Mark Twang

Mark Twang
Species	Human
Appears in	The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - "Rolling Down the River" (1989)

“Great jumping bullfrogs!”

—Mark Twang, "Rolling Down the River"

Mark Twang is an elderly man who lives in the River World and voyages the rivers on his steamboat, the Ding Bell.

History

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Rolling Down the River", Mark Twang and Captain Koopa race each other down the River World's largest river, with whoever winning the race becoming King of the River and presumably the rest of the River World. However, the Ding Bell's engine is sabotaged by Captain Koopa, severely limiting the Ding Bell's speed.

While feebly trying to catch up to Captain Koopa’s steamboat, the Sinister Star, Mark finds Mario and Luigi in the river. With a lasso, Mark pulls Mario and Luigi aboard the Ding Bell, narrowly saving them from being devoured by a Trouter. Mario and Luigi tell Mark that they are trying to rescue Princess Toadstool, who has been kidnapped by Captain Koopa and is being held onboard the Sinister Star.

After hearing Mario and Luigi's story, Mark tells them about his race against Captain Koopa. Mario and Luigi decide to aid Mark and begin to repair the Ding Bell's engine.

After the Ding Bell's engine is repaired, Mark, Mario and Luigi begin to catch-up to the Sinister Star only to be met with an unpassable black pit created by a Black Pit Bob-Omb that was thrown by Captain Koopa. After narrowly managing to escape the black pit’s current, thanks to Mario and Luigi using a plunger to anchor the Ding Bell, Mark, Mario and Luigi decide to venture onto land to seek the advice of the Mouth of the River to help them pass the black pit.

Finding the Mouth of the River, Mark, Mario and Luigi gain some cryptic advice to help them pass the black pit. Watching as Mario and Luigi create a large piping system, Mark is surprised when the piping system manages to drain the water surrounding the black pit and empties it in a nearby path, separated from the black pit by a wall of rocks. Mark, Mario, Luigi and the Mouth of the River easily manage to pass the Ding Bell through this newly created path.

Later, Mark, with Super Mario and Super Luigi, who power the Ding Bell ahead with pumps, manage to catch-up to and pull alongside the Sinister Star. As Mario and Luigi leap to the Sinister Star, Mark has the Ding Bell zoom ahead of the Sinister Star.

Afterwards, as Mario is about to be forced overboard by Captain Koopa, the Ding Bell appears. As Mark maneuvers the Ding Bell, the Mouth of the River uses its cannon to launch Turnips at the Sinister Star.

In the end, Princess Toadstool crashes the Sinister Star into a sandbar, destroying it and Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad, board the Ding Bell, which passes the finish line. Mark is last seen being congratulated for his victory.

Naming

"Mark Twang" is a pun on the name "Mark Twain", which was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a famous American novelist and satirist.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Bulgarian	Марк Твенг Mark Tveng	Mark Twang
Chinese (Simplified)	马克吐温 Mǎkè Tǔwēn (Mandarin)	Mark Twain
Danish	Mark Twang	-
Finnish	Mark Twain	-
French	Marc-Antoine	Pun on "Mark Twain" and "Antoine de Saint-Exupéry"
German	Mark Twain	-
Hebrew	מארק טואינג Mark Tuaing	Mark Twang
Icelandic	Mark Twang	-
Italian	Mark Twang	-
Korean	마크 트웨인그 Makeu Teuweingeu	Mark Twang
Norwegian	Mark Twang	-
Polish	Mark Twang	-
Portuguese	Mark Twang	-
Spanish	Mark Twang	-
Swedish	Mark Twang	-