Big Penguin
- “I know speed when I see it, yes siree--I'm the world champion sledder, you know.”
- —Big Penguin, Super Mario 64
The Big Penguin,[1][2] also known as the Penguin Champ[2] or Champion Penguin,[3] is a giant penguin appearing in Super Mario 64 and its remake, Super Mario 64 DS. He is a competitor character along with Koopa the Quick, and he is raced only once in the game on Cool, Cool Mountain. He claims to be the world-champion sledder, and he seems to know Mario prior to the game's events, calling him "buddy."
The Big Penguin is raced against in the third mission of Cool, Cool Mountain. He can be found inside the house at the top of the mountain. When Mario (or Yoshi, Luigi, or Wario in the DS version) drops in through the chimney, the Big Penguin will speak to Mario and challenge him to a race. If Mario accepts, he will have to race down the icy slide in the mountain and beat the penguin to the finish line. The penguin will give Mario a Power Star if beaten. However, if Mario takes a shortcut by jumping onto another section or if he takes the hidden shortcut, the Big Penguin will accuse him of cheating and disqualify him. If Mario races the Big Penguin again after obtaining all 120 Power Stars (150 in the remake), he is even bigger and can easily knock Mario off the slide. There is no reward for winning the race again except for further praise from the Big Penguin.
An unrelated character also described as a "big penguin"[4] appears in the course Snowman's Land.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ペンギン チャンピオン[1] Pengin chanpion スライダーのチャンピオンペンギン[5] Suraidā no Chanpion Pengin |
Penguin Champion Penguin Champion of the Slider |
| French | Grand Pingouin |
Big Penguin |
| German | Schneller Pinguin |
Faster penguin |
| Italian | Pinguino gigante |
Giant Penguin |
| Korean | 펭귄 챔피언 Pengwin Champion |
Penguin Champion |
Trivia
- In the Japanese version, if the player loses to him, the Big Penguin will make a Koopa Troopa sound when talking instead of his own sound.[6] This was fixed in the other regional versions.
- In the Japanese version, the penguin uses the feminine pronoun 「あたし」 atashi to refer to himself.
- In Super Mario Galaxy, penguins refer to Stars as gold medals; similarly, in Super Mario 64, when the Big Penguin gives Mario a Star after being beaten, he says that he cannot give Mario a gold medal.
References
- ^ a b Big Penguin Race
- ^ a b Super Mario 64 Player's Guide, page 39
- ^ Super Mario 64 Player's Guide, page 128
- ^ Super Mario 64 Player's Guide, pages 89–91
- ^ Super Mario 64 Japanese character info book
- ^ ある東大生実況者しゅん (April 28, 2018). 【実況】スーパーマリオ６４を完全初見でテンションMAXプレイ. YouTube. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
