Retro Who is your favorite non-Bowser villain in the Mario series? (Super Paper Mario spoilers)

[Yzz]

Although Bowser has cemented as himself as one of the most beloved villains in any type of media, the Mario franchise has a pretty good record of introducing antagonists that are just as good, or even better than the Koopa King. Some of Mario's one-off villains, like Wario, have a similar personality to Bowser – big mischievous guys that act all tough, but never go too far. Other villains like Cackletta and Fawful take it a little bit too far with their brainwashing schemes and more mean-spirited attitude. Then there's the Shroobs...

As cliché as this may sound, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time probably takes the cake when it comes to being the 'darkest' Mario game. This is mainly in part due to PiT's antagonist, the Shroobs, being surprisingly savage for a kids game.

Perhaps the factor that contributes the most to the Shroobs terrifying presence is the world of PiT itself. The game's story starts right after the Shroobs invade and destroy the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving said kingdom in what is its most haunting appearance in the whole Mario franchise. When you play PiT you'll eventually come to a realization that the game has a pretty low NPC population for an RPG, feeling way emptier than Superstar Saga's Beanbean Kingdom. This is probably due to the game being an early DS title, releasing only two years later after SS. However this emptiness is what makes the Shroobs such an intimidating villain, because the games makes you believe for a second that these guys wiped all those Toads that you know from other Mario games. I think this is the reason for why many kids found this game kinda creepy back in the day.

And of course we cannot forget PiT's final boss theme. It's uncanny that this is in a Mario game:




Who is in your opinion the best Mario villain, and what makes them special?

 

[Platy]

You put "spoilers for super paper mario" on the title and Francis is not even an option in the pool ?

Totally not hi-technical

 

[Clov]

That's a tough one! Wart and Tatanga are both great, so for regular Mario games they'd be about tied. Wario has one of the best boss fights too... That gives him a bit of an edge. It's tough to decide between them all.

For spin-offs though, I like Cackletta the best! She has a cool design and theme song.

 

[TreIII]

Wart.

Not only because SMB2/USA is in my Top 30, but I also just think his overall "story" is so interesting. Was the big bad of an original title (which did start as a Mario game prototype), before it got "re-skinned" into a Mario title later, anyway, then did a guest stint in Link's Awakening (another game, conveniently, about a "Dream World"), and maaaaaaaaybe(?) has a son that hangs out with other Villagers in Animal Crossing.

Dude was doing multi-game crossovers before it was fashionable, yet has largely been forgotten. Even Sakurai hasn't seriously thrown this guy a bone, yet, and he's the guy who dug up the likes of Game and Watch, Duck Hunt and ROB!

I'm happy that Birdo, the Shy Guys and Bob-ombs became enduring elements of the Mario series, later, but it just makes me sadder that Wart (along with Mouser, too) got left behind. Seriously hope that gets remedied, one day.

 

[winstein]

As much as Donkey Kong is a hero and some fans didn't like the ape to be cast as an antagonist, I am going with Donkey Kong. In fact, I much prefer Donkey Kong as a villain over Bowser because he's a bit more grounded and it's fun to see a villain that is resourceful with what he has instead of one that is already royal and is opulent, and have access to pretty much every resource.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Mekanos]

It's known that I don't care much for Super Paper Mario but Dimentio is easily the most entertaining villain Mario has ever faced off against and by far the best thing about that game. I also really like Grodus and the X-Nauts though, Crump is a fun recurring antagonist and their designs are cool.

 

[xghost777]

Darn this is really tough. I picked Fawful because he is singularly entertaining and I want him to come back, but he's not like the deepest character either. I have a lot of fondness for the Smithy Gang (the Axem Rangers are rad), Grodus and the X-Nauts, and Count Bleck and his crew, but I felt like ensemble crews would be cheating a bit. I prefer DK and Wario as heroes so I didn't want to pick them, but Wario is definitely my favorite character of all the picks here.

 

[xghost777]

Now I want a Legion of Mario Doom game where Mario has to square off against all of his past foes at once. It plays like Super Mario RPG so you can have a bunch of past allies too. Towards the end of the game you'll have one of those dungeons where you need two or three parties to conquer it and Mario, Luigi, and maybe Wario can all lead separate teams.

 

[Earthbounder]

Wario and Donkey Kong are out of the running as far as I am concerned because I feel they are more interesting on their own than as antagonists to Mario.

So Fawful gets my vote because I just love that maniacal little dude.

Count Bleck is an awesome choice too, because of how fleshed out he is.

 

[Zanreo]

Fawful! Love that funny lil guy

 

[Brock Reiher]

I'm gonna go with Donkey Kong, but the only truly awful one here is Fawful

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

Foreman Spike

 

[Yamanoi]

New Super Mario Bros the entire series is the biggest villain.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

New Super Mario Bros the entire series is the biggest villain.

Wii and wiiu good though

 

[Yamanoi]

Wii and wiiu good though

I don't like the Wii U or 3DS ones. I forgot about the Wii one, since you're saying it is good, I'll try it. Thanks!

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

I don't like the Wii U or 3DS ones. I forgot about the Wii one, since you're saying it is good, I'll try it. Thanks!

The ds and 3ds ones are v bad

 

[Yamanoi]

The ds and 3ds ones are v bad

Honestly the 3DS one reminded me of Dark Soulless 2.