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From Wario Bros. Fan

In Mario Pinball Land, why did the Mushroom People put the fair so close to Bowser's Castle?

So the Koopas could come play too. No, seriously. Bowser's evil, but he has a tendency to show up for sports and games and not cause trouble. No one thought Bowser would try anything at the fair. In fact, this is why Mario didn't stop the Goombas before they fired the cannon with Peach in it. He thought they were there for fun. By the time he figured out what they were up to, it was too late.

From Silly Koopa

You guys all have different-colored magic wands, but does that decide what kind of spells you guys cast?

No. I can paint my wand whatever color I like.

From Silly Koopa

What type of species is Flurrie?

Flurrie is a wind spirit... and that's all I can tell you. It's not very wise to go up to someone and ask what their species is. And even if it were, I wouldn't go anywhere near Flurrie, her fashion sense is so bad. I mean, the makeup is ok, but the hair has got to go. I don't know any other wind spirits to ask either.

From Silly Koopa

Why did Toadette just barely start appearing in games?

Alright, the first thing you need to realize, and you already should have if you've been reading the timeline in Morton's Basics, is that the games are not released in order of when the actual events happened. So, just because Toadette first appeared in Double Dash a year ago, doesn't mean she was born a year ago or anything like that. She's been around for a while, but was either not involved in the adventures turned into games, or had such an insignificant role that she did not make an appearance in Nintendo's translation.

Now, Nintendo seems to have a thing for her at the moment, though only DAD knows why, and she's been making appearances. Double Dash and Mario Party 6 are both times when Toadette was involved, and Nintendo did not drop her from their translation. Toadette also made an appearance in Paper Mario 2, but... not really! You see, in the game, Toadette shows up in tutorial cutscenes when Mario gets a new hammer or pair of boots. But in the real adventure, there were no such cutscenes. Nintendo created those scenes to educate the player, and chose Toadette as the teacher. But Toadette had no part in the real Paper Mario 2, or if she did, it was in some very minor capacity which was cut from the game.

In short, Toadette has been around just about as long as everyone else, but wasn't an important figure, and was rarely involved in anything, and when she was, this involvement was cut. I said that Nintendo has a thing for Toadette, but to be honest, I think Nintendo really has a thing against Toad, dating back a few years. Have you noticed how Toad has become more and more insignificant since Toadsworth suddenly appeared in the games? Had it not been for Toadette, I would have expected Toad to be placed in those PM2 tutorials. Instead, Toad didn't appear by name in that game at all.

From HarraAlaKing

Are the X-Nauts an actual species, or just an army? If they are an actual species, did they come to live on the moon in colonies of a native species of Plit and evolve, or did they actually come from the moon?

The X-Nauts, in addition to being an army, are also a species. Grodus and Crump are part of this species as standout members, similar to how Bowser and us Koopalings aren't really separate species from Koopa Troopas. The X-Nauts are native to Plit, but tended to keep to themselves. They do have some pretty advanced technology, and so when Grodus set their plan in motion, he started by finding a way to, and then building their base on, the moon. It seemed to them to be a safer location than any on Plit... which is probably correct, notwithstanding their defeat.

From Luigi_alex

Do Goombas eat Mushrooms, or is that canibalistic?

I can't speak for all Goombas, but in general they do not eat Mushrooms. Now, it is true that you can feed Goombella a Mushroom in PM2, and she'll happily eat it. But I wouldn't expect Nintendo to program in a detail like that. Besides, if you were about to die in battle unless you ate a Mushroom, you might be willing to make an exception.

From Ho-oh 59

What kinds of foods do you like to eat?

You might think that such things as rocks, mold, and toxic waste top our list of delicacies, but then you'd be wrong. No, we eat the same sort of stuff you do. We may have different preferences, and you're not likely to see a Koopa eating much Italian-style food, but our diet is not fundamentally different from yours.

Now, I could go list everything we eat... but I won't.

From Ho-oh 59

In Paper Mario, Kammy Koopa created Yellow Blocks to block Mario's path. Did she also create the Stone and Metal Blocks that Mario had to break with a stronger hammer?

Kammy could have created those blocks, but as far as I am aware she did not. Most of her time was spent taking care of the castle and building that final platform Bowser used, so she didn't have time to fly around the kingdom dropping blocks all over the place.

From Doom

What do Koopas do with their dead? For example, are they buried, cremated, etc?

Most Koopas are cremated instantly when they die due to Bowser's fire breath or one of Mario's fireballs... Sorry, Lemmy made me say that. But seriously, ya know, death works a little different here than it does on Earth. Well, a lot. See, now on Earth when you die, that's it, and someone'd better bury or cremate you or you're gonna stink up the place. On Plit, though... well, there's a reason why we've got Boos and Dry Bones and stuff. Not all our dead manifest themselves in perceptible forms such as these, but they all do something. Now I'm not saying it's quite like in the games where if Mario kills an enemy, their body just disappears. But at the same time, if ever you see a cemetary in a Mario game, the tombstones will only be there for sentimental reasons, since burials are usually not necessary. If a body hangs around too long, then it'll usually be destroyed somehow. Dark Land isn't really a very big place, so we can't let it fill up with disgusting dead people.

From Wario Bros. Fan

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Waluigi's and Wario's tracks advertise a Wario Kart race. Do they have their own race? If they do who races in it?

I am not aware of any official Wario Kart Tournament, though one could easily imagine it. No, Wario and Waluigi just didn't want to advertise for Mario... so they didn't.

From Martin

In Super Mario 64 DS, why did the characters just sit around in their rooms until someone switched places with them? How did characters go in someone else's door yet later end up in their own?

Woah, you're reading waaay too much into that. I mean, sure, I could come up with some story about how Bowser cast a spell that made it such that if more than one hero is walking around the castle, they all die or something... but that wouldn't be true (though it's not a bad idea). No, once characters were released, they were free to walk about, go into the various worlds, and so on. But Nintendo still wanted the main adventure to be a one-player game, so that wasn't included in their rendition.

Now, that being said, Nintendo could have done a better job allowing you to switch between the four playable characters. Rather than have them sit in that alcove, once freed they could have walked around the main hall, which is a bit more centrally located, or follow you around the castle, or even be selectable from the pause screen. Why Nintendo chose not to do any of those things, I can't say. But, if you had to remember which character you left behind which door, that would certainly be annoying, so Nintendo made it so that characters can always be found behind the door under their symbol. Notwithstanding the fact that they're not really there, since I just explained how the characters really all left and did their own thing.

From Goobster

What is a Shadow Siren?

I don't know how to answer that question. I mean, how would you answer the question "What is a human?" They're the same species as the Shadow Queen, though, and I think the species is just called Shadow. There's no relation to the Mario RPG enemy found in the Kero Sewers who is also named Shadow, to the best of my knowledge.

From General Cheep

Why is it that in Mario Pinball Land when Toad landed after being shot out of the cannon he changed back to normal, while Mario remained in ball form?

Well now, it seems to have been the same cannon that fired off Mario and Toad, so I think we can rule out the possibility of different effects from different cannons. Maybe Bowser sent off a spell right after Toad used the cannon? No, that doesn't sound right. Maybe... maybe anyone fired out of the cannon can choose to return to their normal form or not, and Mario chose not to because he needed the size and power advantages of being spherical. Yeah, that might be it.

From Iggy Clone

Were your ancestors called Koopalings when they were kids?

The term "Koopalings" was actually coined by Mario. Not that he invented the word, per se, but he popularized the term. We usually refer to ourselves as Koopa Kids, as does Bowser, though we are apt to drop a "Koopaling" here and there as well. It is likely that our ancestors were referred to as Koopalings at some point, but probably not as prevalently as today.

From spooky spook

Is Dinosaur Land a part of the Mushroom Kingdom?

No. Princess Toadstool is still held in pretty high regard there, in part because Dinosaur Land doesn't have much of a government of its own. We Koopas would like to change that.

From Commander Josh

At what age do Koopas get their own lands?

Right. I'm sure the king of Grass Land just handed Larry a piece of the land when he turned 2, since it's a right of passage and all...

Ahem. We took our lands by force at whatever age each of us were during Mario 3, Mario World, and so on.

From Iggy4Ever

Is there any rank associated with the color of a Koopa's shell?

Not among the ranks of the Koopa Troopas. Red-shelled Koopas may be smarter than their green-shelled friends, but they don't have any power over them. The shells correspond roughly to divisions within the Koopa Troopa army, but not to rank.

From Iggy4Ever

Is a NokNok shell different than a red/green/Spiny shell?

If you're referring to the shell Mario is gifted by the guy who runs the Midas Falls in Mario RPG, the answer is no. Koopas are actually known as NokoNokos in Japan, if I'm not mistaken, so this is essentially just an in-game name for a Koopa shell. I couldn't tell you why Japan didn't change it. Maybe Koopa Shell was just too boring a name. I guess it does lack flare...

From Martin

How exactly does a Fire Flower work? Does it have the kind of effect seen in games like the original Super Mario Bros. or is it like in Super Smash Bros. and the Paper Mario games?

Or, do we perhaps have different items with the same name? Nah, actually the Fire Flower can work either way. If you grab one and are so inclined, you could use it to shoot out fire for a short time. It could also be absorbed into you, if you have the right powers, so you could shoot fireballs over and over. The second method's probably better in the long run, but if you want a quick fire attack or don't have the power to absorb the Fire Flower then the first one's what you'd do.

From ian1

What is the average lifespan of a Koopa?

Well, the technical answer to your question is probably something to the order of three to five years. Koopas mature quickly and so can be recruited into our army by the age of 3 or so, but Koopas in the army don't have a very long life expectancy, particularily if they work near Bowser.

Something tells me that what you're really asking is how long Koopas could live if they don't meet an unfortunate end. Koopas mature quickly, but they don't die quickly, and they're actually very resilient if they live reasonably healthy lives and have good medical care. A Koopa could certainly live to 60 or 70, and some of us Koopalings can be expected to reach 100 if Mario, Bowser, and each other don't kill us first.

From ian1

What are those hill-type things and why do they have eyes?

What, you mean like those dancing green things on the Grass Land map? Those are bushes. They're shaped a bit weird, but other than that, there's nothing too special about them. Well, I guess they dance. But, so what? Crazee Dayzees are plantlife too, and they walk around and sing and stuff. They even have eyes, or so I'm told. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Crazee Dayzee dance, though.

From ian1

Why can people walk on the clouds on Plit? On Earth they are water vapor and you will fall right through them.

Humans haven't figured it out yet, but you can actually stay on a cloud if you know how. But in saying that, I'm really referring to Lakitu's clouds. Actually, the clouds in the air just happen to be covering some of our oh-so-common floating platforms. Not all clouds cover these platforms, so you probably won't be able to stand on the rest.

From sammyandelaine@charter.net

How come in Mario sports titles the only all-around players are the Mario Brothers?

Well, I'm not prepared to answer that question the way is worded. There's no way I'm going to explain why each other individual character isn't all-around. But I will say that it makes good sense for Mario and Luigi to be all-around. If either of them had a weakness, believe me, we'd have found it. At the same time, they don't really have strengths either. They don't have super strength or speed or anything like that, and their jump ability really isn't as good as they often get credit for. But they're decent (and lucky) enough at everything to be able to withstand whatever strengths their enemies might have and then exploit their enemies' weaknesses.

From Martin

Do Magikoopas have shells or is there some spell keeping them from turning into goo?

All right, the first thing is that only young Koopas need shells for support. By the time a Koopa starts training to be a Magikoopa, they probably don't really need a shell anymore. Nearly all Koopas wear shells anyway as it is considered inappropriate not to do so... plus, shells usually add defense. In Magikoopas' case, though, they do wear a shell, but it's much lighter and thinner than the standard variety, and adds negligible defense.

From ian1

You once said that Koopas are not born with their shells. Where do their shells come from?

Shells must be provided by an outside source. Some shells are other handcrafted, while others may already have been made for us by creatures that make their own shells.

From ian1

Are Mushroomers fungi or animals? They may have Mushroom-like heads, but other than that, they are like animals.

Mushroomers are such a hybrid between the two that I really don't know where they would be classified within Earth's biology system. Earth's scientists might have to create a new category for them. But if I had to choose between fungi or animal, it would be animal.

From Chris

Why are Shy Guys really shy?

Well, you wouldn't know this from Mario 2, but in Paper Mario it becomes clear that Shy Guys are really quite mischievous. They like to steal stuff and pull pranks, but being caught is really bad, so they shy away from people, except when they're sneaking up on them, of course. The robes and masks make it such that, if the Shy Guy you're chasing gets out of eyesight, you're not going to be able to find him again against a backdrop of similarly dressed Guys.

Shy Guys are a close group that seem to work pretty well and in a variety of ways to improve the lot of the tribe. By disguising their identities, each one becomes an equal member within their rank. Why do unique individuals such as General Guy still wear masks? Everyone else does, so it seems to be the thing to do.

From spooky spook

What happened to FLUDD after Super Mario Sunshine?

FLUDD was broken at the end of Mario Sunshine when Mario landed on him after falling subsequent to the battle with Bowser. Mario originally promised to keep FLUDD and get him repaired, but as he then went on to celebrate his victory and enjoy his vacation, the spirit of the moment faded. Mario also realized that he really had no idea how to repair the animated water gun anyway. FLUDD ended up stored somewhere in the basement of Peach's Castle, where he soon powered down. This was the state of things for a while, until Mario met E. Gadd. (Refer to the timeline in Morton's Basics and note that Mario Sunshine occurred before Luigi's Mansion.) After that ghastly adventure, Mario and E. Gadd started working together, and Mario discovered that E. Gadd was the inventor of FLUDD. Remembering his earlier promise, Mario asked E. Gadd to fix his old friend. Gadd, not understanding the sentimental value, tried to persuade Mario just to take a new one, but Mario was insistent and Gadd finally relented. After FLUDD was repaired, Mario brought him home to live with him, but soon tired of the robotic entity living in his cramped house with little to do. Finally, Mario brought FLUDD back to E. Gadd, where the water gun now serves as an assistant of sorts. From time to time, Mario will need a FLUDD to help him on his adventures, and of course Gadd will always give him the original.

New

From Paperlemmy

Why does Kammy's broom spit out purple rings when she's riding it?

Kammy cast a spell on her broom so it would let off colorful and shapely exhaust rather than just the random white clouds you might get out of random brooms. She did it because she thought it was pretty and wanted to stand out. I guess it looks ok, but it's still dumb.

From Eric the Koopa

How do Goombas hold objects?

I didn't know the answer to this myself, so I decided to go straight to the source. I hope you appreciate the effort it took to go down the hall and grab a Goomba. Anyway, here it goes.
***
Wendy: Grab that rock.
Goomba: It's too heavy!
Wendy: *rolls eyes* Fine then... Here, grab this pillow.
(The Goomba does so. The small pillow appears to float in midair.)
Wendy: Throw the pillow.
(The Goomba does this too. He throws the pillow out of Wendy's room and into the hall, where it hits and knocks out another passing Goomba and bounces back into the room.)
Goomba: Whoops! Sorry!
Wendy: Never mind that. Now, punch the pillow.
Goomba: Huh-wha?!
Wendy: What's the problem now?
Goomba: I don't have any hands! How am I supposed to punch it?
Wendy: ... Uh...huh. But you can pick it up.
Goomba: Right.
Wendy: Without hands.
Goomba: Yes.
Wendy: And... that doesn't strike you as weird?
Goomba: No... Should it?
Wendy: Yes, it should. So, how do you pick stuff up?
Goomba: I don't know... I just sort of think about it, I guess...
Wendy: You think about it.
Goomba: I think so, yeah.
Wendy: ... Right. Like you expect me to believe that Goombas think.
Goomba: ...
Wendy: ...
Goomba: ... I'm leaving.
***
So, there you have it. According to my test Goomba, who I certainly did not have sent to the lava pits following the experiment, they can pick stuff up by thinking about it. I don't really believe this, but maybe that explains why they're so dumb, if they're spending all their time thinking about how to move objects. Or, I guess they could just be dumb regardless.

From Eric the Koopa

What are the names of Bowser's and the Koopalings' doomships?

Ah, now, I have heard that some of the doomships have been given names in various submissions. What's Ludwig's supposed to be called? The Devestator or something? Whatever. Look, I guess names would be nice, but actually, the doomships don't have any real names. They're just, ya know, Ludwig's doomship. They may have some nicknames or something, but nothing formally recognized.

From Ian1

Why does Plit have so many sentient species while Earth only has humans?

Luck of the draw, I guess. Evolution is an unconscious process. Nothing says there has to be one sentient species. There could be more, or none. There could be a new one developing on Earth right now - provided, of course, that the humans don't drive all the other species to extinction.

From Ian1

When a Paratroopa's wings get knocked off, do they grow back?

Ooh-hoo-hoo... I'm so tempted to do another one of my experiments. I'll haul in a Paratroopa, rip off his wings, then lock him in a cage until his wings grow back or he starves to death, whichever happens last.

But seriously, no, they won't grow back, and the reason is that they didn't grow in the first place. Wings must be affixed to the shells of those chosen to have them, and in fact, Koopas and Paratroopas are really the same species. This only stands to reason, since you don't get a new species when you take a bird and rip off its wings. You just get a bird without wings, whose days are surely numbered.

From Ian1

Are Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and others really humans, or are they a species from Plit that is extremely similar to humans?

Who can say for sure? It doesn't help that between the three of these (and throwing in Daisy, Wario, and Waluigi does nothing to improve the situation), we only know one of the parents, Peach and Daisy's father, The King. Now, The King's a Mushroomer, as far as anyone can tell, which would make Peach half-human at best. You sure would think she'd have some Toad traits, but I don't see 'em, at any rate. Look, to find out for sure whether they're human, I'd have to get some cells from them and do a DNA test or something. I don't know what exactly, and I don't care; that's Ludwig's field. For all intents and purposes, they're human. I understand Mario was attracted to a human female back when he was on Earth, so if he's not quite human, he's certainly close enough.

From Ian1

Where do ? Blocks come from?

They came from the forces that be... whatever that means. I've seen a few theories on this site, like maybe someone or other made them to hide stuff, or I don't know what. I hope you don't think we sat around one day and decided it would be cool to have ? Blocks and other floating cubes just hanging around, and ooh, let's just put in some helpful items, too. Nope, all of that stuff just exists, like the land or the water, and we don't have control over it. It's too bad, really; they're awfully annoying, hanging up there so you can bang your head on them. Well, ok, they're usually too high to accidentally bang your head on, but it could happen. They annoy me. Some people like them. I don't.

From Ian1

Why does Bowser hate Yoshis so much? I know they helped Mario, but so did many other species. What makes them different from all of the other species that helped Mario?

Probably there are any number of reasons, but for starters, Yoshis did cause trouble for Bowser when he was young and impressionable. Yoshis consistently help Mario and have never come to Bowser's aid. I'm not sure what "other species" you have in mind, but if you were thinking, say, Goombas, because Goombario helped Mario in Paper Mario, Bowser does have many Goombas who work for him, whereas there are no Yoshis on his side. Yoshi has occassionally defeated Bowser without assistance from Mario, both when Bowser was younger but also more recently. Also, Yoshis are just too darn happy. There are probably more reasons, but this should be enough to motivate him.

From Ian1

Who is the nicest of the Koopalings?

I can only assume you mean after myself. Iggy's a pretty nice guy, but I suspect it's probably only because he doesn't want us to beat him up. Larry can be nice when he's not blackmailing you or bawling about whatever plant just died this time. I think Morton tries to be nice, but he's just a pain.

From Ian1

You said that Koopas couldn't control whether they go into their shells or not, but in Superstar Saga, Ludwig got into his shell without anyone jumping on him. Why is that?

I'm not sure the context of where I am supposed to have said that. I think I was probably trying to say that, when we get jumped on, we can't help but go into our shell. Under normal circumstances, we definitely can pop in and out of our shells at will. So, yes, Ludwig did it in Superstar Saga, and some of the other Koopalings used shell spin attacks as well.

From Ian1

What species is Cackletta?

Hmph. If you ask Lemmy, he'll say she's a vampire, even though his only evidence is that she seems to have some influence over bats. Anyway, I'm pretty sure she's just a Bean, an ugly and deranged Bean, but yes, still a Bean. I don't think she's Queen Bean's sister, as some story or other on this site claims, but they're the same species: Bean. Have I said Bean enough here? I think Cackletta is one. A Bean, that is.

From Antwan

What are Boos originally? I mean, they are ghosts, so they had to be people before they became Boos, right?

Well, no, actually not right. Not necessarily, anyway. If you had paid attention in Luigi's Mansion, you would have already known that Chauncey was born as a ghost. Still, I suspect that if I did tell you that Boos bore each other, you'd probably want to know how the first Boo came about, or something else similarly useless.

Boos do originate from the living, but their exact origin is difficult to determine. Boos don't just rise out of their original bodies for all to see. Well, actually, I suspect something like that does, in fact, happen, only the process is invisible. Further complicating the situation is that most Boos appear to be unable to remember what they were before they died, or at any rate, most refuse to talk about it. Every now and again a Boo will experience a short spell of lucidity, or perhaps loose lips, and will blurt out, "I was a Flurry until Mario threw a turnip at me! I used to think they were tasty!" Or possibly, "I was that Goomba you threw in the lava pits after your experiment last week! And I still don't have hands!" In short, we know that Boos are created from out of the living, but that not every living thing will turn into a Boo, even discounting those Koopas that turn into a Dry Bones instead. We have not yet figured out why some people turn into Boos and other's don't, but I'm sure you can construct a horror story to explain it.

From Pat

Are the mushrooms on the Toads' heads real or are they hats?

I'll take the split on this one. They are hats. In fact, you can see Toad take his hat off in one or two of the Mario cartoon episodes. But, they are made out of Mushrooms.

From Dark Knight

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, King Boo is classified as a heavyweight character. Being a ghost, shouldn't he be a lightweight character?

I don't know the law that says ghosts have to weigh nothing. Seems someone just up and decided this one day. In truth, King Boo's body weighs little, but his tongue is unusually heavy. His crown is also a lot heavier than it looks.

From corbin the crazy yoshi

If a ? Block is hit, will it be empty forever?

Ooh, if only it were. Then we'd be set. If there's one thing we Koopas are good at, it's persevering. All we'd have to do is hang around until all the ? Blocks have been used up, and then we'd be good to go. Unfortunately, ? Blocks do get refilled from time to time - but never when anyone's looking. Ok, so all we've got to do is get a Goomba to stare at every ? Block...

From DomIngram@aol.com

In Superstar Saga, when your castle is blown up at the end of the game, Bowser is blasted out and ends up in a box connected to Peach's plane. But what happened to the Koopalings?

Us Koopalings, along with the other minions in the castle, fell into the water and were left to make our own way home. Some minions probably died, but whatever. I suppose Nintendo could have added in a nifty little montage showing random characters blasting out of the castle, but aside from that, they certainly weren't going to show everything. We were effectively removed from the plot once we were beaten, anyway.

From spooky spook

How did Donkey Kong enter the Mushroom Kingdom?

This is a sticky one, to be honest. The first thing is, I understand that DK made it to Kongo Isle first, but I don't have any information on how he pulled off that one. From there, though, I've been told that he drank one of Cranky's potions and now can warp around between places if he uses these things called Crystal Coconuts. I don't really believe this, you'd think he could do quite a lot of damage by warping around all the time, but maybe he's not smart enough to put the power to good use. I also would've thought he'd stupidly run out of coconuts and get stuck here, but maybe Diddy comes by and bails him out or something. I guess it does explain how he can live that double life of his, gallavanting around Kongo Isle and then still turning up for all those parties and races, but if you ask me, I'd say we're still fishing on this one.

From Eric the Koopa

Vivian was able to go to the X-Naut Fortress at first, so how come when she joins Mario, she can't get there anymore without being shot out of the biggest cannon in the world?

Well, luckily Vivian and her sisters didn't just warp there and back from the start. If that were the case, I don't know what the explanation for this might be. Instead, though, the Shadow Sirens made it back and forth through the teleporter locked away under Rogueport, but only Beldam had the key.

From Eric the Koopa

How come Vivian never knew about Beldam's plan to revive the Shadow Queen?

Well, I am going to have to rely here on a little tinkering of the dialogue by Nintendo's part to explain why it is Vivian didn't seem to recognize the Shadow Queen or the immediate locale. As for why she wasn't aware of the plan, though, Beldam obviously didn't feel it necessary to reveal the details of her plan to her sisters, who were only around to do the grunt work and help Beldam win fights.

From Paperlemmy

Is Rogueport a part of the Msuhroom Kingdom, or is it in a different place?

I think it's technically part of the Mushroom Kingdom, but no one knows it, or cares. Any attempts by Peach to exert any power there would likely be in vain.

From Paperlemmy

Are Nokobons, the exploding turtles from Super Mario Land, Koopas?

Lowly though the peasant Koopas may be, I don't think there are many who would willingly sacrifice their own life. They're too cowardly. So, no, Nokobons are not Koopas, although they are related. Noko is Japanese for Koopa, or something like it, after all.

From Popple

How come you call Earth the "Real World" when you say that both worlds are real?

The Real World refers not only to Earth, but the entire universe Earth is in... though sometimes we get lazy, and yeah, then it does refer to Earth. At any rate, Earth and Plit were once the same planet, in Earth's universe, until the two split apart, so the result is that Earth and its universe is a little more real than ours. If you're confused about what it means for one thing to be more real than another, you're not alone. Not that I'm in that group, of course. It makes perfect sense to me.

By papermario

Why are there no Bob-ombs in the Mario 1?

... Hmph. I don't even know why anyone would bother to ask this question. I mean, lots of enemies don't appear in Mario 1. And besides that, it's also the first time Mario and Bowser fought. So all I'd have to do is tell you that Bob-ombs hadn't been invented yet, and then I could go back to putting on my makeup.

... But, all right. I suppose if I said that, then some idiot would have to ask me about Boos and Shy Guys, and then I'd need to come up with a more creative excuse.

So, fine, I'll field this. But remember, this was the first attack, as I said. The Koopa Troop was far less developed than it is today, and on top of that, we didn't expect to need to go out at full strength because the Mushroomers weren't supposed to put up much resistance. Oh, sure, you've got to have an army, to deal with any remaining stragglers. But this was supposed to be really easy. We certainly weren't prepared to take on two super-powered plumbers. So, we used our basic troops: Goombas, Koopas, Cheep Cheep... All right, so Hammer Bros. are maybe a little more advanced, but you've always got to have an advanced soldier or two. These troops have always been the backbone of our army, which is why they also appear in so many other adventures.

Bob-ombs did exist back then, though in much shorter supply than today, but we didn't feel the need to use them. They were much more powerful than we expected to need, and dangerous as well, since their explosions are always non-selective and nearly as untimely.

From Lovable_angel90

Do Peach and Daisy get along well?

Well, relative to how well I get along with some of my siblings, perhaps so. More objectively, though, I'd say not very much. They have very different personalities, and Daisy would rather rule the Mushroom Kingdom than Sarasaland. There may also be some competition there as far as the love interest is concerned...

From Metal Koopa DS

Who is Piantissimo 2? Is he Luigi? Because he got a familiar mustache under that costume...

I don't know about that... I've heard it said that he's some running guy from Ocarina of Time, but Luigi? No, I'm pretty sure he's just a Pianta. A fast one, for sure, but still just a Pianta. His name means the best Pianta, after all, and he looks like one except skinnier.

From ShotNtheDark

Do you ever use humans as slaves or servants?

By virtue of the fact that there aren't any humans here other than those two that keep beating us, and that one Bowser keeps throwing in a cell... no.

From ShotNtheDark

Are there any warps to other video game zones in Plit?

Ohh, I know you want me to say yes. Yes, there are warps to Hyrule, Zebes, Kongo Jungle, and everywhere else, and so, sure, all those characters can appear whenever you want. But... I think not really. After all, the reason why there are warps between Earth and Plit is because they are lingering distortions from when the two planets separated out of one. Now, I don't know the story of these other planets. Maybe they split off from Earth too at some point, and there are warps between them, and so indirectly there are warps between them and Plit. But I wouldn't expect to be wandering about the Mushroom Kingdom and then fall into a pit and end up in Mobius...

From Paperlemmy

Is Dr. Mario any smarter than regular Mario?

All right, now, I know Mario and Dr. Mario both appear in SSBM, and can fight each other and such, but you can't take that game too seriously. It's left off the timeline for a reason, and besides, Mario can even fight three doubles of himself. You let me know how that's supposed to happen. Anyway, Mario and Dr. Mario are actually the same person - shocking, I know - so neither is smarter than the other.

From keven_koopa@hotmail.com

In Mario Party 6, Boo can skate, but how can he skate if he doesn't have any legs?

He can't, really, for the reason you just said. But he can still go through the motions, and act more or less as though he's skating. And he'd better do it, because the judges you never see won't give him the ten-coin prize if he just does his own thing.

From Vyucs

When Mario jumps on Goombas in his first few adventures, they flatten, but in Super Mario World, they just stumble down. How come?

Mario World Goombas are a little sturdier, toughened up by the dinosaurs, I guess. They also learned to walk the right way, quite the achievement, really.

From sammyandelaine@charter.net

Why does Il Piantissimo have a bucket helmet on his head?

Certainly not to hide his face, not that egotistical loser. I believe that helmet... bucket, whatever, makes his head a little more aerodynamic, so he's not slowed down as much when he moves. That means he can go faster than he could normally.

From Paperlemmy

What happened to the Bob-ombs that were in Kooper's house when Kooper returned? Does Bombette live with Kooper after Mario's adventure?

Bombette went back to what had been the Koopa Bros' fortress; apparently it's a nice place when they're not made to work twenty-five hours a day. I understand that Kooper had to put up with some housemates for a while, but that those Bob-ombs eventually went on their way as well. Bruce probably found out where Bombette was...

From Trollish Beastfighter

Why does Mario's normal cap protect him from damage, let's say in Mario 64?

Well, let's say exactly Mario 64, shall we? The only other time we see him get damaged when not wearing his cap is Mario Sunshine, and as he gets hurt there just from walking around, I hope you're not too dense to realize that he's getting sunburned. Now, I know I've answered this before, but I can't find it. Lemmy'd better hope I don't find out he lost my work, or more than just his ball will roll.

Anyway, most of the extra damage is mental; Mario doesn't feel as confident when he doesn't wear his hat. But, on top of that, enemies who see him without that iconic M feel emboldened and will attack him with more strength. You might have thought that they wouldn't recognize him without his hat, but, yeah, who knew? And then, there really is a defensive component, wherein the hat does legitimately block some damage or help Mario recover from blows. Between all this, the double damage Mario receives without his hat is reasonably well warranted - except, however, that he really shouldn't take more damage when falling in lava. The lava certainly doesn't care whether or not Mario's wearing his hat, and even if Mario fell with his capped head towards the lava, it really wouldn't help him much. So, the fact that Mario takes double damage from lava is really a glitch or an oversight, but the rest fits.

From Paperlemmy

Why did Larry have a tennis racket in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga?

Because it was better than hitting a fireball around with his own hands? Larry likes tennis some, it's a quiet sport and he can move pretty quickly, so he's not half bad. Or, maybe he is, if Luigi was able to beat him while walking around in a barrel.

From Paperlemmy

How did the Crystal King get involved with Bowser?

Bowser's attack on Star Haven was sort of spontaneous, and so he didn't have seven strong underlings lined up and ready to receive the captured Star Spirits. Some of the bosses ended up being "upgraded" members of his army, such as Tubba Blubba, but Bowser also recruited some other tough characters he came across. As it so happens, most of these late recruits don't get much screentime in the game, since they're not really central characters within the series, and the Crystal King was one of them. Bowser must have told him he'd see to it the Crystal Palace stayed safe or something; I don't know exactly how the exchange went. At any rate, the Crystal King agreed to guard the Spirit because he trusted his abilities and was told Mario was hardly likely to make it that far anyway. Although he held his post, the Crystal King was essentially an outsider, and aside from setting up some extra guards in the Palace, did not take a very active role.

From Paperlemmy

Is Tubba Blubba a Koopa? I read in an official Nintendo guide that he was, plus he has a shell!

The guide may have just meant that Tubba is part of the Koopa army. Tubba is really a Clubba, though.

From Paperlemmy

If Doopliss and Tubba Blubba ever met, would Tubba Blubba try to eat him? Doopliss is a DupliGHOST after all, and Tubba Blubba eats ghosts!

Actually, I think Tubba's undead diet is really limited just to Boos... and he doesn't even do that anymore. Even if he did, just because the word "ghost" happens to appear within the word "Duplighost" doesn't mean that they're actually spectres.

From Fwipp Deathspeeder

Is Tubba Blubba related to Macho Grubba?

They're both Clubbas, but there's no relation that I know of. Tubba's large size was natural (Bowser removed his heart, but didn't enlarge him) while Grubba was only able to get large when he used the Gold Star, so really there's not much physical resemblance. They're mannerisms are quite different too.

From Silly Koopa

Do you guys have any baseball skills?

Larry is pretty good, though he's been spending more time playing tennis lately. Lemmy is good in the field and on the basepaths, though he can't hit well. Roy has a ton of power, but it only matters if he gets his bat on the ball, which doesn't happen often.

From gladjetjejen@hotmail.com

How did Bowser and Clawdia meet each other?

Bowser doesn't like to talk about it, and Clawdia doesn't like to talk, but from what I can gather, they met at a camp when they were in their teen-like years, long before Bowser became king. Bowser, you will not be surprised to know, used his size and royal blood as an excuse to bully people, but was impressed by Clawdia, who, apart from being nearly as large as he, also proved to be quite strong despite being very quiet as well. For a long while the two were just vague friends, but once Bowser didn't mind so much having a girl around, the relationship took off. Although their personalities may not seem compatible, Bowser's desire to dominate coupled with Clawdia's tendency not to mind or want to make decisions actually fit together pretty well.

From gladjetjejen@hotmail.com

Do Bowser and Clawdia love each other?

Well, it's one of those muddy relationships where Clawdia loves Bowser and Bowser is content to let her do so. Clawdia would almost certainly say that Bowser loves her, but I'm not sure Bowser knows what love is.

From Jeffrey

Is there any difference between eggs Yoshis chuck and those that Yoshis are born from?

Not one you can see, perhaps, but yes, they are different. The eggs Yoshis chuck are not able to hatch into young. Those eggs are made in a more traditional manner, by females only, that does not involve eating enemies, and certainly won't be thrown.

From physickoopa

Where does Mario keep the coins he collects? If he keeps them in his pocket wouldn't he be extremely slow?

Well, the coins are much smaller than they actually appear. If they were scaled to the correct size relative to everything else in the games, you'd hardly be able to see them. Aside from that, they're really pretty lightweight, since only a small amount of the coins are actually gold. If the whole thing were gold, it would be much more profitable to melt them down than spend the coins. So, the upshot of it is that they're not that difficult to carry. However, as far as how Mario can carry so many items with him in the RPGs, don't ask. I'm not going there.

From physickoopa

How do Birdos form eggs to spit out at people?

I am to understand that Birdos form eggs the same way that chickens do, only much more quickly, and out a different end. I would recommend that you never ask a Birdo this, though, or you are likely to get a face full of the subject matter.

From Denny W. Koopa

How can Paper Mario walk when he's paper?

Oh, it was too good to last. I knew someone would have to ask me something like this eventually. It's only too bad that you were the moron who had to do it.

I'm going to say this slowly, so you're sure to understand. Mario. Was. Never. Paper. You got it? And neither was anyone else. Ok? So don't ask me for some crazy theory on how the entire Mushroom Kingdom could have turned into paper and back, twice, because it never happened. Oh, and for those of you who think that Mario and all the other characters in the two RPGs have a 2D counterpart - no.

The whole paper element was a gimmick introduced by Nintendo. They took the facts from us, and spiced it up with this weird graphical style. Why'd they do that? I don't know. I'm here to set straight what really happened, not psychoanalyze the Nintendo execs. You want to know what they were thinking, you go call them.

As far as the first Paper Mario is concerned, I can't think of anything that Mario would have had to be paper to do, so no extra explanation is necessary. The second does run into trouble, with some of those new powers Mario picks up. You might not be convinced that a fully 3D Mario could fold himself into an airplane. And he couldn't - until he had those spells cast on him, which gave him new abilities. So, for those of you who may have been wondering why Mario couldn't manage to walk sideways before the second "curse", now you know. In reality, that's the spell that enabled him to get thin, which was then extrapolated into his being able to turn sideways and slip through small cracks. But even then, he wasn't really paper, just a really thin man still with a horribly large nose.

From Ho-oh 59

In Mario's adventures, are the levels Mario has to go through naturally existing danger zones, or are they created by Bowser and his army? Or is it a combination of both?

Well, we create things like fortresses and doomships, and if there are any immobile obstacles and enemies, we put them there. But, the layout of the outdoor courses is generally natural (given allowance for differences in Nintendo's translation). We don't move the platforms around, and we don't dig bottomless pits. Of course we mobilize the enemies that appear.

From Benjamimmy

Is Birdo a good guy now? If she is, why did she become good?

It saddens me that anyone would ask this. I'm going to have to hope that you got confused and think there is only one Birdo, since you only see one in Double Dash, Mario RPG, and so on. But there are lots of Birdos, and if there is anything to be learned from games like Paper Mario, it's that not all members of a species have to be either good or bad. I'm not saying that you're likely to find too many evil Toads, but if there can be good Goombas - and there are - then there can certainly be good Birdos. So, yes, some Birdos are good, and there's no particular reason for it, aside from not all of them having been driven towards evil.

From Benjamimmy

Are Koopas and Koopalings born with shells?

No, so newborns are going to have to be given shells. They can hold some shape for a short time, but they're not going to be able to develop properly without a shell.

From Vyucs

Is Chocolate Island really edible, or is it just called that because of the color?

An interesting question, considering how many other territories in Mario World are also named after edibles. No, Chocolate Island is not edible. However, coco plants do grow very well there, and are made to do so often.

From Benjamimmy

Is the main Yoshi character male or female?

Yoshi the Yoshi is male, though you'd never know it, the big sissy.

From Pat

Why did Larry only speak with pictures in the comic books?

The spy that he is, Larry had actually taken to talking in code around that time. (You can't really speak in pictures, after all.) Lemmy happened to be the one who'd learned how to crack the code, despite the fact he was generally an idiot otherwise.

From supernova2000@iprimus.com.au

What do you Koopalings really look like? Like from the games or from the cartoons?

The more recent games - Yoshi's Safari and Superstar Saga - are the most accurate.

From spooky spook

Did "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" really happen? If so, how were they able to have Mario and Luigi and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi at the same place at the same time?

Yes, Double Dash really did happen. To make a complicated story simple, one time after Bowser tried to go back in time to destroy the Baby Marios, Mario and Luigi brought them back to the present so that they could protect the babies personally. They felt the need to do this since in the past, the babies would have been very vulnerable if Bowser were to turn up again. But then again, since the Marios have never been very good at preventing kidnappings, I'm not so sure the babies are really any safer in the here and now.

From Martin

Is the Save Block an actual item, or was it just inserted by Nintendo in the games it appears in?

Message Blocks are real (though their messages within the games are usually made up by Nintendo; Mario is never instructed to press buttons), but Save Blocks are not. Fortunately, I might add, since Mario would truly be unbeatable if he could go back to his last save whenever we beat him.

From crankymama5452

Did Lemmy always have scars on his head? If not, how did he get them?

He got those scars when he fell off his ball once, before he had mastered it. The scars didn't heal, for whatever reason, but they don't look too bad, actually. I mean, he's still an eyesore anyway, of course, but not because of the scars.

From crankymama5452

Was Roy always mean? If not, why did he become mean?

As far as I know, he's always been this way. Or, at least since he grew strong enough to beat people up. I'm told he was actually sort of cute at first, but of course I wasn't there to see it myself. No one would dare call him cute now.

From crankymama5452

Did Iggy need glasses from when he was born? If not how come he needs them?

Iggy is nearsighted... or farsighted... or probably both. I don't know. Maybe one eye is the one, and the other has the second. Anyway, he's essentially always needed glasses. I mean, he wasn't born with them, and it's not like the first thing we thought when he turned up was "Better give the kid a pair of glasses", so, yeah, he went without them for a while. But he was fitted for them very soon, he had them before I was born. And yes, they were always that large.

From Fwipp Deathspeeder

Did the Mario movie actually happen?

No, it did not. The movie did, by chance or otherwise, get right the fact that Earth and Plit were once the same, but Plit was never full of humans, Bowser's true form isn't a T-Rex, and perhaps most telling, the movie's explanation for how the Marios reached the Mushroom Kingdom is totally wrong. Lemmy's real name is Spike, though... Nah, it's not. And he's Bowser's son, not his cousin. So, the movie really isn't very accurate at all, certainly not enough to say that it portrays real events.

From Missy9282

How come Ludwig only has one tooth?

If you're referring to his picture in Mario 3 manual or something, you might want to rethink your question. After all, as far as you can tell from those pictures, none of the other Koopalings have any teeth at all, and yet you're not asking about that. Ludwig does have more than one tooth, it's just that he has that big one jutting out of his mouth.

From Felix

Why in Super Mario World do red, blue, and yellow Yoshis go from egg to hatchling, but green Yoshis go from egg to full grown Yoshi?

There's nothing systematic behind it. Yoshi eggs usually contain babies, but in Mario World, we were able to trap some adult Yoshis in eggs as well. Green Yoshis were the most common, and so they were also found in eggs most often. I do believe, too, that some green baby Yoshis are found in Mario World, but if there aren't, it's not because green Yoshis skip that stage or anything.

From Axemblack97

In Paper Mario 1 and 2, what happens to the partners when you switch them out?

Can't you see? They take a nice, quiet nap in Mario's pocket, of course. Sarcasm aside, in reality, there is no such thing as switching partners out. Those two sorry games were easy enough with just one partner in battle; it would have been ridiculous to have seven or eight partners all attacking at once. Field mode would have been more cumbersome, if you had to try to use abilities there with all the partners readily available at once. So, in reality, Mario walked around with all his bestest buds, and all of them were in all the battles. Or, maybe some sat out sometimes, depending on the situation, but you get the idea. This also happened to a lesser extent in Mario RPG. Of course you can usually see only Mario in the field there; and there was no intrinsic reason why only three party members could participate in battles.

From Armyguberjr@aol.com

Is Susan more annoying than Nick is mean, or is Nick more mean than Susan is annoying.

*sigh* I suppose that with neither of them here, I would have to say that Nick is the worse of the two. But I'm sure I would feel differently if Susan were actually here, and I couldn't tell you that all my siblings feel the same way about this.

From Denny W. Koopa

Where do you keep your doomships when you are not using them?

It depends on the castle we're using, but there's bound to be a landing strip or docking bay inside or attached to it. It's generally located on the perimeter of the castle so that you can't just fly in and be in the middle of things. I don't generally appreciate this security measure when I want to take a flight, though.

From Denny W. Koopa

Do your doomships have rooms for you?

In fact, Mario fought us in our rooms in Mario 3. Nintendo did away with the furnishings and such. So anyway, yes.

From Denny W. Koopa

Who drives the doomship?

Very often, we do. Each Koopaling can drive their ship. I've seen Fun Fiction where it apparently takes a whole huge crew to pilot the ship, but in reality, it operates more like a small private plane despite its size. The only reason you'd really need a crew with you is if you want to be firing weapons amd stuff. Of course, that is often the case in those Fun Fiction, and was the case in Mario 3, where we Koopalings had other matters to attend to, like beating Mario.

From Missy9282

How are there different colored Yoshis? How can they turn different colors?

Well, Yoshis' natural colors seem to be randomly determined somehow. I wish it were something simple, like the color of the parents or the temperature of the eggs, but you can see a nest-full of them hatch at the start of Yoshi's Story, and they're all different colors despite presumably having the same parents and hatching under the same conditions.

As far as changing colors goes, most Yoshis don't. But, there are those weird water-hating Yoshis over on Isle Delfino, who change color based on the fruit they last ate. That's probably going to be a camouflage technique, whereby the Yoshi will try to blend in with the fruit, or the juice, or the area likely to be surrounding the fruit. I can't say it really works that well, though. The fact that they absorb so much juice, which they can then spit out, might also color their skin a bit.

From Pennington

How do Magikoopas know so many spells? And what determines their color?

How does anybody know a lot of anything? They study, hard. On top of that, only the masters, those at Kamek's level, are going to know all or most of the spells. Most Magikoopas will know only some basic spells, and maybe a few specialties.

Magikoopas are stratisfied into ranks. The color robe is a function of what rank you're in and what spells you're skilled in. Advancing in the ranks requires skill and the approval of superiors. Mostly this means other, higher ranked Magikoopas. At the top, ultimately, is Bowser, but he's not so big on all this magic stuff other than to agree that it is useful and let the wizards do it. The Head Magikoopa will make most of the important decisions, including playing a key role in selecting his or her successor.

From crankymama5452

I hear Bowser only sent three Koopalings to fight Luigi. Is this true? If so, why only three?

Ok, actually, if you play the PC version of Mario is Missing, you'll see there were actually five Koopas; the SNES version was abbreviated. Morton was absent because he didn't want to go to Antarctica (even if he did do it once in the cartoons), and Lemmy was busy playing in the snow outside the castle. Well, I guess we were out of floors anyway...

From crankymama5452

Exactly where does Smithy come from? He comes from the sky in the sword so does that mean he's from the moon or another dimension?

The Factory is in (or maybe just is) another dimension. I've never been there, of course, since the portal there was destroyed when Smithy was defeated, so you're pretty going to have to rely on Mario RPG as far as finding out what that world might be like.

From Marioman989

Does Plit experience the same type of weather as we do? Like tornadoes and thunderstorms? Have you ever experienced bad weather?

Yes, we have all of that. Only, it's much more common. Some places generally have good weather, but many don't, and if you've visited as many places as I have, bad weather is pretty much unavoidable.

From Marioman989

Are you or the other Koopalings involved in any music? Like do you have a band at school or something?

Considered that we are each in a private class, no, there is no school band. But, Ludwig of course enjoys music, and he got us involved a while back... nothing much, but I guess we're each vaguely familiar with a couple different instruments. I refused to play the flute, though. It's way too cute.

From Marioman989

Do you take a different language in school?

Not necessarily. We could if we really wanted. We do study a little Koopish, that language really old Koopas speak, but not enough for us to become fluent.

From Marioman989

Are any of you involved in any sports like basketball, soccer, golf, etc? And do you have any sports of your own?

None of us play are actively playing sports right now. Larry will swing the tennis racket around now and then, and Roy is always beating guys up, but if you ask me, I think he's too scared to get in the ring and wrestle for real.

As would be expected, we do have sports and games that are not played on Earth. Or if they are, I haven't heard of them. I'm not about to give you a list of all our unique sports, but you can ready about the popular sport of Fritol in one of Lemmy's Fun Fics. We used to play that, but I guess it fell out of favor, and we don't play it now.

From Cassie Koopa

You said that Clawdia ruled the Special Zone. Did anybody rule the Star Road in Mario World?

All right, the first thing is that I made a rare mistake when I said Clawdia ruled the Special Zone. I really meant she had Star Road. The one seems to be an extension of the other anyway. The Special Zone was a very important area because Mario could potentially use it to skip a lot of terrain and move on to Bowser's Castle. Clawdia was supposedly in charge, but the troops there really reported to Bowser. Bowser preferred to secretly run this area behind the scenes because of its importance, so Clawdia was a better choice for him than one of us Koopalings, who he didn't trust as much as himself and who would want more command than did Clawdia.

So, the real query is whether anyone ruled the Special Zone, and the answer is, not really. Mario wasn't expected to go there because, in addition to being well hidden, that area doesn't lead anywhere. In hopes of leading Mario down a dead end, Bowser did deploy a whole bunch of troops there, but once they were on the ground, they were on their own and had no contact with Bowser. The plan had some merit - that area was tough - but Bowser might have been better off moving all those minions into areas Mario would actually have to go to. Just a thought.
 

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