I am considering writing a story loosely based on Super Mario Brothers 3. I took a glance at the Mario selection that fanfiction.net has to offer, but honestly, everything I've found thus far looks like a complete and utter shit. More than that, nothing I've found deals with the particular game that I'm considering writing about.

So this is kind of an amalgam of the Plot Bunny Thread and a Story Search Thread. If you can rec any interesting Mario fanfics, I'm really interested in reading them. Also, I need help outlining my own story before I get started.

Right. So here's what I've got so far.

Based on what I've found perusing the net and from playing the game, I've got a few ideas running through my head. In the original game, there are 7 children of Bowser and there are 7 different worlds. The children are, in order: Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, and Ludwig Von Koopa. The worlds, in order: Grass Land, Desert Hill, Ocean Side, Big Island, The Sky, Iced Land and Pipe Maze. That's not including Castle of Koopa. So, Mario would make his way across each world (each world in a few chapters) before defeating Bowser in his castle and saving the princess.

That's a lot of shit for one plumber to do. I think what I'm going to do is similar to a lot of Greek mythology - Mario has just about every possible thing that can wrong go wrong, but he keeps on trucking a battles through it.

My Mario is a level-headed, middle-aged man who is more talented than most, but has learned everything he knows by experience. He lives in a humble home on the edge of the "Grass Land" world and has little contact with the other worlds. The only person he confides in is his younger brother Luigi, who is a lot like him in many ways, but has seen none of the horrors of war - the same war that took Mario's parents and his first and only love. Tragic, yes, but it's been so long that Mario has trouble remembering - a fact which causes him to beat himself up about it constantly. But his brother doesn't allow him to wallow in guilt over things he's done, and had done to him, and Luigi helps keep him out of misery.

Mario was forced to protect his kingdom almost single-handedly in the past, and he is the only person left that has repelled Bowser in combat. He, along with the rest of his kingdom, has had to live with the knowledge that one day Bowser will strike again. What he doesn't know, is that Bowser has had seven children in the time since their last fight, and that all of them are prepared to strike.

In the night an emissary from the king approaches Mario's home, waking both him and his brother. In a rush, he tells Mario that Bowser's son, Larry Koopa, has stolen the King's magic wand and now controls all of the King's army. The King sent him to Mario before being sealed away, and the emissary barely made it out of the castle alive. Furthermore, the King believed that his kingdom was not the only one attacked.

Mario gathers his things (mushroom, fire plant, feather?) and leaves after arguing with Luigi, who wants to tag along. The emissary points him in the right direction, and Mario sets off...

...

That's pretty much all I have at this point. Basically, I wanted a novel length Mario that's serious, without him angst-ing over his lost princess girlfriend. Honestly, it could be complete shit, but I don't think it is.

If it is, be sure to let me know. I won't waste my time if no one thinks it should be done. But just imagine Mario on the big screen... DOPE SHIT.

 

I'd have to read a couple of chapters before judging - there's lots of ways that you could translate a Mario game into a serious storyline (and most probably wouldn't work well, quite frankly).

Until then, this PBF strip is the best "serious" Mario story.

 

It exists.

 

Dear god. No. Just no.

 

There Will Be Brawl

 

Holy fuck, this is awesome.

 

Yes. Yes it is.

 

I straight lawled at the end of episode 1. Pretty awesome stuff.

 

That was awesome. Evil Kirby is creepy as hell.

 

Episode 5: "Malon, go get Epona, you're up soon."

Hoooooo damn. This is funny shit.

 

I think you could do with a different angle on the 'dead girlfriend from war' thing. After all, Mario's first appearence was fighting Donkey Kong, and there was a different chick there than Princess Peach. That could be shown in flashbacks.

However, it's hard for me to imagine Mario as being serious. I'm not sure I'd be able to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy such a story anyway.

If you were looking for recommendations, I remember one particular Horror story in the Mario section of FFnet. The only reason I remember it was because it took place in Luigi's Mansion, and Dry Bones was one of the characters who was featured in it (this was newly after they introduced character lists to the series, so it was one of two stories that had him as a listed character). It was pretty good, but it's been a year or two since I read it; it might've been terrible for all I remember.

 

@Cheddar: Yeah, I'd probably work with Grassland as his home, just for the simplicity. Saying he's from Brooklyn would be shooting myself in the foot, as far as the story goes. I think it would be more an Action/Adventure thing without any Romance. That's why I'm going with a middle-aged Mario and a young Princess Toadstool.

@Insane Juggler: That Donkey Kong idea is a really good one. I could definitely see some flashbacks where Donkey killed his wife/girlfriend before Mario could take Donkey out. It's disappointing that you can't suspend your disbelief, but I can't say I blame you. At least give it a look if I post something, will 'ya?