What characters belong to the Mario Universe ?

[NacklesK]

So, I've always had this question about the Mario universe and the characters that are in it because the Mario games have so many spin-offs that they themselves have spin-offs. I mean, I did a little diagram about the links between the different series and look at it :

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And we know for a fact that WarioWare is in the same universe as the Mario games because of Young Cricket mentioning Mario in the Wario Website :

Though the Rare games is where I draw the line personally, it's too far fetched to think that Conker and Banjo are in the Mario universe. At that point you might as well count Mario & Sonic at the Olympics too.

 

[CM30]

Eh, I feel like Rhythm Heaven and Rare's games are about the same level of connectedness to the Mario universe. A bit too distant for the likes of Mario Wiki, but logically connected.

 

[Care]

Personally, I think Conker's Bad Fur Day should be considered apart of the universe because the idea of a gigantic lump of shit that sings existing in Mario's world is hilarious.

 

[CM30]

Personally, I think Conker's Bad Fur Day should be considered apart of the universe because the idea of a gigantic lump of shit that sings existing in Mario's world is hilarious.

It's certainly wacky enough, I'll say that much

 

[NacklesK]

Eh, I feel like Rhythm Heaven and Rare's games are about the same level of connectedness to the Mario universe. A bit too distant for the likes of Mario Wiki, but logically connected.

My reasoning for counting Rhythm Heaven as canon is that WarioWare is canon and by connection so is RH but I don't consider Diddy Kong Racing to be canon so the connection to the Rare games doesn't matter.

Basically think of it as Mario & Sonic, you wouldn't consider Sonic and Mario to live in the same universe because the games where they feature each other isn't canon. That's the criteria I applied to it.

 

[Care]

My reasoning for counting Rhythm Heaven as canon is that WarioWare is canon and by connection so is RH but I don't consider Diddy Kong Racing to be canon so the connection to the Rare games doesn't matter.

Basically think of it as Mario & Sonic, you wouldn't consider Sonic and Mario to live in the same universe because the games where they feature each other isn't canon. That's the criteria I applied to it.

I think the thing about Diddy Kong Racing is that's where those characters first showed up. It's not a crossover thing because that's literally where they came from.

 

[NacklesK]

I think the thing about Diddy Kong Racing is that's where those characters first showed up. It's not a crossover thing because that's literally where they came from.

Still though, I feel like that's more of a foreshadowing and less of an origin. I doubt they were made specifically for DKR, they were probably made for their game then made it to DKR before their game was out. And even then, it would still not count because then I could argue that the original Smash characters like Galeem are canon to Mario because that was their first appearance.

 

[Care]

Still though, I feel like that's more of a foreshadowing and less of an origin. I doubt they were made specifically for DKR, they were probably made for their game then made it to DKR before their game was out. And even then, it would still not count because then I could argue that the original Smash characters like Galeem are canon to Mario because that was their first appearance.

I don't think the case of Galeem works as an argument here because Super Smash Bros. is its own series. Sure, Mario is there and "Bros." is in the title, but there's a lot of other Nintendo characters. Diddy Kong Racing literally just is Diddy Kong's thing, has his name front and center in the title and a bunch of characters who never got games.

 

[NacklesK]

I don't think the case of Galeem works as an argument here because Super Smash Bros. is its own series. Sure, Mario is there and "Bros." is in the title, but there's a lot of other Nintendo characters. Diddy Kong Racing literally just is Diddy Kong's thing, has his name front and center in the title and a bunch of characters who never got games.

Yeah, but I don't consider Diddy Kong Racing to be canon probably like most people. And there's also the whole "foreshadowing" argument :

Still though, I feel like that's more of a foreshadowing and less of an origin. I doubt they were made specifically for DKR, they were probably made for their game then made it to DKR before their game was out.