Mushroom Kingdom
| |
| A map of the Mushroom Kingdom seen in Paper Mario. | |
| Mushroom Kingdom | |
| Type | Country |
| Size | "Wide-ish" (Odyssey) |
| Debut | Super Mario Bros. |
The Mushroom Kingdom is a country that serves as the primary setting of the Super Mario series.
Information[edit]
The Mushroom Kingdom is the most prominent kingdom seen within the world of the Mario series. It is ruled by Princess Peach, with the help of a chancellor and various mushroom retainers. The Mushroom King has only been mentioned in the instruction manual of Super Mario Bros., and nothing is known from him aside from his being Peach's father, including his current status and whether or not he is still alive. The kingdom is reasonably vast and the citizens are mostly Toads, which fits the kingdom's name. There are other species such as benevolent Koopas and Goombas living within the kingdom, although most of them live within their own communities. The kingdom has been depicted with a variety of environments, although the primary features are plains and hilly areas, many of which are paved with brick roads. Very little is known about the kingdom's history beyond the story of the Star Festival, which involves the Comet Observatory passing over the kingdom every hundred years, and how one year it released many shooting stars which became a great Power Star when brought to the castle. This seems to be the origin of the Power Stars found throughout the games.
The kingdom exists in what is certainly a constant state of peril because of Bowser's frequent attacks. He did temporarily rule over the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Bros., although in later games he seems to attack the kingdom primarily for Princess Peach rather than for control of the kingdom. Regardless, Mario and Luigi have become the kingdom's protectors (with Partners in Time implying that they have been protecting the princess from Bowser since they were infants). The brothers are known as heroes and celebrities within the Mushroom Kingdom, although Luigi is often comically neglected. Coins are found throughout the land and are used as currency. The kingdom has also been known to host a wide variety of racing and sporting events as seen within the various spin-off titles.
Locations[edit]
The Mushroom Kingdom's geography as been vaguely defined within the series and seems to change to fit the needs of individual games. Most notably, its earliest appearance (Super Mario Bros.) and most recent games (New Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario 3D Land) are all split up into unnamed worlds, and it is uncertain in the latter cases whether these worlds are all part of the Mushroom Kingdom or if it crosses over into other areas such as parts of the Mushroom World. The entirety of Super Mario Bros. and the first world in both New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii are known to take place within the Mushroom Kingdom, at the very least. The RPG games have been better at providing maps for the land, but this also changes depending on the game. The first Paper Mario perhaps is the most expansive and most consistent with other games. While the RPGs have added various new locations it is uncertain whether or not some are within the Mushroom Kingdom's boundaries. These include Rogueport and all of the areas of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, which seem to be remote areas that are removed from the Mushroom Kingdom's continent. The map of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story also seems to reduce the Mushroom Kingdom's space and connect it to another continent which leads to Bowser's Castle and contains a variety of new locations.
One constant throughout the games has been Princess Peach's Castle, which was only introduced in Super Mario 64. Since then, it has been shown as the heart of the kingdom and often is depicted as a type of hub area. Located to the south is Toad Town, the capital city which is filled with Toads, and a type of Star Hill or Shooting Star Summit has been located near the castle in several RPG games. Some type of castle was depicted in Super Mario RPG, but it is uncertain if it is the same, especially as it looks different. That version was also located in a Toad Town-like community. Mario and Luigi's home (only shown as Mario's in Super Mario RPG) is a small house known as Mario's Pad or the Pipe House. It is located somewhere to the northwest of Toad Town and the castle, and it usually connects to that area though Warp Pipe.
The kingdom has been shown to contain a diverse amount of habitats, but the most common remains plains that are usually paved with red bricks. There are also fields of giant mushrooms and hills. Some such areas include Mushroom Road and Bandit's Way in Super Mario RPG (the latter being a dead end area where bandits gather), Goomba Road and Pleasant Path in Paper Mario (the former leading to the Goomba Village while the latter connects to Koopa Village). The kingdom has an extensive underground system of tunnels and sewers which commonly appear in most games and include the Toad Town Tunnels seen in RPG games. There is also a haunted forest located just around the east of Toad Town. This area is known as Forever Forest in Paper Mario. There is also a similar forest in Luigi's Mansion that is implied to be named the Boo Woods during Partners in Time, but it is uncertain how it relates to the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. Forever Forest also leads to a further east area known as Gusty Gulch, an arid area that is home to relatively friendly Boos, Tubba Blubba and a windmill. Partners in Time also introduced a western forest called the Toadwood Forest. Some games have featured desert areas, which are usually reached by train and located towards the far southeast of Toad Town. The desert is most commonly known as Dry Dry Desert, while Partners in Time instead had a northeastern desert known as the Gritzy Desert and showed the southeast to have Thwomp Volcano.
Paper Mario also had some areas in the northern region of the Mushroom Kingdom. In the northwest, there was the Flower Fields. The northeastern area was a frozen area which contained Shiver Snowfield with connections to Shiver City, Shiver Mountain, Crystal Palace and Starborn Valley, where young Star Kids were raised. Partners in Time also featured a small snowy town known as Hollojolli Village and was holiday-themed, located somewhere to the northeast of the castle.
Many other games have taken Mario and his friends outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom is known to "form an entrance" to the Mushroom World, which contains more countries. Other nearby kingdoms include Sarasaland, Jewelry Land and the Beanbean Kingdom, the latter of which acts as the Mushroom Kingdom's rival. Yoshi's Island is inconsistently depicted as being close to the Mushroom Kingdom, and Lavalava Island has also been shown to be located near the kingdom.
Other Appearances[edit]
Video Games[edit]
- It has been the site of various stages in the Super Smash Bros. games. In the original Super Smash Bros., there was Peach's Castle and a Super Mario Bros.-styled Mushroom Kingdom level. Super Smash Bros. Melee contained new takes on these stages, with the latter being changed to match the graphics of Super Mario Bros., and there was also a Rainbow Cruise stage based on a Super Mario 64 level. The first stage of Adventure Mode was also based within the Mushroom Kingdom. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there was the Mario Circuit and a side-scrolling stage known as Mushroomy Kingdom which had an above ground area (with a strangely desolate environment) as well as an underground area all styled after classic Super Mario Bros. stages. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, the 3DS version had included Mushroom Kingdom stages such as Golden Plains and 3D Land (based on New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D Land, respectively) as well as a Paper Mario stage (which had multiple parts, one of which was Hither Thither Hill from Sticker Star), while the Wii U version had a stage called Mushroom Kingdom U (based on New Super Mario Bros. U).
Other Media[edit]
- In the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, it was featured as the main setting and was usually known as the Mushroom Land. King Koopa had taken over the land, so Mario, Luigi, Toad and the princess were on the run while looking to stop Koopa throughout the series. He was finally overthrown near the end of the series. During The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Mushroom Kingdom took the place of Grass Land from Super Mario Bros. 3.
- In the Super Mario Bros. movie, the Mushroom Kingdom was replaced by Dinohatten, a city hidden in a parallel dimension found underground where dinosaurs evolved into reptilian humans. The "mushroom" part was primarily inferred, as Princess Daisy's father was transformed into a type of fungus. Koopa had control of the city until the Mario Bros. defeated him. Oddly enough, the name Bowser was used for the princess's benevolent father.
Trivia[edit]
- The Mushroom Kingdom was previously considered to take place in a parallel dimension from the "real world", an idea that was endorsed by the movie and cartoons. However, as the series has progressed, there has been more evidence that the Mario Bros. were raised in the Mushroom Kingdom, which would mean the link to a "real world" is most likely non-canon within the video game continuity. This was eventually cemented by Super Mario Odyssey, which established that Donkey Kong) (the primary game believed to have taken place in the 'real world') took place in the same world as the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Mushroom Kingdom currency is worth less than Beanbean Land's coins.
- According to a brochure for the kingdom seen in Super Mario Odyssey, the kingdom has a middling population, a "wide-ish" size and an average temperature of 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Its main industries are pipes and tourism.