#Only in flopside

[interdimensionalvoid]

and so I return to posting in the spm fandom like a sudden windstorm at a kindergarten picnic

[suppermariobroth]

This mural seen in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials in Super Paper Mario presents a very interesting piece of lore continuity between two separate timelines in the game that is never explicitly stated. While the mural at first glance simply depicts King Croacus IV, the boss of Chapter 5, with his Pure Heart, it is apparent upon closer inspection that while he is red, the flower in the mural is black. This is because it actually King Croacus I, the predecessor of the boss fought in-game.

It is established in two separate places that: -The Ancients created the Pure Hearts 1,500 years prior to the events of the game. -The Floro Sapiens have their own calendar according to which the game takes place in the year 1626. King Croacus I ruled from Year 1 to Year 496.

Cross-referencing these two gives the result that 1,500 years before the game was the year 126, within the reign of King Croacus I, so he would have been the one in possession of the Pure Heart at the time assuming the murals were made at the point where the Pure Hearts were given out to their guardians.

All of this can only be gleaned by the players cross-referencing the dates on their own instead of ever being explained in-game.

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[lucyav13]

Plot holes

Now, I'll put all the plot holes that we can find in the game and the game/the history didn't answer. So, get ready! Because are a lot of them.

1⁘ How the Tribe of Darkness knowed that the marriage out of the magic group will diluted their powers?

Well, this is the one that has the most possibilities of get solved, because, in the game we notice that this tribe didn't mix with other people a cause of pride. And also they had xenophobia, an encyclopedy give the answer: Xenophobia is a term that refers to the phobia, aversion or fear towards foreign people or people from different cultures. Yehah. We alreay know why they din't mix with other people, but,Why they've do that? Because of fear of what happened in the Pixl War, that's why they seppareted from the the tribe of ancients. But, ¿How the Tribe of Darkness knowed that the marriage out of the magic group will diluted their powers? My theory seen in Dimentio's part explains this. 

But, besides that, we still have no anwer a this question, make it a plot hole.

2⁘ The humans in Spm.

I already explain this in my last part,in my theory about this issue. But, What we know about these people in the game? The only human 100% confirmed is Tmpani. She's a member of a tribe near at Blumiere's tribe, and that's all the data we know.

How they know about the ancients' and tribe of darkness' problems? What plane of existence are they on? Or, It's a different dimension? Well, probably we'll never know..

3⁘ What happened to the members of the tribe of ancients and the members of the tribe of darkness between the moment they separated and the begginig in the events of the game?

The lapse is 1,500 years, and we know nothing. It looks like during that time, anyone did nothing. Just we know is that, in the same time they've founded Flipside, the tribe of drakness for a strange reason help them to build Flopside, and that's it.  

4⁘ What happened to Blumiere and Timapni after the events of spm?

They died? Were to overthere? Did they returned to their places of origin? ? We'll meet them again? Who knows?

5⁘ What happened to the members of the tribe of darkness?

According to the official guide, Blumiere when he becomes Count Bleck, killed, assesinated all the members of his tribe, no one survived, and took the castle where he used to live and transformed in Castle Bleck. But, this are only a assumption. Well, maybe not. Because Timpani felt the exactly moment when it happened, and that brings me to my next point:

6⁘ Why Timpani felt what happened in the memories 6 and 7?

The memories are... memories that throughout history is shown to observe the background of these two emblematic characters, from Timpani point of view. But, How did she felt the the fall of his beloved when he become Count Bleck? Because she was not present. Mysterious mysteries.

Although someone shared me that they thought the memories was told from the point of view of Blumiere. If you want to see them from that point of view, it could be BOTH.

7⁘ Blumiere's family

In the hole history, we only know two members of the tribe of darkness: Blumiere and Blumiere's father. We also tought that the reason why his father was very strict with him, it is because he had a high rank within the tribe, or that he was even the chief. But, Mom? Siblings? Family? We don't know. Or perhaps, he is it just like 90% of the protagonists, without a real family or relationships with anyone.

8⁘ Why are different kind of people on Flipside/Flopside?

You'll see, in Flopside are many different kinds of people, descendants of the tribe of anciens/tribe of darkness, what manner of creatures they are is never made explicit, although as they are descendants of the Ancients who are confirmed to have been human, it seems likely they can be considered human as well. Almost every Flipside inhabitant has a counterpart in Flopside, with the counterpart having a vaguely opposite personality or interest. Their bodies come in yellow, purple, and blue colors, are geometric in shape, and some seem to lack visible arms. While the Flipside residents have square noses, the Flopside residents have pointed noses, and the residents of Yold Town and Gloam Valley do not have noses at all. Why? IDK. But i tried to give an explination seems in the first theory I made.

9⁘ Shadoo and Dimentio's background.

I think we all have the idea that somehow these two individuals are connected. Everyone has made out-of-this-world theories to explain this headcanon. I made myself a theory in the part of the Pixl Queen. But, today is a completely mystery.

I've noticed that I have many theories and parts... 

10⁘ Dark Prognosticus' creator.

Even in the game,we are explicitly shown that no one knows who was the creator of this mystical book. It was an ancient? It was a member with dark magic? It was a human? Nobody knows...

10⁘ What happened more than 3,000 years ago?

The timeline of the game begin 3,000 years ago, when the ancients created the pixls, but, Who were the tribe of ancients? What dimension did they from to? How did they discover magic? Where did they get the DP? 

And the most interesting thing about this is that, within the fandom, few ask this question. Interesting....

11⁘ The villains' background

Our entire source of information is Carson and his stories, and most of them are incomplete and do not tell details. And I think that, so far, the villain we know most of her story is Natasia, since it is emphasized throughout the entire game.

For others, their backstory is not extremely necessary to the story.

12⁘ What dimensions are Flipside and Flopside between?

Another intersting question, because, Merlon say us in the start of the game that Flipside is not a dimension because are BETWEEN dimension. But what dimensions are Flipside and Flopside between? Are they in two differents dimensions? One of these dimensions are the real world? Or, are they between ALL dimentions? We'd better know.

13⁘ There's more pixls? Why the original pixls doesn't talk anymore?

For the first question, maybe a few pixls managed to escape the conflicts and live scattered in other dimensions. Because, Heronicus, the person who behind Saffron's house say us, at the end of the game that he tried to find a legendary pixl, something that reinforces our theory.

And the second, The animators didn't want to work or give more prominence to Mario's partners to focus on the incredible story? Improbably. There is probably another more elaborate explanation.

14⁘ When the ancients mix with humans?

Let's remember that some humans are descendantsof those and viceversa.

(Merely filler point)

15⁘ Mimi's a robot?

And finally, the last point (I wish it were so), Mimi's a Robot? Terminator 3000?The only thing Carson explains to us are MORE theories that it could be Mimi. A witch's mistake? A failed pixl? And to top it all off, he also tells us that Mimi doesn't remember much. Dang it!

The only clue we have is that, in the sprits in the game, and when we flip to 3D and fight her ORIGINAL creepy spider form, there are traces of gears like those of a machine. If you want to theorize, go ahead.

And that's all the plot holes I've found. Surely (and sadly) there are more, so I invite you to include all the ones you remember, I'm out.

[notapplicableinformation]

The Villains' lore doesn't entirely fit?

Does anyone else think that the Villains in Super Paper Mario are great, but that their lore doesn't exactly.....Fit in the game too well?

Let me explain-

Count Bleck, even though there is foreshadowing and clear build up to his relationship with Timpani, I thought it was a bit odd that none of the dimensions that were visited wasn't, like, the remains of the dark tribe from when Blumiere had opened up the Dark Prognositcus. Or that there wasn't any location in the game visited that had Tippi recollect a memory of familiarity-

The other minions' lore doesn't really fit with any of the locations visited in the game either in my opinion- O'Chunks lore being an army general who was betrayed is very interesting for his character, but I wouldn't know if he were from any of the dimensions that we visit in the game as there isn't any link to any form of 'war', as an example, in any of the present locations in the game. He probably comes from a different dimension outside of the places we visit in the game, but that arises questions as to why Flipside has doors to only a few dimensions and what counts as a dimension and what counts as a world in the first place. This also makes me ask why the villains can't have come from the dimensions visited in this game to make the game feel that smaller bit more complete?

Mimi's story is also a bit odd, with that failed pixel experiment possibility or creation of a witch possibility. Neither of those are even alluded to in any place of the narrative, so... There's only Carson to go off. It would have been interesting to come across a potential place of a 'witch' so that what Carson is saying could have more merit, but it doesn't matter too much.

Dimentio makes sense to be entirely ambiguous, it's in character for him, but then you have all of the Pixl Uprising lore and the lore of the magician. It's....It's all great lore but it's so peculiar that there is NOTHING about this lore alluded to in ANY other place of the game other than Carson's bar- (To be fair though, if one went by the "Dimentio is Merloo" theory, or even if you went for the theory that he's one of the descendants, there's actually a bit of evidence for this outside of Carson's bar in the Gate between Flipside and Flopside where you can read that Merloo was a magician who could control dimensions, but I digress.)

Nastasia's lore is also strange. The 'Of bats and men' story- It's...Extremely random. It links well to when Nastasia says she'll stay by Bleck's side as he saved her, but the whole being a bat and becoming human is....strange, as it really feels like it came from nowhere.

To conclude, I love Super Paper Mario very much, though I feel that the villains stories aren't....Very well engraved into the plot, the stories seem like they were added in separately, very good stories, yes, but...Not really connected to any of the established locations. Carson is the main source of evidence to go by-

I may be missing something, but I thought it was a bit odd that the stories of the Villains weren't at least a little bit linked to any of the worlds visited- Maybe there are some links and I don't remember any, but this was just a meagre observation I had made.

Anyway, have a nice day! Apologies for the long discussion. I'd love to hear any thoughts on the subject matter.

[artgletic]

Dimentio lore recap + hot takes

Hi everyone. Im here to talk about my own takes on Dimentio lore. Most of it is analyzing ingame stuff from a narrative, thematic and metatextual way, but I’ve got my own baseless headcanons sprinkled in. I indicate when something is just headcanon and when something is based on lore below so there’s no confusion. I’m posting this because ive got art on the way related to this lore and these hcs specifically and want to have a masterpost to link back to LMAO.

Discussion under cut

For the uninitiated, Garson and Carson are two NPCs in flipside and flopside respectively that will give you lore in exchange for coins. Relevant to Dimentio is the fact that while Carson has a story/theories on every other minion, his information on Dimentio is notably slim. He only says that Dimentio befriended the count all on his own (contrary to the count approaching all other minions aside Nastasia, but she's a special case) and was initially turned away by him, only for the count to read about someone like him in the dark prognosticus. He describes this as ‘fishy’. I will come back to this at the very end of this section.

There is also lore on the creation of the pixls. The story goes that 3,000 years ago, there was a ‘master magician’ who transferred spirits into vessels created for specific purposes. He managed to make 12 pixls before he died (11 of which are in-game; the 12th’s absence is explained in a moment). These pixls were then passed onto his apprentices, and his method of creating pixls was utilized to make many more after his passing, leading to the success of the Ancients society.

2,000 years ago, a huge pixl calling herself the pixl queen appeared wielding the dark prognosticus. She was capable of commanding all other pixls and used her power and army to enslave the ancients. The inheritors of the 12 original pixls appeared to defeat her, and one by one were picked off until only one remained. The pixl queen used its “powers of illusion” to hide from the remaining inheritor, and unleashed horrific images upon them. However, this was ineffective as their pixl could “see the truth”, and together they defeated the pixl queen. However, this pixl was killed in the process, hence 11 remaining pixls.

It’s not clear if the wielders of the 12 original pixls are the same throughout history. 1000 years of time had passed since the first pixl’s creation to the pixl uprising which is quite a lot fo time for one person to live, but we are also operating under fantasy rules so it cannot be ruled out. The language (at least in the english translation) uses the words ‘inheritor’ and ‘apprentice’ interchangeably, describing the appearance of the wielders of the 12 original pixls as “the inheritors of the twelve original Pixl” and the last survivor who took the Dark Prognosticus as “the last surviving apprentice” [‘surviving’ in this context likely not indicative of having live for millennia but rather having not died to the pixl queen]. The use of the word ‘inheritor’ and its synonomy with ‘apprentice’ leads me to believe they are not the same individuals. There is also no textual evidence for ancients living as long as 1,000 years and all appear to have somewhat regular lifespans (even one of the most powerful of the ancients, Merlumina, appears to have died in her own time and only remains as a guardian spirit).

The end of the pixl uprising saga ends with the last surviving apprentice learning that the pixl queen was made by the master magician studying the dark prognosticus. There is also a separate Carson lore dump on the theory of the pixl queen’s origin, where the discussed theory is prefaced with: “In one book left behind by the master magician's apprentice [...]”. I note that this passage is told right after the end of the pixl uprising trilogy where the only apprentice we heard about was the last survivor, so the use of ‘the’ in this excerpt makes me think it’s referring to the same person as the one who vanquished the pixl queen. The theory itself describes the magician’s personal life, wherein he had a wife, a daughter and a son. His son and wife died in an accident, and his daughter died of an illness later on. It’s hypothesized that the master magician transferred her spirit into a pixl vessel, and that this was how all other pixls were made: using game-overed souls. None of this contradicts what the survivor realized in the pixl uprising saga, and in fact establishes a method of doing this. 

It’s also interesting that this apprentice, having lived 1,000 years after the master magician’s time, would have this specific information on his personal life that seems to be lost to time (why else would it be given the title of “theory”?). This excerpt also seemingly randomly ends with “Oh, and some say the son of the magician miraculously recovered from the accident. If so, the bloodline of the magician could endure... Did they find happiness? Or otherwise...“. Structurally, starting off with this apprentice who lived a thousand years after the master magician with seemingly lost-to-time information on his personal life appearing and confirming the death of the son, only to have that abruptly contradicted leads me to believe there’s at the very least a connection present here. Additionally, in that final dialogue about the magician’s son, Carson says: “Did they find happiness? Or otherwise…”. I think this is especially important. The phrase “find happiness” is most commonly associated with the dark prognosticus (“But no person, after obtaining this amazing book, ever found happiness.”), the exact thing the apprentice is said to have gone into hiding with. I also like this line from a foreshadowing perspective: Dimentio’s life becomes inextricably linked with the dark prognosticus, and Carson chooses to not end the thought asking if they found happiness but rather emphasize the negative alternative. It really leads your mind to think about what this person’s life became-- certainly not anything good from the sounds of it. And from what we see of Dimentio ingame, he never did achieve his ultimate goal, his exceptional longcon. I can’t say he did find happiness.

Additionally, if we take the son and the apprentice being one in the same, the not-the-same-apprentice-other-time theory makes sense: if they were the same, then that would mean Dimentio inherited a pixl directly from his father who believes him to be dead. Unless Dimentio was rendered unrecognizable somehow, this does not make sense. Considering SPM’s power-of-love theming, I just don’t think it makes any narrative sense to have a father not recognize his own son. Ergo, different generations of inheritors.

Something interesting is that this apprentice  later discredited the dead-daughter theory of the pixl queen. From a meta perspective, I’d have to ask why it’s even mentioned if it’s not actually true, especially considering this is the first and only time the master magicians family, particularly the son who is confirmed dead and revived in the same breath, is mentioned. So instead of assuming it’s just a random untrue lore tidbit, I view this retraction as the first evidence of Dimentio’s deception and (potentially) the beginnings of his scheme. 

I don’t think Dimentio wrote the dark prognosticus. It wouldn’t make sense given this timeline, considering his father was studying it. In fact, I don’t think anyone wrote it. I like the prognosticus being this eternal, haunting tome that ruins the lives of anyone who possesses it. Less a product of someone and more a force of nature. I do, however, think Dimentio was arrogant enough to modify it, adding his own passages and truths and such to try and set up the perfect sequence of events to let him become godking of the multiverse. He’s longconning the dark prognosticus in an attempt to set up the exact right conditions to be able to potentially usurp control from it. Publishing and then retracting the “theory” on his dead sister was either something he read in the prognosticus he knew needed to come true, or something he edited in and brought into fruition to further his goal.

[The next three paragraphs are entirely headcanon, but relevant to my take on Dimentio]

 I personally choose to believe the mask Dimentio wears is what remains of the pixl that died during the uprising. Its shape being so masklike invokes imagery of a ‘mask of truth’, in line with this pixl’s power of seeing through deception. I also like how him wearing this embodiment-of-truth mask adds to the irony of his character, considering all he does while wearing it is lie and manipulate people. It also adds an element of apathetic cruelty to him: He’s wearing around what remains of a fallen comrade-- perhaps he only ever saw the pixl’s as tools despite their clear sentience and the fact that his sister was literally one of them. However, I don’t think he started wearing it (and doing the jester schtick at all) until actually meeting the count, almost as a means of subliminally pitching himself to him. Jesters are made to work for nobles, counts included. It also would grant him a  bit of jester’s privilege, allowing him to make comments otherwise not tolerated by Bleck. This lets him jeer people into thinking and acting in ways that forward his goal in a way that people won’t question too much and instead brush off, but still be affected by. I also think he just likes the aesthetic. Surely in his millennia of being alive he dabbled in performance; his schtick is too solid to not have!

There’s also the ‘standard chocolate’ item which has always fascinated me ever since I was a kid. Why is it shaped like Dimentio's mask? Standard chocolate is made by combining a mild cocoa bean with either a poison shroom or a ghost shroom. When eaten, inflicts a prohibited status condition, basically making it so Mario, Peach, Luigi and Bowser can’t use their special move (ie. flipping, parasol, fire and high jump). My out-of-nowhere headcanon for this is that like how this 12th pixl negated the deceptive powers of the pixl queen (perhaps better phrased as inflicting prohibited status on her), this sluggish chocolate was shaped in its image as a result. It’s simply a residual cultural facet of the ancients honouring this pixl’s actions. 

I also have this out-of-pocket headcanon about Merloo. So all three of the other sages (Merlumina, Merlimbis and Merlight) have descendents or some kind of living relative (Old Man Watchitt, Merlee+Merluvlee and Merlon respectively), but Merloo does not. I’m not saying Dimentio is his son-- the timeline does not check out as Merloo was one of the authors of the light prognosticus which was written 1,500 years ago, not 3,000 as would be required. However, Merloo’s major power described by Tippi was being able to control dimensions. I like to think that as a part of Dimentio’s longcon, he became Merloo’s mentor and led him to writing the light prognosticus as a counter to the dark prognosticus. Why do this? Well, Dimentio wants to use the dark prognosticus’ prophecy of multiversal destruction as a means of creating his own worlds. But this prophecy is airtight. I imagine he thinks that light prognosticus could potentially open up a vulnerability in the prophecy, allowing him to stick his fingers through these cracks and rip his desire into being.

Getting back to canon information… Time passes, and we reach the point of the game where Count Bleck is recruiting minions. Dimentio pulls up, friendly and charming, and promptly gets rejected. Then Bleck reads the prognosticus and finds someone who suspiciously matches Dimentio's description, and he changes his mind allowing Dimentio into the team. I think Dimentio added that little passage in himself, hence it being fishy like Carson said!

TRIBE OF DARKNESS:

So what we know about the tribe of darkness is that they originally were a sect of the ancients who were more magically potent. They stole the dark prognosticus from them when breaking off from the ancients ~1,500 years ago, and went to live in a castle deep in the woods. The reason for stealing the book is unclear: Could it be they were guarding it? They wanted to use it to enhance their own powers? These are theories proposed by Carson, but considering the two people known to have had the book really made a splash with it (the pixl queen and Count Bleck), I think it’s safe to say the tribe of darkness didn’t intend anything nefarious with it. Additionally, they also forbade marriage outside of the tribe for fear of diluting their magic powers, hence the whole Blumiere-Timpani debacle. Considering Count Bleck is a direct descendent of the tribe of darkness, it is likely that they outlived the ancients.

After Count Bleck failed to find Timpani after his father banished her, he stole the dark prognosticus and used it to destroy his dimension and decided to do the same with all worlds. I personally choose to believe Castle Bleck is what remains of Count Bleck’s home dimension.

What IS unclear is how the ancients got possession of the dark prognosticus for it to be stolen in the first place. There’s no canon evidence pointing this way or that, but if Dimentio was the surviving apprentice of the pixl uprising and one who took the book and hid it, it’s reasonable to conclude that within that 500 year timespan between end-of-uprising and tribe of darkness breaking off that he simply returned it to the ancient’s possession for one reason or another.

Another out-of-pocket headcanon furthering Dimentio mentoring Merloo and the reason for the tribe of darkness splintering off in the first place: The tribe of darkness breaking off is about the time Dimentio was having Merloo write the light prognosticus. I think the tribe thought the project was asking for someone to read the dark prognosticus. Like someone would have to want to do harm with the dark prognosticus in the first place for the light prognosticus to be worth anything, and at that point it would be too late. Unless, of course, the light prognosticus was a part of some kind of scheme unrelated to simply countering the dark one. I think they took the dark prognosticus and hid it to prevent the light prognosticus, and by proxy the bad vibes surrounding its creation, from ever being necessary. They were arrogant enough to believe their own magical prowess could prevent the book from ever being used hence keeping their bloodline pure (Carson does say in his tribe of darkness tidbits that the reason for them wanting their magic so powerful was lost to time, so this is as good a reason as any). Ironically, this pride surrounding their own magic bloodline is what led to the dark prognosticus being used in the first place.

SHADOO AND THE PIXL QUEEN:

Shadoo, the mysterious boss of the flopside pit, claims to be created by the ancients, but emphasizes that they do not work for them. They then state they intend to use their shadow clones of Mario & co. alongside their pixls to defeat the ancients. Shadoo seems unaware of the fact the ancients are a peoples long past. I read the emphasis that Shadoo does not work for the ancients as a spiteful jab at their origins as a pixl, and their desire to overthrow the ancients via the pixls is in-line with the pixl queen’s MO. As well, this is a meta connection, but SPM’s lore is so thought through (even if not in the spotlight) that I refuse to believe the devs had no plan for Shadoo. There is no other real connection to be made with them than the pixl queen.

On Shadoo/the pixl queen, despite apparently having the motivation of being repulsed by how pixls are made, has no problems using them as tools, what with Shadoo wanting to kill and clone mario and co. to use their pixls and the pixl queen’s ability to “command” all pixls (not to be confused with her having convinced them to join the rebellion; this is stated as a power. She ordered them to rebel, and they did). I think it’s important to emphasize here that in her uprising Shadoo being “horrified by the deeds of her father... That she wanted no one to ever use Pixls again.” Does not mean saving the pixls that currently exist. Based on her actions, it means one of two things: exacting revenge on the ancients as a whole for taking her from her afterlife and stuffing her into an object (and depending on her selfishness, the other pixls as well), or destroying all ancients AND pixls, most likely out of revenge and mercy respectively. Regardless, she uses the other pixls as tools despite being one herself. There is much to think about in regards to how the ancients thought if this much dissonance can be built up, but that is all speculation. I just wanted to draw attention to it as I find it very interesting to think about.

In regards to powers: A connection between shadoo and Dimentio/her brother is in the pixl queen’s powers of illusion to hide from sight and the manifesting of horrible images. Dimentio has both of these powers, regularly disguising himself  to eavesdrop on Castle Bleck’s comings and goings. And while it is funny to joke about Mario & co. going to hell and dying, Jaydes does confirm that Mario and the gang are not actually dead, instead just having been warped there. The explosions were just Dimentio memeing on them (ie. manifesting horrible images). Additionally, the pixl queen also had the power to brainwash all pixls into following her orders. I’m sure we all remember who else is known for their brainwashing. Perhaps Dimentio took some familial inspiration?

Finally, despite the pixl queen being vanquished, a shadow of her still remained to be dealt with and was subsequently locked in the pit. This parallels the final act of SPM, wherein even after Super Dimentio’s defeat, "a shadow of his power" is left behind still controlling the chaos heart, leading to the ending wedding sequence.

FINAL TIMELINE:

For convenience, I will TLDR the timeline (including HCs) into a list of bullet points:

-3,000 years ago, a master magician had a family consisting of a wife, daughter and son. His wife and son die in an accident (the son being presumed dead), and his daughter dies of an illness soon after.

-master magician, studying the prognosticus, uses its power to take his daughter's spirit and place it into what would become the first pixl. He does this 12 more times before dying.

-His knowledge is used to create more pixls on top of these original 12, leaving to the golden age of the ancients

-for the past 1,000 years the son, Dimentio, has been doing unspecified activities, likely related to magic, maybe performing if he's gone full quirky-mode. In recent times he has gained enough status and honour to inherit one of his father’s original pixls, one capable of seeing the truth.

-2,000 years ago the master magician’s daughter emerges as the pixl queen and uses her powers to control pixls and enslaves the ancients

-Dimentio, alongside the 11 other original pixl inheritors fight tooth and nail to defeat the pixl queen. All of them die, including pixls, aside from Dimentio.

-The pixl queen only exists as a shadow of herself. (There is a slight complication lorewise here, with flipside being implied to be built 1,500 years ago. However, this is never directly stated, only implied as its designer, Merlight, is hung alongside murals of Merlumina (who states she was alive 1,500 years ago), Merloo (author of the light prognosticus and as such had to be alive 1,500 years ago) and Merlimbis (creator of the purity heart; had to be 1,500 years ago). However, I can find nothing on flipside being confirmed 1,500 years old. I CAN find that the pit of 100 trials was made to experiment with the power of the pure hearts, so we DO know they were constructed 1,500 years ago. Where was Shadoo in the meantime? I suppose it can remain up in the air; she did wait 1,000 years after her creation to start her uprising! Maybe she just likes existing fashionably late.)

-Dimentio publishes, then retracts the theory that the original pixl was his sister. It is unclear if he knew this from the start, or only realized this confronting her. I think it’s far darker if he knew from the start and simply didn’t care, and as such I like this one more.

-At some point Dimentio returns the dark prognosticus to the ancients

-1,500 years ago Dimentio mentors Merloo in dimensional magic and influences the light prognosticus to a certain extent. The pure hearts are created, tested, and distributed across dimensions.

-The tribe of darkness steals the dark prognosticus and splits off from the ancients due to skepticism regarding the light prognosticus project. They set up their new home in a castle in the woods

-Time passes.

-Blumiere and Timpani fall in love.

-Blumiere and Timpani are forced apart

-Blumiere scours dimensions looking for his lover, bumping into Nastasia who tags along (see Carson’s “Nastasia” and “of Bats and Men”for a recap; this ones pretty straightforward)

-Count Bleck steals the dark prognosticus from his people and destroys his home dimension

-Count Bleck recruits minions for his cause of destroying the world. He lies about reshaping it into a better world. 

-Count Bleck is approached by the master of dimensions, pleaser of crowds.

-game start.

KAY, SO WHAT ABOUT HIS MOTIVATION?

I don’t know! There’s not much to really go off of for Dimentio. We know he wants to remake the world as he sees fit, but what caused this desire and when it happened is left completely unexplored. Did it happen when the light prognosticus was being written? Or maybe during the pixl uprising? Was the revelation his sister was the pixl queen a surprise or did he know and use it to further his goals? When he was presumed dead alongside his mother? Maybe even before that; was he the one responsible for the accident that killed his mother? Was he responsible for his sisters’ illness so she would become the pixl queen so he could get his hands on the dark prognosticus? How much of his life was simple tragedy and how much of it was him manipulating the world to get his way? 

I personally don’t think it matters. Narratively, I’m quite charmed by this question existing unanswered in the first place. It’s the embodiment of the dark prognosticus: how much of its events are predetermined, and how much of it is just random, tragic chance?

"This prophetic book was a mysterious tome full of stories of future events. Of course, many people craved this book, wishing to glimpse their futures. But no person, after obtaining this amazing book, ever found happiness."

Dimentio’s motivations being unclear just cements the introduction to the game as a whole: perhaps glimpsing this knowledge we want so badly will not be worth it. Sometimes, knowledge just leads to misery. Like the book, it should “fade back into history.” And fade it did.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Hooligon (again) Debut: Super Paper Mario

That's right! After Mod Chikako and Mod F Boy gave their respective namesakes New Posts, it was only a matter of time that I'd give Hooligon the same treatment. It only took... over a year and a half! Yippee! Good things come to those who wait, and are made by those who procrastinate. Those are words of wisdom that will last you a lifetime!

As you can see in the image above, Hooligon is. Well. It just is! I can't tell you what this is supposed to be! This is easily one of the most abstract enemy designs in the entire Mario franchise, and I love it for precisely that reason. Even by the standards of Super Paper Mario, a game FULL of some of the series' strangest enemies, Hooligon is still weird! I don't know if I can confidently claim Hooligon as the Weirdest Mario Enemy, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the top 10.

I can tell you one thing that Hooligon is, and that's a rascal! I mean, the name should be the obvious sign -- Hooligon is a hooligan! Its catch card description states that it loves to wreak havoc in the depths of space, and that they blend into their habitat, waiting to attack... If you go to space, watch out! You might get Hooligon Jumpscared!

This is especially true if you end up in the Whoa Zone, which I assume is their natural habitat. They also appear on Planet Blobule, in Castle Bleck, and in the Flipside Pit of 100 Trials, but I figure the abstract enemy made of green squares is probably from the abstract place also made of green squares. If they're blending into their habitat, then this seems to be the habitat they'd be blending into!

In particular, there's just one room in the Whoa Zone full of Hooligons, with them covering every single surface. There's no escape! Not even in the third dimension, as Hooligons are one of the very few enemies in this game to be three-dimensional! If you're ever feeling down, remember: you have as many dimensions as a weird polygonal snake-type thing in Super Paper Mario (2007)! That always manages to cheer me up.

Hooligons are relatives of the red Eeligon, as an RPG like Super Paper Mario needs to give as many enemies color variations as possible to pad out its bestiary. I'm not complaining! It gives me more to talk about!

For instance, I think "Eeligon" is a funny name. Not as funny as Hooligon, but I appreciate that the localizers decided that this thing is an eel. I guess it's long, and it swims around in space, but that's about where the similarities end. Then again, if starfish and jellyfish can be fish, then sure, why can't Eeligon be an eel? I can't think of anything else it would be.

As discussed in the original post, unlike most color variations, Hooligon and Eeligon are differentiated by their behavior, rather than their health or strength. They have the exact same stats, but Eeligons are swimmers, while Hooligons are hoppers! That being said, for both of them, you need to aim for the head to deal any damage. If you hit their tails, you'll just remove one of their many square segments.

In their Catch Card description, Eeligons are described as having big egos. I don't have anything else to say on that point, I just figured you should know that.

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Hooligon can be encountered first, appears more frequently, and has the better name, Hooligon is treated as an Eeligon variant, and not the other way around. Hooligon appears after Eeligon in the list of Catch Cards, the variant in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials is named Dark Eeligon despite having Hooligon behavior, and in Japanese, Eeligon is Furēgon, while Hooligon is Furēgon Plus!

There's not much more to say about these guys. They only appeared in one game, and that's probably the only appearance they're ever gonna get. That being said, I appreciate them a lot. I mean, why wouldn't I? There's a reason I'm Mod Hooligon! Either way, I hope I was able to share some of that appreciation with you. :) Have a nice day

[misschimotosuwa-blog]

Wait wait there's only one Light Prognosticus. And Merlon has possession of it, not Nolrem. How was Nolrem deciphering pages of the Light Prognosticus? He said no one can know about the flip-floppery of Flipside and Flopside ... So obviously he didn't go over to Flipside to read the Prognosticus. Does he have like photo copies of it??!

[smallmariofindings]

In the two Pits of 100 Trials in Super Paper Mario, it is normally required to defeat the enemy that holds the key to the next floor in order for that key to actually drop. However, there is an exception.

Floor 51 of the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials contains a single Dark Muth enemy. Normally, it is required to defeat it as it holds the key. By luring it to the position shown in the screenshot, however, and attacking it with Bowser’s fire breath once, a glitch will result in the key spawning in front on the locked door (directly to the left of Mario) despite the Dark Muth still being alive. As such, this is the only floor of any of the pits that can be completed in a “pacifist” manner, without killing any enemies.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source

[knifeyy]

So I don't think I even talked about my little half-baked theory on Mimi's backstory, so I'm going to go ahead and post it on here lmao.

So, Mimi! We know her, she shape-shifts and and turns into a spider. What we all may or may not know about her is her backstory, or the lack of it anyway. When we talk to Carson at the Overthere Bar in Flopside, we get to hear many different stories and rumors from him, and Mimi has only a couple of rumors about her, and that's about it. It was said that she was either a Pixl experiment or a witch's accident, but Carson touched some more on the ladder. He noted that the rumors say that the witch was messing around with potions to figure out shape-shifting. He later requested Mario if he ever sees her to ask her for him. At first I thought he meant Mimi, but apparently in the Japanese version (I might be wrong) he meant the witch, which WOULD imply that Mario would get to meet her, or have met her already.

So, this IMMEDIATELY made me think of someone else who is not only a witch, but can also shape-shift...

Yes, her. Cackletta. I've noticed that when she shape-shifts, purple smoke floats around her, and it's the same thing with Mimi.

Strangely enough, it's almost the same magenta color, though it looks like it depends on the background/brightness. It's also worth mentioning that Mimi has gears inside her head, which can be seen both in her official artwork and when Mario flips during battle. This implies that she is either a robot, or a cyborg of some sort (I'm personally leaning towards the ladder because of how she was treated and referred to as throughout the game if I remember correctly). Fawful has made a bunch of machines for Cackletta and her plans. Even though Mimi was allegedly accidentally created by a witch, some things may have been done on her, perhaps either to keep her alive, or to enhance her abilities. Probably not all that important to mention, but both Prince Peasley and Mimi share the similar color palette. It seems like they also share some interests with money (Peasley being proud of his economy and Mimi "building" one during Chapter 2), though it could just be a coincidence. So, I think that Cackletta and Fawful probably have some connections with Mimi. Maybe she was created and experimented on, or probably even kidnapped and got into some potion accident. It could be part of why Queen Bean and Prince Peasley had beef with Cackletta and Fawful. I do have some ideas that Mimi was a part of the Royal family at some point, but that might be far fetched. Anyway, I might edit this when I have more ideas surrounding this. Again, it's more half-baked than anything :'>

[darkclouds-rainsounds]

The above is a screenshot of one of tropes from Shadoo's section in the SPM TV Tropes page that caught my interest.

“Never mentioned to be killed...” Hm. If I go by my headcanon of how Dimentio fits into the story of the Pixl Uprising (i.e he's both the Magician's son and the surviving apprentice who defeated the Pixl Queen), then that would give another parallel of how Dimentio was once a hero who had a Pixl that could see the truth who stopped an antagonist who had the Dark Prognosticus who several thousand years later switched sides. And by another parallel, I mean it works perfectly alongside this.

The reason Shadoo exists (if they are the Pixl Queen) is because he couldn't go through with killing his sister; he cared for her too much and now here she is stuck at the bottom of the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials and wanting to exact revenge on the Ancients for sealing her away. Based on how Shadoo has a robotic text box and says that they were created by the Ancients, it can be presumed she forgot she was ever human. She forgot who she was.

Fast forward to the events of SPM and Dimentio's intended kill-shot for Count Bleck gets intercepted by Nastasia and knocks her unconscious in addition to injuring her. Either he had the power of that shot just enough to kill Bleck and no further and that's why Nastasia survived, because why waste precious energy? All he has to do is finish Count Bleck off who is already at death’s door thanks to the heroes.

Or Nastasia was just very fortunate to survive a full-powered blast. My money's on something like the former because Dimentio has well more than enough power to absolutely guarantee no one would survive an attack like that. (the average person who isn't a hero or built for combat— which Nastasia very much isn't— anyway.)

Then there's him saving O'Chunks and Mimi from what would have been certain death by teleporting them to Dimension D. We know they didn't end up in the same place as Peach and Bowser because neither they nor O'Chunks and Mimi make any mention of such. Pair that with the fact that the Void can't be seen from Dimension D and thus heavily implying that anyone inside it would survive the Void that would destroy everything else, and you're left with the only explanation of Dimentio having saved them. I do believe that Dimentio screwed up by not only "catching feelings" and he genuinely did care for the other minions deep down as much as he tries to deny that; and I have mentioned in a prior post about him putting all of the people who could have possibly done something about the Super Dimentio fusion in the same place.

If he hadn't cared as much as he did for them and just left them to their fates, he would have won. I feel that the reason why the floor came out under Bowser and O'Chunks is because of Dimentio— because why make a trap like that that is intended to kill any who don't make it out in time and then have it to where after a certain amount of time, it would give any of the heroes still inside who may somehow still be alive an escape and make a comeback? It makes no sense. And it's because of that, that Peach was able to survive by landing on top of Bowser.

Had he only teleported Bowser out and left O'Chunks, and teleported Peach while leaving Mimi, the minions wouldn't have been able to band together with Count Bleck and Tippi to recharge the Pure Hearts and destroy his invincibility. It was his inability to go through with killing them or just letting them die because he actually cared about them— cared too much— that caused his own undoing.

History literally repeats itself if one subscribes to believing Dimentio is both the Magician's son and the last surviving apprentice.

First Shadoo who may or may not be the Pixl Queen, was spared by her brother who couldn't bear to go through with killing her therefore causing future consequences for if she ever gets free. Then the minions— including Nastasia and Count Bleck who for the latter, Dimentio in his ever present wisdom decided to spare killing for later— with their love for each other that was allowed to continue existing all because he spared them for the time being, recharged the Pure Hearts and caused immediate consequences for himself and was the catalyst for his defeat.

In the first instance, he was on the “heroic” side. For the last he was on the “villainous” side.

[interdimensionalvoid]

[kiwibirbkat]

The only things real from flopside are that Jecka's parents are getting a divorce and her dad is more abusive than her mom. And the hat man!!!!

[mochilorddrakeinferno]

Question Re: The Pure Hearts and Flipside/Flopside

So I've been trying for a while to create as accurate and comprehensive a timeline of the events of 1500 years before Super Paper Mario as possible, and I've run into a major snag. Was Flipside the site of the Pure Hearts' creation with Flopside made after that once problems arose? Or were the Pure Hearts created first and then Flipside and Flopside were simultaneously created together afterwards? We know those are the only two possible options, because the Pure Hearts are confirmed to have existed by the time Flopside did. Below is a list of all the sources of information I know of that we have on this subject, though there may be more: Garson's story about Flipside

Carson's story about Flipside

Nolrem welcoming the heroes to Flopside

Merlon/Nolrem (?) explaining the purpose of Flopside

Flipside Pit Mural 1

Based on all this, it can be definitively said that Flopside was created after the Pure Hearts were. This leaves two possible options.

One: Flipside was created first as a base of operations for the activities of the Sages related to the plan to oppose the Dark Prognosticus, among which was the creation of the Pure Hearts, and at some point the influence from other dimensions proved to make the town unstable, prompting them to create Flopside both to counterbalance that and to make sure only the heroes could reach the Pure Hearts.

Or Two: The Pure Hearts were created first, and Flipside and Flopside were constructed simultaneously afterward in order to ensure it would be stable.

Personally, for a number of reasons, I think the former is more likely, but I'm looking for as much evidence and as high a quality of arguments as I can get for either side of this. My personal argumentation for this is as follows:

. The Sages should only know that constructions in the interdimensional space Flipside resides in would be unstable if they had tried to do so before, and there is no particular hint of a failed experiment before Flipside, making it more likely that it became apparent *after* Flipside came about that instability would occur and that is why Flopside was made.

. Flopside had a specific purpose for its creation related to the ensuring the Pure Hearts and the Heart Pillars would only be reachable by the heroes in addition to its stabilization purpose. The same is not to my knowledge said of Flipside or to the town as a whole, which could imply Flopside was built under different circumstances and for a somewhat different purposes than Flipside, in turn suggesting a different time.

. It is said by the tower enthusiast in Flipside that the Flipside Tower had been there since the town's founding, but that statement is notably absent from his Flopside equivalent.

. The Flipside Pit depicts the Red Pure Heart with a background of Flipside and Flopside, which implies strongly that Flipside had already existed when the Hearts were scattered at the very least, and likely beforehand.

But, I'm open to having my mind changed on this. If there are any bits of evidence and info, questions, interpretations, or arguments people have, I would love to see them.

[lucyav13]

King Croacus

Welll, the title is because in this part, we'll analize all the "Flora Kingdom royalty", or, all the kings with that name, let's begin!

Fun fact: In Italian, the kings' name is Re Cardo, re means King, Cardo is a given name and the Italian word for "thistle". Maybe a pun on the Italian name "Riccardo".

There are four known members of the Flora Kingdom's royal lineage, only one of which is alive at the time of the events of the game. All members have paintings in the palace of King Croacus IV, which come with biographical recounts of their rule. In addition to the four kings and queens which are seen in painting form, there is a mentioned prince from during King Croacus I's rule, though he goes unseen.

King Croacus I

Painting description: King Croacus the First (Reign: 1-496). The first king of the Flora Kingdom. Croacus I is known as the greatest of kings. He united the Floro Sapien under a single cause, creating the Flora Kingdom. He made a capital here and established a calendar, begun at the kingdom's birth. Heavily armored, he bore deadly thorns and came to be called the "Iron Rose". The kingdom's infrastructure and early roads were built by Croacus I's design. But when his successor, the prince, wilted unexpectedly, so did Croacus I's spirit. The Flora year 444 marked the start of his reign of fear, "The Darkening." Eventually Croacus I and his foul regime were overthrown in a sappy coup d'etat. The king was struck down, marking the official end of The Darkening. His wiltering words were said to be "The Iron Rose shan't wither!" But wither he did.

King Croacus I, also known as the Iron Rose, was the first king of the Floro Sapiens. The Floro Sapiens regard him as their greatest king, since he united them all into the Flora Kingdom. He created the Flora Calendar, and set the capital at the Floro Caverns. His nickname, the Iron Rose, comes from his heavy armor and deadly thorns. However, the wilting of his son in the Flora year 444 changed his mentality. He became corrupt, a period referred to as "The Darkening", at which point, his daughter staged a coup d'état and took over the Floro Sapiens. His dying words were stated to be "The Iron Rose shan't wither!" His nickname, Iron Rose, may be a reference to the Iron Lady title that is usually used to describe female heads of government. Despite this, King Croacus I is male.

Fun fact 2: He appears depicted in a mural in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials, in rooms 26-50. Croacus I ruled from the Flora Calendar's year 1 to year 496; this alongside his depiction in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials and the timeframe of King Croacus IV's recent actions in Flora years 1625-1626 imply he was the Floro Sapien king entrusted with the indigo Pure Heart by the Tribe of Ancients, 1,500 years prior to the events of Super Paper Mario. The Pure Heart would be guarded by the royal lineage even after his fall, eventually making it to Croacus IV.

Prince Croacus: He was Queen Croacus II's sibling, and was going to inherit the throne. However, he suddenly wilted in the year 444, leading to the mental decline, corruption, and eventual death of his father as well. Queen Croacus the Second eventually took the throne in his place after the fall of Croacus I. Prince Croacus dying in 444 is an example of a common Japanese (and Chinese) association of the number four with death, as the characters for "four" (四) and "death" (死) have similar readings (shi, in Japanese).

Fun fact 3: Every ruler of the Floro Sapiens, regardless of gender, is named "Croacus", which is based on the Crocus plant. This 👇

(A/N): Since there are no images, I decided to make my own design with the popular color of the original flower. Ya like it?

Queen Croacus II

Painting description: Queen Croacus the Second (Reign: 496-1298). Croacus II was the daughter of the great ruler, King Croacus I. Croacus II was imprisoned for being critical of the former king's policies, but...When he was overthrown by the people, Croacus II was freed and given the throne. Her efforts to reduce taxes and study diseases made Croacus II very popular...Eventually, her influence helped erase the scars The Darkening had left. She also compiled a Floro Sapien prehistory called "The Flictionarian." The book was to be her legacy, a historic mark of her benevolent influence. Croacus II feared the fight for the throne that might ensure if she bore many heirs. She had but one heir, late in her life. This earned her the name "The White Maiden."

Queen Croacus II, also known as The White Maiden, was the second ruler of the Floro Sapiens. She was imprisoned by her father for disagreeing with his views, but after his overthrow, was set free and became queen. She was very popular, because she reduced taxes and studied diseases. She also wrote The Flictionarian, a prehistory of the Flora Kingdom. She was worried that if she had many children, they would fight for the crown, so she only had one heir a year before she wilted. This having only one child to succeed her was what gave her the nickname "The White Maiden." She ruled from the Flora calendar's years 496 to 1298 (802 Flora years).

King Croacus III

Painting description: King Croacus the Third (Reign: 1298-1385). Croacus III was one when his mother wilted. He became the youngest king ever. The young king had a great predilection and talent for poetry and art...His talent was evidence in works like "Ice Rose", a book of poems from his 37th year. But he was also afflicted by a terrible disease from the time he was born...Without ever impacting the affairs of his kingdom, he wilted at age 88. The cause of his wiltering was never made public. Many suspected a conspiracy...This was never confirmed... 

King Croacus III was the third ruler of the Floro Sapiens. At age 1, he became the youngest king in Flora history after his mother wilted. Due to his young age, a regent ruled in his place. He was afflicted with a disease at birth, which made him weak and sickly. He had a great talent for art and poetry, releasing a book of poems called Ice Rose, at age 37. He wilted at age 88 for unknown reasons, but some suspected a conspiracy. He ruled from the Flora Calendar's years 1298 to 1385, the shortest rule of any Floro Sapien king. Due to his early death, he left little impact on the Flora Kingdom. His regent succeeded him as the ruler of the Floro Sapiens, as King Croacus IV.

King Croacus IV

Painting description: King Croacus the Fourth (Reign: 1385-present). Formerly a regent for King Croacus III, he ruled in place of the frail child king. After Croacus III's wilting, his service was recognized, and he was made king. His stabilizing influence and politicial savvy made him popular and well-known. His recent achievements include: In Flora year 1625, he invented a method for mind-controlling Cragnons. In Flora year 1626, he spearheaded an initiative to enslave Cragnons en masse.

The flamboyant king of the Floro Sapiens, Croacus adores beauty and spends most of his time brainwashing Cragnons to rebuild his castle full of jewels. He is also the owner of the sixth Pure Heart. As told by the description under the painting in his palace, he was the regent for King Croacus III until he came of age. When the young ruler wilted, Croacus IV, popular due to his stabilizing influence, was appointed King. He does not care for fighting, but when Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser enter his chambers, he decides to dispose of them. He resembles a giant flower and is named after the real life Crocus plant. His obsession with beauty may be a nod to another flower named Rosie, from the first Paper Mario.

After he is eventually defeated, it is revealed that the Cragnons were polluting the waters that the Floro Sapiens drank from, and that King Croacus was trying to save his people by mind-controlling the Cragnons with Floro Sprouts. Upon witnessing the scene, Flint Cragley declares that he will show his tape to the Cragnons, ending the war between the two races.

If  we visit Croacus after Chapter 5 but before completing Chapter 7, he will still lie on the same spot on the floor, supposedly dead (or wilted, since he looks like a flower). The Floro Sapien who is watching over him says that he thinks that Croacus will revitalize, which he eventually does.

Following the defeat of the final boss, King Croacus can be found in healthy spirits once again; initially, he will claim his intentions are to wage war upon Mario and the Cragnons again. However, he quickly makes it clear that he is only joking and reverts to a more normal personality, saying that most of the polluted water was drained while he 'slept'. He then expresses his desire to begin a new era of peace between the Cragnons and Floro Sapiens.

Quotes: 

"Ooooooo-weeee-ooooooo! Where, oh, where are my pretties?!"

"Pretties... Beautiful things... Ooo-wee! Bring them to me... More! More! More!"

"So you must be the intruders I've heard SO much about... Well, I will NOT forgive the great trashening of my beautiful kingdom. NOO-WEE-OO! ...Thus you are warned!"

"Trash is garbage, no matter how you dress it. This world is made for BEAUUUUUTY!"

"Ooo? What is THIS hideous, clashing thing?"

"Ooooooo-weeee-ooooooo! I am back!"

Additional information:

Catch Card: 186

Location(s) (5-4)

Role Boss

Max HP 50

Attack 2

Defense 0

Score 5000, 50 (petals)

Card location(s) Card Shop; Map 37

Tattle: That's King Croacus. He leads the Floro Sapiens, and loves beautiful things... Max HP is 50. Attack is 2. He attacks with his head, like other Floro Sapiens... I don't think you can damage him when his face is closed off like that... Using Thoreau to grab stuff, then jumping into him works pretty well, though...

Card type: Uncommon

Card description: KingCroacus cares about making the world beautiful. Too bad drinking polluted water has made him insane.

The above text is from the Super Mario Wiki and is available under a Creative Commons license. Attribution must be provided through a list of authors or a link back to the original article. Source: https://www.mariowiki.com/Flora_Kingdom_royalty

(A/N): Mmmmm. Ok. I'll say the obvious, this is so SUSPICIOUS, don't ya think? First, Dimientio says that Croacus IV is a friend yours. Second, Croacus gives Dimentio Floro Sprouts for brain control. And Third: The disease of King Croacus III suspected a conspiracy and this was never confirmed.

Maybe we think that Dimentio helped Croacus IV to kill the former ruler and taked the throne, and for that, Croacus gives him the Floro Sprouts. 

Just a contradiction... This happened centuries ago!! So, think what you want. I'm tired, I'm going to lie down a little...

[serotoninny]

Hey- hi. My sister and I grew up playing Super Paper Mario constantly. I would absolutely love to hear any and all thoughts you would like to share pls and thank you!!

HELLO! HELLO HI!

wanted to start off by saying Holy Shit!! spm was a video game me and my sister also played growing up!! we never beat it back then but recently she came home and got me hooked on it again and we played it all the way thru. we also did fun little voices for each character I got to be dimentio so that was very fun ^__^ i think Objectively its not a very hard game (which is why we were able to beat it LMAO) but what it lacks there it makes up for in STORY and super strong characters and i adore it so

IF ANYONE!! ANYONE wants to respond to anything ive said in this word soup of a post PLEASE DO!!! in the tags in the comments i just like seeing ppl talk abt whatever the hell about spm. Head canons Theories You name it

this is . a little scattered around. u do not have to read all of this but thank you for giving me an excuse to talk abt spm VVV

first of all themes of love being the answer make me wanna bawl my eyes out and i gotta be real i did tear up at the end of the game when blumiere and timpani have bounding through time ost playing and then walk out of frame. CHEFS KISS. lovely. i like how each chapter the gang goes thru has its own unique little set of townspeople and even thru little bits of dialogue u are left wanting to defeat the chaos heart even more because you dont want any of them to die YK? HEAVENS TO BETSY! THE DIALOGUE OPTIONS FOR RIGHT BEFORE CHAPTER 8 FOR ALL THE PEOPLE IN FLIP/FLOPSIDE?? SHIT HURTED. npc reactions to all the shit going on were so good

one thing i WISH happened tho was. mario and luigi Sibling Love (i mean this platonically i want to specify Just in case there are any weirdos out there) Helps Save The World. i get the whole count bleck mansion part where everyone started sacrificing themselves to save the others which means they care for one another n whatnot which is good great and fantastic However i think it wouldve been COOL to see the whole gang esp the two opposing forces of Mario (prophesized hero color red) and luigi (prophesized Man In Green to contain the chaos heart and destroy the world) contribute to the reformation of the pure heart like some sorta balance between light n dark . BUT ITS FINE i love the game anyway because its probably the longest bowser luigi mario and peach have ever been on the same team

and completely unrelated, the entire premise of luigi being the harbinger of a great world ender is ALWAYS a joy. a fun little recurring gag if you will. like i cant believe this is not the only time he was the vessel for a great evil like what is up with that. every day i think abt that one luigi post abt how he's Doomed By The Narrative TM to be the Evil Twin Brother but he just chooses not to be. never not thinking abt that ever. hes so haunted by like literally everything got separated and brainwashed fought his brother aided in the destruction of the sammer guy world Died went to hell KOed spm satan got revived became GOD then saved the world. and he is some middle aged man in striped socks

MR L. GOD. that fucking guy. hes so lame. i like him so much. his theme goes SO hard in the silliest way imaginable. and i also like how even when he is brainwashed its kinda obvious he still wants mario around (see: brobot, the replacement brother). they fr tapped into luigis need to be useful and used that as is motivation to work for the count. yeowch. mr l to me is just luigi but Lots of parts of him just locked up and forgotten (plus a little minor bit of oh i dont know straight up brain manipulation, nastasia is a force 2 be reckoned with fr) Duno if im making sense here . anyway mr l is so so so hilarious to me because his one liners are so so dumb and i think the gag abt no one recognizing him is FUNNY (EVEN IF i think at least mario SHOULDVE recognized him but WHATEVS).

all of count blecks minions are . SUCH a fun little group. and while dimentio didnt give a fuck about them i still love his dynamic as the court jester whos a little bit of a bitch. the origins of them joining the group are very interesting because ochunks mimi and nastasia had been at their lowest when bleck recruited them and dimentio was like. let me in your emo band. ochunk's warrior code is something i think about a lot. he doesnt got a lot behind the eyes but hes got values he sticks to and i like that a lot in a character. him and mimi do spa days

bleck as a character makes me wanna chew through my walls. in a good way. guys who are slipping and dont want to get back up and bringing everything else down with them are fun and that is all. bonus! he still gets to be Somewhere quiet after the story's over

dimentio has to be my fave of the goons (not counting mr l). not surprising because hes just. so. ...... He is the Way That He Is. his little similes are so stupidly funny for no reason and i think being a Silly Guy and also a Guy With Ulterior Motives are the two funest traits a character can have. His ambiguous past is so interesting like yes bitch hide behind the mask keep cards up your sleeve dont let them know your next move!! something interesting i read somewhere was that. even after luigi the chaos heart and dimentio were separated that there were bits still mixed up between them, linking them not only prophetically but on the atomic level is a headcanon im tucking close into my heart . terrifying as it is super fucking rad !! luigi cannot escape the harbinger of doom allegations

dimentio and luigis entire dynamic is the best thing ever. because dimentio is a goddamn weirdo and luigi is. and i cannot stress this enough. JUST a fucking GUY. luigi is like "ill stop you you ne'er do well!" and dimentio responds with "im killing us both<3ciao!" why does every luigi villain wanna be no children mountain goats with SO BAD. they should keep doing it

god. the way mario is the mc and barely has a role in most of the story other than being The Hero of the Light Prognosticus is both a little annoying and also kinda sick /pos. annoying because mario is one of my faves and i want him to participate in the story more (not really a diss on the writing i just like him) but also kinda sick because . the way everyone in the game talks abt the hero from the prophecy is so. soooooooooooo. god. like everyone in favor of all worlds Not Ending preparing THOUSANDS of CENTURIES in advance just for mario to arrive. Pixls were locked in boxes and hidden away WAITING for him and its like. if he could talk back. i wanna know how he thinks abt all this. because throught the entire story You as the player kinda fuck things up for people in pursuit of the pure hearts. and mario cant rly SAY anything abt it cus its not Really his story, but MAN. what i would give for a little development on his end of the lineup during a few points like 'wilting' king croacus, figuring out squirps is now orphaned because he had to stay alive long enough to help the heros, Luvbis Entire Deal, and figuring out mr l was luigi all along. SIGH

i dont know much about the pixl war, but all of that lore is so cool to look into. ive got like surface level knowledge. even then i only rly care abt the history when im thinking abt the personalities of the pixls themselves. cus like they get their little moment in the spotlight and then they Never speak Again. dottie and cudge and fleep are some of the more memorable ones for me and i wish it was possible to hear more of them. but alas

squirps. :( in my heart. in my heart and soul. bowser takes squirps under his wing. forms an alliance with his kingdom (assuming. squirps takes over from where his mom left off). peach would of course also form an alliance with him. IDK. squirps is the Only One out of every major side character in the game who didnt really get a happy ending. while not everyone NEEDS one i think he deserves one. and in my perfect world he is being guided by two more experienced rulers (bowser isnt doing much in terms of teaching him good diplomacy but he sure as hell is getting him to hang out with kids his age like Jr).

bowser was so funny this whole game. love when evil guys get domesticated a little. thats all about him

PEACH. PRINCESS PEACH. god i love her. the way she was the only person to resist nastasias brainswashing AND her fucking umbrella is the most cracked defense in the World. blowing a kiss to the wind. for peach

ok so i cant think of anything else to say and i havent proofread this. if YOU, dear viewer, love super paper mario i need you to never shut the fuck up ever. there are like 12 of us

[artgletic]

Mimi hot takes

So Mimi is most certainly an enigmatic character in SPM, but is unfortunately overshadowed by the more mysterious Dimentio when it comes to lore discussion. I think there’s plenty to look into when it comes to her however, and I intend to do so here! Discussion under the cut

So really all we have to go off of for Mimi lore is what Carson proposes, which is that she’s either a failed pixl experiment, or the unintended creation of a witch researching shapeshifting potions. I will be real with you, when I first read this I immediately discredited the witch theory due to how out-of-left-field it is. However, I do have a couple things to say on it, but we will have to talk about it later. Let’s investigate the failed-pixl theory. So what do we know about pixls?

Other than the 12 pixls we see ingame, the only bout of pixl lore we get is again from Carson. Here he talks about the pixl war, led by the pixl queen who mind controlled the many pixls to do her bidding and aid in her revolution against the ancients, their creators. During the uprising, the pixl queen successfully overthrew and enslaved the ancients. It’s revealed later on in Carson’s story that the pixl queen was likely the product of the master magician, creator of the 12 original pixls. He created her in an attempt to bring his daughter back to life by placing her soul in the body of a pixl. The pixl queen was so appalled by her fathers actions (that is, robbing pixls of their deaths just to be put into tools to be used), that she wanted to stop it from ever happening again.

The pixl queen was later “vanquished” by one of the master magician’s apprentices, and is heavily implied to be Shadoo, the boss of the flopside pit of 100 trials (see my Dimentio lore post for more on that; I discuss Shadoo in detail there). I suppose the best question to ask would be: what does “vanquish” even mean?

Well, we know that Shadoo is nothing but a cloud of shadow, somewhat reminiscent of a shayde in the Underwhere. If Shadoo is the soul of the pixl queen, what happened to the pixl vessel?

Well, we know that the pixl queen was to be created as a vessel for an ancient’s child. We see many depictions of ancients and ancients’ descendents in-game, one of which is Nastasia. In ‘Of bats and men’, Carson describes the story of a man looking for his lost love saving a bat and the bat transforming into ‘one of his people’ to be with him. This story is all-but-said to be about Nastasia and Count Bleck, a member of the tribe of darkness, which itself is an offshoot of the tribe of ancients. Nastasia has a notably blocky head, thin limbs and beady black eyes (see XXX for Nastasia’s eyes). This is reminiscent of Flipside’s citizens, most notably the children/teenagers,

All of which rather look like Mimi (aside from the noses, but we see Nastasia, a member of the tribe of darkness and as such a more ‘pure-blooded’ ancient, has no nose. None of the sage murals of direct descendants of the ancients have visible noses either. Same argument can be made for these children having no arms and Nastasia having them). It would make sense, considering the pixl vessel was made to house the spirit of the master magician’s daughter who died young. Mimi is clearly an automaton at the very least, as evidenced by the otherwise random gears churning in her head in her spider form. Perhaps her ‘true form’ is what the pixl queen looked like.

Approaching from another angle, the Pixl queen was said to have ‘illusionary powers’ that she used to hide. In my Dimentio post I compared this to Dimentio’s invisibility which he uses to eavesdrop on people, but upon second glance I think this illusionary power would be more akin to turning into something else to hide. Shadoo has no physical form, and their entire boss fight is spent taking on the shape of our four main heroes, Mimi’s most notable power.

I think Mimi doesn’t know this about herself. I think she was probably a vessel that wasn’t supposed to ever wake up, thrown in the garbage along with the other pixls after the events of the pixl uprising, but did. Now she fumbles around in the world trying to find meaning and personhood despite being a vessel for a person who isn’t there. Carson’s information on her states that “Mimi has the ability to mimic any person she wants to... She's so good at it I hear she even sometimes forgets who she is…”. I think it goes deeper than this. I don’t think she has a ‘who’ whatsoever. She just copies what people would expect from her, a teenage girl, hence her almost comical obsession with boys and gems, and forced crush on the count (at least it feels forced to me).

With this in mind, I quite like that Mimi’s first appearance is her imprisoning and usurping the domain of an ancient (or an ancient’s descendant rather), as well as enslaving a population into doing her bidding (the prisoners of Merlee’s mansion), just as the pixl queen did. She’s obviously not aware of this, but from a meta perspective I find it very interesting.

OTHER CONNECTIONS AND IDEAS:

Perhaps Mimi WAS the witch experimenting with shapeshifting? Carson’s theory certainly never said that the witch and her creation were separate entities. Maybe this is what caused the thousand-year delay between the master magician putting his daughter’s soul into a pixl, and the pixl queen’s uprising (stated to be 3,000 and 2,000 years ago respectively). The daughter attempted to be able to unlock shapeshifting, and the product of that skill was the pixl uprising, which led to Mimi. There’s also the fact that Mimi inflicts a curse on Merlee’s mansion, which to me has always felt a little strange given Mimi’s powers and overall vibes. But in this light, ‘cursing’ is definitely a witchy thing to do! Maybe this word choice was meant to evoke the witch idea.

This is more of a linguistic choice and I’m only familiar with the english translation so take it with a grain of salt, but I found it quite odd that the pixl queen was first described as having the “demonic” spirit placed in the pixl vessel. “Demon” just felt like an odd choice of words, especially when there are actual demon characters in the game (D-men in the Underwhere). This connection may be a bit of a stretch, however in the Merlee trivia game at the end of chapter 2, Mimi can be asked a myriad of questions that are likely her honest answers (aside from a couple, like her saying mario is “her type of guy”. This is clearly buttering up the crowd). The answer I’m talking about specifically is one in which she says her favourite animal is a demon. I don’t see how this would convince Mario that she’s the real Merlee, and is likely her just being honest. This is the only other time “demon” is mentioned in the game outside of chapter 7. On a thematic level, it’s interesting to think of what her referring to a demon as a pet could mean. When she was a ‘demon’, she was a pixl. Did ancients treat the pixls like pets? Maybe similar to how we treat roombas (a tool-pet combo)? Mimi likely isn’t aware of this connection and just said the first thing that came to her mind, unaware of its grim origins.