With a franchise as big as Super Mario Bros., you can bet they're going to be a lot of characters for us to fall in love with!
- Luigi. Butt-Monkey one second, badass the next. His low status also lends him many Crowning Moments that otherwise would not happen, up to and including somebody knowing who he is.
- At times he might be seen as a Cowardly Sidekick, but Luigi most definitely holds the status of Memetic Badass owing to his legendary ability to win things by doing absolutely nothing ranging from parties to Smash battles against Level 9 opponents. He also has an awesome Death Stare as seen in Mario Strikers and Mario Kart 8.
- Luigi's just downright funny, playing the comedy roles against Mario's Straight Man as evident in the RPGs such as his crossdressing scene in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and his tales of adventure in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
- He's even had a whole year to himself now.
- Speaking of which, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team cranks Luigi all the way back to Mario status—by making him turn into a giant and take on, and beat BOWSER HIMSELF! Yep, Mario isn't gonna beat up on Bowser this time, a giant Luigi who straight up steals Bowser's thunder is!
- He's also a theoretically better jumper than Mario; perhaps not as coordinated but he can jump higher which is saying something. And he has a cool moustache. This troper simply can't get enough of Luigi.
- And most of all, anyone remember the good old days of the NES and SNES, when he romped through Bowser's army just like Mario did and saved the princess? The franchise isn't called Super Mario Bros. without a good reason, you know. He's the only guy who came close to matching Mario when it came to being one of the most iconic characters in video games (at least in his own series).note
- Then there's Bowser, who can get hurled right into the core of the center of the universe and live another day to torment Mario. Yes, he went through Villain Decay quite a bit, but Tropes Are Not Bad and he is quite enjoyable as an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain in the RPGs and spinoffs.
- He even got to reverse his Villain Decay from Super Mario Galaxy onwards. Now we can finally see him as an extremely powerful threat against Peach and the Mushroom World.
- And he's hilarious. Especially in the Paper Mario series.
- This troper thinks that Bowser is his favorite character because he is awesome be he can be nice and sweet... Sometimes. Definitely Sweet Dreams Fuel just thinking about him.
- Bowser is especially heartwarming in his interactions with his son, Bowser Jr. This is arguably most evident in the Nintendo Switch parental controls video,
where Bowser has to delicately juggle his desire to indulge his kid and his parental responsibilities. - There’s also the not-so-subtle implication that the Koopa King absolutely adores the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and is seemingly a hopeless romantic with No Social Skills. After all, he has been trying to kidnap Princess Peach for decades now and has tried to even marry her in multiple instances.
- All these and more are true. Just the fact that you simply can't get tired of this guy is a testament to how iconic he is. He's been shown to have many Pet the Dog moments, and he's definitely shown to care for his children, biological or otherwise. There's a good reason most of his minions never even thought about betraying him. However, if you happen to cross him, he will show you why he's feared throughout the land. In short, depending on the situation, he can be both your greatest ally, or your worst nightmare. All hail the Koopa King!
- And Mario? He is video games!
- Definitely. He's just so darn cheerful, friendly, and fun. Just listening to his voice in the post SM64 era, you can tell how much he's enjoying himself, despite what's at stake. Don't let Mario's smile fool you, though seeing as how can take out Bowser's entire army, navy, and air force...by himself.
- When you see the name Mario, you think of this Mario. Talk about a massive influence.
- His mustache rivals Freddie Mercury's in greatness.
- Yoshi is where it's at. How can you not love that optimistic attitude, the ever-present smile, the endless energy? This guy was my introduction to the world of video gaming.
- Seconded. This troper, as a little girl, playing the early Mario games, was head over heels for Yoshi and regularly wears to this day a shirt that says "I <3 Yoshi"
- Thirded!note First character I ever played as in the Smash Bros games, and I've loved him ever since. I don't care if you call him useless or overrated, Yoshi could whoop your ass!
- Fourth-ed...? The first video game I ever played was Super Mario World and Yoshi was easily the best part about it. Yoshi is pretty much the ultimate killing machine. He can eat pretty much anything, even things much larger than him, has an insatiable appetite, shits eggs that can be thrown as projectiles, can flutter jump (as of Yoshi's Island) and cause miniature earthquakes. And don't even get me started on those power-ups...
- Fifthed! So cute, yet so powerful. You don't mess with the Yo'ster.
- Sixthed! Yoshi did Mario games before Mario was Mario, taking down Bowser three separate times just to keep a few kids safe and all in the most adorable way possible. Albeit you save the kids by throwing your kids, but eh. There's probably just another Shy Guy in that egg. They were evil anyways.
- Seventhed! His appearance in Super Mario Galaxy 2 was one of the high points of the game, and I hope the same gimmick returns if they make a sequel to Odyssey!
- Speaking of Shy Guy, there's just something so endearing about him and how he wears a mask to hide his face. I've always wanted to know what's under Shy Guy's mask, and in Mario Power Tennis and Mario Strikers Charged, his mask actually does come off! However, his true identity is never revealed to the player, and the mystery continues! Well, except for Luigi...
- Seconded! The voices of the Shy Guys are also very endearing!
- Lakitu! Lakitu's just really cool...
- No love for Princess Daisy? She's always been this troper's number one pick for any spinoff. Out of all the princesses, she has the most attitude.
- Seconded. I just love her chipper and positive attitude. I took a liking for her just for that in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! When she gets second, she says, "Whoo! Not too bad, right?" Optimism for the win! Or maybe not, since she didn't get first.
- She's finally in Smash as of 2018! Here's hoping she goes on to receive even more recognition.
- Thirded! I remember always choosing Daisy once I unlocked her in Mario Kart Wii. I feel like she's a big part of me; we're both sassy, brunette tomboys with girly streaks. I love Daisy because she's the princess most like me.
- For being the son of the evil Koopa King, Bowser Jr. is just so huggable and cute.
- Seconded! Not to mention he's a tiny genius, loading all kinds of deadly weaponry into his Junior Clown Car. Cannons, boxing gloves, explosive toys, drills, buzz saws, and wrecking balls, not to mention his other contraptions such as the Boomsday Machine in SPACE.
- The fact that he absolutely adores his father (despite Bowser losing to Mario all of the time) and calls Peach his “mama” is so adorable! He is also apparently a big gamer and artist which just reinforces his appeal.
- From the main games, we have Rosalina. She deserves her status as Super Mario Galaxy's Ensemble Dark Horse. Rosalina is an immortal sorceress with a tearjerker backstory who oversees the entire cosmos and does a damn effective job of it. She designed and built her own super-advanced/magical observatory, with, among other things, a suped-up fusion reactor containing enough power to create and destroy galaxies, a teleporter network, means of moving among dozens of different galaxies across the universe in seconds, and a well-stocked library where she reads to the entire species of adorable infant stars she's adopted. At full power, she's a borderline Physical Goddess. Who knows how Bowser managed to steal the Grand Stars from her in the first place?
- From the RPG Mario games, we have Count Bleck. One of the best villains this troper has ever seen.
- Seconded. He made me cry during a Mario game, that should tell you everything you need to know.
- Not to mention Dimentio.
- And Fawful.
- All the sidekicks from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door deserve a mention. Goombella and her Badass Bookworm adorableness, Koops the Cowardly Lion, Flurrie the retired actress, the Yoshi kid who will take to you like a kung fu dog, Vivian the sweet shadow siren, Admiral Bobbery the Retired Badass pulled back into action, and Ms. Mowz the Classy Mouse Burglar.
- And who can forget the villains? Doopliss is the savvy walking, talking Funny Moment Bedsheet Ghost who is almost a pushover when you first meet him, but when he reveals that he stole your body and name he suddenly means business! And the best part? He joins the Shadow Sirens and becomes a recurring villain!
- And then there's the Dragon Siblings; Hooktail, Gloomtail and Bonetail. Hooktail is a fairly dangerous boss that you need to be properly prepared for, Gloomtail is the middle brother that reveals that Hooktail is his sister and Bonetail is The Unintelligible oldest brother that also is the toughest boss in the game with a whopping 200 HP! That's more than the Final Boss! And he's also at the bottom of the Pit of 100 Trials... With no Save spots, health refills or anything that will save your hide and your progress... Better bring LOTS of HP, FP, Items and badges!
- And then there's the Shadow Sirens. We all know the youngest sister, Vivian, pulls a Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal Heel–Face Turn, but what about Marilyn and Beldam? Marilyn is the unintelligible, big girl that is someone you need to be careful of when fighting. And then there's Beldam... Yes, she's a bitch. Yes, she's cruel, domineering and rude. And YES, she plays blatant favoritism. But she's SO good at being a villain that she manipulated EVERYONE in the game in order to revive the Shadow Queen and can actually be pretty funny that she's enjoyable! And hey, she (apparently) Took a Level in Kindness at the end!
- And then there's Lord Crump, Grodus, TEC-XX and the X-Nauts. Crump is the funny dragon that can be pretty dangerous if he wants to be, Grodus is The Leader and he's menacing, cruel, crazy and is overall everything a good villain should be, TEC-XX - or TEC - is the kind, gentle, confused about love computer and his feelings for Peach that he ends up pulling a Heel–Face Turn during the Chapter 6 Peace interlude and is shut-down note and the X-Nauts are dangerous but silly at the same time. Overall, VERY good villains and characters!
- The Shadow Queen is also very cool. She's fairly attractive, dangerous, evil, power-hungry and is a HUGE threat! Heck, her very PRESENCE was enough to send the world into DARKNESS!
- Professor Frankly is the funny, cool and smart Goomba professor that helps you throughout the game. He's the one that you helps you progress and I just LOVE how bumbling and almost absent-minded he is!
- Don't forget Antasma.
- How could you guys forget Geno from Super Mario RPG?! He's a badass doll who can fire bullets and lasers for Pete's sake! Not to mention that he hasn't seen a game for twenty-something YEARS (unless you count his cameo in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga), and fans are still asking for him to return!
- Even Paper Mario: The Origami King has relatively likable characters, even though it's taken a different direction than the first three Paper Mario games. We have Olivia, the pure and sweet sister of the villainous King Olly. Even a nameless Bob-Omb (which got dubbed "Bobby") has gotten a lot of praise too, which makes it a lot sadder when he ends up sacrificing himself to save Olivia getting crushed by a boulder.
- How has no one mentioned Captain Toad? He might be a bit of a coward, but even in the Galaxy games he was risking his hide searching for Power Stars. And if that's not enough, you might want to consider that he's making his way through the Mushroom World without the ability to jump! In the words of Matt McMuscles, "Only big nerds and lesser wimps jump!" And the rest of the Toad Brigade are pretty cool and adorable, too, especially Toadette!
- "It's time for adventure!" He might get scared, but Captain Toad ploughs on anyway!
- While he doesn't really have a personality, Motley Bossblob is a great addition to the series. He's another Koopa among the likes of Boom Boom and the Koopalings, and he's got a fun jester design. His specialty? Summoning multiple Blob Monster minions to create a giant nightmarish Monster Clown to control in an attempt to smash you. The developers seemed to like him, too, effectively making him the most important boss under Bowser himself, and giving you three battles against him. Just a fun design, a cool concept, and a great boss.
- Princess Peach may not be very well liked by some people, but when she's portrayed at her best, she definitely becomes worthy of this page. She's steadfast and hopeful, hardly ever letting her emotions get the better of her. She's normally able to keep an upbeat attitude instead of really fretting all that much. There's also the fact that, if you play as her, she's able to stand up to such powerful fighters as Ganondorf, Mewtwo, Captain Falcon, and Ryu! Speaking of butt whooping, remember Super Paper Mario where she handed Mimi her sorry fanny on a silver platter without Mario or Luigi's help? Heck, her magic is SO powerful that it's implied that the only reason she was kidnapped (at first) was because BOWSER of all people saw her as a potential threat to his dreams of conquering the Mushroom Kingdom! And it's heavily implied that Bowser is only the stronger of the two when Peach isn't trying! Let that sink in.
- She also stopped a fight between Fox and Sheik by offering a cup of tea! There are also two heartwarming moments about her in Mario Super Sluggers. First off, she built 7 different baseball stadiums on an entire island so her friends could play baseball. Secondly, after Bowser was defeated, Peach told him that the Baseball Kingdom was a place for everyone to enjoy playing baseball. This does not only apply to Bowser and Bowser Jr., but also King Boo, Petey Piranha and King K. Rool. That goes to show how kind Peach is.
- She even got her own game! And in it, Bowser used the Vibe Scepter, an Artifact of Doom that allowed him to easily subdue and capture Mario and Luigi and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Not only is Peach unaffected by the vibes, she turns them around and makes them powers of her own! Seriously, how powerful is she?
- Arguably, Peach is at her most competent in the Mario and Sonic series, where she acts as sort of a leader for the female competitors and even rescues Daisy and Amy Rose in London 3DS with help from Blaze the Cat. Definitely a step up from the ditzy Damsel in Distress she normally is, huh?
- She arguably got better at the end of Super Mario Odyssey where she put her foot down when Mario and Bowser were acting brashly about their affections towards the princess, rejecting both of their proposals out of frustration. After years of being seen as the Damsel Scrappy, her main series characterization finally got to make independent decisions and Took a Level in Badass. And after all is said and done, what does she decide to do? Why, go traveling across the world, of course, and on her own terms, no less! And you can even find her in areas that are quite difficult to get to without using Cappy. That, and her outfits in the postgame are pretty cute, especially her swimsuit.
- He's bigger, faster, and stronger too! He's the first member of the DK Crew! Donkey Kong is no doubt the reason for Nintendo's success and is arguably the most iconic ape of all time! Have we forgotten that he utterly MURDERED the Tiki Tak Tribe and punched the freakin' moon into oblivion?! If that doesn't qualify DK as being a true force to be reckoned with, I don't know what does!
- His little buddy Diddy Kong is such a sweet character, too. From his Undying Loyalty towards his best friend to his trusty jetpack providing DK with an extra jump across those particularly pesky platforms, there's just so much to love about Diddy. He even saved DK in his very own game, which just proves how much their friendship means to him, to say nothing of his girlfriend Dixie Kong.
- Usually, when a video game mascot character has a villainous or not-so-villainous counterpart, they're more serious, have a darker color palette, and are made to be cooler than their counterpart. Wario is not this edgy anti-hero type. He's obese, hideous, disgusting, flatulent, and all-around unpleasant. He doesn't brood, instead preferring to get all up in everyone's faces about how amazing he thinks he is. He even forgoes the typical black color scheme for an obnoxious yellow and purple get up. But, his ego is more entertaining than annoying, his antics are amusing, and he can pile-drive a dinosaur. That's what makes him so great.
- Waluigi, the only main Mario character without a main-series appearance. When he's not being Wario's tennis partner or just a Butt-Monkey in general, he's busting some moves and attempting to steal the Music Keys in Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix! As Luigi's rival, Waluigi took the Darker and Edgier approach that Wario didn't... but only in his color palette. He's also the only of the four plumbers (or at least, those dressed like it) that doesn't have a princess to call his own, although it's been implied that he has affections for Daisy. It's been theorized that this is the reason for his aforementioned rivalry with Luigi. Overall, Waluigi is a hilarious character that sadly has been taking a back seat to everyone else for far too long, although this has been alleviated somewhat with his appearance in Super Mario Maker.
- How has nobody talked about Cappy here? Not only is his design just the most adorable thing I've ever seen in these games, but just the fact that he's so dedicated in saving his sister, Tiara, and how he and Mario team up to defeat Bowser together and rescue their loved ones is such a Heartwarming moment. Cappy is a darling!
- Speaking of which, if Cappy is a darling, then Tiara is an outright doll! She's just as adorable if not more so than her brother, which is saying something, and in the post-game, joins Peach on her private globe-trotting adventure, with the two of them becoming the most adorable Fire-Forged Friends imaginable. I love Tiara!
- How come no one has talked about the Koopalings yet? Simply put, the Koopalings are the Quirky Miniboss Squad. They're a wacky Sibling Team who, despite being villains, have struck a cord with so many people, to the point where a significant portion of Mario fanfiction and fanart is exclusively about the Koopalings. With 7 members in total, each with their own cool designs and personalities, it's hard not to love at least one of them. Larry is a sporty, klutzy, and hot-tempered little gremlin with an amazing hairdo and a cute Playful Cat Smile; Morton is a big, loud, and grouchy brute who fights with a hammer and whom Mario Kart 8 players swear by; Wendy is the only female Koopaling who fights with razor-sharp candy rings and adores attention and money; Iggy is a nerdy Mad Scientist who is overflowing with energy and fights alongside his pet Chain Chomps; Roy is a big, buff guy with cool shades and a big Bill Blaster, and the very embodiment of Real Men Wear Pink; Lemmy is a cute little guy with a love of the circus, a childish personality, and a big rubber ball that he constantly rides on and uses in his attacks; and finally, Ludwig is a show-offy and highly intelligent composer who has the strongest magical abilities of all the Koopalings. And that's not even getting into their cartoon incarnations, whose lines are practically filled with Memetic Mutation!
- Pauline. The best Character Development in the series, despite only appearing sporadically. The Trope Codifier for Damsel in Distress in video games. And then she became co-director of a toy factory. And then she was elected mayor. She's simply amazing, she's very pretty, a good leader and just listen to her singing voice!
