Your take on fairy-like companions?

Dorayaki

Dorayaki

King Bowser
Mascots.jpg


It comes to my mind that, altho quite many one-off characters in series history were outstanding heroes or partners, some specific part of them are the helpers of the regular Mario heroes aka typical fairy mascot in fantasy-themed videogames.

But this results in the odd situation: this franchise doesn't really have a recurring mascot character. Yes, we may describe Yoshi as the friendly "mascot" of the franchise (who is the only non-humanoid positive regular character along with Birdo), but Yoshi also acts as own hero in most time.

There are exceptions, but each one is somehow arguable:

*Luma: probably the most active mascot character in main canon since it still appear in recent games, but arguably not quite treated well since it doesn't accompany Rosalina in every single spin-off she's in. It also feels not quite like a proper acknowledgement to Rosalina's parenthood, which is a very important trait to her.

*Squawks: also one of the most mentioned mascot animal in the main canon, but cannot say Nintendo really care enough to highlight him in most occasion when Donkey Kong stars, at least definitely not as exposed as Luma.

*Starlow: notably the only RPG-oriented character that accompanied Mario throughout several adventures. But while we don't know whether she'd return to upcoming Brothership story, her obvious problem is being exclusive to M&L game only despite in game she's described to be a regular assistant in most of Mario's adventures.

So the remaining fairy buddies are mostly used to be staples for each game and not allowed to stay in more games. One convincing reason is, some of them give Mario special powers that cannot be used in other games, so they need to stay away from Mario's new adventures where he changes his fighting style.

But in the case of sport spin-offs I don't feel very big need to ban them. Fairies can properly fit in host role well when other regular main cast are in the sport competition (in real game, they offen force either Toad or Kamek to apply for this role when people demand them to be playables), I also think they can do more fun ideas for merchandise about the mascots like Disney do.

Do you think Nintendo use the mandates correctly and feel fine with how the series works, or you think they could had done better about mascots?
 
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The way you use "mascot" is very different on how I envision what a mascot character is. So while you describe a mascot as a companion character to the hero, in my mind a mascot character is a recognisable character used to sell the games, which is Mario in many cases since he's the titular character. Using a Kirby equivalent, I would've considered Kirby the mascot character, while under your context characters like Elline (Kirby and the Rainbow Curse) or Elfilin (Kirby and the Forgotten Land) would be the mascot character.

Personally I think that, with Mario being the central character, there is not much need for a consistent fairy companion character because Mario's already there! Him being around is already enough to get the games off shelves. I personally thought the fairy companions aren't as essential only because such characters exist to facilitate whatever game they were introduced in. I suppose you do have a good point in reusing them in host roles.

Thank you for reading.
 
I've come to the realization that those companions effectively serve as a vessel to take away the main protag's voice (barring like Luma), especially seeing how Stella exactly did this to a talking character (Peach), so my respect for them have declined over the years. Can we please stop introducing these or at least use them like once a decade.
 
With the exception of Twink, Tippi and Cappy, I just plain don't like them, period.
 
LeftyGreenMario said:
I've come to the realization that those companions effectively serve as a vessel to take away the main protag's voice (barring like Luma), especially seeing how Stella exactly did this to a talking character (Peach), so my respect for them have declined over the years. Can we please stop introducing these or at least use them like once a decade.
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It's annoying to no end when Toad speaks for Mario and Luigi! 🤬 They're the ones we want to hear from the most! I'm looking at you SUPER MARIO PARTY.

I'm neutral on the aesthetic choice of sprites/fairies as narrators*.
I see where it makes sense, stars are very meaningful to the Mario lore, and they always did like the fairy tale/bedtime story feel to their games, it's one of my favorite elements tbh.
But yeah narrator characters that talk over others are annoying.
 
Dorayaki said:
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It comes to my mind that, altho quite many one-off characters in series history were outstanding heroes or partners, some specific part of them are the helpers of the regular Mario heroes aka typical fairy mascot in fantasy-themed videogames.

But this results in the odd situation: this franchise doesn't really have a recurring mascot character. Yes, we may describe Yoshi as the friendly "mascot" of the franchise (who is the only non-humanoid positive regular character along with Birdo), but Yoshi also acts as own hero in most time.

There are exceptions, but each one is somehow arguable:

*Luma: probably the most active mascot character in main canon since it still appear in recent games, but arguably not quite treated well since it doesn't accompany Rosalina in every single spin-off she's in. It also feels not quite like a proper acknowledgement to Rosalina's parenthood, which is a very important trait to her.

*Squawks: also one of the most mentioned mascot animal in the main canon, but cannot say Nintendo really care enough to highlight him in most occasion when Donkey Kong stars, at least definitely not as exposed as Luma.

*Starlow: notably the only RPG-oriented character that accompanied Mario throughout several adventures. But while we don't know whether she'd return to upcoming Brothership story, her obvious problem is being exclusive to M&L game only despite in game she's described to be a regular assistant in most of Mario's adventures.

So the remaining fairy buddies are mostly used to be staples for each game and not allowed to stay in more games. One convincing reason is, some of them give Mario special powers that cannot be used in other games, so they need to stay away from Mario's new adventures where he changes his fighting style.

But in the case of sport spin-offs I don't feel very big need to ban them. Fairies can properly fit in host role well when other regular main cast are in the sport competition (in real game, they offen force either Toad or Kamek to apply for this role when people demand them to be playables), I also think they can do more fun ideas for merchandise about the mascots like Disney do.

Do you think Nintendo use the mandates correctly and feel fine with how the series works, or you think they could had done better about mascots?
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Yeah I agree they should bring back Wanda
 
You know, the mention of Squawks as a companion sort of makes sense now that you brought it up. Given how relatively grounded Donkey Kong as a series is (e.g.: floating platforms are not the norm), Squawks being a small bird makes sense for what the Donkey Kong series is about.

LeftyGreenMario said:
I've come to the realization that those companions effectively serve as a vessel to take away the main protag's voice (barring like Luma), especially seeing how Stella exactly did this to a talking character (Peach), so my respect for them have declined over the years. Can we please stop introducing these or at least use them like once a decade.
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It's this trend that makes the first Mario & Luigi felt more special because it's the only one that doesn't have other characters joining them to talk with other people. Letting Mario and Luigi communicate with others with gibberish is a lot more refreshing, and it's something that's surprisingly not done often, at least for this series. Maybe it might've gotten old too quickly?

Thank you for reading.
 
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