#mario kart lore

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

The Evolution Of The Poltergust

A little cool detail in the Mario series is the evolution of the Poltergust across various games.

In Luigi's Mansion we first see the Poltergust 3000, and later in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga we see the Poltergust 3001 which E. Gadd rides upon. Next in Mario Kart DS the Poltergust 4000 is introduced which is in the form of a car. After this in Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon we skip model onto the Poltergust 5000, and in Luigi's Mansion 3 we get the Poltergust G-00.

I like this attention to detail across games showing the evolution of the Poltergust, it also helps us further confirm these games are canon to each other.

[thepipeplaza]

Fact: Bowser takes part in sporting events, such as Mario Golf and Mario Tennis tournaments, so he can defeat his arch-enemy Mario. Bowser designs his own courses and stadiums to this end.

When he’s not invited, Bowser often attempts to gatecrash the events with his minions.

Source(s):

Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64), Camelot Software Planning website

[seandwalsh]

The culture of Lakitus in the Mario Universe

Lakitus are a species of Koopa that are often seen riding around in clouds with faces, throwing items like Spiny Eggs, Piranha Pods, Hammers or Coins at the people below them and using fishing rods to hold or catch all sorts of things. Many Lakitus work as Bowser's Minions, though we've also seen Lakitu reporters, such as the Lakitu Bros. in Super Mario 64, and the referee Lakitu who runs the Mario Kart tournaments and various other Mario sports events.

While most Koopas are ruled directly by Bowser, the Lakitus have their own ruler, King Lakitu, implying they may be more distant culturally from the others. While King Lakitu and his people clearly serve Bowser in modern day, this may have been an alliance that formed in more recent history.

Throughout various Mario games, the Lakitus are connected to the Chinese-like culture in Mario’s World. In Dragon Driftway from Mario Kart 8, a course with Chinese-style architecture, murals of Lakitus practicing Kung Fu can be seen on the interior.

Lakitu’s name written in Chinese characters ("朱盖木") can be seen on lanterns, signs and murals in Dragon Driftway as well as Dragon Palace, where Koopa Troopas can be seen practicing Kung Fu. Lakitu emblems (depicting a Lakitu's Cloud) and statues of Lakitus practicing Kung Fu are both featured prominently in both Dragon Driftway and Dragon Palace.

A poster for a movie called “Kung Fu Lakitu” with the subtitle “Dragon Driftway The Movie” can also be seen in GBA Ribbon Road.

Dragon Driftway appears to have been built in the image of an ancestor of Gobblegut, from Super Mario Galaxy 2, which had four limbs. Gold and silver statues resembling a version of this this Gobblegut ancestor, with a shorter body and "whiskers" resembling those on Draggadon, can be found in the courtyard of Dragon Palace.

This civilisation may also have built Pagoda Peak, which features Chinese-like architecture and a large green dragon structure with orange horns, very similar to Gobblegut. Pagoda Peak is said to be 4000 years old and is inhabited by Kung Fu Koopas and the Koopa Master. Perhaps the Koopa Troopas seen training in Dragon Palace will go on to become Kung Fu Koopas.

Glitzville from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an “exotic” floating city with Chinese-style architecture, presumably modelled after a different region.

The city is named “Oolong Town” (ウーロン街) in Japanese after Chinese oolong tea. Glitzville is inhabited by many Lakitus, with both guests and local reporters being members of the Lakitu species.

At least a quarter of the Glitz Pit audience is comprised of Lakitus. Perhaps the sky-high location and cultural theming make it a popular draw for Lakitus in the region.

In Super Mario Land, the bosses faced in the Birabuto Kingdom, Muda Kingdom and Easton Kingdom are depicted as the leaders of a specific faction of enemies faced earlier in their respective kingdoms.

The boss of the Chai Kingdom, Biokinton, initially appears to be an exception to this, not bearing a resemblance to any enemies faced in the Chai Kingdom. Biokinton is described as shy and said to be hiding in a cloud which resembles a Lakitu’s Cloud. Rocketons are airplanes piloted by "soldier guards" faced by Mario immediately before Biokinton.

These guards strongly resemble Lakitus with their yellow skin, goggles and short, round noses. They may have a connection to Biokinton given their close proximity and matching name endings in both English and Japanese. “Biokinton” (パオキントン), “Rocketon” (ロケトン).

Perhaps Dragon Driftway, Dragon Palace and Pagoda Peak are actually in the Chai Kingdom, and with the alliance between King Lakitu's and Bowser's families centuries ago, Koopa Troopas began training in Kung Fu and Lakitus began serving in the Koopa Kingdom army.

Thank you to Sophie of @cartographers-office for pointing out the resemblance between Lakitus and the Rocketon pilots, this has been a fun one!

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

Did...did Rosalina make Rainbow Road?

OK so Super Mario Party Jamboree is the newest Mario Party game (at the time of this post releasing) and there are these character-themed minigames called Showdown Minigames. Rosalina's one of the 10 characters who has one, it's called Rosalina's Radical Race, and the first section involves snowboarding, nothing too weird. But then there's the second portion of the minigame, and UH-

DID SHE MAKE THE MOST ICONIC MARIO KART COURSE IN HISTORY?

I mean...it certainly looks like it!

They even play what I'm pretty sure are four notes from Rainbow Road's first theme (sped up) once the players reach the second part of the race.

I saw someone else in the comment section of a now deleted video (Nintendo works fast) claim that the music at the start of the snowboarding portion of Rosalina's Radical Race sounds like the music for Double Dash's Rainbow Road. I didn't catch that on my first listen (I've never played Double Dash, alright?) Look up the clip if you're interested, do you hear it?

But anyway, back to the lore implications.

You know, this makes some things retroactively make a lot more sense, like her reveal trailer for Smash taking place on Rainbow Road:

Even going all the way back to Mario Kart Wii, it would explain its version of Rainbow Road being heavily influenced by Super Mario Galaxy (other than, you know, cross-promotional synergy). It has Star Bits, a Launch Star cannon, both its course staff ghosts use Rosalina, it uses Good Egg Galaxy's theme as a countermelody underneath its own main melody, etc.:

So has Rainbow Road just...ALWAYS been hers? This whole time?

She did that?

That was her?

If so...

Iconic. I have no notes.

[king-k-ripple]

Guys, I have a theory.

So here’s Mr. L from Paper Mario:

Now let’s take a look at the box art of Mario Kart Double Dash:

“Luigi” on Mario Kart Double Dash’s box art is secretly Mr. L / The Green Thunder!

[feyd-rautha-apologist]

Oh damn so we got Tomb Kings in MtG now? Sick

[nightsandreala]

nights fans don’t discuss this enough

[happi-dreams]

Not smiling critters but — redraws of some old old ocs! :D

( plus the old drawing of them under cut ,, god its so so old.. )

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Why is the red underline missing underline missing under LWJ's and XL's names in the mario kart comic? /gen q /love your stuff /have a nice day

Truthful Answer: I forgot to ink it and didn't want to rescan the comic.

Funny Answer: They never finished the course.

(post for context)

[lilearf]

message me for prints & tapestries of this !! (:

˖˚⊹☠️͓̊✞˖֒∿͛🖤͚✰₊👑⋄˙⦁

[babyevenfromgovacation]

-Character : Baby Even

-Name : Baby Even

-Age : 12

-Gender : Boy

-Personality : Scary, Nice but Calm

-Sexuality : Gay & Straight

-Best Friends : Ashley Ice, Waluigi, Baby Draco & Baby Lukas

-Fav. Games : Pikmin Bloom, Mario Sports Mix, Mario and Sonic at the 2012 Olympic Games, Go Vacation, Mario Kart Tour & More

-Likes : Being Cling by anyone else

-Hates : Bullying

-Species : Werewolf, Human & Mii

-Mii Colour : Light Blue

-Fav. Character from Games : Ness and Lucas from Earthbound, Waluigi from Super Mario, Nugget from kindergarten game & Baby Even from Go Vacation with mii player

-Fear : Spiders

-Fav. Sports : Tennis & Sword fight

-Fav. Movie : Inside Out 2

-Fav. Alphabet Lore Character : F & N

-Fav. Ships : F X N, A X M & Nugget X Baby Even

-Fav. Creepypasta Character : Ben Drowned

-Irl name : Ashley

-Fav. Youtuber : @joeycuties aka Joey Cuties

-Fav. TV video game : Wii Party, Go Vacation & Mario Sports Mix

-Fav. Japan Idol Team Name : Naniwa Danshi

-Fav. Japan Idol : Michieda Shunsuke

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

The Mario Movie Is Not Canon To The Games P2

Part 1

Now for other things that are extra details that separate the movies from the games.

Toad a close friend of Peach and member of the Mushroom Council in the games has not meet Peach in the movies. Toad is also dressed more like Captain Toad which is a separate character in the games.

Super Star is treated as a rare object that must be heavily guarded in the movie. While in the games they are extremely abundant even used without a care in Party events or part of a special move in SMRPG. In addition their more Power counterparts which Bowser usually goes after are also still pretty abundant. With Power Moons which are Power Stars in another shape being extremely common. Honestly the way the Super Star is treated in the movie is more like the Star Rod.

Fire Flowers are merely touched in the movie while they are established to be eaten in games.

Mario hates mushrooms in the movie while in the games has loved them since he was little.

Mario uses a Cat Suit in the movie while he didn't get this Power-Up until the events of Super Mario 3D World.

Pauline is the mayor of New Donk City. While in the games Mario was dating Pauline and it's implied she hadn't become Mayor yet.

Kamek acts more like a yesman with Bowser never questioning him. In Bowser has been shown to question others to insure his plan goes off right, and Kamek is acting more like Kammy Koopa in the movie. Kamke isn't really a yesman and often advises Bowser, which has even lead to arguments between the 2.

Foreman Spike end sup on good terms and cheering for Mario and Luigi by the end of the movie. However, in the games Spike doesn't see Mario in a better light until after Wrecking Crew 98.

Karts in the movie are the modern karts while in the games at this point they only had pipe frame karts. The anti gravity can also go atop water in the movie unlike the games.

Rainbow Road breaks due to a Blue Shell in the movie, which never happens in game.

Speaking Blue shells. The Blue Spiked Shelled Paratroopa in the movie is not a thing in the games. In games Blue Koopa Troopas aren't the highest rank and if anything it Gold Shells would be a rank above. But regardless it's actually the Koopatrol that are the elite Koopa Troopas. Adding on to that, the Blue Shell is not a Koopa Troopa Shell in the games but rather a Spiny Shell. They also didn't look this at this point in the timeline.

Fire Donkey Kong in the movie doesn't look like his game version.

Super Bell Trees don't show up in the Mushroom Kingdom but rather the Sprixie Kingdom. The same goes for the Clear Pipes.

Peach's Castle already has a stain glass window, while in the games it's established this was added due to Bowser's constant invasions.

Toad Guards in the movies are far more effective than they are in the games.

King Boo and his Boos were probably not working for Bowser at this time and it would be until future entries would they work together. The same goes for King Bob-omb and his Bob-ombs, who also doesn't have a fuse in the games.

Dry Bones and Chain Chomps were not part of Bowser's Army in SMB and wouldn't join until SMB3.

Koopa Troopas unlike in the movie were not wielding spears and wearing armor in the early games. The majority of them were also quadrupled in the games until Super Mario World when they finally went bipedal. While in the movie they are all bipedal. The same goes for Paratroopas. Peach also mentions all turtles being evil in the movie, while this is far from the case in the games. As evident by Koopa Village which is part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

The majority of Hammer Bros. in the early games didn't have shoes early on while in the movie they do have shoes

While Shy Guys were part of Bowser's Army at this point, they were not part of the events of SMB.

Bramballs are in the Grasslands instead of Jungle Biomes.

Lakitus which are major members of Bowser's army which show up in SMB are absent from the movie. Bloopers and Cheep Cheeps some more major minions of Bowser are also absent from Bowser's army in the movie. Both of the enemies show up in SMB as well.

The Adult Penguins in the movie are closer to the size of Baby Penguins in the games. They are also inhabiting the Snow Kingdom in movie which should actually be inhabited by the Shiverians. In the games the Penguins are primarily found in around places like Cool Cool Mountain which is part of the Mushroom Kingdom and not too far away from the Grasslands.

Speaking of locations, the map from the movie looks nothing like the one from games. The continent the Mushroom Kingdom is on seems to only have Grasslands and not the Eastern or Western side of this Kingdom, places like the Beanbean Kingdom, and more on it. Which includes the Koopa Kingdom as well. It also has a different shape from the Mushroom Continent. Mario, Peach, and Toad also go to Yoshi's Island which the Bros. and Peach did not go to until the events of Super Mario World in the games. Yoshi's also seems to lack the surrounding area of Dinosaur Land, let alone isn't in the Cheep Cheep Sea which located in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Also, we see a Yoshi egg in the sewers of New York in the end credits and is implied to be Mario Buddy Yoshi. However, Mario's buddy Yoshi is the Star Child Yoshi and hatched on Yoshi's Island probably during the events of Yoshi Story. They also first met during the events of Super Mario World when Bowser trapped Yoshi and his friends in eggs probably because of an previous encounter.

So yeah, I think with all that being said it should be clear now the Movie cannot be canon to the Canon of Mario Tales.

[thepipeplaza]

Fact: King Boo is the king of the Boos and one of Bowser’s minions. He’s much larger than other Boos, whom he holds dear.

He periodically attempts to capture Mario and Luigi and plots to rule their world. After being defeated by Luigi several times they have become arch-enemies.

[seandwalsh]

Where do the characters get the stuff they use In the Mario Kart Games from? And did the characters design the tracks that have their names?

I’m not quite sure what stuff you’re specifically referring to, but regardless, the answer is quite complicated. Assuming you’re talking about Karts and Items, the answer is “various places”.

Back in Super Mario Kart, while Mario was likely the one who organised, funded or at least initially proposed the event, Lakitu was the coordinator of the event, and ran the tracks. In the beginning they had more conservative rules surrounding the vehicles in use on the courses:

Hi everybody! Thanks for dropping by the Super Mario Kart race track. My name is Lakitu, I run this track. If you need my help, I'll be around. We race one seater, metal pipe frame go carts here. There are two engine sizes to choose from: 50cc or 100cc.

[Source: INTRODUCTION, Page 2, Instruction Booklet of Super Mario Kart, September 1992]

Mario Kart stated out a a fun recreational event with a handful of trophies. That’s the main reason the characters take part, and it has been the reason since the very beginning, in Super Mario Kart. Each one of the characters is competing due to their connection to Mario.

An adorable little kart racetrack has been built in the Mario world! Mario and his happy-go-lucky friends have gotten so enthusiastic about kart racing that they're already causing a ruckus! Even now, they're smack in the middle of a race! Let's take a quick peek at how it's going, shall we? Oh, it's just about to start! Even the usually cute characters look a little tense. Let's watch Mario and friends fight hard!

[Source: Intro, Japanese Store Promo for Super Mario Kart, August 1992]

However, in the years since it has become the Mushroom Kingdom’s premiere racing event and grown significantly. Racers from various Kingdoms take part resulting in an incredibly diverse audience. Mario Kart now has dozens of sponsors for each Grand Prix, extended tournaments, its own television network, branded tracks and inter-dimensional courses and guest racers.

Mario Kart 64 was the first major step in this direction, but Mario Kart: Double Dash!! brought things even further. From its manual:

THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM’S PREMIER RACING EVENT IS BACK! HOWEVER, THERE’S BEEN ONE MAJOR CHANGE TO THE RULES OF THE ROAD… THERE ARE NOW TWO RIDERS PER KART! NOW, RIDERS FROM THROUGHOUT THE LAND HAVE COME TOGETHER NO TEST THEIR DRIVING SKILLS. WHICH PAIR WILL PROVE THE FASTEST?

[Source: The Double Dash Grand Prix!, Page 6, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, November 2003]

When Mario Kart started out, standard Pipe Frames were the only legal builds for the Mario GP. These models were likely built by Mario and his friends themselves.

However, with Mario Kart: Double Dash!! the Pipe Frames were retired in favour of a variety of Karts. Many of these karts were custom-made or modified pre-existing cars. Take Luigi's kart of choice in Mario Kart DS, for example: the Poltergust 4000. This Kart is part of the Poltergust series, a line of inventions created by Professor E. Gadd.

Another pair of examples are the Wario Car, which Wario makes use of in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, and the Wario Bike, which Wario makes use of in Mario Kart Wii. These are Wario's personal car and bike, which he uses in the Wario Land and WarioWare titles, and both were built by Wario's friend Dr. Crygor:

I AM DR. CRYGOR, THE GENIUS SCHOLAR. OTHERS HAVE SAID A "DANGEROUS" SCHOLAR, BUT I PAY NO MIND TO THEIR OPINIONS. MY LABORATORY IS SET UP TO FURTHER MY EXPERIMENTS IN REALITY GAMES. FEEL FREE TO STOP BY AND CONTRIBUTE TO MY RESEARCH. IT IS QUITE FUN. DID YOU KNOW THAT I WAS THE ONE WHO CREATED WARIO'S CAR? WHAT? YOU DO NOT KNOW? DO YOUR RESEARCH!

[Source: The Laboratory Authority - Dr. Crygor, Page 21, Instruction Booklet of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, May 2003]

This odd genius lives in seclusion. He built Wario’s bike. Mona’s moped, Kat’s sword, and Jimmy’s cell phone. He wears a cryogenic suit that doesn’t protect his head.

[Source: Dr. Crygor's character profile, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!, April 2004]

The Standard Kart series of builds was then introduced as a replacement for the Pipe Frame in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 and carried into tournaments from Mario Kart DS onwards. As a result of this, in later tournaments, custom or pre-existing vehicles were allowed to enter the tournament upon being modified to be legal for the Grand Prix. The Pipe Frames did eventually return in tournaments from Mario Kart 7 onwards, which featured more in-depth kart customisation.

Speaking of which, the Mario Kart events are sponsored by other brands Mario owns, such as Mario Motors, Mario Star, etc. These sponsors, as well as the many others not otherwise connected to Mario, likely fund the events and even provide them with parts and supplies.

It stands to reason that Mushroom Piston Engines provides engines, Fuzzy Battery provides batteries, Bob-omb Plugs provides spark plugs, Dream Gliders provides gliders, 1-Up Fuel provides fuel, Bowser Oil provides oil, 100% Organic Antifreeze provides antifreeze, etc.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 makes reference to a Grand Prix Committee, which sends letters to Cup winners to invite them to the Cup’s special Challenge stage. Their letters are closed with an “M” stamped seal. This would imply Mario is at least on this committee, if not the head of it. This is presumably the committee that organises the events and decides which participants to invite, what items will be used, etc.

As mentioned previously, all of the participants either know Mario directly or have connections to people who know Mario. The Super Mario Kart manual seems to call attention to how each of the participant racers connect to Mario specifically.

MARIO & LUIGI The Mario Brothers have pretty much the same abilities in cart driving. Mario and Luigi have had a friendly rivalry that goes back to their childhood.

[Source: THE 8 CART DRIVERS, Page 21, Instruction Booklet of Super Mario Kart, September 1992]

PRINCESS & YOSHI At first, you might think that The Princess and Yoshi would have nothing in common (except their fondness for Mario).

[Source: THE 8 CART DRIVERS, Page 22, Instruction Booklet of Super Mario Kart, September 1992]

BOWSER & DONKEY KONG JR. These two drivers have long been Mario's arch enemies.

[Source: THE 8 CART DRIVERS, Page 23, Instruction Booklet of Super Mario Kart, September 1992]

While Toad and Koopa Troopa's descriptions don't specifically connect them to Mario, Toad is of course a long-time friend of Mario and servant to Peach, while Koopa Troopa is a minion of Bowser:

Usually a faithful underling of Bowser, [Koopa Troopa] shows even the big boss no mercy during a race.

[Source: Characters and Special Items, Page 20, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, November 2003]

Koopa Troopa, of the Turtle Tribe. Usually one of Bowser's minions, but as far as races go, it's a different story!?

[Source: Characters, Mario Kart Wii, Nintendo Co., Ltd. website]

In short, Mario is what brings them all together - and in turn they each bring their own special items. The iconic Banana Peels thrown by racers in the Mario Kart series are actually from the Kong's Banana Hoard on Donkey Kong Island, having originally been brought to the races by Donkey Kong Jr. back in Super Mario Kart:

Because of Donkey Kong Jr.! He likes bananas, and the peels are slippery, so they got the okay.

[Source: Tadashi Sugiyama, Director and C.G. Designer of Super Mario Kart, Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES developer interview – Volume 4: Super Mario Kart, September 2017]

In the original game, the only CPU-controlled character who throws banana peels is Donkey Kong Jr., which was a way to characterise the characters.

[Source: Hideki Konno, Director of Super Mario Kart, Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES developer interview – Volume 4: Super Mario Kart, September 2017]

Despite Donkey Kong Jr. not appearing in tournaments after Super Mario Kart, it seems his son, the current Donkey Kong, continued to supply Bananas from Mario Kart 64 onwards. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong even brought along some Giant Bananas in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart: Arcade GP 2 and Mario Kart Tour:

Special Item GIANT BANANA Only DK and Diddy know where these monstrous fruit can be found.

[Source: Characters and Special Items, Page 19, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, November 2003] From this we can speculate about the origins of other items. Shells are common clothing/armour worn by Koopas, but seeing as the shells in Mario Kart are standard Koopa Troopa Shells, it stands to reason that the Koopa Troopa racer or perhaps Bowser brought the Red Shells and Green Shells originally used in Super Mario Kart.

These shells are worn by Koopa Troopas, both within and outside of Bowser's Army. We can even see one of Bowser's Airships in Super Mario Galaxy equipped with a shell dispenser:

The Green Shells and Red Shells even function how you'd expect - with Green Shells flying straight forward and Red Shells heading towards the nearest target!

However, with the expansion of Mario Kart in later titles the shells, which are mass-produced, appear to be provided by a company, with sponsors for "Green Shell Strike Equipment" and "Red Shell Strike Equipment" making appearances:

Koopa Troopa and Koopa Paratroopa seem to have their own supply in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!:

Special Items TRIPLE SHELLS (GREEN / RED) Don't let Koopa and Paratroopa worry about not having enough shells.

[Source: Characters and Special Items, Page 20, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, November 2003]

Bowser also provides his own shells for the tournaments in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart: Arcade GP 2 and Mario Kart Tour:

Bowser's Shell This big ol' shell on loan from Bowser will crash any karts it hits and keep on going. It can only be thrown forward.

[Source: Items, Tips and Tricks, Mario Kart Tour, September 2019]

On the topic of items, Super Mario Kart used ? Panels to dispense its items. These panels are likely made by the same people in the Mushroom Kingdom who make ? Blocks. While they weren't used in later Mario Kart tournaments, they have still made a few other appearances since, such as in Mario Party 9.

From the Mario Kart 64 Mario GP onwards the ? Panels were replaced with the iconic Item Boxes, which were likely much more convenient for transportation and addition to the racetracks. But it wasn't until Mario Kart Wii where we actually learned where these come from, through the course Toad's Factory.

This is actually the Item Box Factory, as we can see not only from the trackside banners with the Item Box logo and giant sign of Toad with an Item Box, but from the shipping containers with items ready to go into the Item Boxes:

Inside the factory, we can even see the process of how Item Boxes are made. The Items are put inside standard Brick Blocks, before the Brick Blocks are placed on a conveyor belt with stamps of some sort. These stamps appear to be filled with some sort of magical rainbow liquid, likely sourced from Power Stars, which transforms the Brick Blocks into the Item Boxes, giving them their translucent rainbow appearance and their ability to float:

Circling back to the Kongs for a moment, Funky Kong is actually the one responsible for the construction of the DK Barrel Cannons featured prominently throughout Mario Kart courses.

We learn this when Donkey Kong mentions Funky in the context of their creation in Mario Super Sluggers:

Oooook! (Looks like Funky Kong has been busy.)

[Source: Donkey Kong, Best Friend of Funky Kong, Playable Character in Mario Super Sluggers, August 2008]

This isn't all too surprising though, given Funky Kong's previous barrel-based mechanic work and his appearances in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart Tour, as well as the barrel-inspired Funky Stadium which he presumably also built:

Speaking of which, it's about time I discuss the stadiums, circuits and other courses and where they came from!

Mario is world-famous and incredibly wealthy from his adventures, businesses and sports stardom. Multiple of the circuits in the games are also clearly built by him or at least in honour of him. He‘s the only character with actual circuits named after him in Super Mario Kart:

State-of-the-art racetracks in the Mario world that are rich in variety. The effectiveness of the pipe obstacles is the key.

[Source: Mario Circuit's description, Japanese Store Promo for Super Mario Kart, August 1992]

Mario Circuits have also been described as the primary circuits of their respective Grand Prix:

Mario Circuit This is the main circuit in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Familiar denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom can be spotted here and there. The road's filled with curves, so this is a good place to practice drifting.

[Source: Courses, Page 31, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, November 2003]

It stands to reason that most characters had a hand in designing the tracks that bear their names. In fact we know that's the case for several courses, such as N64 Wario Stadium:

That rascal Wario was in charge of the design and construction of this course. A fan of motocross races, he brought in major amounts of sand to fill this huge stadium in an attempt to build a course more suitable to bikes than Karts. Each lap's distance is extremely long, making it difficult to stay concentrated on the race.

[Source: MARIO KART 64 COURSE MAPS, Page 30, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart 64, February 1997]

Meanwhile the Bowser's Castle courses are modified from or otherwise based on the real Bowser's Castle:

Surprisingly, the Bowser's Castle has been transformed into a race ground! Because it's inside the building, most of the corners are tricky right angles. However, the most difficult part of the course is where the Thwomps are. They will block your path, and if you run into one, you will spin out. Should you be stepped by one, you'll find yourself squished flat as a pancake.

[Source: MARIO KART 64 COURSE MAPS, Page 31, Instruction Booklet of Mario Kart 64, February 1997]

Bowser typically designs his courses with the help of his minions to be filled with traps in the hopes of beating Mario. This goes beyond the Mario Kart tracks and also applies to his Tennis Courts, Golf Courses, etc.:

Lord Bowser designed his course to defeat Mario, so it’s kinda full of lava and bombs and stuff like that.

[Source: Spiny, Minion of Bowser, Non-player Character in Mario Golf: Super Rush, June 2021]

Bowser enlisted his minions to create this course in hopes of defeating Mario with all the traps and hazards.

[Source: Koopa Troopa, Minion of Bowser, Non-player Character in Mario Golf: Super Rush, June 2021]

However, this isn't universally the case. For example, Peach Beach is merely Princess Peach's favourite beach resort in the Southern Isles, while Toad's Turnpike is on a public road in Toad City!

I could go on and on about the Mario Kart series and the depth to its worldbuilding, but I think that's quite enough for today. Thank you for reading!

[galactic-glamour-girl-posts]

OK but...WHY did Rosalina make Rainbow Road?

Not long ago I made a post about how Super Mario Party Jamboree seems to imply that Rosalina made Rainbow Road:

But that just raises many questions:

Why?

If all versions of Rainbow Road are variations of the same one, why does it look different every time it makes a reappearance? Does Rosalina modify it or does it change whilst she's not around?

If they are different Rainbow Roads, why does she keep making them?

How could Mario have met Rosalina for the first time in Galaxy 1 if he had been racing on a road she had created for years? Assuming Mario Kart is canon to mainline Mario, which... is unlikely, ngl.

I'm gonna try and answer all of these because overthinking the lore behind my comfort characters makes my brain produce the happy juices 🥰

OK, so first off...why?

Rosalina explains in Galaxy 1 that she visits Earth every 100 years:

But we've never seen her park the Comet Observatory on Earth, not just in Galaxy but in any Mario media (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong). I'm not sure if she's even able to park it, it may be able to function like a starship, but it's also a space station, maybe it doesn't work that way. Either way, I'm pretty sure we've only every seen it in the sky. The closest Rosalina has ever gotten to Earth (in the mainline games, unless you wanna count 3D World) was using the portal through the Gate to get to Gateway Galaxy:

You could assume that maybe she meant that they fly by the planet, but her story book would have you believe otherwise:

So how does she get to Earth?

By using Rainbow Road!

Maybe this is how it goes: once she gets to Gateway Galaxy (or maybe she doesn't bother and just flies the Comet Observatory within close range of Earth), she creates Rainbow Road, and walks along it to get to Earth. Once her visit is over, maybe she leaves Rainbow Road behind in case others wish to use it, and she leaves.

Why doesn't she fly down to Earth herself? Um...

Nostalgia...?

Walking reminds her of and reconnects her to her childhood, humanity and earthly roots?

Yeah.

Yeah!

See, she even walks at the end of Galaxy at the end of her visit to Earth and only starts flying once she returns to the Comet Observatory, showing that she is both figuratively and physically re-embracing her role as a cosmic guardian:

Totally viable explanation, clearly this headcanon is watertight.

Anyway...

So let's suppose that Mario and pals find Rainbow Road one day (by using a telescope, during an adventure, it doesn't really matter how) and, being the completely sane people they are, unanimously decide to race on it.

So yeah, that's my theory - Rosalina made Rainbow Road to walk to Earth on her centennial visits...but there's the problem: centennial. As in, once every 100 years. If there's a new version of it in every Mario Kart, do 100 years pass between every game? That can't be right, Mario and the most of the cast aren't immortal, so what gives?

Well...remember that cycle she mentions in Galaxy 1:

She explains that when stars die, they turn into star dust that scatters across the cosmos, which then reforms into baby stars, baby stars who will grow up into stars. She calls this "the cycle of life". However, keep in mind that baby stars (Lumas) can also turn into comets, entire galaxies, etc. We see the result of the most recent iteration of the universe's cycle directly in Galaxy 1's ending, where Mario welcomes the newly reconstructed universe.

The universe repeats a cycle of rebirth indefinitely, but the cycle never repeats itself in the exact same way; every iteration is at least a little different...

...sound familiar?

What if every version of Rainbow Road we see in Mario Kart is the version she creates in that specific iteration of the universe? Hence why none of them are "quite the same". It would also explain why Mario, Peach and the rest are still alive despite a new road being made - the Mario in, lets say, Super Mario Kart, is not the exact same Mario in Mario Kart 64, and so on and so forth. Sure, to Rosalina it's been another 100 years, but to them, they don't remember the previous versions of the universe. Either that or the cast are preserved (or revert to a younger age, maybe?) after each cycle, like at the end of Super Mario Galaxy.

Speaking of, the fact that we still have discussions surrounding the lore of both it and Rosalina is just another reason why they both continue to be some of the best things to come out of this franchise, even 17 years later.

Happy anniversary!

****BONUS****

Here's more potential "Rosalina created Rainbow Road" foreshadowing that I missed last time I talked about this:

I'm just saying, Nintendo associates her with Rainbow Road a lot, it almost seems like they've been trying to imply she owns it since the Wii era...

Or maybe it's as simple as "Rainbow Road is the popular space track, so let's make the popular space princess its mascot." 🤷🏾‍♀️

[rabbit-masks]

Small ramble but I can't believe I'm hitting 2 years of Vtubing soon!

I'll have my final stream of the year this Sunday 10! Celebrating my 2nd debut anniversary! I'll post more details soon of the many games we'll play and things I need to talk about with you guys!