Though the internet can make fandom conspiracies and breakdowns feel like a brand-new and remarkably intense art form, fans have been overanalyzing their favorite media for forever. This includes the patently cartoony world of Mario, where a plumber riding a dinosaur must outsmart legions of winged turtles and sentient mushrooms who serve a fire-breathing tortoise, all in order to save a princess. And so, after decades of speculation about how Mario was born, Toad’s anatomy, and Peach’s relationship status, Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi sat down to clear up some of Mario fandom’s pressing questions.
Is Toad’s head a hat or a head?
“So that, as it turns out, is actually Toad’s head. I’m going to have to leave it to all of you to figure out exactly how that works out. Maybe there’s something inside…”
Why does Mario have nipples, but no belly button?
“Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really expect that to be a topic among fans. Once I heard that people were talking so much about Mario’s belly button, it made me start to think about whether we should revisit the topic on the design side.”
(This incredibly random discussion over whether Mario is indeed “of woman born,” or instead the Macduff of the video game world, has been one of my Top 10 favorite ridiculous internet debates, so I was personally very excited this question got asked.)
Can you describe Mario’s relationship with Peach, and now, Pauline?
“I would appreciate it if we could respect the privacy of those 3 at this time.”
In the video, Koizumi also answers a number of questions about the game design, the development process, and his and his team’s personal high scores. But I came here for the esoteric world-building questions, not the realities of working on an iconic video game franchise.
Did Koizumi miss any of your pressing questions about the Mario universe?
(Via Polygon; image: screengrab)
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