Web Video / Mario Warfare

Mario Warfare is a series by Beat Down Boogie that reimagines the Super Mario Bros. series as a fast-paced, action-oriented story about Mario and Luigi's adventures after enlisting in the Mushroom Kingdom's military. While originally only given a "mission" to unclog toilets, the brothers eventually embark on a real adventure when Luigi is kidnapped during a raid on the castle by Bowser's forces, an attack which also leads Princess Peach to escape and go on the run. The series features martial arts action scenes, plenty of Gun Fu, and reimaginings of classic Mario characters as skilled combatants caught in a war between the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's army.

See also Modern War Gear Solid, Beat Down Boogie's previous Metal Gear and Modern Warfare crossover film.

---

Mario Warfare provides examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: Pretty much everyone, but there are some outstanding examples:
  • Toad, who in the Mario games is the Princess's retainer who helps Mario in his adventures but doesn't have much combat skill, is turned into the royal family's bodyguard whose Gun Kata skills make him pretty much a One-Man Army.
  • Luigi is one of the main heroes of the games, but is still timid and cowardly. In Mario Warfare, Luigi is much braver, even being the one to suggest that he and Mario enlist in the military as well as withstanding torture at the hands of the Hammer Brothers.
  • Of all people, Waluigi turns out to be a fantastic fighter, way better than Mario, making his fight against him incredibly one-sided for the most part.
• And the Adventure Continues: The final segment of part 8. Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser's forces and he follows through a pipe to... World 1-1.
• An Arm and a Leg: In part 7, Diddy pulls off both King K. Rool's forearms.
• Artificial Limbs: Luigi gets robotic legs in part 8.
• Artistic License – Martial Arts: Plenty of high kicks around.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Mario and Peach in part 6.
• Badass Bandolier: Luigi puts this on in part 5.
• Badass in Distress: It turns out that Peach has been one all the whole time since the original Super Mario Bros.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Toad is always dressed in a white suit.
• Badass Longcoat: Bullet Bill, Wario and Waluigi (it actually backfires for Waluigi: Mario holds it closed a couple of times in their fight, preventing Waluigi from being able to hit him.
• Batter Up!: Used by Ness in part 4.
• Beard of Evil: Bowser.
• Beard of Sorrow: In the scrapped original version, Mario had grown one to Wild Hair extents after his breakup with Peach.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Wario holds off on finishing off Peach to gloat long enough for help to arrive.
• Boss Rush: In part 4, Mario fights Link, Ness, Little Mac, Kirby, Captain N and Ash in the Smash Club.
• Bottomless Magazines: Due to Rule of Cool and Rule of Drama, guns only seem to run out of ammo when the story requires it. Which is an awful lot in part 6.
• Brooklyn Rage: Mario and Luigi sport Brooklyn accents rather than their usual Italian ones. This is justified in that the characters are canonically from Brooklyn in the games).
• Butt-Monkey: Luigi, naturally.
• The Cavalry: In Part 7, Toad appears just in time to prevent Wario from killing Peach.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • Peach becomes this after her training. In the Smash Club, she uses chairs and bottles, nipple tweaks and Groin Attacks. When fighting Wario, she kicks his knee in.
  • Waluigi uses kicks to the knee, Improvised Weapons and hits Mario so that he strikes his head against the environment while positioning himself so that Mario's misses hit the environment.
  • Toad uses throat strikes and dishes out joint breaks like candy.
• Cool Airship: Bowser's flying ships.
• Cool Shades: Toad has them.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: In-Universe, someone calls Link Zelda.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Mario vs. Peach, mostly because Mario Would Not Hit a Girl.
  • Peach vs. Wario: Even though Peach seems to have the upper hand in the beginning, it soon becomes crystal clear that her opponent is on another level altogether, and he proceeds to beat her without any effort, while taunting her.
  • Mario vs. Waluigi: Believe it or not, Waluigi reveals himself to be a far better fighter than Mario, the latter being unable to land a single hit on him during most of their fight. Mario only ends up winning by tricking Waluigi into impaling himself on his own weapon, and is left in a poor state afterwards. And then he is shot.
  • Toad vs. Wario: The former easily blocks or dodges the latter's attacks and breaks most of his limbs.
• Death by Irony: Wario killed the King. He gets finished off by using a piece of the King's cape to choke him to death.
• Dressing as the Enemy: Toad has Peach dress up as a Shy Guy in order to escape.
• The Dog Was the Mastermind: Much like in the original game, Bowser isn't the first big bad turtle you end up beating. The big man with the red mohawk is actually a body double, with the real Bowser being the turtle he's always carrying, who has bought himself enough time for the Red Mushroom Serum to take effect and turn him into a more traditional form at the end of the series.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Mario mistakes Link for this.
• Evil Brit: King K. Rool is given a British accent, possibly because he was created by the British game company Rare.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Bowser's voice is deep as the Marianas Trench.
• Expy: According to this interview, "Toad is a mix of Leon and Seraph (who were both protectors of a girl/woman), and he takes his action cues from Kurt Wimmer’s Equilibrium."
• Eye Scream: In part 6, Donkey Kong puts a banana through a Shy Guy's eye.
• Fanservice: Part 5, with Mario ending up shirtless.
• Follow the Chaos: After hearing Peach's scream, Mario knows he's on the right track of her captor, while following the bodies of the dead Toads through the castle.
• Forced to Watch: The Kremling intend to make a young Diddy Kong watch Donkey Kong's execution, but the king of the Mushroom Kingdom, as a prince, saves them.
• Gatling Good: Luigi brings one with him for his Big Damn Heroes moment in part 8 and uses it to mortally wound Bowser.
• Goggles Do Nothing: Peach, Wario and Waluigi.
• Gory Discretion Shot:
  • In part 6, this treatment is given to Ness finishing off a Shy Guy trying for a Last Breath Bullet.
  • In part 7, King K. Rool's decapitation is shown from his perspective with some Camera Abuse, so the severed body doesn't get seen.
• Groin Attack:
  • Luigi's "meatballs" take quite a bit of abuse in episode 2.
  • Mario is on the receiving end too, during his fight against Peach. Gosh that kick was painful.
• Guns Akimbo:
  • Toad with his dual Uzis.
  • Captain N in part 6 with a pistol and shotgun.
  • Peach in part 6 with two pistols.
• I Shall Taunt You: Wario against Peach about her father.
• I Owe You My Life: Donkey Kong is loyal to the Mushroom Kingdom's royal family because years ago, the king, as a prince, saved the lives on Donkey Kong and Diddy. The King also took Toad in when the latter was a starving, homeless orphan.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The fate of Waluigi in part 7.
• Imposter Forgot One Detail: In part 6 Little Mac tries Dressing as the Enemy but a pair of unusually attentive Shy Guys notice his non-regulation gloves.
• Improbable Weapon User: Donkey Kong uses a barrel as a weapon in episode 3.
• In the Hood: The Shy Guys.
• Instant Expert: Mario and Luigi couldn't have had more than a week of training before Bowser's invasion, yet they're complete masters of martial arts and firearms.
• Killer Gorilla: Donkey Kong.
• Last of His Kind: Donkey Kong and his young son, Diddy, were the only survivors of a Kremling attack on their village.
• Made of Iron: Several characters get smacked with sledgehammers in the second episode without being seriously handicapped. In part 4 Mario takes a few hits from a bat without being slowed much. Peach probably deserves a mention in 3, considering she's a princess fighting a gorilla.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The Shy Guys.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Bowser's attire is a double-breasted black suit with a tie.
• My Friends... and Zoidberg:
  Mario! (And Luigi!)
• Mythology Gag:
  • In Part 5, during a Lock-and-Load Montage, Captain N says "Now we're playing with power", adapting a line from an ad for the NES.
  • "It's me, Mari-(gets hit with a wrench)-oh!"
  • "Careful, Mario. This is Donkey Kong Country."
  • Donkey Kong's use of a barrel as a weapon references his original game.
  • When collecting winnings at the Smash Club, the coin-collecting sound from the games plays.
  • When interrogated by an enemy about Peach's location, Mario tells him that "she's in another castle".
• Neck Lift: Bowser does this to Peach in part 8.
• Playing Possum: Peach during her fight against Mario. She acts like his (single) punch hurt her a lot, but as soon as he drops his guard, she punches him back instantly and press her advantage (including delivering a deadly accurate Groin Attack).
• Pocket Protector: Peach's star necklace saves her when she is shot.
• Poor Communication Kills: Donkey Kong almost kills Peach because she's disguised as a Shy Guy.
• Pun: Donkey Kong has become a master of "gorilla warfare."
• Race Lift: Most characters who are some form of non-human creature in the games are made into humans for this series, including Toad, the Shy Guys, Bullet Bill, the Hammer Brothers, and Bowser.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Used by Waluigi against Mario in part 7.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Peach is on the receiving end of one, delivered by Wario:
  Wario: DK taught you well, but not well enough. Your emotions are your weakness. You've lost focus. I, on the other hand, am a professional.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The Kremlings.
• Retired Badass: The King. As a prince, he, Toad, and Bullet Bill sneak into Donkey Kong's country to liberate it from King K. Rool, and even save DK's life. He seems to have settled down since becoming king, but during the attack on the castle, he still goes down fighting.
• The Reveal: Bowser is not actually the human in the suit, but the... tortoise?
• Rousing Speech: Peach delivers one in chapter 5.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: The king helps in the fighting on Invasion Day, and helped liberate Donkey Kong's country while he was still a prince.
• Scarf of Asskicking:
  • Mario.
  • Donkey Kong has a red scarf instead of a tie.
• Scary Black Man: Bullet Bill.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Mario is thoroughly impressed by Peach's regal gown for the Mushroom Kingdoms Independence Day celebration.
• Shirtless Scene: Invoked in Part 5 when Peach pulls off Mario's tactical vest.
• Shout-Out:
  • Toad kicks a Shyguy into the air and shoots him there, which was confirmed as one to Bulletstorm.
  • Part 4 has the rules of Smash Club, which are lifted straight from Fight Club.
  • In Part 5, the Smash Club's members say "you have my...".
  • The original version had Toad say "there was a firefight!"
• Silk Hiding Steel: Princess Peach is a sweet and lovely princess, who after losing her father, goes through intensive training to become a skilled warrior, and forming and leading a revolution to save her people from Bowser's tyranny.
• Sinister Shades: Bowser and Kamek.
• Slasher Smile: Luigi has a huge smile on his face while shooting down Shy Guys during his and Mario's escape.
• Stab the Scorpion: In Part 6 we see someone look through a scope at Captain N, then move to a Shy Guy and kill him before he can pull a Last Breath Bullet. It turns out to be Link.
• Taking You with Me: A fatally wounded Toad detonates a series of Bob-Ombs strapped to his chest in order to take out Bullet Bill and ensure Peach's escape. Doubles as a Homage to The Professional.
• Thwarted Coup de Grâce: In part 6, some Shy Guys capture Kirby and are about to execute him when Ash and Ness toss him the Pokeball containing Pikachu, which the former sucks in and uses his newfound electric powers to defeat his would-be killers.
• Training Montage: Peach undergoes one in part 4.
• Villain Team-Up: In part 6, some Kremlings report to Bowser.
• Wham Episode: In Part 7, Mario is shot in the back by someone unknown, Peach is beaten to a pulp by Wario, and Toad may be alive after all.
• Wham Line: The final line of part 7 is Peach saying "Toad".
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Diddy Kong appears in a flashback, but is not seen in any present day scenes so far. Part 7 reveals that he's been hiding in Donkey Kong's barrel.
• Would Hit a Girl: Wario has no qualms about beating Peach senseless.
• Would Not Hit a Girl: Mario says this at the start of part 5. He changes his mind after Peach lays a beatdown on him.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Donkey Kong shows off quite a few wrestling moves.