Why are most of the supporting characters in Super Mario Odyssey scaredy cats?

R

Rin Nelek

Goomba
To be more precise, many of the supporting characters in this game will cower if enemies get too close to them, regardless whether Mario has captured the enemy in question or not. Even harmless "enemies", such as Coin Coffers and Moe-Eyes, will scare the wits out of these "poor and defenseless" beings. This made me wonder: are these guys actually just toddlers in adult bodies?

Some of the Power Moons don't fare well in this weird issue. Two of them require you to bring a captured enemy and flat out scare away the Power Moon's guardian. Two others involve you capturing a Fire Bro to light some firewood (Wooded Kingdom) and a lantern (Luncheon Kingdom) for a Volbonan. However, even if you successfully get the job done, these ungrateful Volbonans will cower at the Fire Bro. :mad:

Only some of the supporting characters (like the Sphynx, Koopa Troopas, and Fishin' Lakitus) will treat the enemies Mario captures (or if they get too close in Fishin' Lakitu's case) like they're bothering them. Additionally, the dog and the enemies are the only ones who can identify Mario if he captures an enemy, although most of the supporting characters apparently can't tell the difference between regular enemies and those that sprout Mario's hat, blue eyes, and mustache.

Overall, if this is supposed to be funny and/or cute, it doesn't work because it's drastically unnatural. If it's supposed to be dramatic, it falls flat, because the enemies themselves aren't even particularly threatening (I'm looking at you, Goombas). What are your thoughts on this glaring aspect of Super Mario Odyssey? How would you want the supporting characters to react if Mario brings a captured enemy to them?
 
While it's a touch I don't really like all that much, and it's also pretty racist seeing as some of them might not necessarily be from Bowser's army just because they belong to an enemy species, ...

Actually yeah, I don't like that. There's just something about it I don't really like, even if it's called attention to detail.
 
"And thus, Mario was killed. Stomped by a Toad that wasn't afraid of a Goomba but didn't know it was actually Mario"
 
Ignoring the fact that they should be able to tell that the enemy has unusual Mario-like features, I don't see why they wouldn't be scared of an enemy. It's like if a wolf or bear suddenly started walking towards you (of course, you'd try to get away in real life but that's beside the point).
 
Czario said:
Ignoring the fact that they should be able to tell that the enemy has unusual Mario-like features, I don't see why they wouldn't be scared of an enemy. It's like if a wolf or bear suddenly started walking towards you (of course, you'd try to get away in real life but that's beside the point).
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Except some enemy species have proven to have some peaceful members.

It clashes with that, if you know what I mean. Isn't it wrong to assume a Goomba is bad just because it's a Goomba?
 
I guess that's true, but perhaps all the races we see have never seen a friendly Goomba and have only seen these hostile ones. For example, if there have never been Goombas in Bonneton before when suddenly Bowser attacks bringing hostile Goombas with him, you can't really blame a Bonneter for being scared of them, can you?
 
Yeah I guess.
Still irks me though.
 
Lucario said:
...it's also pretty racist seeing as some of them might not necessarily be from Bowser's army just because they belong to an enemy species...
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Yikes! Seems like the supporting characters' cultures are seriously messed up. :eek:
 
Northern Verve said:
"And thus, Mario was killed. Stomped by a Toad that wasn't afraid of a Goomba but didn't know it was actually Mario"
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That already happened in 3D World, except in that case, Toad threw a shell at Mario. :(
 
Cheeze said:
It's really weird seeing Peach get scared after being so good and fearless in 3D World.
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Unfortunately, Luigi fits the same bill as well. Granted, he did get spooked by Mario in his Boo form in Super Mario Galaxy (even though he retained his cap and facial features), but that's only because Mario looked too much like a real Boo. Here, though, it's just ridiculous. :mad:
 
It's just a silly joke thing. Don't think about it so much.
 
Mcmadness said:
It's just a silly joke thing. Don't think about it so much.
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Unfortunately, the "nearly everyone's a coward" aspect is always going to be too much of an eyesore to overlook. I would've preferred that the supporting characters would treat most of the enemies Mario captures in a nonchalant, albeit slightly less beneficial manner (since Mario himself needs to participate in certain events to obtain Power Moons anyway).

However, I would've wanted supporting characters to disappear in fear (like Goombette) when Mario captures certain enemies, such as T-Rexes, Sherms, and Chain Chomps, since these guys would actually be major threats (in the game, the supporting characters just stand there and cower). I would've also liked to see Mario actually getting scared by these menaces (unfortunately, Mario's generally one-dimensional; he who feels more like a player's avatar than a distinctive character).
 
Mario can experience fear, he just doesn't fear enemies. I don't see why he should start cowering when he has never really done so, when that's something you'd expect from Luigi, and I've never really seen any other platformer protagonist experience much fear from normal enemies (and it's not like Luigi behaves differently either in the platformers). Perhaps Mario can go into a fighting stance, when he spots an aggro'd enemy, similar to how he dances next to a radio player. What would make Mario stand out as his own character would maybe give him dialogue of his own? Hell, maybe make it like Luigi's Mansion, where can invite personal commentary on strange objects (or have some dialogue with Cappy; "Don't stare at the sun!" "It's not hurting my eyes, relax". Cappy shouldn't talk for him either when he dies, they both should yell something. Finally, Mario should've made his own noises in captured form, not just in the cutscene where he captures a frog. That's so jarring.

Anyhow, maybe instead of disappearing in fear, I'd like to see supporting characters go nuts like run stupidly in a circle while screaming. But overall, how these characters react to Mario isn't much of a priority the developers put in, and I think recoiling in fear from enemies seems to be the only reaction I'm expecting from them and I don't feel that bothering that it's their only reaction save for a weird few who are fascinated with monsters.
 
At least the Koopa Racer isn't scared. He just says "I don't have time to deal with this!". Clearly because he's also an enemy in other games.
 
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