The Great Gladiator Gig

"The Great Gladiator Gig" is the sixth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and its corresponding live-action segment is "Bonkers from Yonkers".

Plot synopsis
Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad are all traveling through the Linguini Empire in a horse-pulled chariot/bathtub; it seems they had all been invited to a benefit spaghetti dinner, the proceeds of which would go to Mushroom orphans.

Using a telescope, Mario sees the nearby Linguini Empire Colosseum and asks Luigi if they can make the bathtub go any faster. Luigi responds to Mario's question by telling him to relax while Princess Toadstool says that the emperor of the Linguini Empire must be a wonderful person to raise money for orphans and that she can't wait to meet him.

As an excited Mario says that he can't wait to attend that spaghetti dinner, King Koopa, up above on a cliff, tells Tryclydius of his plans to trap Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool. Eventually becoming annoyed with Tryclydius' idiotic ramblings about destroying Mario and Luigi, King Koopa violently yanks him away from the cliff top.

Arriving at the town surrounding the Linguini Empire Colosseum, Luigi tells Mario, Toad and Princess Toadstool that they have arrived ahead of time and still have a half an hour until the spaghetti dinner. As Mario says he can't wait that long until eating, the ground around the colosseum begins to rumble. Believing an earthquake is occurring, Mario's group take cover, but look up and see a gigantic man standing before them.

The man, seeing Mario's group, asks if they are the emperor's guests of honor. Replying that they are, Toad asks if the man is the emperor; the man tells them he isn't the emperor, he is Brutius Maximus Grouchimus, the guardian of the Linguini Empire Colosseum and tells Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to follow him into the colosseum.

While following Brutius into the colosseum, Mario overhears Brutius mention that the benefit dinner may be canceled. Mario, shocked, asks why, and Brutius responds that this is because of a plumbing problem in the catacombs beneath the colosseum. Mario, desperately wanting to attend the spaghetti dinner, says that he and Luigi can repair the plumbing problem. Hearing this, Brutius suddenly calls forth several Koopa Troopas and tells them to take Princess Toadstool and Toad on a tour of the colosseum; after he says this, he and the Koopa Troopas lead Toad and the Princess through the colosseum, leaving a somewhat suspicious Mario and Luigi behind with several Koopa Troopas. Taking the Princess and Toad to the center of the colosseum, Brutius introduces them to the emperor, who they are horrified to discover is King Koopa, or "Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa". Toad, after seeing Emperor Koopa, begins trying to run away to get Mario and Luigi, only to be surrounded by several Koopa Troopas. As Toad is forced next to her, the Princess tells Emperor Koopa that Mario and Luigi will save them and defeat him. Mockingly, Koopa tells the Princess that Mario and Luigi won't be able to save her and tells his Koopa Troopas to put her and Toad into confinement while Brutius leaves.

In the catacombs beneath the colosseum, Brutius is in the process of leading Mario and Luigi down a corridor. Stopping, Brutius tells a curious Mario and Luigi that now is the time that they'll be captured. The Mario Brothers, shocked, are surrounded by several Koopa Troopas and a mocking Brutius. Trying to run from the Koopa Troopas and Brutius, Mario grabs a nearby torch from the walls and throws it at them. With the Koopa Troopas and Brutius distracted, the brothers enter a nearby chariot with a horse attached to it.

Trying to get the horse to pull the chariot they're in, Mario and Luigi see that the horse is too busy eating to acknowledge them. Getting an idea, Mario, using a piece of pipe, dangles a bag of oats in front of the horse. The horse, seeing the oats, frantically begins chasing trying to eat, pulling the chariot the Mario Brothers are in and knocking any Koopa Troopas it encounters out of the way.

Trying to tackle Mario and Luigi's chariot, Brutius and several Koopa Troopas miss it and bump into one another instead. Getting up, Brutius, grabbing two nearby Koopa Troopas, throws them, who are inside their shells, at Mario and Luigi. Mario, seeing the oncoming shells, throws the horse's bag of oats at them. Hitting the bag of oats, the shells ricochet off it and begin to bounce chaotically off of the surrounding walls.

The horse, seeing that Mario and Luigi have no more grains, dumps them from his chariot, telling them that, unless they give him more grains, they aren't getting another ride. Seeing Brutius and several Koopa Troopas coming up behind the horse, the Mario Brothers begin to run to a nearby door. Reaching the door, they burst through and find themselves in the center of the colosseum, being glared down upon by Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa and hundreds of yelling spectators.

Emperor Koopa proceeds to tell Mario and Luigi that, if they defeat his gladiator, they'll be able to leave the colosseum unhindered. After saying this, Koopa tells a Koopa Troopa to allow his gladiator, a net- and trident-wielding Tryclydius, into the arena. Seeing Tryclydius, Mario and Luigi run from him in two opposite directions. Tryclydius, after some hesitation, begins to slither after Luigi, who he throws his trident at. Tryclydius' trident successfully pins Luigi's overalls to a wall, leaving him defenseless against the approaching Tryclydius.

Mario, seeing his brother in danger, tries to distract Tryclydius by jumping on the neck of one of his heads. Mario, frantically trying to hold on to Tryclydius' neck, tells Luigi to attack Tryclydius, unfortunately, Luigi is unable to do anything, being incapable of getting loose from Tryclydius' trident.

Tryclydius eventually manages to grab hold of Mario by biting down on his overalls. Lifting Mario into the air, Tryclydius, after swinging him around a bit, tosses him into a nearby wall. Luigi, after managing to get his overalls loose from Tryclydius' trident, begins to threaten Tyrclydius, only to have a net thrown over him. With Luigi captured, Tryclydius, staring menacingly at Mario, unsheathes a sword and begins to slither towards him.

Up in the stands, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa begins to taunt Princess Toadstool, saying Mario and Luigi will soon be hacked apart by Tryclydius and no longer be a problem to him.

Down below, Tryclydius prepares to swing his sword at Mario, who jumps out of the way, causing Tryclydius to miss. Jumping on one of Tryclydius' heads, Mario knocks Tryclydius' sword from his mouth and, grabbing it, manages to cut the net holding Luigi open. Seeing Tryclydius quickly approaching, Luigi begins to panic, only to be inexplicably told by Mario to dance. Dancing around Tryclydius, the Mario Brothers eventually cause a confused Tryclydius to tie his neck into a knot, effectively immobilizing him.

Seeing Tryclydius defeated, Emperor Koopa, betraying his promise of letting Mario and Luigi free, commands Brutius to free several lions into the arena. Nearby Mario and Luigi, a pen opens up, allowing two vicious and hungry lions out. As the lions approach him and Luigi, Mario manages to convince them that they don't want to eat two measly plumbers for lunch; they should be having royal meat, namely, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa.

In the stands, Emperor Koopa is beginning to try and grab Princess Toadstool, who is nervously backing away. Suddenly, Mario, using Tryclydius' trident as a pole vault, springs upward to and manages to bash into Koopa. Knocked backwards, Koopa crashes into a nearby pillar, damaging it and causing the roof it supports to start collapsing.

As Mario, Princess Toadstool and Toad take cover from falling debris, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa and his Koopa Troopas leap into the Linguini Empire Colosseum arena. Landing in the arena, Koopa is suddenly chased by the two lions out of the colosseum and into the horizon, vowing revenge on Mario and Luigi.

Afterwards, several people begin to enter the colosseum for the beneficial spaghetti dinner, with Toad collecting their admission coins. Inside the colosseum, Brutius, having seemingly reformed, is cooking spaghetti in a cauldron while Princess Toadstool and Toad show Mario all the coins they have collected. As Luigi appears and begins to tell Mario about how successful the spaghetti dinner is, he is suddenly approached by one of the lions from earlier, who says that he is so starved that he could eat a horse, or plumber. Luigi, thinking this to be some sort of threat, quickly runs away to get the lion some spaghetti, not wanting to wind up being eaten by the hungry lion as Mario, Toad, Princess Toadstool and the lion laugh.

Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Toad
 * Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa
 * Tryclydius
 * Brutius Maximus Grouchimus

Cast

 * Lou Albano &mdash; Mario
 * Danny Wells &mdash; Luigi
 * Jeannie Elias &mdash; Princess Toadstool
 * John Stocker &mdash; Toad, Koopa Troopa, Brutius, Lion
 * Harvey Atkin &mdash; King Bowser Koopa, Horse, Tryclyde

Animation and continuity errors

 * The color of Tryclydius' sword continually switches from being gray to blue. Additionally, in several scenes, Koopa's shell disappears and reappears several times.
 * King Koopa's laurel wreath continuously flashes on and off throughout the episode.
 * Although Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad arrived in a bathtub (drawn by a horse), a normal chariot was seen in the dungeon, and remained as a normal chariot for the remainder of the episode.
 * Brutius' skin complexion changes from a light shade of peach to a tan state throughout the episode.
 * After Tryclyde was defeated by Mario and Luigi, his eyes (visible from one head) were still open as he lay on the ground.
 * It is unknown how Luigi survived the crumbling coliseum (due to being off-screen for that scene), as he was never shown to have escaped with Mario, Princess Toadstool, and Toad.
 * When Toad questions if Brutius Maximus Grouchimus is the emperor, his vest and the spots on his cap are a much darker shade of red.
 * When King Koopa says "Three heads are better than two!", his shell disappears for a few frames.

Profiles

 * Netflix: The evil Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa lures Mario and Luigi into a trap with the promise of a spaghetti dinner benefit.

Trivia

 * The copyrighted title for the episode in the is "The Great gladiator".
 * King Koopa's alias of Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa is a pun on the name "Augustus," which was a name of all Roman Emperors, and the month of August, as it also includes the months of September and October.