Fridge / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

• So Bowser's Adrenaline system is in the "Rump Command". Researching Adrenal Glands shows in a normal person they're above the kidneys, which are still around midriff area, I still wondered: Why the Rump? Then I realized: Perhaps they're just showing that they're getting Bowser off his ass, you know, "Get off your ass", or "Get your ass in gear".
  • They're saving his ass of course.
  • Could be a reference to the Heisei Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla, where Godzilla's regeneration and strength are sourced in a secondary hindbrain in his lower back.
  • Maybe he just has a different body layout cause he isn't human? Cats, dogs, etc. in real life also have different bodies than humans.
• Why does Bowser get the inhale ability from the Vacuum Shroom while he could already inhale in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga? Could be because he is Bowletta at that point, but still.
• What we find in Bowser's brain further confirms his status as the series' Anti-Villain: not only is Peach one of the most carefully preserved memories in it, but she is also the shape the archive's caretaker takes to communicate with non-threats. Also, his subconscious takes Mario and Luigi's shape when it comes to protecting it. Worthy Opponent much?
• Fridge Horror example: It's made pretty clear in the game that all of Bowser's minions are attacking him because they're being hypnotized by Fawful. When you get to Bowser's castle, there are sick thwomps. It was hard for this troper not to feel sorry for them from the first battle: they can barely attack on their own and get frequent headaches which can bring their health down. Fridge Horror comes when you realize that they are ALSO being hypnotized! So these sick, aching thwomps are being killed-excuse me- KOd by Bowser and they're not even willingly trying to fight him. AND, we learned in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time that not all thwomps are bad, and some would have helped the Mario Brothers.
  • There's also the Jailbots in the same area as above. Bowser's minions (Goombas and Bob-ombs) are trapped in what are basically mobile assault jails, watching helplessly as the robot they're jailed in assault Bowser. This is painfully obvious when Bowser frees them from the Jailbots and the minions are happy to see Bowser and reward him. Imagine, they're the ones that are too loyal to be brainwashed by Fawful. AND you can use Bowser's flame breath on them... Which makes Goombas twitch in pain. And makes your loyal Bob-ombs explode and basically sacrifice it to destroy his Jailbot.
    • Fighting them with the Mario Brothers will just result in them running away though (they won't even heal them).
    • On the other hand, the Bob-omb didn't really have any prospects aside from blowing up anyway, as it's literately all they are good for in combat, which or less means you're using them for what they were designed for.
  • A bit of Fridge Horror for Bowser's Castle, as the Shroobs were frozen there. What was Bowser planning on doing with those Shroobs? Was he (or someone associated with him) planning on testing the Shroobs and make it sound like an isolated incident?
    • Elder Princess Shroob is among them. Since we last saw her in Bowser's stomach, he either puked her out at some point, or perhaps she came out the other end...
• A bit of it when Mario or Luigi gets KO'd. In this game, they are even more agitated, as shown by their movements, and when the remaining brother screams the fallen one's name, he sounds much more upset and horrified. Not to mention the fact that when Mario prepares his counterattack with the hammer, he always has an angry expression on his face, and when he's about to let go of it, he grits his teeth. There is also an equipment piece, which is a pair of socks that doubles the character's Defense if the other brother was knocked out. Sure, the bros only lose consciousness when their HP go down to 0, but the way the act when one of them is defeated in this game is like the other one had just died in front of them.
• Fridge Brilliance: Why doesn't Bowser have his throwing hammers in this game? Because said hammers are probably manufactured in his castle, which has been taken over by Fawful.
  • The Wiggler gets angry at Bowser for pulling the giga-carrot AND eating it, despite the fact that he told Bowser to eat it. But then you consider that he gave Bowser 1 minute to eat the whole thing, and (thanks to Mario and Luigi breaking up the pieces in his belly) he succeeded in less than that. The Wiggler was probably furious that he actually succeeded at what he thought was an impossible challenge, and in doing so destroyed his family's pride and joy.
  • Bowser's Intruder Fangs give him two attacks per turn. Now, there are quite a number of turn-based RPG games where bosses gain multiple attacks in one turn. Given that Bowser is usually a boss in most other Mario games, this actually fits.
    • And you get them when you reach Final Boss rank in the original game to boot. Final bosses almost always get to attack twice in a row in RPG's.
• Doesn't Fawfuls One-Winged Angel form in the final battle remind you of something? He is a sphere with a face and a star-antenna, resembling a star sprite. The similarities are especially obvious if you compare his tiny form with Starlow. This implies that the dark power might have turned him into a star sprite, or a dark counterpart.
• The boss fight against the guardians of Bowser's memories, Memory ML, not only alludes to the most iconic abilities of the Mario Bros., but also hints at the spin-offs (RPGs, Luigi's Mansion, where Luigi has a more prominent role) when it comes to Memory L (modeled on Luigi). How? It attacks by a Boo chasing it while it jumps over the Mario Bros. (alluding to Luigi's Mansion). It also throws healing items to Memory M (modeled on Mario), alluding to the Mario RPGs. This is neat since Memory M's moves all are iconic to the franchise overall or just allude to the platformer games (where Luigi is less prominent). When you consider both that the spinoffs were what defined Luigi's personality beyond being a Green Mario and Bowser has encountered Luigi much more in the spinoffs than in the main games, it's fitting for the representation of Luigi in his memories to take more from the RPGs and other spinoffs.
• Bowser showing up to the meeting at the beginning and briefly attempting to join, before immediately losing his temper and attacking actually makes perfect sense. He's a ruler in his own right, and is literally the only other major figure of power apart from Peach. He also rules over almost every single non-Toad citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom. Of course he's pissed off when he interrupts and is met with hostility - he should have been invited to the meeting in the first place. The fact that he showed up without an invite and was still ready to co-operate means that he was obviously worried about the Blorbs crisis too, so he would have been angry already when he arrived. Then being immediately met with hostility would have pushed his short temper further, and realizing the bro's had been invited pushed him over the edge and made him lose it.
  • This likely means that the plot of the entire game could have been avoided. If Peach had sent Bowser an invite to the meeting, with an added note on the invite mentioning that Mario and Luigi would also be there, then he wouldn't have attacked at the meeting (as being told in advance about the bro's being there would have both been a warning not to try anything, given his history of kidnapping Peach, while also giving him time to mentally prepare to be in the same room as people he hates without picking a fight). If Bowser hadn't attacked at the meeting, he wouldn't have lost to Mario again, meaning he wouldn't have been angry and desperate enough to eat a suspicious mushroom right after. Bowser not eating the vacuum shroom means nobody gets inhaled, which leaves both Peach and Bowser in their respective castles, with all of their staff and soldiers. And if that had happened, Fawful would have had to rework his entire plan. That's right, literally the entire gambit roulette that played out depended on Peach snubbing Bowser, and Bowser getting mad about it.
  • Bowser Jr.'s Journey confirms this theory to be correct. Several Goombas had also come down with the Blorbs prior to Bowser's visit. Bowser's anger at not being invited is even more understandable. (Although some dialogue implies that he's more mad about not getting the continental breakfast.)
• One of Fawful's lines, namely "Beef? I am lacking in beef. Fawful is beefless". It could refer to how Fawful isn't a beefy guy like Bowser or Midbus, and to an extent it does. In the remake, however, Fawful commands a group known as the Best Fitness Friends - and one of them is called Beef. Fawful is literally lacking in Beef at this point in time since the BFF had already been sent to deal with the Koopalings and Jr.
• Fridge Brilliance: When I played this game for the first time in a long time, when I got to the Rump Command, I wondered why the Evoglobins used so many "religious" words in their speech, such as "beseech," "spiritual," and "sacred." Why would Bowser's ass of all things be considered sacred, as in a place of worship? At first I thought it was just the game being strange and goofy as usual, but then I realized that since Emoglobins are created inside of Bowser's body, of course the Evoglobins would worship Bowser as their creator!
• Fridge Horror: When Bowser heard of Fawful's location in Peach's Castle, he immediately made a plan to go to there, even though his minions were still brainwashed in his own castle. You might think it's for revenge, but that's never really been one of Bowser's traits. He just wanted the Dark Star's power the whole time, and he would have gotten it if he hadn't punched the Vacuum Helmet away when attacking Fawful.
• An interview around the time of Bowser Jr's Journey's release states that the Best Fitness Friends / Brute Force Federation are of the same species as Midbus, though they look nothing like him. However, in the main story Fawful sets a precedent for the fact that he's likely been using Midbus as a guinea pig for different experiments by mutating him into Blizzard Midbus. Whatever the giant hog is now is likely a walking cocktail of different gene splices Fawful felt would make for an imposing toady, and is even more of a reason why his body proved unable to adapt to his own cold.
• A bit of Fridge Brilliance in the Flab Zone when offered between a "treasure of everlasting wonders" and Luigi. The treasure are a pair of badges, which need both Mario AND Luigi to be used, had Mario picked the treasure he would've lost his brother and the badges would be useless.

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