History Fridge / SuperPaperMario

** He cursed Timpani to [[AndIMustScream wander all dimensions until she dies]]. Now, imagine [[DownerEnding how different the story would have been]] if [[ForWantOfANail Merlon hadn't found her and saved her life]]...

* The fact that Count Bleck has been lying about his goal (even if it is exposited by [[ManipulativeBastard Dimentio]]) becomes HarsherInHindsight when you find out O'Chunks' DarkAndTroubledPast, where he was nearly killed by his treacherous subordinate.

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'''Beware unmarked Spoilers'''

* Luvbi being [[MoePersonification a disguised]] [[MacGuffin Pure]] [[ThePowerOfLove Heart]] can be hinted by her behavior. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment When first met, she is daydreaming of love in the form of a prince that will take her away]], she tends to be very impulsive and moody (since she is an emotion given sentience) and, of course, her ShipperOnDeck tendencies.

* The World of Nothing is creepy enough as it is, with the entire world destroyed (or, more accurately, ''erased''), but then you go to the Underwhere, which is the land of the dead. [[CessationOfExistence None of the people from Sammer's Kingdom are there.]] You can even go back to the Underwhere during Chapter 8 and see that, yes, The Void exists there, too. Really underlines the fact there are no continues and no aftergame once you're wiped out.

** Both fridge horror and kind of sad: The Pure Hearts restored the worlds that were destroyed but this partially goes into EsotericHappyEnding territory because he is going to find that [[AdultFear his son had disappeared from their home dimension.]]

!FridgeBrilliance

* The title screen. It shows all four of the heroes, but while Mario, Peach and Bowser are taking the front stage, Luigi is seen jumping way in the background. [[spoiler: Luigi only joins you in Chapter 7, only to become a part of the TrueFinalBoss in the very next chapter. This makes him more of a GuestStarPartyMember and/or antagonist. Thus it makes sense for him to be in the background, as most supporting characters and villains do.]]

* Luvbi [[spoiler: being [[MoePersonification a disguised]] [[MacGuffin Pure]] [[ThePowerOfLove Heart]]]] can be hinted by her behavior. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment When first met, she is daydreaming of love in the form of a prince that will take her away]], she tends to be very impulsive and moody [[spoiler:(since she is an emotion given sentience)]] and, of course, her ShipperOnDeck tendencies.
* [[spoiler:Dimentio]] is actually a {{Foil}} to TEC-XX from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. Both secretly help the heroes throughout their respective games, before ultimately becoming outright traitors against their respective masters... But while TEC does so out of genuine compassion and against a HateSink like Sir Grodus, [[spoiler:Dimentio]] only does so out of self-serving PragmaticVillainy and is actually far worse than an AntiVillain like Count Bleck. [[spoiler:Both characters also end up dying for their actions; but while TEC invokes HeroicSacrifice to help the heroes one last time and is ultimately restored via ThePowerOfLove, Dimentio attempts TakingYouWithMe out of sheer spite toward his defeaters and ultimately remains KilledOffForReal because EvilCannotComprehendGood.]]
* Why do [[spoiler:Count Bleck and Nastasia recover from their injuries so quickly? Because they're in Dimension D, where they're 256 times more powerful!]]
* [[spoiler:Count Bleck/Blumiere claimed to have "searched and searched" through all dimensions while looking for Tippi/Timpani. So why didn't he come across her in Flipside? Merlon says in the beginning that Flipside isn't a world of its own — it's ''in between'' dimensions!]]
* Pixls usually have names that indicate their functions. [[spoiler:Looking back, the reason Timpani was given the name Tippi by Merlon when she became a Pixl might be because her role in the Light Prognosticus is to give tips to the heroes.]]

* Also, the Chaos Heart was created by marrying two people who were never meant to be together (Bowser and Peach) in a forced, formal marriage; a perversion of an act of love and commitment. It was destroyed by reuniting two people never meant to be apart ([[spoiler:Blumiere and Timpani]]) in a spontaneous, heartfelt reciting of vows, the truest expression of love for each other even in the [[HeroicSacrifice face of death]].

* The final boss of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' seems like a pushover. Then you remember that he fused with [[spoiler:Luigi]]. To add to this, the most vulnerable part of that boss is the [[spoiler:Luigi head]].

!FridgeHorror

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* Squirps, the alien child who traveled with you through Chapter 4, is left to live on his own after the game is over. While he does aspire to rebuild his lost kingdom someday, there's no one there to look after him in the meantime. The only hopeful outlook is that the heroes may continue to check in on him in the future, as he doesn't seem keen on leaving the Whoa Zone at all unless they're with him.

* Why do [[spoiler:Count Beck and Nastasia recover from their injuries so quickly? Because they're in Dimension D, where they're 256 times more powerful!]]
* [[spoiler: Count Bleck/Blumiere claimed to have "searched and searched" through all dimensions while looking for Tippi/Timpani. So why didn't he come across her in Flipside? Merlon says in the beginning that Flipside isn't a world of its own - it's ''in between'' dimensions!]]
* Pixls usually have names that indicate their functions. [[spoiler: Looking back, the reason Timpani was given the name Tippi by Merlon when she became a Pixl might be because her role in the Light Prognosticus is to give tips to the heroes.]]
* Note how Count Bleck personally treats his henchpeople. He's giving them their greatest desires. O'Chunks wants glory in battle. Mimi wants to live the fantasies she dreamed up during her likely origin story - being locked away in the dark (the dark becoming her greatest fear) with only her fantasies for company. Dimentio wants... that which Dimentio wants (which even Count Bleck doesn't know). And Nastasia wants to serve Count Bleck in any way she can. And what one of the biggest jobs she does for him? ''Being directly cruel to people.'' Count Bleck can't bring himself to do it personally!

* During the game, Count Bleck would seem to switch from referring to himself in the third person to doing so in the first person for no apparent reason. While, Bleck's third-person speech could be him reading from the Dark Prognosticus. Remembered this important plot point: Blumiere became Count Bleck after reading from the Dark Prognosticus, and it is heavily implied he was possessed by it. Think about it: Count Bleck has split personalities! Whenever he refers to himself as Count Bleck, it's the will of the Prognosticus bent on destroying the multi-verse. When referring to himself in the first-person, it's Blumiere who's speaking. In fact, whenever he ends a sentence with something like "...said Count Bleck," it's actually the Prognosticus narrating ''itself'' through him. This turned what was a bizarre yet funny VerbalTic into a disturbing example of Count Bleck's insanity.
* Mr. L often refers to himself as the "Green Thunder". On one hand, it's common to see thunder and lightning used in an over-the-top title ([[VideoGame/JakandDaxter Orange Lightning]], anyone?), but later, during a playthrough of Superstar Saga, it clicked; the hand power Luigi had in that game was ([[LargeHam rather ham-tastically]]) referred to as "Thunder!"
* The final boss of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' seems like a pushover. Then you remember that he fused with [[spoiler:Luigi]]. To add to this, the most vulnerable part of that boss is the [[spoiler:Luigi head.]]

** According to Carson, the Tribe of Darkness forbade marriage outside of the group out of fear that foreign blood would dilute their magical powers. This means that he essentially ruined an innocent love, abused his son and pushed him into the DespairEventHorizon just to enforce the rule to preserve the powers his tribe has.
** His evil actions become much vile when you think about the fact that his tribe is descended from the Tribe of Ancients, who cherishes love the most and believes in ThePowerOfLove.

* The World of Nothing is creepy enough as it is, with the entire world destroyed (or, more accurately, ''erased''), but then you go to the Underwhere, which is the land of the dead. [[CessationOfExistence None of the people from Sammer's kingdom there.]] You can even go back to the Underwhere during Chapter 8 and see that, yes, The Void exists there, too. Really underlines the fact there are no continues and no aftergame once you're wiped out.

* The world entrance doors on Flipside Tower are in Roy G. Biv rainbow order: Lineland's door is red, Gloam Valley's door is orange, the Bitlands' door is yellow, Outer Space's door is green, the Land of the Cragnons has a blue door, Sammers' Kingdom's door is indigo, and the Underwhere/Overthere's door is violet/purple.

* This is the first game to feature direct combat (ie. jumping on people) rather than turn-based. Why? Because it's the first to take place in a different dimension, that's why.

* Guardians of the bridges:

* The game is called Super Paper Mario. IT'S PAPER MARIO (3D environment, 2D mooks, object, inventory, story oriented) AND SUPER MARIO (2D, real-time fighting, character abilities, levels and goals).

* When battling [[spoiler: Super Dimentio,]] the use of an Ice Storm attack will yield only the boss' projectiles being targeted. Why is this? Because [[spoiler: attack items only target enemies and Super Dimentio is part '''Luigi!''']]
* Note how Count Bleck personally treats his henchpeople. He's giving them their greatest desires. O'Chunks wants glory in battle. Mimi wants to live the fantasies she dreamed up during her likely origin story - being locked away in the dark (the dark becoming her greatest fear) with only her fantasies for company. Dimentio wants... that which Dimentio wants (which even Count Bleck doesn't know). And Nastasia wants to serve Count Bleck in any way she can. And what one of the biggest jobs she does for him? ''Being directly cruel to people.'' Count Bleck can't bring himself to do it personally!
* Pixls usually have names that indicate their functions. [[spoiler: Looking back, the reason Timpani was given the name Tippi by Merlon when she became a Pixl might be because her role in the Light Prognosticus is to give tips to the Hero.]]
* Even though Mario and his friends were the "four heroes of legend", they weren't the ones who ultimately saved the world. Sure, they gathered the eight {{Plot Coupon}}s needed to destroy the final boss, but that was wasted. But looking at the game's opening cinematic, ''Super Paper Mario'' is introduced by a narrator as a "story of ''love''," so the game is unusually wordy because the whole game was ''a book that was being read'', and Mario and the others ''were not the main characters''. The actual heroes were [[spoiler:Timpani and Blumiere]], so it made more sense for the fulfillment of ''their'' love to ultimately [[spoiler:restore power to the Pure Hearts so Dimentio and the Chaos Heart can finally be destroyed.]] Some love stories [[RomanceTumor destroy plots]]. Sometimes, they save them.

* [[spoiler:Dimentio]] knew about the rules of the prophecy in the Dark Prognosticus. You need the Chaos Heart and the perfect vessel [[spoiler:(Luigi)]]. [[spoiler:This is one of the reasons why Count Bleck failed in the end.]] However, he admits he didn't anticipate [[spoiler:that the Purity Heart would be wasted fighting Bleck]] right before you fight him; he sees this as a bonus. This means [[spoiler:Dimentio expected to win when controlling the Chaos Heart even when and if the Purity Heart was still formed.]] That makes sense: As Merlon said, the Light Prognosticus was only written to counteract the Dark one and it is the fate of all worlds to be destroyed eventually, so with the perfect vessel this fate is unavoidable, Purity Heart or not. [[spoiler:Dimentio]] could just get behind [[spoiler:the mix of the Chaos Heart and Luigi, or take refuge in Dimension D]]. In the end, this means the reformed Purity Heart did not beat the Chaos Heart; [[spoiler:it was Dimentio growing insane with power and adding himself to make Super Dimentio]]! -Trosh
* During the game, Count Bleck would seem to switch from referring to himself in the third person to doing so in the first person for no apparent. While, Bleck's third-person speech could be him reading from the Dark Prognosticus. Remembered this important plot point: Blumiere became Count Bleck after reading from the Dark Prognosticus, and it is heavily implied he was possessed by it. Think about it: Count Bleck has split personalities! Whenever he refers to himself as Count Bleck, it's the will of the Prognosticus bent on destroying the multi-verse. When referring to himself in the first-person, it's Blumiere who's speaking. In fact, whenever he ends a sentence with something like "...said Count Bleck," it's actually the Prognosticus narrating ''itself'' through him. This turned what was a bizarre yet funny VerbalTic into a disturbing example of Count Bleck's insanity.
* When Princess Peach is Flipped from a dead end in Castle Bleck, it is exactly how [[spoiler:Dimentio Flips. It was foreshadowing that Dimentio was pulling some strings in how the events were playing out.]]
* Notice how Mimi's barrier in the first fight with her is nullified by Merlee's cheering? It's the first demonstration in the game that positive emotions like love can counter the Chaos Heart's powers. Bleck's Chaos-Heart-powered barrier [[spoiler:and later, Dimentio's]] falls the same way once you fight him.
* Very minor compared to the other examples here, but at some point in SPM, Mr. L refers to himself as "Green Thunder". On one hand, it's common to see thunder and lightning used in an over-the-top title ([[VideoGame/JakandDaxter Orange Lightning]], anyone?), but later, during a playthrough of Superstar Saga, it clicked; the hand power Luigi had in SS was ([[LargeHam rather ham-tastically]]) referred to as "Thunder!". Though the game never really made us wonder "Who ''is'' Mr. L?", it's a nice touch/would-be-clue.

* Count Bleck's AffablyEvil nature makes sense when it turns out that he's [[spoiler:[[NiceGuy Blumiere]]]].
* Mimi's "rubees" are clearly based in part on [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Rupees]] in both name and design, but it you look closer, you might notice which games they are specifically refrencing: the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames CDi Games]]. In those games, red rupees equal 1, not 20 as usual, and one cutscene (imfamously) pronounces them as rubees--and Mim's rubees fit these criteria. When you look at the main level (2-3) that involves you getting "rubees," this specific reference makes so much sense! 2-3 has been called one of the most tedious levels in the game, and the Zelda CDi games are very hated upon. It's almost like the level is making fun of itself.

* Count Bleck seems hilarious until you think about what kind of person would be a StrawNihilist and seek to destroy worlds. This becomes AscendedFridgeHorror in the post-Chapter flashbacks where he crossed the DespairEventHorizon and took the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Dark Prognosticus]] to [[spoiler:avenge his love's apparent death]].
* The World of Nothing is creepy enough as it is, with the entire world destroyed (or, more accurately, ''erased''), but then you go to the Underwhere, which is the land of the dead. [[CessationOfExistence None of the people from Sammer's kingdom there]]. Then, a little while later, you find out that the land of the dead is going to be erased too. This is for kids, right?

* At the beginning of the game, Count Bleck sucks Bowser's army into his castle with a black hole. When you reach Castle Bleck, there aren't a huge number of them, but there ''are'' a lot of Dry Bones...
* Ordinarily, in games like this you save the world before it is destroyed. But in SPM you ''don't''. You get to see all the previous worlds and people you visited whipped out of existence (World 6 actually gets destroyed ''during'' your visit, ending after 2 chapters instead of 4, and the second chapter is just a walk through limbo). This game made Luigi an accessory to ''omnicide''.
* Maybe even creepier is the fact that Dimentio is shown to be able to simply teleport people to the Underwhere. Even if you're completely, 100% invulnerable, he can still insta-"kill" you.

* The game states outright that ALL dimensions are going to be erased without Mario and gang's help. Then they make the implication that the real world also exists as one of the game's many dimensions. So not only does Mario and gang not visit all the worlds that are in danger, everything in the real world could have been temporarily erased from existence without anyone knowing it.
* During the final battle, the game briefly cuts to Flopside, Land of the Cragnons, and Yold Town, all of which undergo the same huge tremors and warping Sammer's Kingdom went through just before it was wiped out, but the game cuts away before anything further. When Mario neutralizes The Void, one of the first things seen is Land of the Cragnons getting redrawn. This means that Flopside, Land of the Cragnons, and Yold Town ''did'' get erased out of existence briefly. Occasional tremors rock Castle Bleck too, though it isn't certain if Castle Bleck always gets these quakes or if The Void is ready to consume the place too despite being inside of it.
* Here's one I just realized. The Castle Bleck main theme? Is it just me or does it sound awfully like the Flipside and Flopside main themes at times?
* Despite the Sammer Kingdom being destroyed there is no indication or mention of those who were consumed by the void ever reached the afterlife. Of course it could be Developer's Oversight but the fact that nobody from the Sammer's Kingdom are seen or mentioned in the Underwhere or Overthere (you would think a huge flux of dead people from the same world popping up in the afterlife would be huge) which could mean that if you are consumed by the Void, you are not just dead, you ceased to exist without any kind of afterlife!

** Both fridge horror and kind of sad: The Pure Hearts restored the worlds that were destroyed but this partially goes into EsotericHappyEnding territory because he is going to find that [[AdultFear his son had disappeared from their home dimension]].
* The fact that Count Bleck has been lying about his goal becomes HarsherInHindsight when you find out O'Chunks' DarkAndTroubledPast, where he was nearly killed by his treacherous subordinate.
* Really think about what happens in the penultimate moments of the game. It's explicitly said that all dimensions are destroyed, and while it does show the dimensions you visited falling apart, that doesn't include the Mushroom Kingdom at the beginning. This means that Count Bleck [[spoiler: and Dimentio]] were successful, albeit only for a short period of time, [[spoiler: in wiping out the majority of all realities.]] This very well includes non-Nintendo/Mario universes, meaning that Count Bleck was capable of destroying some of the strongest beings in all of media, [[VideoGame/Earthbound Giygas]], {{ComicBook/Thanos}}, even [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]] without a trace, and zero struggle. That extends beyond OmnicidalManiac, he was able to erase the entire omniverse. [[ParanoiaFuel This could even include our reality.]]

!FridgeLogic
* The story's original driver, the Chaos Heart, makes no real sense. Absolutely nobody would believe that a wedding that took place while HypnotizeThePrincess was in effect would be legitimate... except the Chaos Heart ''does''.
** When you think about it, a wedding caused by hypnosis and a takeover would be "Chaotic", wouldn't it?

* Really think about what happens in the penultimate moments of the game. It's explicitly said that all dimensions are destroyed, and while it does show the dimensions you visited falling apart, that doesn't include the Mushroom Kingdom at the beginning. This means that Count Bleck [[spoiler: and Dimentio]] were successful, albeit only for a short period of time, [[spoiler: in wiping out the majority of all realities.]] This very well includes non-Nintendo/Mario universes, meaning that Count Bleck was capable of destroying some of the strongest beings in all of media, [[VideoGame/Earthbound Giygas]], ComicBook/Thanos, even [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]] without a trace, and zero struggle. That extends beyond OmnicidalManiac, he was able to erase the entire omniverse. [[ParanoiaFuel This could even include our reality.]]

* [[spoiler:Dimentio]] is actually a {{Foil}} to TEC-XX from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. Both of them secretly help the heroes throughout the game before ultimately becoming outright traitors against their respective masters. However, while TEC does so out of genuine compassion and against a completely unlikable villain in Sir Grodus, [[spoiler:Dimentio]] merely does so out of PragmaticVillainy for his own agenda and is actually far worse than AntiVillain Count Bleck. [[spoiler:Both characters also end up dying for their efforts, but while TEC pulls a HeroicSacrifice to help the heroes one last time and is ultimately resurrected due to ThePowerOfLove, Dimentio tries to pull a TakingYouWithMe out of sheer spite toward those who defeat him and remains KilledOffForReal because EvilCannotComprehendGood.]]