List of rumors and urban legends

Being a long-running and popular franchise, there have been many rumors, misconceptions, and urban legends regarding fictional elements, production history, and gameplay elements within the Mario franchise.

Donkey Kong's name origin
Over the years several purported explanations for the origin of Donkey Kong's name have surfaced. The popular myth states that the original game was meant to be titled "Monkey Kong", but was called "Donkey Kong" due to either a mistranslation or typo. Monkey and donkey are, first, two completely different words in Japanese, so it is unlikely to be a translation error, and while typos resulting in popular names do exist, the myth's multiple variations make this explanation dubious at best.

Another explanation states that donkey was used to avoid copyright issues with King Kong, even though Nintendo was sued by Universal Studios in 1982 for this exact reason.

However, Shigeru Miyamoto himself has claimed numerous times that he found the name from a Japanese-English dictionary when looking for something "stubborn" or "stupid". While "donkey" is not usually considered to be an adjective or a synonym of those terms, the animals themselves are often associated with those traits. In an interview published in 2016, Miyamoto stated that he was informed by Nintendo of America staff that "donkey" does not mean "stupid" as the dictionary said, but that he ignored their feedback as he liked the sound of the name Donkey Kong.

Gunpei Yokoi is the creator of Wario and Daisy
Due to being by far the best-known personality of Nintendo's former Research & Development 1 department and his role as producer for many of their games, Gunpei Yokoi is often attributed as the sole creator of R&D1's franchises and characters up to his departure. As such, it is common for fans to credit the creation of the characters Wario and Princess Daisy, two of the main characters of R&D1's Super Mario Land games, to Yokoi.

In truth, Yokoi has never been credited as a character designer in any of the games he was involved with, and no report done during Yokoi's lifetime or modern interviews with former R&D1 staff stated he created any characters for R&D1's games.

Hiroji Kiyotake, director and graphic designer for Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, is the creator of Wario, as stated by multiple participants in a 2004 interview with the magazine Nintendo Dream ; he is also credited as the original designer of Wario throughout the WarioWare series. While no specific creator has been attributed for Daisy, Satoru Okada (director of Super Mario Land) or Hirofumi Matsuoka and/or Masahiko Mashimo (graphic designers for the game) would be more likely candidates.

Inspiration for the Super Mushroom
Rumors have questioned the Super Mushroom's origin, and it has been suggested that they are inspired by real-life drugs. Similarities to both mushrooms in Alice in Wonderland and Amanita Muscaria have been pointed out. Miyamoto himself has denied a connection to Alice in Wonderland, and said he drew inspiration from "enchanted foodstuffs in myths and folklore". Miyamoto and Iwata have talked about how the Super Mushroom was first meant to be a gameplay mechanic that would appeal to the player as a "good item".

Larry Koopa's namesake
Several articles (such as this one by the British Official Nintendo Magazine) purports that Larry Koopa is named after the talk show host Larry King. However, according to former Nintendo of America employee Dayvv Brooks, Larry is named after a musician like the rest of his siblings: in this case, Larry Mullen, Jr., the drummer for the rock band U2.

However, Brooks contradicted this in a December 2015 interview with gaming website Kotaku, stating that Larry's name was chosen because "he looked like a Larry" and that he wasn't named after anyone in particular.

Mario and Luigi's last names
With the introduction of Luigi as Mario's brother, the pair began to be collectively referred to as the Mario brothers. Because of the title, many have been led to believe that Mario and Luigi's last names are actually "Mario". This was further pushed by the Super Mario Bros. Hollywood film released in 1993, which uses "Mario" as the brothers' surname. Several other isolated cases have also appeared that use the "Mario" last name, such as the Mario Party 2 Prima Games guide, and the promo flyer for the Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Jr./Mario Bros. arcade cabinet. Charles Martinet, Mario's current voice actor, has also given this as his response when asked about Mario's last name.

For many years, various Nintendo employees and representatives, including series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, have stated that Mario and Luigi do not have a definite last name. However, Miyamoto later recanted this stance, stating during the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival held in Shibuya that Mario's full name is in fact "Mario Mario".

Super Mario FX
A rumor suggests that a 3D platformer named "Super Mario FX" was in development for the SNES, which would have used the Super FX chip to display 3D graphics. Variants of this rumor claim that the game became or was otherwise the inspiration for Super Mario 64.

As SnesCentral elaborates, there is no actual proof that such a game was in development (which would have been unlikely due to the timetable of Super Mario 64's development), and claims of its existence seem to originate from IGN misinterpreting an interview in the January 1996 issue of Nintendo Power, where Shigeru Miyamoto stated he got the idea of developing a 3D Mario platformer (without specifying platform) while developing Star Fox, a game released on the SNES that used the Super FX chip to display full 3D graphics. Furthermore, said article's writer contacted Dylan Cuthbert (a game programmer who designed the Super FX chip and collaborated with Miyamoto on Star Fox), who confirmed that no 3D Mario platformer was in development for the SNES and that "Super Mario FX" was actually a codename for the chip itself.

Super Mario Galaxy DS
In December 2007, a video showing a supposedly downloadable, Nintendo DS version of Super Mario Galaxy emerged. The footage showed a hidden galaxy unlocked by collecting all 121 Power Stars as both Mario and Luigi and feeding them all to a Hungry Luma, which would allow the player to access the Nintendo DS version of the game using Download Play. The player would use the stylus to control Mario, and both brothers were shown in the game's galaxies simultaneously, implying a co-op mode. The video also stated that each Power Star collected in the Nintendo DS version would be redeemable for 10 Wii Points on the Wii Shop Channel. When asked about this, Nintendo stated that they do not comment on rumors. A slightly shorter, more stable version of the same footage was later posted on the video-sharing site Stage6 by user psycho3ler. It was shown to belong to Pablo Belmonte, who had previously created the "Nintendo ON" hoax video in 2005 (the extended version of the trailer even showed a Nintendo ON planet). Thus, this rumor has been confirmed false.

Super Mario Galaxy box art hidden message
Started on NeoGAF, the "hidden" message in the box art of Super Mario Galaxy can be found in the logo of the game. If one singles out all the letters with a small twinkle, the message apparently reads "UR MR GAY" (You are Mr. Gay), leading some to suggest that it may be the sneaky work of the cover artist. Nevertheless, in the sequel, the sparkles have been rearranged to spell out U R M I AY, although this can be interpreted this as YA, I M, RU? (Yeah, I am, are you?) Both title logos' arrangement of the sparkles in aesthetically pleasing areas spelling out an unintended message is likely a case of confirmation bias.

Mario Party: Star Rush packaging
Shortly after Mario Party: Star Rush was announced, a post on Twitter was made joking about Nintendo reusing stock art for the game's tentative cover which was also used on cans of Spaghetti-O's. The post quickly gained popularity, and was picked up by mainstream gaming sites   , giving the impression that the artwork was indeed derived from the render used on the can, when it is simply stock promotional artwork. The original art has also been used on other products and packaging, including stationery and the official Super Mario Brothers 2013 Wall Calendar, which was released on August 1, 2012. The stock art was also used for the Simon Mall event and the Mario Kart 8 Best Buy Event Demo in 2013, well before the official promotion of Campbell's Spaghetti-Os in November.

Donkey Kong Country animated series French naming
Over the years, various English-language databases and fansites have stated that the original French version of the 1996 Donkey Kong Country animated series is titled La planète de Donkey Kong (lit. "Planet Donkey Kong"). "La planète de Donkey Kong" actually refers to a programming block (later renamed DKTV) which aired from 1996 to 2001 exclusively in France, and that hosted the Donkey Kong Country series alongside a large number of other children programming.

The Donkey Kong Country cartoon proper was also named "Donkey Kong Country" when it aired in France and Québec, with some French channels shortening the title to simply "Donkey Kong".

The Koopalings being Bowser's children is a Western addition
Following the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and its Japanese bios stating the Koopalings are minions of Bowser rather than his children, as well as Shigeru Miyamoto's statement in a 2012 interview that Nintendo's "current story" is that Bowser Jr. is Bowser's only child, there have been claims that the concept of the Koopalings being Bowser's children was a change made for the English releases of the games

Though Nintendo of America effectively did change the Koopaling's dialogue in the Super Mario Bros. 3 manual and gave the originally-unnamed characters their names that have been used in Japanese versions of the games ever since, the Koopalings being Bowser's children has also been present in official Japanese material since Super Mario Bros. 3. This is stated in the Japanese manual of said game,, in books written in cooperation with Nintendo and released during the 1990's such as the Super Mario Complete Encyclopedia (「スーパーマリオ全百科 」), in the description for Bowser's main trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and in the Nintendo Official Guidebooks for Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the latter case being notable as the game and its guide were released after the introduction of Bowser Jr. in Super Mario Sunshine.

Ashley's age
It is commonly claimed among online fans that Ashley is 9/10-years old in Japanese WarioWare material and that her age was "changed" for the western localization. The claim was featured for a time on the wiki's Ashley and Red page, although it was later removed for being unsourced.

While there are hints that Ashley is meant to be younger than 15-years old (such as her voice and Ashley referring to herself in the third person in her Miiverse Sketch Masterpiece Collection video, a speaking pattern that usually denotes young, immature characters in Japanese media) she has no given age in any Japanese WarioWare media, beside the Japanese description for the Crazy Galaxy badges in Nintendo Badge Arcade stating that this specific incarnation of Ashley is "now an adult".

Clawdia Koopa
A popular rumor has that an unspecified UK Nintendo magazine issue once joked that Bowser's wife is named "Clawdia Koopa". However, despite the rumor's popularity, no scan or direct quotation of the statement has surfaced. Furthermore, most sites making this claim attribute it to "Nintendo Power UK", a publication that does not exist (the actual official UK Nintendo magazine went through a variety of names, but none of them were related to Nintendo Power).

The idea that Bowser has a wife named Clawdia Koopa likely originates from the Mario fansite Lemmy's Land. Lemmy Koopa, the webmaster, created an original character named Clawdia to play the role of Bowser's wife in his fanfiction. She appeared on the site as early as 2002. As Lemmy Koopa has always been open about Clawdia being his original character, it's most likely that a third party started the "Nintendo Power UK" rumor.

King K. Rool's costumes are separate characters in Japan
King K. Rool's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Brawl states that "His brother, Kaptain K. Rool, made an appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest". This lead to several fans wondering if this was a change in the Japanese localization of the Donkey Kong Country games, which, due to the broken telephone effect, was morphed into a "fact" that King K. Rool's disguises are separate characters in Japan. In truth, Japanese material for the Donkey Kong Country series also have K. Rool's aliases being mere disguises, and thus the trophy description is merely an error.

The Donkey Kong Country animated series featured Kaptain Skurvy, a pirate-themed texture swap of General Klump who is eventually revealed to be Klump's long-lost brother. As the Donkey Kong Country series was relatively popular in Japan, it may have been a possible source of confusion.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a stage play
Because of several design elements in the game, such as the rising and closing curtains at the beginning of the game, the end of each stage being a black void representing an exit stage, several platforms being held up in midair, and some platforms being bolted into the background and casting shadows onto the sky, it has become a popular idea that Super Mario Bros. 3 is actually a stage play rather than a real adventure. The theory began to spread around the Internet with an image showing evidence for the theory. In 2015, Shigeru Miyamoto, in a video discussing various Mario rumors and myths, would claim that the theory is true. This does not appear to be true of the Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4 versions, however, due to the latter's opening cutscene, the more realistic backgrounds, and the removal of platform shadows.

The Mario characters are actors
In September 2012, Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka held an interview with gaming magazine Game Informer, which was reported by several sites. Among other information, the interview had Shigeru Miyamoto stating he pictured the Mario cast as "[...] a troupe of actors". As many who reported the interview omitted the context of the statement (with at least one site running it as the headline), this lead to several assuming that the statement was meant to be taken literally, that is, the Mario characters are actors playing a role and that their adventures are not "real" in the context of the Mario universe. Further supporting this idea is the above interpretation that Super Mario Bros. 3 is a play.

Miyamoto's answer, however, was of a different nature. When asked by the interviewer why Mario and Princess Peach partake in friendly sporting competitions with Bowser despite their antagonistic relationship in the platforming games, Miyamoto responded that he pictured the Mario cast as being similar to old comic and cartoon characters (specifically mentioning Popeye), which frequently changed time period and occupation depending on the scenario with no explanation, concluding that he envisions them as "one big family, or maybe a troupe of actors." .

Interviewer: Time and again, Bowser kidnaps Peach. Why do Mario and Peach still race go-karts and play tennis with him?? Miyamoto: If you're familiar with things like Popeye and some of the old comic characters, you would oftentimes see this cast of characters that takes on different roles depending on the comic or cartoon. They might be businessman in one [cartoon] or a pirate in another. Depending on the story that was being told, they would change roles. So, to a certain degree, I look at our characters in a similar way and feel that they can take on different roles in different games. It's more like they're one big family, or maybe a troupe of actors.

Toads' genders
On November 17, 2014, GameSpot posted an article featuring a segment of an interview with Koichi Hayashida on Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, who, when discussing the Toad's genders, stated that, "[...]we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances." This led the article's writer and many others to conclude that the Toad species is a genderless race. Other more direct sources reveal, however, that Toads are not exactly genderless. An interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, for instance, has clarified that when Toads were designed, the developers did not focus on their genders until Toadette, who was clearly designed to be female, was introduced, and then players began assuming the Toad character as male. In other words, Toads were more likely viewed with an ambiguous gender at first rather than being flat-out genderless as the GameSpot article seems to imply.

Chunky Kong in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Around the time the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U demo was available at select North American Best Buy locations, Smashboard user wildvine47 reported that he saw Chunky Kong as an Assist Trophy character while playing the demo at the Schaumburg Best Buy. He described Chunky's effect as making bananas fall from the sky. While the report was corroborated by another poster and initially seen as credible, its veracity was questioned due to there being no video or image captured of the supposed Assist Trophy. The rumor was finally confirmed false when both versions of the game were released, with no sighting or mention of Chunky Kong as one of the Assist Trophies in either version.

On December 22, 2014, wildvine47 admitted in a forum post that he had invented the rumor, both to see which fake "leaks" would pick up on it, and for his own amusement.

Laser Suit in Super Mario World
In late 2006, a video was posted on YouTube showing off a secret exit in the Top Secret Area reached by leaping into a "Warp Pipe" between the two left question blocks. Said warp would take the player to a hidden goal, which would in turn lead to a level on the island above called "???". In this level is a Message Block containing a congratulatory message from the Nintendo staff presenting the Laser Suit, which would have the properties of the cape and allow Mario to shoot lasers. The suit was actually created by Super Mario World hacker KPhoenix, who made the level and added the message "so people would be fooled on Youtube." .

Luigi in Super Mario 64 / "L is real 2401"
One of the most famous rumors surrounding Super Mario 64 was that Luigi is available as a secret playable character, often citing a statue with small characters that purportedly spelled "L is real 2401" as proof (the inscription on the statue has also been stated to read "Eternal Star" by many). Many theories regarding the meaning of the "L is real 2401" message were circulated, such as doing 2401 laps around the statue in order to make Luigi appear. After receiving numerous fake methods and codes from fans, IGN offered a US$100 reward for an authentic method of unlocking Luigi in the game, but, as the staff suspected, Luigi's inclusion in Super Mario 64 was a myth, as no proof to the contrary was forthcoming. Nintendo itself acknowledged the rumors in the 1998 April Fools' issue of Nintendo Power, which stated that it would discuss the "L is real 2401" message on the non-existent page 128. While his presence in the original Super Mario 64 was nothing more than a rumor, Luigi was made a playable character in the remake, Super Mario 64 DS.

A variant of the "L is real 2401" rumor claims that the "message" instead refers to Paper Mario, a game that Luigi does appear in, though as a non-playable character. According to the rumor, the "2401" refers to the game's supposed North American release date of February 4, 2001, even though its actual North American release date was one day later, on February 5. In addition, the game was actually first released in Japan on August 11, 2000, the Super Mario 64 staff would have had no idea of the game's release date years in advance, and the game was originally scheduled for a December 26, 2000, launch in North America before being delayed to February 2001. The rumor appears to have originated from "Hairball" in 2000, explaining the "L is real 2401" rumor on its webpage.

In 1998, a fan sent a letter to Nintendo of America asking about the message on the statue. According to Game Play Counselor Michael D. Chandler's response letter, the message has no actual meaning and was only added as a joke, to trick people into thinking that it had a hidden meaning.

Luigi's hanging shadow
In the game Luigi's Mansion, the player must go to the Telephone Room after beating the Boss Battle of the Area 3. Within these calls, the player must have Luigi holding the the phone and wait until a lightning strikes: Luigi's shadow appears to be of him hanging himself. After being noted, it became a frequent source for creepypastas or occasional genuine speculation about the game's development.

The shadow is in fact a lighting glitch, where the shadow is spawning incorrectly due to the camera angle. The area to the right of Luigi appears to be his arm when it is, in fact, part of the shadow for the Poltergust 3000. The same thing can occur when the camera angle changes while speaking to a Toad or Professor E. Gadd over the Game Boy Horror.

Marty the Thwomp
A popular rumor regarding Mario Kart 64 involves the green Thwomp (named "Marty" by fans) locked behind a cage at the beginning of Bowser's Castle. Rumors about using a complicated method to unlock him circulated , though it is unknown where the rumor exactly originated from. These videos were posted as an April Fools' joke. There is no evidence in the game's data to indicate that the Thwomp is a playable character, nevertheless. He also is not actually green, as there are no green Thwomp textures in the game's data; the green color is actually a result of the yellow light on his surface.

Rosalina in Mario Tennis Open
Sometime after the release of Mario Tennis Open, a Nindori magazine scan with Rosalina's head over the QR code used to unlock Black Yoshi in the game started appearing on Japanese websites. At a later point, however, another scan appeared stating that she had been replaced with Luma.

Waluigi in Super Mario 64 DS
In 2007, rumors about Waluigi appearing in Super Mario 64 DS started, similar to the original Super Mario 64 Luigi rumors. Many fans even suggested that the original "L is Real 2401" statue would be involved in accessing Waluigi in the sequel, and various fake ways to unlock him were put forth.

One of the more popular pieces of evidence was a fake magazine scan titled "Purple Prizes." It stated that Waluigi could be unlocked by collecting every Power Star and becoming "the fastest foot racer in the land", then triggering a hidden switch to reveal his door and defeating the "Rabbit King" to collect the key; the page also described his standard and Power Flower abilities, as well as stating that he has a "special ending". The "scan" was created by Andrew Brown, who edited a custom-made Waluigi model into game screenshots and posted the image onto his DeviantART account as well as some small gaming forums as an April Fool's joke in 2005, though it quickly spiked in popularity. Some began to state that the image has been posted onto IGN and that the "scan" was from an issue of Nintendo Power.

Luigi's Mansion early versions
There are various rumors circulating regarding earlier iterations and cut content from Luigi's Mansion, most of which assert that the game was meant to be "darker" and more violent than the final version. Two recurring components of these rumors are a cut "hunter" Portrait Ghost and the presence of an in-game time limit of an unknown time.

Hunter ghost
A common rumor is that the Safari Room originally featured a hunter boss, who wanted to have Luigi's head as one of his trophies, and who was cut for being too "scary" for the target audience of the game. No evidence of a hunter ghost is present in the game's data despite the presence of other unused ghosts, and no direct mentions of the supposed boss exist in previews prior to the game's release in September 2001 in Japan.

The rumor originates from Nintendo Power's October 2001 issue: the issue included a preview of Luigi's Mansion, which featured a screenshot of an earlier build of the Safari Room with the caption "When your ghoul-busting mission takes you to the trophy room, proceed with caution. If you meet up with the ghost of a hunter, he'll want to add Luigi to his collection." The caption was likely an attempt at hyperbole rather than a serious indication that a game hunter-themed ghost was in the game, as the article was written after Luigi's Mansion's Japanese release, long after such a character would've been considered and cut from the game.

Time limit
The most common claim about earlier builds of Luigi's Mansion is that it originally featured a time limit to complete the game, after which the titular mansion would disappear with Mario still inside. Similar to the above, no evidence of a scrapped time limit exist in the final versions' data, and no previews of the game mention or show it.

The time limit rumor may be another instance of broken telephone, this time relating to showings of Luigi's Mansion at video game conventions. The game's show floor demo at E3 2001 featured an on-screen timer of 1 minute 30 seconds. After the time elapsed, Professor E. Gadd would appear and boot back the player to the title screen, ending their time with the game. Evidence of this short time limit does exist in the final game. Another driver of this aspect of the rumor may have been the game's US commercial, in which the narrator states, "You only have one night to save Mario."

Ninja Mario in Super Mario 64
According to Nintendo Power columnist Dan Owsen, he has received plenty of questions from fans asking him how to unlock "Ninja Mario" in Super Mario 64. Such a power does not exist, but despite repeatedly confirming that it does not exist, it became a very common question. After a while, his replies went from "A ninja never reveals his secrets," and "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," to actively flaming anyone who mentioned it.

A patent for "Wii Music U" was actually for Game & Wario
On May 22, 2014, the United States Patent & Trademark Office approved a patent application filed by Nintendo describing a music-based game using the Wii U GamePad. A user of the video game forum NeoGAF found the application and made a thread about it, speculating that the patent was related to a Wii U follow-up for the Wii game . Several video game news site then ran articles based on the thread, stating that a sequel to Wii Music was rumored to be in development.

The patent did not actually pertain to a sequel to Wii Music or even a standalone game, but rather one of the group of toy capsules in Game & Wario. The Cluck-A-Pop mode of Game & Wario features a group of toy capsules called Bugband, which is a sound test where each layer of the song is represented by a colorful character, whom the player can isolate, remove or interact with from the Wii U GamePad screen. This lines up with the patent's description of "a sound of which a sound source is the at least one object displayed as the first display image may be generated as the first sound. In the selection of the second sound, a sound of which a sound source is the at least one object displayed as the second display image may be selected as the second sound. [...] The display of an object serving as the sound source of a sound on the second display apparatus provides from the second display apparatus the audio output of a sound of which the sound source is the displayed object. This enables the operation of selecting a sound source to view the image and listen to the sound, using the second display apparatus." Another indicator that the patent is for Game & Wario is that the inventors listed are Goro Abe and Takehiko Hosokawa, respectively the director and assistant director of the game. Both worked for Nintendo SPD rather than Nintendo EAD, the developer of Wii Music, and had no involvement in Wii Music. Goro Abe is also listed as the inventor on several other patents filled around this time, all of which clearly describe aspects of Game & Wario (one patent application is for the Pirates minigame, #US20140206422 describes Disco, and US20140206445 depicts Bowling).