Characters

 

Despite the minimal cast of characters, all of them bearing one dimensional personalities, I'll be covering them all just for the sake of it, and to provide a notice on differences from the games. Cartoon names are listed first, with original/modern names listed after. All the Koopa Kids appear in The Night Before Cave Christmas, but only as vaguely recognisable shapes in the distance with no dialogue, so no mention of that for their appearances.

 

GOOD GUYS

Mario (voiced by Walker Boone) is the titular hero of the long running series of both video games and cartoons, with this as his final appearance in the latter form. He is usually the man who kicks off the plot, takes care of the plot, or takes a back seat whenever the episode focuses on another character, although not without some form of input. Also a total lazy ass.

Luigi (Tony Rosato) is the more level headed of the brothers, and he frequently provides a pessimistic view point to signs of doom and does relatively little when the episodes don't revolve around his attempts at doing good. He's also semi-frequently insulted by Mario, never gets to use the Cape Feather, and appears to wear his dungarees right up his crack when we see a view of him from behind.

The Princess (Tracey Moore), referred to as Princess Peach in recent games, is the obligatory female character who disapproves of violence and unhealthy life styles, and the few times we actually see her doing anything, it's usually active and sporty. Despite this, she's completely absent from the sports themed episode, The Yoshi Shuffle, making her the only main character of the four to be absent from an episode.

The newcomer to the series, Yoshi (Andrew Sabiston) acts as the childish character, with phobias of everything, looking at Luigi as his mother in one episode, and knowing nothing about the rules of football. He's also drawn really inconsistently in early episodes, and takes the lead role in more episodes than any other character, if Mario's joint roles are considered separate than those starring him alone for the most part.

 

The only cave person who makes frequent appearances or even talks properly, Oogtar (John Stocker) is constantly getting into trouble and near death experiences because of his pranks. Is also a friend to Yoshi.

Appearances: Ghosts 'R' Us, The Night Before Cave Christmas, Party Line, Rock TV, A Little Learning

 

BAD GUYS

King Koopa (Harvey Atkin), referred to as Bowser by English audiences in recent games, is the long time villain to the Mario brothers and Princess Peach, and instead of cooking up harebrained schemes, prefers to twist any idea the Marios make into absurd evilness.

Absences: Fire Sale (appears on a magazine), Ghosts 'R' Us, Born To Ride, Party Line

Hop/Iggy Koopa (Tara Strong) is the brother of Hip, and differs by his taller appearance and spectacles, although they both share the same personality and habit of finishing each others' sentences. The game version has a fuller and superior hairdo to the cartoon Iggy.

Appearances: Rock TV, A Little Learning

Big Mouth/Morton Jr. Koopa (Gordon Masten), as his name suggests, feels the need to stretch his speeches out to comical proportions every time he opens his mouth, thus resulting in abuse from just about everyone, even his own family. Can you blame them?

Appearances: Send in the Clown, Rock TV, The Yoshi Shuffle

And Hip/Lemmy Koopa (Tara Strong) is the other half of Hop, sharing the same traits and basic appearance. The cartoon version loses the 'do for some crappy bangs and a pointed snout instead of a smooth one.

Appearances: Rock TV, A Little Learning

Kooky/Ludwig von Koopa (Michael Stark) is the Koopa family's resident inventor, although thanks to having one proper appearance and one other cameo, we only see one invention which is quickly destroyed by fireball spouting traffic lights. He also has an orange mouth in his first episode, instead of the usual peach tone, although Rock TV fixed that.

Appearances: The Wheel Thing, Rock TV

Poor Bully/Roy Koopa (Dan Hennessy). Even though he has three appearances, it's only the last one where he has slight bearing on the plot, but ultimately does very little, and ends up head butted by a cave person who looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Life is harsh.

Appearances: The Night Before Cave Christmas. Rock TV, The Yoshi Shuffle

Kootie Pie/Wendy O. Koopa (Paulina Gillis) is another case of wasted potential. She's the only female member of the Koopalings, and her spoiled brat attitude is certainly more entertaining than Cheatsy's horrible voice, but she only stars in one episode, the second being a mere cameo.

Appearances: Fire Sale, Send in the Clown

Cheatsy/Larry Koopa (James Rankin) is possibly the most changed of the Koopalings, with a grotesque appearance, a different hair colour and a grating raspy voice. Combine the fact his voice is near Snake Man levels of annoying, and the fact he has two primary roles too many, I can't say I'm fond of the little bugger.

Appearances: Gopher Bash, Rock TV, The Yoshi Shuffle

Yeah, the Ghosts/Boos aren't major characters, but I just needed to get this comparison off my chest. I mean, how do you get that thing on the far left and somehow turn it into what's next to it?

 

And just for the sake of it, here's a list of enemies whose names are changed.

CARTOON GAME
Caterpillar Wiggler
Koopa Football Player Chargin' Chuck
Porcupine Fish Urchin
Gopher Monty Mole
Koopa Wizard Magikoopa
Magnum Bill Banzai Bill
Fire Sumo Sumo Brother
Lava Plant Volcano Lotus