a television set bursting with all sorts of Bowser's minions flooding the stage, or Kinoko Sennin appearing and casting some magic.

Entrance: He will emerge from a TV.

Taunts: Up, he will hop up and down and bark. Side, he will pull out his guitar and dance around, playing it. Down, he will sniff a mushroom and either laugh, cry, or get mad from it.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we have the big bad President Koopa as played by Dennis Hopper!

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu dai Sakusen!

SUPER MARIO BROS.: PEACH-HIME KYUSHUTSU DAI SAKUSEN!

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu dai Sakusen, or roughly translated to Super Mario Bros.: The Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, is a 1986 anime movie predating the live action film by a full seven years, but is still roughly the same level of pure insanity. The story follows the Mario Bros., working in a grocery store this time, who get wrapped up in a magical adventure when Princess Peach suddenly bursts out of Mario's video game while trying to escape Bowser and his minions.

Mario and Luigi are our protagonists, of course, and over they course of the game, we see Mario climb, grow into a giant, ride a cloud, throw fireballs, throw a super punch, grab Bowser's tail and throw him, dance, and . . . wear a sombrero and use guns. Huh. Luigi is portrayed as much more of a greedy coward in this movie, fleeing from the action rather than fighting, but using a shovel and pickaxe when he thinks there might be a reward of treasure.

For most of the movie, the brothers are joined by an original sidekick, a magical dog named Kibidango who turns out to be Princess Peach's fiance Prince Haru under a magical curse. Over the course of the film, he aids the Mario brothers at every turn, biting, lunging, stealing things, backing up Mario's dancing on a guitar, and transforming (obviously). Princess Peach (whose name as Peach goes back much further than Super Mario 64, as I have come to discover) also appears, coming out of Mario's TV, using a stick and hammer to fend off her attackers, and using a magical necklace. Toads also appear, but mostly as extras.

King Koopa appears as the main villain, coming out of Mario's TV just like Peach, slashing with his claws, grabbing, shapeshifting, and breathing fire. Goombas, Koopas, Paratroopas, Buzzy Beetles, Lakitus, Spinies, Bloopers, Cheep Cheeps, Piranha Plants, Hammer Bros, and Bullet Bills all appear as his minions. So, basically, his Super Mario Bros. (NES) army, at that point just about the only game to come out besides the early arcade games.

As for stages, we have Mario's house and the grocery store they work at, which apparently borders on a massive desert. After going through a pipe in said desert, the brothers find their way to Peach's world, and traverse through a desert full of mushrooms, a field full of flowers, a cave, and an underwater section before raising a sunken pirate ship and causing it to fly, carrying them the rest of the way to Bowser's Castle.

Last but not least, we have the items. On top of the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman, the standard items of Super Mario Bros. for the NES, we also have special emotion mushrooms that cause our heroes to be happy, sad, or angry.

And that's it for today! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Film Mario: truck, drill, plunger, wrench, Bob-Omb, super boots, Devo gun, Bullet Bill, mushroom shield

Film Luigi: truck, drill, plunger, wrench, Bob-Omb, super boots, Devo gun, Bullet Bill, mushroom shield

Anime Mario: climb, grow, cloud, fireball, super punch, throw by tail, dance, sombrero and guns

Anime Luigi: shovel, pickaxe

Princess Daisy: Yoshi bite, tongue, fire extinguisher, fungus in the city

Princess Peach (Anime): come from TV, stick, hammer, lock in box, magic necklace

President Koopa: devo machine, devo gun, gun, clubs, car, T-Rex form, Klown Kar

King Koopa (Anime): come from TV, claw, grab, fire breath, shapeshift

Kibidango/Prince Haru: bite, lunge, steal, guitar, shapeshift (also best option for a gimmick rep)

Iggy and Spike: clubs, car

Big Bertha: pick up and throw, punch, Super Boots, Bob-Omb, Bullet Bill

Lena: knife

Toad/Goomba: flamethrower, gas, goop, flashers, zap sticks

Stages:

Brooklyn

Dig Site

Dimensional Rift

Dinohattan

Koopa's Tower

Boom Boom Bar

Desert

Desert Grocery Store

Mushroom Desert

Flower Fields

Cave

Underwater

Flying Ship

Bowser's Castle

Items:

Fungus

Super Boots

Devo Gun

Bob-Omb

Emotion Mushrooms

Super Mushroom

Fire Flower

Starman

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the Amada Anime Series!