Hooded Robin and His Mario Men

Hooded Robin and His Mario Men is the twenty-fifth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Its corresponding live-action segment is "Flower Power".

Plot Synopsis
While searching for a place known as Sharewood Village, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool find themselves lost in Sharewood Forest; as Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool stand nearby, Toad begins to glance at his map to Sharewood Village, and points to a path on it before pointing in the direction he believes will lead him, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool to Sharewood Village. Taking a step forward, Toad, as well as Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool are suddenly caught in a net and pulled upwards, left dangling from a tree. As Mario tells Toad that perhaps he should get a new map, a squad of six Koopa Troopas wearing armor and wielding plunger-loaded crossbows appear, with one of them accusing Mario of being someone named Hooded Robin.

Hearing the Koopa Troopa say this, Princess Toadstool and Luigi realize that they think they’re somebody else, which prompts Luigi to try and tell the leader of the Koopa Troopas that he’s just a plumber. Not believing Luigi, the Koopa Troopa ridicules him, saying that he isn’t fooled by his claims of being a plumber. After the Koopa Troopa states this, the voice of the Sheriff of Koopingham is suddenly heard, telling the Koopa Troopas to retreat and to go find and give him every daisy they can find in Sharewood Forest; though somewhat puzzled by the Sheriff of Koopingham’s orders, the Koopa Troopas decide to leave anyways and search for all the daisies they can find.

Watching as the Koopa Troopas leave, Mario begins to wonder why the Sheriff of Koopingham would save them from his own minions. As Mario says this, an Albatoss-like bird flies to the scene and, claiming he is Hooded Robin, Sharewood Village’s most wanted outlaw, says that he is the one who tricked the Koopa Troopas into leaving, using his skill in voice mimicry. As Hooded Robin explains that he robs the rich Sheriff of Koopingham and gives to the poor Mushrooms and mimics the Sheriff of Koopingham’s voice, he uses a bow to fire a plunger at the rope suspending the net Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool are in; as the rope is cut, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool begin to fall to the ground, only for Princess Toadstool to be grabbed by Hooded Robin and safely deposited on the ground, while Mario, Luigi and Toad are allowed to plummet into a nearby bush.

At Sharewood Village, Hooded Robin introduces Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to the Mushroom inhabitants of the village, who have nothing to share anymore, as the Sheriff of Koopingham has taken all their Gold Coins. Feeling sorry for the Mushroom People, Mario, Princess Toadstool, Hooded Robin and Toad promise to get all their Gold Coins back; after promising to help the Mushroomers of Sharewood Village, Toad begins to wonder how the Sheriff of Koopingham will be found, only to be informed by Hooded Robin that the Sheriff of Koopinham is on his way to a path leading to Koopingham Castle.

On the aforementioned path, the Sheriff of Koopingham is in the midst of counting all the Gold Coins he stole from Sharewood Village in his horse-drawn covered wagon; as the Sheriff of Koopinham counts his Gold Coins, a Koopa Troopa appears carrying an arm-full of daisies, saying he accomplished what the Sheriff of Koopingham asked. Confused, the Sheriff of Koopingham proceeds to tell the Koopa Troopa he didn’t ask for daisies, he asked for Hooded Robin to be captured and brought to him. After the Sheriff of Koopingham states this, the Koopa Troopa begins to stutter out that he heard the Sheriff of Koopingham’s orders in Sharewood Forest; during his explanation of this, the Koopa Troopa comes to the realization that he was tricked by Hooded Robin, and is severally reprimanded by the Sheriff of Koopingham, who proceeds to beat the Koopa Troopa with his scepter.

After pummeling the Koopa Troopa, the Sheriff of Koopingham is knocked off balance when his wagon stops suddenly, while the Koopa Troopa is flung from the wagon and lands near Toad, who is disguised as a tollbooth operator. After stating that the path ahead is a toll road, Toad goes on to explain that it was the Sheriff of Koopingham who ordered the construction of the tollbooth and goes to exclaim that in order to pass it, a wagon full of Gold Coins must by given to pass.

Enraged at this delay, the Sheriff of Koopingham tells Toad that he isn’t giving him any Gold Coins and orders his Koopa Troopa minions to fire their plunger at Toad, who narrowly dodges the flung plumber’s helpers. As Toad gets off the ground, Hooded Robin, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool appear; claiming that they are here to steal all of the Sheriff of Koopingham’s Gold Coins and give them to Mushroom People of Sharewood Village. After Hooded Robin exclaims this, Mario flings a plunger at the Sheriff of Koopingham, which hits him squarely on the snout and knocks him to the ground. Rushing to their fallen leader, several Koopa Troopas are sent tumbling on top of him after they trip on another Koopa Troopa, who was knocked to the ground by a plunger launched by Hooded Robin.

With the Sheriff of Koopingham incapacitated, the leader of the Koopa Troopas rushes forward wielding a wooden sword; seeing the Koopa Troopa fast approaching, Princess Toadstool leaps on to the tollbooth barrier, which rises and whacks the charging Koopa Troopa on the chin with enough force to fling him into a nearby tree. Managing to knock all his Koopa Troopa henchmen off his back and get off the ground, the Sheriff of Koopingham pulls a plunger that was stuck on his snout off and, seeing that Hooded Robin has apparently fallen asleep in a tree, fires it at him from a crossbow.

Having only pretended to be asleep, Hooded Robin gets up just as the plunger hits the tree and begins to fly towards the Sheriff of Koopingham’s wagon. As Princess Toadstool warns him to be careful, Hooded Robin only chuckles and claims he laughs at danger, all the while continuing his dive-bomb of the Sheriff of Koopingham’s wagon; unnoticed by Hooded Robin, a Koopa Troopa places a cage in the wagon and before he can stop his descent, Hooded Robin crashes headfirst into the cage, which the Sheriff of Koopingham and a Koopa Troopa immediately lock, trapping Hooded Robin within it. Unable to stop him, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool can only watch as the Sheriff of Koopingham climbs aboard his wagon and begins to drive towards Koopingham Castle.

In the dungeons of Koopingham Castle, the Sheriff of Koopingham is in the middle of taunting and jeering Hooded Robin, who is being kept captive in a large birdcage suspended from the ceiling. Eventually, the Sheriff of Koopingham leaves, leaving Hooded Robin to bemoan his fate.

Outside Koopingham Castle, the leader of the Sheriff of Koopingham’s Koopa Troopa minions is complaining about being on guard duty, believing he and his soldiers are to evil and cruel to be doing such a menial task. As the Koopa Troopa continues to complain, both Mario and Luigi approach pulling a wagon full of pipes, with Mario stating he’s there on official castle business. Not believing Mario, the Koopa Troopa says that the moat of Koopingham Castle doesn’t need any work done on it. Not giving up, Mario manages to convince the Koopa Troopa to close his eyes and envision what his perfect moat would be; doing so, the Koopa Troopa imagines a moat of boiling water, surrounded by barbed wire, surveillance equipment and vicious Trouters. Upon seeing a Trouter lunge at him in his daydream, the Koopa Troopa opens his eyes in surprise, and is knocked off the drawbridge of Koopingham Castle and into the moat below by Mario and Luigi, who rush past him and into Koopingham Castle. Jumping back up onto the drawbridge, the Koopa Troopa is helped to his feet by two other Koopa Troopas, who he orders to attack Mario and Luigi, who the Koopa Troopa only now recognize.

Running away from a barrage of thrown plungers and spears, Mario and Luigi, after running through various passageways, are told by Toad and Princess Toadstool, who were hiding in the cart of pipes, to stop. Doing so, Mario and Luigi immediately stop their cart suddenly, accidentally flinging Toad off it. Getting off the cart of pipes, Princess Toadstool, taking out a Magic Potion, throws it into a nearby hole in a wall, making a door appear. As Toad opens this door, Mario, Princess Toadstool and Luigi, who is pushing the cart of pipes, run through it; once Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool go through the door, it closes and vanishes, causing the Koopa Troopas who had intended to charge through it to run into the wall.

In the dungeon of Koopingham Castle, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool find Hooded Robin in his birdcage. Using a pair of pliers, Mario manages to break the lock on Hooded Robin’s birdcage, releasing him; once free, Hooded Robin gladly thanks Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool for helping him.

Looking through a pair of windows, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool and Hooded Robin see a fireball spewing Fryguy is guarding the vault where all of the Sharewood Village peopl’s Gold Coins are being held. After hearing Hooded Robin say that maybe Fryguy can be distracted by something, Princess Toadstool decides to distract Fryguy with a Frygal, which confuses Mario, Luigi, Toad and Hooded Robin. Rushing away, Princess Toadstool, without drawing Fryguy’s attention, grabs a purple curtain and flaming torch and brings them to Hooded Robin, who she asks to perform a girl’s voice; upon being asked this, Hooded Robin immediately knows what Princess Toadstool is proposing he do, disguise himself as a Frygal to distract Fryguy, which Hooded Robin, standing on Toad’s shoulders while wrapped in the curtain and carrying the torch and a mask, does. Approaching Fryguy, who is instantly smitten with them, Hooded Robin and Toad manage to lure him away, allowing Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool to approach the vault door; as they peer into the Gold Coin filled vault, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool are taken by surprise by the Sheriff of Koopingham and his Koopa Troopa minions, who surround them.

Elsewhere, Fryguy is trying to kiss Frygal, only to be stunned when the curtain covering Toad and Hooded Robin falls away. Regaining his composure, Fryguy blows away the flame being held by Hooded Robin, who, realizing he has been seen by Fryguy, grabs Toad and begins to run away, only to bump into Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool, who are running from several Koopa Troopas. Huddling together briefly, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool and Hooded Robin separate and begin running again; trying to fly away from Fryguy, Hooded Robin manages to evade him and trick him into running into the Gold Coin vault, the door of which, Hooded Robin locks.

As a Koopa Troopa charges at him, Mario jumps on it’s head, knocking it to the floor; unable to get up, the Koopa Troopa is whacked with Luigi’s plunger and sent rowling towards severall other Koopa Troopas, who subsequently trip on their comrade and are knocked away like bowling pins. Looking around a hall in Koopingham Castle, the Sheriff of Koopingham is shot with a plunger, which proceeds to stick to his shell, by Princess Toadstool. Grabbing the rope attached to the plunger, Toad throws it over a ceiling pipe and Mario and Luigi grabs the dangling end of it and pull, hoisting the Sheriff of Koopingham up into the air; Mario and Luigi proceed to tie the rope end to something in another room, leaving the Sheriff of Koopingham dangling in from the ceiling.

Having watched this entire display, Hooded Robin notices smoke emanating from the treasure and sees that Fryguy, in a fit of rage, has begun to spew flames everywhere, melting all the Gold Coins in the treasure room. Seeing this, Mario and Luigi go under the floor of Koopingham Castle and grab the some pipes, which they proceed to use to blast water at Fryguy. Ordering Mario and Luigi to stop using the pipe, the Sheriff of Koopingham can only watch in dismay as Mario and Luigi use the pipe to suck away all of the Sheriff of Kopingham’s liquid golden, which is being sent back to Sharewood Village.

Back in Sharewood Village, Mario proceeds to show it’s inhabitants that their water pump now pumps semi-solid gold, much to the joy of the Sharewood Village citizens. As the Sharewood Village citizens praise them, Hooded Robin prposes a celebratory feast for Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool, himself and all of Sharewood Village.

Trivia

 * The animated segment of "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" is a spoof of the legend of Robin Hood and His Merry Men.


 * Several voicing and animation mistakes can be found in "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men, with several scenes of the episode having the voices of some characters coming out of the mouths of other characters and some character's mouths not moving at all when they speak.


 * The unnamed, sword wielding Koopa Troopa seen throughout "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" is possibly the same one who often aids King Koopa, Mouser and Tryclyde as the forth member of the Koopa Pack, as he evidently ranks above his fellow Koopa Troopas and can be seen at the Sheriff of Koopingham's side in several scenes of the episode.


 * The flask of Magic Potion thrown by Princess Toadstool doesn’t actually have anything in it, being completely empty of any fluid. Also, when Mario jumps on the Koopa Troopa wielding the sword, the sword it was holding simply vanishes when it hits the ground.