Talk:Motley Bossblob

Koopa?
Is Motley a Koopa? His shell isn't visible, but neither are the Magikoopas', and he resembles the kind of Koopa that Bowser, the Koopalings, Boom Boom(s), and Pom Pom are. And I know there's no confirmation, but I doubt there will ever be for something like this. He also uses a Magic Scepter....thoughts? User: 8BrickMario
 * We should assume that he isn't a Koopa until we get information in the future. 14:19, 23 January 2014 (EST)

Little Blobs?
What are those little blob's names? I don't know so I call them either Motley Blobs, because if he's BOSSblob, I would assume they would be just blob, but that's too generic for me, or I just call them Goomblobs. But what's they're actual name?
 * I'm pretty sure it's trivial and irrelevant what the blobs are called. Plus, I don't think they actually have a name.

Proper naming?
Since his name seems to collectively refer to both the jester and the blob form, is there a way to call out one or the other? It's a bit awkward wording it, because it seems that the two are considered as one by the name, and that the jester himself can't be called anything without referring to the blobs as well.
 * There's no proof that the big dude has a separate name, so we're leaving it how it is. 14:02, 27 November 2015 (EST)

Gender
Where? Is Motley's gender or pronouns officially stated? I can't find anything on them using he pronouns, so it would be nice to see sources! :0
 * We tend to assume singular characters like these are male unless otherwise stated. It's just how nonhuman video game characters are, so we follow that as well. Something doesn't sit right with me calling this thing an "it" anyway. 19:22, 18 March 2016 (EDT)
 * Or I mean, you could do as you normally do when you don't know someone's gender, use they/them? Just think the mariowiki should maybe not base articles on assumptions...?
 * Using "they/them" isn't going to solve problems. In fact, due to its controversy between what constitutes pronoun-antecedent agreement, it may create more. The design for this creature isn't specifically female in mind. Whenever Nintendo designs characters, they don't make them female unless they're explicitly designed to be or otherwise stated. This character is probably male, judging from what it does, and considering that it's the name of character and not some species, it's likely that this thing is going to be referred as a male rather than an "it". This isn't the first article in this wiki that refers to characters like this as a "he" and I don't see problems with that considering that's sorta Nintendo's scthick: to refer to gender-indeterminate characters like this as a "he", with only a few exceptions but exceptions don't make the rule. 20:22, 18 March 2016 (EDT)
 * They/them is a singular pronoun, you use it all the time in English and it's completely grammatically correct, it's been proven countless times. They/them can be used as plural, but are almost always used as they/them/their/themself when someone's gender is unknown, the same goes for singular and plural you/your. You even used it in your very paragraph, "they don't make them female unless they're explicitly designed to be or otherwise stated". Also, there are Nintendo characters that aren't male or female, like toads for example, so a character not being male doesn't mean they're female, just saying. By using they/them you acknowledge we do not know the gender of this character and there's no reason for anyone to think it's wrong?

Prima's official licensed guide calls mottley a dude. --Glowsquid (talk) 21:57, 18 March 2016 (EDT)
 * Thank you for providing actual sourcing. Though I personally don't think licensed products can count as canon, considering Nintendo's, uh, earlier licensed products... I don't know how Prime works, would you care to explain? :0

prima games is a company that make game guides and nintendo's official licensee for game guides in the west. The wiki doesn't operate on "canon" vs "non-canon" (since Mario has "no canon"), but rather on official material vs non-official: since prima guide's are official licensed material, they can be used as a source for info for things like this if they're not directly contradicted by more direct sources such as the game itself or word of god statements. --Glowsquid (talk) 08:05, 19 March 2016 (EDT)
 * Okay, thank you for sourcing, it was very interesting! I'm still very confused with the whole canon vs non-canon thing this wiki has going, but I'll bite I guess. In the future though, I think the wiki shouldn't operate on assumptions, like Baby Luigi seems to imply, and when a character never has their gender or pronouns stated usage of they/them pronouns should be applied. Thank you for discussing!
 * This isn't the only page with what you call "assumptions" and most of the time, these assumptions are not just random asspulls as you seem to misunderstand by my statement but more like educated filling in the gaps where official materials have ignored. As I had stated, singular nonhuman characters (not ambigious character species like Yoshi or Toad) tend to get referred as a "he" in official Nintendo media unless they're explicitly either wearing feminine gear, have a feminine appearance of some sort or stated otherwise in bios and descriptions, so it's not illogical to assume that such characters are guys as well. I feel like I'm repeating myself here. 20:22, 20 March 2016 (EDT)