Fridge examples in Super Mario Sunshine.
Fridge Brilliance
- The Raccoon who trades his Shine Sprites for Mario's Blue Coins seems oddly apathetic towards the plight of Isle Delfino. If he cared so much about restoring the sun to their island, he would've gladly given his Shine Sprites to Mario for free. However, there aren't a lot of other raccoons, especially compared to other races on the island like Piantas or Nokis. He's clearly not native to the island, somewhat justifying his apathy towards the plight of the Shine Sprites.
- If you remember the true ending of Luigi's Mansion, which came before Sunshine, Luigi managed to rid his mansion of ghosts. He is apparently relaxing there for the events of this game, which may explain why he was nowhere to be seen in this game.
- Having Pinna Park being "the villain's secret hideout" makes sense, since kids like Bowser Jr. love theme parks. On that note, this may be why Pinna Park is one of the few parts of Isle Delfino that Bowser Jr. didn't pollute with goop — he doesn't want his "spectacular amusement park" to get dirty.
- At the beginning of the game, Toadsworth expresses concern over Peach's well-being in Isle Delfino's heat. Later, she doesn't seem fazed by Bowser Jr.'s claim that she's his mother. If you remember Peach is fair-skinned, and that Isle Delfino contains an Amazing Technicolor Population, it makes some sense that she wouldn't have reacted naturally.
- Alternatively, Peach just discovered that her kidnapper, who up to this point was an Evil Knockoff of Mario, is a child who happens to be Bowser's son (which, thanks to the retcon, she probably didn't know Bowser even had, especially going off of Luigi's Mansion where Bowser was said to be "defeated") and is claiming that she is his mother. That's quite a bit to process, especially considering this all started with the gang deciding to go on vacation.
- Borders on Fridge Horror depending on one's viewpoint, but the Boos in this game all have dopey-looking expressions
◊. Remember that elsewhere in the series, Boos are consistently shown to prefer dark, dank places, and Super Mario Galaxy explicitly shows them to be Weakened by the Light. Now consider that Super Mario Sunshine is set on a tropical island, and it's no wonder they look so out of it; the poor things must be suffering from heatstroke. - It makes some sense that Mario would have to perform challenges and good deeds for the Piantas in exchange for their Shine Sprites. After all, he was falsely accused of committing a crime, so why wouldn't some of them be wary of giving their island's life source to a supposed convict?
- Pachinko machines, being used all over Japan in gambling, value luck over skill. With this in mind, it makes sense that the Pachinko secret level is notorious for being That One Level; you're very, very lucky if you get Mario to win its Shine Sprite the first time around.
- It seems odd that Shadow Mario walks harmlessly through water but gets weakened when you spray him. It's likely that it's not the water itself, but rather the pressurised water from FLUDD, that harms Shadow Mario.
- People generally have a hard time believing that the Piantas could think that Mario was responsible for ruining the island when Shadow Mario is very clearly wildly different. But think about the powerups Mario has used both before and since, especially ones like Ice Mario and Rainbow Mario from Super Mario Galaxy or the Metal Cap from Super Mario 64. It's possible that Piantas merely thought that Mario had some powerup or was using the paintbrush itself to make himself look the way that Shadow Mario does (admittedly, the two police officers ignoring Mario chasing after Peach's kidnapper who looks like him is harder to explain. Perhaps they thought it was a copy and Peach was in on it?).
Fridge Horror
- The fact that the disappearance of the Shine Sprites plunged Isle Delfino into darkness. Imagine how disastrous this would be on the flora and fauna, not to mention the island's economy.
- Take a moment to consider Mario's trial. Just how fucked up is Isle Delfino's judicial system that due process and the right to an attorney are non-existent? Not to mention that the Blue Coin vendor (operating in the open, no less) is knowingly withholding some of the Shine Sprites for a price — are the Piantas really that willing to look the other way just because the culprit barely looks like Mario?
- Gelato Beach can be considered a case of Sadistic Choice on Mario's part. On the one hand, if he wakes up the Wiggler — which he knows all too well is prone to anger — he'd risk the deaths of people and destruction of property. But on the other hand, if he doesn't wake it up, the Sand Bird would've died.
- People who don't think Peach is dim for thinking about Jr. being her kid think of another reason why she might've thought it.
