A Game of Castles
is a Super Mario Bros. fanfic by rynling.
The story is a reinterpretation of Bowser's first kidnapping of Peach. It's a dark story that starts with Princess Peach waking up in a cell. She's been captured by King Bowser for an unknown reason. Elsewhere, two brothers have arrived from the underground to the Mushroom Kingdom. One of them goes off to Save the Princess, while his brother trails behind him with Peach's cousin Daisy in tow.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Mario and Luigi had a harsh, impoverished upbringing in Brooklyn. Luigi's emotions are much more dulled than in canon.
- Clashing Cousins: Bowser and the Koopalings are cousins, but Bowser doesn't get along well with them. Sometimes it's normal family teasing, but others (like Ludwig) are genuinely out for his throne.
- Dark Fic: The whimsy is taken out of Mario. Instead, the story is serious and dark.
- Delinquent Hair: Wendy has punkish har, with shaved sides and a tuft of pink Non-Mammalian Hair, to fit her attitude.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Toadsworth thinks that the inhabitants of the Koopa Kingdom are violent brutes.
- Mario judges Bowser at face value and tries to fight him, despite Peach's protests. When Luigi questions him, he says that there's no talking to monsters, which angers Bowser.
- Related in the Adaptation:
- The Koopalings are Bowser's cousins. Wendy is next-in-line to the throne.
- Daisy is Peach's cousin.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Mario curses the most out of any character.
- Shout-Out: The title is a Game of Thrones reference.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: Ludwig poisoned his father's tea.
