Big Penguin

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"Racing Penguin" redirects here. For information about the group of racing penguins in Super Mario Galaxy, see Penguin Racers.
Big Penguin
Cool, Cool Mountain Star 3
Species Penguin
First appearance Super Mario 64 (1996)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)
“I know speed when I see it, yes siree--I'm the world champion sledder, you know.”
Big Penguin, Super Mario 64

The Big Penguin,[1][2] also known as the Penguin Champ,[2] Champion Penguin,[3] or Racing Penguin,[4] is a giant penguin appearing in Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS. He is a competitor character along with Koopa the Quick, and he is raced only once in the game on Cool, Cool Mountain. He claims to be the world-champion sledder, and he seems to know Mario prior to the game's events, calling him "buddy," although he uses identical dialogue for all four characters in the DS version.

The Big Penguin is raced against in the third mission of Cool, Cool Mountain. He can be found inside the house at the top of the mountain. When Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, or Wario drops in through the chimney, the Big Penguin speaks to him and challenges him to a race. If the player character accepts, he has to race down the icy slide in the mountain and beat the penguin to the finish line. The penguin gives the player character a Power Star if beaten. However, if the player character takes a shortcut by jumping onto another section or if he takes the hidden shortcut, the Big Penguin accuses him of cheating and disqualifies him. If the player character races the Big Penguin again after obtaining all 120 Power Stars (150 in the remake), he is even bigger and can easily knock the player character off the slide. There is no reward for winning the race again except for further praise from the Big Penguin.

In the original Japanese version, if the player loses to the Big Penguin, he makes a Koopa Troopa sound when talking instead of his own sound;[5] this was fixed in other versions. Also in the Japanese version, the penguin uses the feminine pronoun 「あたし」 atashi to refer to himself.

An unrelated character also described as a "big penguin"[6] appears in Snowman's Land.

Gallery[edit]

Additional names[edit]

Internal names[edit]

Game File Name Meaning

Super Mario 64 DS data/enemy/penguin/penguin.bmd PENGUIN_RACER Penguin Racer
Super Mario 64 DS data/enemy/penguin/penguin.bmd PENGUIN_DEFENDER Penguin Defender (Snowman's Land)

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese ペンギン チャンピオン[1]
Pengin Chanpion
スライダーのチャンピオンペンギン[7]
Suraidā no Chanpion Pengin
Penguin Champion

Penguin Champion of the Slider

French Grand Pingouin
Pingouin[1][8]
Gros pingouin[8]
Big Razorbill
Razorbill
Big Razorbill
German Schneller Pinguin
Fast Penguin
Italian Pinguino gigante[1]
Pinguino Gigante[9]
Giant Penguin
Korean 펭귄 챔피언
Pengwin Champion
Penguin Champion

Trivia[edit]

  • In Super Mario Galaxy, penguins refer to Stars as gold medals; similarly, in Super Mario 64, when the Big Penguin gives Mario a Star after being beaten, he says that he cannot give Mario a gold medal.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Big Penguin Race
  2. ^ a b M. Arakawa. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Page 39.
  3. ^ M. Arakawa. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Page 128.
  4. ^ NintendoAUNZ (December 24, 2020). Super Mario 3D All-Stars - Racing Penguin! Racing to the tree tomorrow morning. Facebook. Retrieved August 16, 2022. (ScreenshotMedia:Facebook NintendoAUNZ 2020-12-24 screencap.png.)
  5. ^ ある東大生実況者しゅん (April 28, 2018). 【実況】スーパーマリオ64を完全初見でテンションMAXプレイ. YouTube. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. ^ M. Arakawa. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Pages 89–91.
  7. ^ Kazuki, Motoyama. KC Deluxe vol. 36 - Super Mario 64 part 1. Page 6Media:SM64 Character Info Book.jpg.
  8. ^ a b Nintendo official French magazine N1. Page 88.
  9. ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia, pag. 88