[Heads up: Some spoilers for "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" in this video. Entries 4, and the Honourable Mentions.]
Howdy!
Let's check out some of the darker aspects of one of my *favorite* video game characters, Mario.
Mario: Oh nice!
Strider: Nintendo often lets some of the creepier moments from their legacy seep into Mario's games.
With that said, let's find out what those moments are as we check out the "Top 6 Darkest Mario Game Moments."
Luigi: Let's-a go....
Strider: Number 6....
The many evil possessions of Luigi
Nintendo just seems to have an affinity for seeing Mario's brother get his mind and body....
Continually violated by paranormal enities!
In "Super Paper Mario," the *evil* Count Bleck transforms Luigi into Mr. L!
An outright brainwashed version of Luigi with a jet-black suit and a dark mask covering his eyes.
In fact, in the final battle, he's transformed into his most disturbing form of all!
His ultimate possessed form known as Super Dimentio!
And Dimentio is a gigantic clown-like puppet monster(?) within this empty void of nothingness.
Honestly, it's hard to know how to describe whatever the hell this...
Disembodied head, uncanny, leviathan is!
And of course, in the Beta version of "Luigi's Mansion," if you fail to win the game...
Out green buddy is possessed by Boo!
(Boo laughs)
Oh, well I dunno if it was specifically you, Boo. But, y'know, one of you Boo Family.
Poor Luigi even gets possessed in "Mario Tennis!"
BY THE RACKET!
Jeebus, give the poor green fellow a break!
(An orange Boo appears with a weird laugh, Luigi shouts in panic.)
Number five...
The many, MANY deaths of "Mario 64."
When we made the transition from 2D, to 3D Mario...
There was something slightly more real, and jarring about Mario being killed in 3D.
Instead of us just seeing Mario rub up against that deadly Koopa flesh and jump off the screen...
He was instead crushed, stomped on, set on fire, smushed by a giant.. er.. rolling thing...
Drowned to death, thrown around like a ragdoll, electrocuted, flattened, bouldered, dropped...
Boo'd, booby trapped, dying via quicksand, chomped, asphyxiated via poisonous gas...
And of course, beaten by the scariest piano in the world.
But the animators really deserve credit for bringing 3D Mario to life!
In both charming, and, uh, horrifying ways.
Number four....
["Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" spoilers ahead. Watch if you don't mind spoilers.]
"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" * *The bad ending
When I finally made it to the "World of Light" campaign in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" ...
I'd fought countless fights, continually utilizing that annoying spirit gimmick the game forced upon me...
So I kind of expected a *happy* ending after defeating the final boss!
But no, since I chose to kill off Galeam over Dharkon, I got *this* chilling ending!
Dharkon chains up Galeam before impaling him with his dark tendrils!
Then we see Mario, all alone in the inter-dimensional dead zone.
Surely he'll jump in and save the day, I mean, it's Mario.
But no, it turns out Dharkon has won, and continues to spread evil and chaos across the world...
Slowly engulfing the world into blackness...
Then Mario just collapses, seemingly dead, within the empty, desolate wasteland of nothingness.
Should we try again?
Carvallo: You have selected.. No.
And the third.. darkest Mario moment is...
World -1, from "Super Paper Mario"
AKA: "The Underwhere"
Welcome, to Mario Hell!
The Underwhere is not a place, for suffering and pain, but a place instead.. of eternal boredom and dullness!
This world *really* shows off just how "Super Paper Mario" gets such a...
Creepy/weird reputation among the Mario games!
What do they even call this Soundtrack?
"Ode to the Squirming Dead"?
It appears to be a dark, dull dimension filled with.. strange creatures.
Mario's a good brother.
After Luigi is.. outright killed...
He literally travels through Hell to bring his brother back.
They're always there for one-another, I like that.
And the second darkest Mario moment is...
The various way in which Bowser is *BURNED ALIVE*!
Oh, poor, misunderstood father-of-the-week Bowser...
In the transition to 3D, not only was Mario given 100 new creative ways to die...
But Bowser's death scene seemed to become one big, fiery, practical joke!
Nowaways, when Mario defeats Bowser, he doesn't just fall down looking dismayed...
He falls into a diery inferno of boiling lava.
And is continually burned alive!
Practically.. every time Mario saves the day!
Suddenly, death via.. the searing of flesh off the bones just seemed to become a...
Recurring theme for the unfortunate Turtle Dragon.
The point it gets extra creepy though is in.. "New Super Mario Bros."
Where they begin.. an even creepier trend for Bowser, because apparently...
Incineration death wasn't enough, where he actually comes back from being burned alive!
He's raised from the dead as a giant, disembodied skeletal dragon monster --
Known as.. "Dry Bowser!"
Honestly, I don't know if Mario picking up Peach from her...
Bowser Booty Call is with the searing amount of agony the poor dragon must go through.
I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a glorious finish, but kinda dark...
[WARNING: "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" spoilers ahead as the 3rd Honourable Mention, watch at your own will. Skip from 7:00 to 7:27 to fully skip.]
And before we get to number one, just a couple of quick Honourable Mentions.
Culex, the Secret Boss of "Mario RPG"
A supernatural being found in a Dark Dimensional Rift, with seemingly endless power!
So Mario beats Culex the way he beats every problem he has in life.
He jumps on it. And it actually works.
The Spider Peach Mod, + the Zombie Mario Mod, from "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" & "Super Mario Odyssey"
Spider Peach particularly has an eerie, but cool design.
Zombie Mario shows us a version of Mario that has an axe through his head, and no pupils to his eyes.
Still kinda cool though.
And a good, dark contrast to the cheery "Mario Odyssey" world.
Luigi's death in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate"
Luigi, buddy, you just can't catch a break.
So apparently it wasn't enough to completely possess Luigi.
Here, they just outright kill him off.
A giant reaper from the "Castlevania" world.. SKEWERS him with a scythe!
Even in the "Castlevania" universe, seeing Luigi outright *die* kinda.. came out of nowhere.
Anyway, onto number 1...
And the number one, darkest Mario moment is...
Peach getting possessed by the Demon Shadow Queen, from "Super Paper Mario, The 1000 Year Door."
Just.. Jeebus.
I never really expected a scene like this from a "Mario" game until I saw it with my own eyes.
As Mario opens the door to the final boss...
We find in a dark catacombs lit by candles...
Peach lies on the floor in front of a coffin, where apparently, a legendary demon sleeps.
Then, [the flames of] the candles in the room turn black.
The coffin slowly creaks open, and shadows erupt out! And within the pitch black coffin...
The Shadow Demon Queen lurches from her grave!
The music turns eerie, and distorted.
It's hard to discern the figure emerging from the pitch black.
But it has a gut wrenching presence.
It announces Peach's body as its new.. "vessel."
Eugh...
There's something.. inherently disquieting about watching the princess helplessly possessed...
By a Behemoth sized uncanny shadow...
Suddenly, completely overtaking the body and mind of the Peach we've know for so many years...
The being that emerges is an emotionless, apathetic, vengeful Demon!
With Peach's body as its vessel...
The Demon slaughters the villain in a single, momentary.. Flash of lightning!
Soon taking on its true form that's seemingly siphons the life of Peach!
Leaving her as nothing but an empty vessel to be consumed by demonic forces!
At first...
It seems like the creep factor is taken away by the fact the "Super Paper Mario" crowd is still cheering us on.
But then, thousands of tiny demon shadow hands emerge from the ground!
Swallowing the crowd in a sudden eruption of screams of terror!
Fortunately, the Crystal Stars gather all the verbal support of all of Mario's friends!
Shame they couldn't use that power to send him a.. Proton Pack or something.
Miraculously, Peach does manage to break through the possession for a moment.
Stalling the monster and giving Mario one final chance to vanquish it to oblivion!
I guess scenes like this are why "Paper Mario" gets a well-deserved reputation for creepiness.
It's an epic final boss with a great story, but certainly the darkest moment in a Mario game that I've ever seen.
But in all fairness, Nintendo really takes great care in delivering content that's suitable for all ages.
Just look at the success of the Wii.
It can be easy to see "Super Mario" games as being just for kids.
But Mario games often show me that when people care about what they're making...
They can seemlessly weave lighter tones, good gameplay, and deeper meanings into a package that's...
Seemingly suitable for all ages.
And even if Mario hasn't changed much over the years...
I appreciate that Nintendo tries to remain creative.
With variety in Mario's gameplay.
If you'd like me to try another video game countdown in the future --
Feel free to leave any suggestions in the comments below.
And as always, thank's for watching!
And I'll see you next time!
Subtitled by Jadrek Myers. Commissioned by Phantom Strider.