Favourite Mario Characters

MiracleDinner My subjective favourite characters in the Mario franchise. I would do a list of my favourite video game characters altogether but if I did that the vast majority of them would be from Mario, with a few non-Mario characters such as Link at the bottom. Mario it is then :).

Massive spoilers for SPM, a few spoilers for TTYD also.

Please note that gameplay elements such as the difficulty of boss fights are NOT counting towards this list, but presentation elements such as dialogue ARE. However, this list is ranked on these characters' roles in their respective plots and the quality of their personalities and dialogue first and foremost.

Paper doppelgangers and baby versions not counted separately.

The Top TenW

1 Count Bleck

So at first he looks like a very interesting magician and by the time I finish the opening sequence he already looks like an epic and bad-ass villain. A favourite before the game even begins. As the game progresses, he becomes even more entertaining, being dramatic, intelligent, funny, and serious.

But you also see a side to him which is hurt and vulnerable, and eventually you come to realise that he is Blumiere - a person who was once kind and loving, turned mad by the loss of his love. This kind of plot far exceeds that of any other Mario game I have played.

And as you reach him at last in Castle Bleck, you truly see that he knows he was wrong, he knows he messed up, but he's fighting still, because he can't stop what he's started. And once you win, he is the most broken and sad figure I can remember in the franchise. He begs you to end his game, he tells Tippi how much he missed her, and he truly shows his nature as a tragic villain. And at the end of the game, he turns around, his once epic and evil melody becomes sad, happy, and hopeful all at once. He repairs his love with Timpani and together they sacrifice themselves to save all that exists. But at the end of the game, you see them alive and happy, walking across the hill, never to be seen again, but at peace nonetheless.

This character alone is one of my biggest reasons for SPM being my favourite Mario game. I don't think I've ever seen another character so intriguing, unique, and emotional. I've experienced this story several times before but it got to me now even writing this comment.

2 Rosalina

Mysterious, good personality, good visual design, unique backstory, good music, overall a powerful atmosphere. I love most things about her but Blumiere's backstory trumps hers easily.

3 Dimentio

The amount of depth to this character is unbelievable. He at first looks like a comical jester, using clever similes and metaphors to seem all the more interesting, and he is no more than a humble servant to Count Bleck. But later on, he seems more and more suspicious. The animation when Peach is teleported out of Castle Bleck matches his (and it is eventually revealed that he is indeed responsible for this), he listens in on Bleck and Nastasia and makes his comments afterwards, he reverts Mr. L into Luigi, and he sends Mario, Peach, and Bowser to the Underwhere allowing the first of which to have Jaydes repair the Pure Heart. Then when you finally confront him in 8-3 he pretends that he was actually helping you all along, and after Luigi defeats him he seemingly destroys both himself and Mario's heroic brother. But then after Bleck's defeat, he is actually alive and it turns out that he was on neither your side nor Bleck's, but actually on his own, and he betrays Bleck, seizes the Chaos Heart, fusing it with Luigi to unlock its full power. Then he adds himself to the gigantic puppet to become a truly epic final boss - Super Dimentio. He dramatically declares his will to overwrite the multiverse, his amazing battle theme plays, and you hopelessly attack his invincible body, until it is revealed that the Pure Hearts can be restored by love and loyalty, a single flaw in Dimentio's plan which hindered him from becoming a wicked deity. They step in and weaken him, allowing you to destroy him once and for all. After he is defeated, he is shocked (a very rare thing for him) at how he could have lost. But at this point he is so evil that even if he does not survive, he leaves behind a last shadow of his power to continue to control the Chaos Heart until the end of all worlds. With that, he explodes laughing. What a splendid villain.

4 Fawful

I like how he appears in three games and how they are chronologically connected. I have not played Partners in Time yet but his presentation in Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story is excellent! His quotes are amazingly funny, written with many food metaphors and deliberately poor grammar. I love his mechanical genius also, and find it very interesting to see him wield all his creations. This character is wonderfully unique and I feel he does deserve his popularity.

5 Luvbi

I love Luvbi because she at first appears selfish and unkind but you eventually empathise with her deeply. Eventually she sacrifices herself and the end of Chapter 7 never fails to bring a tear to my eye (well, almost).

Then she revives at the end of the game, and she is happy to be back, declaring "Thou canst come play anytime! Mother, Father, and I are always hither!" That makes me think how good always wins over evil and how beautiful it is that their family could be restored. I may not believe in heaven but Luvbi in a way makes me deeply wish I did.

6 TEC-XX

Similarly to Luvbi, I liked TEC-XX for his initial presentation as a heartless machine, but how (despite being a computer) he develops emotionally and eventually turns against his creators. With Dimentio, I felt that his betrayal was wonderfully wicked, but with TEC-XX it is very different (arguably even the opposite) because he is acting out of love and morality, two of the most human characteristics.

I suspect Luvbi's story was in reference to TEC-XX's since he also sacrificed himself at the end of Chapter 7. After being shut down at the end of Chapter 6, I was already deeply moved by his courage, but having him say "until I met Peach... I knew nothing of love" truly saddened me, the closest I have come to crying playing Mario for a long time.

Again he was revived at the end of the game, which I was happy about, but I had sadly had a (sort of) internet spoiler and had guessed from that that he could revive later, and I was right. I was also disappointed that he and Princess Peach were never re-united. Nevertheless, the power of his story is certainly enough to put him in my top ten list.

7 Mimi

So at first you know she is a shapeshifter but you do not actually know what she looks like (and in the PAL instruction booklet she is merely a shadow with a question mark) so I am terrified that she is a monster. Then I see her in Chapter 2-2 and she claims to be a handmaid but I know she is lying because of the minion meetings. Then she puts Mario and Peach in debt and then explodes, then she somehow revives and turns into a giant mechanical spider and chases you round the mansion.

Unlike most characters in Super Paper Mario and indeed the wider Mario franchise, she actually changes costumes and it is interesting to see her dressed differently in every chapter. Her personality is somewhat cute yet also evil (I particularly enjoyed her argument with Peach in 8-2.) But after all she was just unloved and she did care for the Count and her companions. I find Mimi a very interesting and unique character.

8 Francis

So, so funny!

9 Bowser

His personality is charming and hilarious in SPM, TTYD, and BIS. That is more or less the only reason he is so high on my list though. I am always dissapointed when I see Bowser as the main villain and/or final boss of a Mario game (especially if he is stripped of his personality and sometimes even given no lines such as in NSMBW) since he is so overused that he is no longer impressive in the slightest. If only Nintendo would allow his awesome personality to extend to more games whilst not just placing as the main villain each time.

10 Luigi

He is funny, scared yet brave, charming, and he always accompanies Mario with his adventures. I loved it when in TTYD he had his own side quests, and in SPM where he becomes a supervillain (though Mr. L is arguably a separate character.)

The Contenders

11 Princess Peach
12 Mario
13 Tippi
14 Rawk Hawk
15 Cackletta
16 Vivian
17 Mini-Yoshi
18 Yoshi
19 O'Chunks
20 Mr. L

Never before would I thought I would end up fighting an evil hypnotised Luigi controlling a giant laser-shooting robot in the middle of space.

21 Shadow Queen

So dark and terrifying!

22 Doopliss
23 Nastasia
24 Starlow
25 Merlon
26 Squirps
27 Merlee
28 Pennington
29 Queen Jaydes
30 Grambi
31 Bonechill
32 King Croacus IV
33 Merlumina

My pfp obviously

34 Saffron
35 Cosmic Spirit
36 Shadoo

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