Herringway

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Herringway
Herringway
Species Bumpty
First appearance Paper Mario (2000)
You're very suspicious, huh? Well, I suppose I would be, too. It appears as though I should drop in at the Mayor's house.”
Herringway, Paper Mario

Herringway is a penguin who appears in Paper Mario. He is a widely popular novelist that lives by himself in Shiver City, and is known for writing many popular murder mysteries. Herringway's name is a pun on famous author Ernest Hemingway and the phrase "red herring", a term for a false clue. Herringway is the author of the in-universe novel "Paper Mario" ("Mario Story" in the Japanese version).

History[edit]

Paper Mario[edit]

A notable screenshot of Herringway from Paper Mario
Herringway finding Mario in the fireplace

After Mario is accused of murdering Mayor Penguin, he seeks out Herringway to clear his name. The two return to the scene of the crime and discovered that the Mayor was not dead, but had only fainted; his wife, who is an avid fan of Herringway's novels, jumped to conclusions and thought her husband was murdered. With the Mayor safe and coming to, Mario is cleared and able to continue his journey, while Herringway returns to his work, starting on a novel chronicling the events of the penguin murder mystery.

Tattle[edit]

  • "This penguin made a secret room in his house to hide in. What a cool idea! He's a friend of Mayor Penguin. His name is Herringway, and he writes mystery novels. His secret study, where he writes his novels, is on the second floor. I imagine that he has lots of fans in the city, so I can see why he'd need a secret room. I wouldn't mind reading one of his novels someday."

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]

While he does not appear directly in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Herringway's novels are mentioned as being widely read. In Poshley Heights, at least three of the penguin residents are his relatives according to Goombella's tattle.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese ゴンベエ
Gonbē
Probably from「権兵衛」(gonbē, an archaic Japanese name used in the modern day as a placeholder when a person's name is unknown; akin to the English "John Doe")

Chinese (simplified) 宫贝先生[1]
Gōngbèi xiānsheng
From the Japanese name +「先生」(xiānsheng, Mr.)

French Herringway
 
Italian Misterio
From "mistero" (mistery)

Trivia[edit]

  • A glitch exists that causes Herringway's sprite to appear as that of a regular penguin or become invisible; if the former occurs, the game freezes midway through him meeting up with Mayor Penguin unless played on Virtual Console.

References[edit]