Game Theory - Super Mario...BETRAYED!

Episode Date: October 15, 2023

Join Game Theory Host MatPat as he reveals the TRUE villain of the Mario franchise!

Did you see the news? Nintendo confirmed that Mario is punching Yoshi in the head. According to character designer pursued Mario World Chigafumi Hino, quote, Lots of people think that while Mario is pointing his finger forward, he's saying, Go, and Yoshi's tongue comes out. However, the setup that I drew was that when Mario punches Yoshi in the head, the character's tongue shoots out in surprise. What's more, there's an added bop sound.

End quote, man! Between this and Scott confirming last week's snap theory, these are good days to be a theorist. Welcome to the chaotic neutral of internet web shows. Now that we're 200 episodes into this series, across all the talk of evolution and genetics, math, and science, I hope that you've at least learned one crucial lesson from me, not to take everything at face value. I mean, sure, we're told that Mario is a hero and that Bowser's a villain,

but rarely is the story so black and white. A hero is only truly a hero if you're fighting on the same side. It's a matter of perspective, and as a result, the concepts of good and evil aren't nearly as black and white as we'd like to believe. like to believe. To those who believe in Bowser's cause, he's the hero, he's the one doing good. Meanwhile, it's important to remember that we as the player are only being presented with one side of the story. That's why we always have to question what we're being told and why we're being told it. And heck, who knows if that's true for something as silly as a video game about roided up plumbers, it may even be true in real life.

It's me, Mario! Nah, what am I saying? The reason I bring this up is that there are just some characters like Mario and Bowser who exist in shades of gray, who are either good or bad depending on your perspective. But there is one character in Mario who is pure evil, someone sinister who aligns with no one, who intentionally sows the seeds of chaos for his own profit. He's flown under the radar, but make no mistake. He's the Mario Universe's version of a war profiteer, creating conflict and then selling his wares to everyone involved.

He is the purest villain in the Mario series, and that man is... Professor Elvin Gad. You heard that right. This walking talking poop emoji responsible for providing Mario and the gang with a slew of helpful wacky inventions is low-key the Mushroom Kingdom's biggest threat. But to understand why, let me shine some light onto the matter. Or should I say Sunshine? Some light onto the matter because even though he doesn't make an appearance in this game, the tragedy that befalls the tropical Ile Delphino and Super Mario Sunshine was 100% orchestrated by the professor. Throughout the game, you're fighting against a disguised Bowser Jr. as he figuratively and literally paints the town red with his magic paintbrush. Mario's primary weapon against the onslaught, the flash liquidizer, ultra-dousing device, or flood for short,

which is waiting for you on the runway when you land. It even comes attached with a little note that says, Thank you for purchasing this item from Gad Science Incorporated. EGAD! It's EGADD, but there's another part to EGAD's role in this game. You see, while he's responsible for creating the flood, he's also responsible for creating another Mario Sunshine item. The very paintbrush Bowser Jr. is using to trash the island. Take one good look at the logo on the paintbrush and there's no denying. That is the mark of our yogurt swirl-haired friend. Which begs the question, how did Bowser Jr., of all characters, wind up with one of EGAD's inventions?

It's not actually that much of a mystery. Bowser Jr. just outright says, A strange old man and a white coat gave it to me. A strange old man and a white coat. Gave it to you? Not I stole it, or I bought it, but EG just straight up walked up to an oversized turtle dragon and gave it a powerful magic paintbrush capable of bringing life into the world? And don't for a second think that he doesn't realize the threat that the Bowser family poses.

Canonically, Luigi's Mansion takes place before Sunshine. And in the finale of Luigi's Mansion, Luigi talks to Igad about King Boo turning into Bowser and breathing fire at him. So clearly the professor knows the danger posed by the King Cupa family, but still in a quaint faint still hands them the tainted paint. Ha, this man ain't no saint. It's also awfully convenient that immediately upon arriving at Delphino Island, the flood is just waiting there, right on the runway. Almost as if Gad's Sign Sink was expecting all of this to happen.

It would be one thing if this was a once-in-a-lifetime mistake, something he just did without realizing the potential ramifications, but E-Gad has made himself a career by helping out both the good guys and the bad guys. When you map out who's holding the latest weaponized vacuum cleaner, Game Boy, the scales are disturbingly balanced. Look no further than Mario Party 7, where if you look really closely, you'll find his logo on two more items. The first is the vacuum orb, which makes sense considering he's the guy responsible for creating the Poultergust series that helps Luigi clean out haunted mansions. What makes considerably less sense though is who EGAD designed this item for.

Wario and Wa Luigi. The vacuum orb is a capsule item in Mario Party 7 that is exclusive to these two villains. An item specifically used to steal coins from other players is designed to only be used by the anti-characteries in the game. That alone would be enough to turn heads. But a gad logo appears on one other item in this game, the wand inside the magic orb. An item that grants invisibility to the user. An item that can only be used by, wait for it, boo and dry bones. Recurring undead enemies from practically every single Mario game.

In the entirety of Mario Party 7, the only items bearing the GAD logo are designed to help the villains. So EGAD pretends like he wants to help, but secretly he's undermining things from the shadows for his own benefit. And it's not just on Delphino Island or on a board game table. Most games he appears in, he's the one responsible for the chaos in the kingdom. In Mario and Luigi partners in time, EGAD creates a time machine, and for its maiden voyage, its sole occupant is Peach, the monarch of the Mushroom King Hey, here's a good idea. Let's send the princess back in time inside of a death trap using an untested technology without anyone else in there for protection. What could possibly go wrong? Spoiler alert, everything. She's trapped in the past and kidnapped by mushroom aliens despite EGAD saying that there's a 99.9999% certainty that nothing will happen. You might want to run that calculation again there, Doc. But when things go wrong, here's EGAD to help again. He's left behind at the castle to do research on the new alien species, taking over both the past and the present. And what does he find that's useful to the team?

Nothing. His purpose for being there is to find the alien weakness and he can't. We actually don't see him do anything. He contributes nothing. In fact, he contributes less than nothing because he actively doubts the help that you're getting from other characters. It's almost like he's working with the aliens. To the last scene of the game. The final boss is defeated only to have egad say, there's something interesting to see in the castle. Meet me in the usual spot. What could be there? Some fun post-game content, some Easter egg, new invention. Oh no! You go to his usual spot only to find Bowser, possessed by the evil mushrooms and ready to kill ya. Thanks for that heads up there, E-Gad! It's almost like he was luring you into a trap!

And sure, if you want to chalk up partners in time to just an accident with experimental technology, might I also point you towards the Luigi Mansion sequel, Dark Moon. In it, we learned that King Boo, who Luigi so painstakingly defeated and turned into a painting in the The first game was freed when the Nutty Professor accidentally sold the painting in a garage sale. Accidentally sold the painting with a giant evil boss inside, huh? I don't think so. Need I remind you that you're the same guy who ended the first game with the lines. I'd wager dollars to donuts nobody but me has such lovely paintings.

In fact, he's so eager to get his paintings, he puts rescuing Mario from his portrait prison on hold until the ghosts have been turned into pictures. And then he just so happens to accidentally sell one, the most expensive one, the one that contains a deeply dangerous ghost boss, it makes no sense unless he's been perpetuating a cycle of capturing and freeing ghosts. Ask yourself this. Of the 23 main ghosts in Luigi's mansion, how many are actually hostile towards Luigi before he starts attacking? Only four.

With one of them being King Boo, the boss of everything and the other is a literal guard dog, protecting the mansion from an obvious intruder. So why are we capturing all these non-hostile ghosts? ghosts anyway because EGAD told us to. Come to think of it, EGAD has been controlling the story we hear in this game the entire time. He's the one that told us what happened to Mario. But when you actually look at what he says, he didn't stop Mario from going into a mansion he, A, knew was haunted with dangerous spirits, and B, says he mysteriously saw pop up only days earlier.

And he knows the Mario brothers at this point. Partners in Time shows that they save him from his old lab, and yet he casually watches as one of his former savior's walks into a dangerous mansion and then doesn't bother to do anything about it? But that's not all. Isn't it suspicious that Mario is trapped in a painting of all things? And that EGAD just so happens to have a machine that turns physical beings into paintings and paintings back into physical beings? In fact, in Luigi's Mansion, we never actually learn how the ghosts escape from their paintings to begin with. All this time, EGAD was capable of reversing the process. Who's to say that's not how the ghosts escaped in the first place?

Remember, this is the same guy who captures ghosts for a living, but then supply them with magical items during rounds of board games. He might even have helped create the ghosts in the first place as he says in the game quote, I'm pretty sure they're ghosts freed from the paintings of the ghost artist Van Gore. This guy brought ghosts to life every time he picked up a brush. A paint brush that brings things to life, you say. Huh! Where have I seen that one before, EGAD? But why? Why would this character be helping both sides? The answer is obvious. EGAD serves one master. Not good, not evil, but money. EGAD doesn't care who he's helping as long as he's getting paid. He's an arms dealer, and if his inventions are used by the bad guys, so be it. In fact, when there's mayhem, that's even better because the more problems there are in the Mushroom Kingdom, the more the good guys are in need of EGAD's services. Give the bad guys the tools they need to create the messes,

and then charge the good guys for the tools they need to solve them. At the end of Luigi's Mansion, he makes an odd statement about not being concerned about things like money or treasure. That may or may not be true at the time, but fast forward a few games and he's singing a completely different tune. In the recently released Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga plus Bowser's Minions, there's an Easter egg where EGAD begins talking to Bowser's minions about his research. As he rambles to himself, he notes, quote, So I researched and researched and researched still more. Ah, but as with all things, conducting research required a fat stack of coins. So I started managing the Star Beans Cafe as a secondary source of income. I'm afraid all these things required

still more coinage." End quote. And remember, this whole exchange is 100% unprompted. No one is asking him about his work. He's just rambling to himself. So clearly his desire for money weighs heavy on his mind, but it apparently also weighs heavy on Nintendo's mind as well. Why would they show us this Easter egg scene

and specifically choose for Gad to focus on his money issues, if not to pull back the curtain on one of the most two-faced characters in its roster? His need for money is further supported by another of his inventions, The Green Wallet, appearing in Superstar Saga, a sack that doubles the amount of money you earn after battle. And that's not all. Think back to that note on flood. Thank you for purchasing this item. Thank you for purchasing. He sold the Isle Delphino the tool they needed to solve the problem that he himself created. And if you are still unconvinced that EGAD is truly a mastermind.

Behind all of this, all you need to see is this one line from Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon that shows you his true intentions. Quote, once all of this is over, you'll finally step out of your brother's shadow and be recognized as a true hero. Ha ha! Laughing under his breath! He is clearly manipulating Luigi, playing on his poor emotions and feelings of inadequacy, and laughing about it under his breath all the while. If that doesn't show you that he is more than just an absent-brained professor, I don't know what will.

EGAD creates inventions that cause problems, like the paintbrush, the time machine, the portificationizer, then creates the solutions to those problems at a cost. The flood, the hydrogush, the poltergust. He fuels the feud between the two warring factions in the Mushroom Kingdom and hides out in the middle, raking in his profits. We've all assumed that Wario is the money-grubbing character of these games, but little did we know that behind those swirly glasses, E-GAD's eyes are green with dollar-sumper-sum. or gold coins, whatever. But hey, that's just a theory.

A game theory! Thanks for watching!