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* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' features a relatively standard assortment of playable characters for the 2D series: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach... and Daisy, who had long vanished from the main series outside her [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand debut appearance]] and otherwise only featured in spinoffs. To a lesser extent, Yoshi is a somewhat unusual choice for a player character, as most of his other appearances (outside [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland his own series]]) have him as a PowerUpMount.
** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well. Another enemy is the Hothead from ''Super Mario World'', which had been absent for over 20 years outside of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well. Another enemy is the Hothead from ''Super Mario World'', which had been absent for over 20 years outside of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
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* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'':
** The game features a relatively standard assortment of playable characters for the 2D series: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Peach... and Daisy, who had long vanished from the main series outside her [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand debut appearance]] and otherwise only featured in spinoffs. To a lesser extent, Yoshi is a somewhat unusual choice for a player character, as most of his other appearances (outside [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland his own series]]) have him as a PowerUpMount.
**In terms of enemies, most Most of the returning ones enemies are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well.roster. Another enemy is the Hothead from ''Super Mario World'', which had been absent for over 20 years outside of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
** The game features a relatively standard assortment of playable characters for the 2D series: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadette, Peach... and Daisy, who had long vanished from the main series outside her [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand debut appearance]] and otherwise only featured in spinoffs. To a lesser extent, Yoshi is a somewhat unusual choice for a player character, as most of his other appearances (outside [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland his own series]]) have him as a PowerUpMount.
**
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* The MobilePhoneGame ''[[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario World]]'' has the cast take up the Doctor mantle alongside Mario, including the Babies, the Princesses, the Kongs, the Wario Bros., the Koopalings, etc. There are also Assistants, which consist of many enemies and some bosses from throughout the series. Of these Assistants, three of them have become Doctors, including Dr. Lakitu, Dr. Koopa Troopa, and even ''Dr. Dolphin''. These surprised players as they figured that being Assistants prevented them from ever being playable. Outside of Assistants, there's also Dr. Goomba Tower, who's basically just three Goombas standing on each other while wearing a doctor's coat like a couple of kids wearing a trench coat to disguise themselves as an adult, based on the Goomba Tower enemy from ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''.
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* The MobilePhoneGame ''[[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario World]]'' has the cast take up the Doctor mantle alongside Mario, including the Babies, the Princesses, the Kongs, the Wario Bros., the Koopalings, etc. There are also Assistants, which consist of many enemies and some bosses from throughout the series. Of these Assistants, three of them have become Doctors, including Dr. Lakitu, Dr. Koopa Troopa, and even ''Dr. Dolphin''. These surprised players as they figured that being Assistants prevented them from ever being playable. Outside of Assistants, there's also Dr. Goomba Tower, who's basically just [[TotemPoleTrench three Goombas standing on each other while wearing a doctor's coat like a couple of kids wearing a trench coat to disguise themselves as an adult, adult]], based on the Goomba Tower enemy from ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''.
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* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' was rather infamous for featuring mostly characters from the main series and had only a few unique original characters. Some of the old characters brought in make sense, such as Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Petey Piranha, but there's one odd one: Gooper Blooper, a boss from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. Unlike Petey, who also debuted in ''Sunshine'', Gooper Blooper only made a few cameoes after his debut, mostly in spinoff games. He's now the third major boss of the game and a DanceBattler.
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* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' was rather infamous for featuring mostly characters from the main series and had only a few unique original characters. Some of the old characters brought in make sense, such as Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Petey Piranha, but there's one odd one: Gooper Blooper, a boss from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. Unlike Petey, who also debuted in ''Sunshine'', ''Sunshine'' but went on to become a recurring participant in racing and sports titles, Gooper Blooper only made a few cameoes cameos after his debut, mostly in spinoff games. He's now the third major boss of the game and a DanceBattler.DanceBattler.
** Also from ''Sticker Star'', we have the Chapter 4 boss, Mr. Blizzard (or Mizzter Blizzard as he prefers to call himself), an enemy whose first and only mainline appearance was ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. Unlike Gooper Blooper who was still based on a common Mario enemy, Mr. Blizzards rarely appeared outside of ''VideoGame/MarioParty''. Seeing one show up at all, let alone as a major boss with a [[AlasPoorVillain surprisingly tragic backstory]], was a surprise to many players.
** Also from ''Sticker Star'', we have the Chapter 4 boss, Mr. Blizzard (or Mizzter Blizzard as he prefers to call himself), an enemy whose first and only mainline appearance was ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. Unlike Gooper Blooper who was still based on a common Mario enemy, Mr. Blizzards rarely appeared outside of ''VideoGame/MarioParty''. Seeing one show up at all, let alone as a major boss with a [[AlasPoorVillain surprisingly tragic backstory]], was a surprise to many players.
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** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well. Another enemy is the Hothead from Super Mario World, which has been absent for 20 years. Hothead's most frequent appearances up until this point has been the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
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** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well. Another enemy is the Hothead from Super ''Super Mario World, World'', which has had been absent for over 20 years. Hothead's most frequent appearances up until this point has been years outside of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
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** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well.
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** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well. Another enemy is the Hothead from Super Mario World, which has been absent for 20 years. Hothead's most frequent appearances up until this point has been the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
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** In terms of enemies, most of the returning ones are series mainstays, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Goombrats, a fairly minor enemy introduced in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', as part of the enemy roster as well.
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* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' features a relatively standard assortment of playable characters for the 2D series: Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach... and Daisy, who had long vanished from the main series outside her [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand debut appearance]] and otherwise only featured in spinoffs. To a lesser extent, Yoshi is a somewhat unusual choice for a player character, as most of his other appearances (outside [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland his own series]]) have him as a PowerUpMount.
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Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is not a part of the Mario franchise.
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* When it was announced that ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' would be getting a fourth character alongside Franchise/DonkeyKong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong to be revealed later in 2013, fans were expecting someone like Kiddy Kong or Funky Kong. So people were naturally surprised that it turned out to be Cranky Kong. Also compounded by the fact that Reggie Fils-Aime's VGX appearance was to reveal Cranky rather than the next ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game like many anticipated. The Switch version actually does add Funky Kong as a playable character, who was relegated to an [=NPC=] role in the UsefulNotes/WiiU version.
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* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' enables you to play as different characters other than Mario in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' setting via the Mystery Mushroom/Mystery Suit power-up, including non-Mario characters such as [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and even [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth]] and VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog. With more than a hundred of these bonus characters, a number of them were bound to be this:
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* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' enables you to play as different characters other than Mario in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' setting via the Mystery Mushroom/Mystery Suit power-up, including non-Mario characters such as [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and even [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth]] and VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog.Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog. With more than a hundred of these bonus characters, a number of them were bound to be this:
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UnexpectedCharacter examples in ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''.
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** [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', showing up as the BonusBoss with no foreshadowing whatsoever. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' continues this with [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]].
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** [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', showing up as the BonusBoss SuperBoss with no foreshadowing whatsoever. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' continues this with [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]].
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** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', the very first game, features [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]] instead of regular DK.
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** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', the very first game, features [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]] instead of regular DK. Apparently, [[https://youtu.be/NDHZKYETDyU?t=912 Nintendo chose him to celebrate the arcade game's 10th anniversary]] and the fact that DK Jr. wore a shirt, which made him easy to identify from behind during the races.
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** ''Mario Kart Arcade GP 2'' features Mametchi from ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' as a playable character. This makes him the only playable character with the honor of being a virtual pet toy mascot, at a time when ''Tamagotchi'' wasn't exactly the most popular thing in the West, though the choice fits since the game was co-produced by ''Tamagotchi'' owners Bandai Namco. Not that it makes his cameo any less surreal.
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** No one was surprised when ''Mario Kart Tour'' announced King Boo to be added into the Gacha during the Halloween Tour. However, nobody expected him to get a Spotlight Character Alt at the same time, nor for said Alt to be his ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' design, a look the ''Mario'' Spin-Off games typically ignore.
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** ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'':
*** No one was surprised when''Mario Kart Tour'' the game announced King Boo to be added into the Gacha during the Halloween Tour. However, nobody expected him to get a Spotlight Character Alt at the same time, nor for said Alt to be his ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' design, a look the ''Mario'' Spin-Off games typically ignore.
*** No one was surprised when
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* The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series had a pretty standard roster up until the fifth game which promoted Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid, who had traditionally been board [=NPCs=] in the previous games, into playable characters. ''Mario Party 6'' also featured Toadette as the series' first SecretCharacter, who had only made her debut the previous year and was relatively obscure at the time, but it was the seventh installment that really took fans by surprise when Dry Bones was announced as a playable character, which cemented him as a main-stay in most Mario spin-offs during the DS and Wii era. Later, no one ever expected to see Blooper (and to a lesser extent, Hammer Bro.) in ''Mario Party 8''. The tenth game took players by surprise with Spike, which no one really expected either as they had never really been that prominent in the series (aside from a giant-sized specimen who served as a MiniBoss in ''9''). And ''Super Mario Party'' features Goomba as a playable character for the first time since ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', released over a decade prior.
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* The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series had a pretty standard roster up until [[VideoGame/MarioParty5 the fifth game game]] which promoted Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid, who had traditionally been board [=NPCs=] in the previous games, into playable characters. ''Mario Party 6'' ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'' also featured features Toadette as the series' first SecretCharacter, who had only made her debut the previous year and was relatively obscure at the time, but it was [[VideoGame/MarioParty7 the seventh installment installment]] that really took fans by surprise when Dry Bones was announced as a playable character, which cemented him as a main-stay in most Mario spin-offs during the DS and Wii era. Later, no one ever expected to see Blooper (and to a lesser extent, Hammer Bro.) in ''Mario Party 8''. ''VideoGame/MarioParty8''. [[VideoGame/MarioParty10 The tenth game game]] took players by surprise with Spike, which no one really expected either as they had never really been that prominent in the series (aside from a giant-sized specimen who served as a MiniBoss in ''9''). ''VideoGame/MarioParty9''). And ''Super Mario Party'' ''VideoGame/SuperMarioParty'' features Goomba as a playable character for the first time since ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', released over a decade prior.
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** For ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', major surprises include [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Funky Kong]] and [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros Dry Bowser]].
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** For ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', major surprises include [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Funky Kong]] and [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros Dry Bowser]]. Baby Daisy also counts, given that this was her first appearance.
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** [[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Petey Piranha]] and [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion King Boo]] showing up as unlockable racers in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''.
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** [[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Petey Piranha]] and [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion King Boo]] showing up as unlockable racers in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''. This also applies to Toadette, who made her debut in this game.
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** Naturally, this applies to the [[OriginalGeneration characters created specifically for the series]], such as Toadette, Baby Daisy, Baby Rosalina, and Pink Gold Peach.
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* When it was announced that ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' would be getting a fourth character alongside Franchise/DonkeyKong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong to be revealed later in 2013, fans were expecting someonelike Kiddy Kong or Funky Kong. So people were naturally surprised that it turned out to be Cranky Kong. Also compounded by the fact that Reggie Fils-Aime's VGX appearance was to reveal Cranky rather than the next ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game like many anticipated. The Switch version actually does add Funky Kong as a playable character, who was relegated to an [=NPC=] role in the UsefulNotes/WiiU version.
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* When it was announced that ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' would be getting a fourth character alongside Franchise/DonkeyKong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong to be revealed later in 2013, fans were expecting someonelike someone like Kiddy Kong or Funky Kong. So people were naturally surprised that it turned out to be Cranky Kong. Also compounded by the fact that Reggie Fils-Aime's VGX appearance was to reveal Cranky rather than the next ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game like many anticipated. The Switch version actually does add Funky Kong as a playable character, who was relegated to an [=NPC=] role in the UsefulNotes/WiiU version.
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** Crowbers, which last appeared in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' and were [[DummiedOut planned to appear]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', are found in the purple streamer areas.
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** Crowbers, which last appeared in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' 2'' and were [[DummiedOut planned to appear]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', are found in the purple streamer areas.
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Up to Eleven is now defunct
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** ''Aces'' takes this UpToEleven by featuring a Chain Chomp, a generic {{Mook}} who doesn't even have any appendages and was never playable previously (outside of being a Capture target in ''Odyssey'') as well as Fire Piranha Plant, which follows up on Piranha Plant being playable in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
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** ''Aces'' takes this UpToEleven by featuring features a Chain Chomp, a generic {{Mook}} who doesn't even have any appendages and was never playable previously (outside of being a Capture target in ''Odyssey'') as well as Fire Piranha Plant, which follows up on Piranha Plant being playable in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
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Ice Mario isn't in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (at least during normal gameplay)
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*** One of the characters included in the game via the Ice Tour was Ice Mario...that is, the original Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[TheBusCameBack who hadn't been seen at all since]] ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Galaxy 2]]'', not the Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' who had become a series semi-staple since his first appearance replacing the former.
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*** One of the characters included in the game via the Ice Tour was Ice Mario...that is, the original Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[TheBusCameBack who hadn't been seen at all since]] ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Galaxy 2]]'', since his original appearance]], not the Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' who had become a series semi-staple since his first appearance replacing the former.
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Created the page.
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* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'':
** [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy R.O.B.]] showed up as a secret character in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'', which helped pave the way for his recurring appearances in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
** For ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', major surprises include [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Funky Kong]] and [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros Dry Bowser]].
** And in ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'', we have a Lakitu, a Wiggler, [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Metal Mario]], and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy the Queen Bee]] (now known as Honey Queen).
** [[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Petey Piranha]] and [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion King Boo]] showing up as unlockable racers in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', the very first game, features [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]] instead of regular DK.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'':
*** The game has the 7 Koopalings as playable characters after being regulated to being boss characters in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'', and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU''. Pink Gold Peach, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a pink, metal version of Princess Peach]], also came as a huge surprise since a metal Peach character never existed outside of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' until now, as did Baby Rosalina, Rosalina's baby counterpart. ''8'' is also the first game in the series to include DownloadableContent, and Nintendo surprised everyone by revealing that Link from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and the Villager and Isabelle from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' would be part of said DLC packs.
*** After the second DLC pack came out, everything went completely quiet from Nintendo regarding ''Mario Kart 8''. Then, the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch was announced with ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'', which features the Inklings from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' as playable characters, with corresponding vehicles and Urchin Underpass as a Battle Mode stage. Perhaps even more surprising was the addition of [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2 Gold Mario]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Link in the Champion's Tunic]] as PaletteSwap options for Metal Mario and Link respectively.
** No one was surprised when ''Mario Kart Tour'' announced King Boo to be added into the Gacha during the Halloween Tour. However, nobody expected him to get a Spotlight Character Alt at the same time, nor for said Alt to be his ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' design, a look the ''Mario'' Spin-Off games typically ignore.
*** One of the characters included in the game via the Ice Tour was Ice Mario...that is, the original Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[TheBusCameBack who hadn't been seen at all since]] ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Galaxy 2]]'', not the Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' who had become a series semi-staple since his first appearance replacing the former.
* The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series had a pretty standard roster up until the fifth game which promoted Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid, who had traditionally been board [=NPCs=] in the previous games, into playable characters. ''Mario Party 6'' also featured Toadette as the series' first SecretCharacter, who had only made her debut the previous year and was relatively obscure at the time, but it was the seventh installment that really took fans by surprise when Dry Bones was announced as a playable character, which cemented him as a main-stay in most Mario spin-offs during the DS and Wii era. Later, no one ever expected to see Blooper (and to a lesser extent, Hammer Bro.) in ''Mario Party 8''. The tenth game took players by surprise with Spike, which no one really expected either as they had never really been that prominent in the series (aside from a giant-sized specimen who served as a MiniBoss in ''9''). And ''Super Mario Party'' features Goomba as a playable character for the first time since ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', released over a decade prior.
* Among the new playable characters in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'' are [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU Nabbit]], who had only made two playable appearances beforehand, Ludwig, Larry, Roy and Wendy, who had previously never been seen without their other siblings (Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton), Dry Bones, who, while appearing as a rival in previous Olympics titles, is a nonspecific {{Mook}} character, [[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld Zavok and Zazz]], who had not made any previous playable appearances before this game, [[VideoGame/SonicRiders Wave]], who had never appeared outside of the ''Riders'' series even as a cameo, and '''''[[WesternAnimation/SonicBoom Sticks]]''''', a character from a completely different continuity than the other Sonic characters.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' was rather infamous for featuring mostly characters from the main series and had only a few unique original characters. Some of the old characters brought in make sense, such as Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Petey Piranha, but there's one odd one: Gooper Blooper, a boss from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. Unlike Petey, who also debuted in ''Sunshine'', Gooper Blooper only made a few cameoes after his debut, mostly in spinoff games. He's now the third major boss of the game and a DanceBattler.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' has a number of enemy types that make their Paper Mario debut:
** Sidesteppers, who have only appeared as cameos and stage hazards in spinoffs since their ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' debut, appear as enemies in the Water Vellumental Temple.
** Crowbers, which last appeared in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' and were [[DummiedOut planned to appear]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', are found in the purple streamer areas.
** Sumo Bros., infrequently-appearing enemies from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', are a mini-boss. Even more surprising is ''Boss'' Sumo Bro returning, after only being in ''New Super Mario Bros. U''!
** Galoombas, the Goomba type introduced in VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld, make their Paper Mario debut, largely in Autumn Mountain and the aptly named Chestnut Valley.
** Stingbies, found at the Spring of Jungle Mist, make their RPG debut. They were introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' in 2011, making them among the most recent of common enemies in this game.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'':
** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' the game's BigBad Cackletta [[GrandTheftMe hijacks]] Bowser's body, and when she suffers a loss, she retreats, regroups [[spoiler:and brings in the 7 Koopalings who hadn't been seen at the time since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''.]]
** [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', showing up as the BonusBoss with no foreshadowing whatsoever. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' continues this with [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]].
* When it was announced that ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' would be getting a fourth character alongside Franchise/DonkeyKong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong to be revealed later in 2013, fans were expecting someonelike Kiddy Kong or Funky Kong. So people were naturally surprised that it turned out to be Cranky Kong. Also compounded by the fact that Reggie Fils-Aime's VGX appearance was to reveal Cranky rather than the next ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game like many anticipated. The Switch version actually does add Funky Kong as a playable character, who was relegated to an [=NPC=] role in the UsefulNotes/WiiU version.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' enables you to play as different characters other than Mario in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' setting via the Mystery Mushroom/Mystery Suit power-up, including non-Mario characters such as [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and even [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth]] and VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog. With more than a hundred of these bonus characters, a number of them were bound to be this:
** Waluigi, while he ''is'' an EnsembleDarkhorse in the Mario series, took people by pleasant surprise, considering he had never appeared in a platformer beforehand.
** The eponymous character of ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', considering that the character has otherwise seen rare use since early in the [=GBA=] era outside of remakes and minor cameos.
** A mahjong tile. True, mahjong is a popular game in Japan, but a giant walking tile being a playable character in a Mario game turned some heads. That said, the Japanese mahjong game ''VideoGame/YakumanDS'' featured Mario characters about an entire decade prior to this game's release.
** Dr. Lobe from ''VideoGame/BigBrainAcademy'', of all things. Seriously, did ''anyone'' see this coming at all?
** Ashley from the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series. Characters from that series usually don't appear in Mario games proper, although this could be attributed to her [[EnsembleDarkhorse incredible popularity]] and [[BreakoutCharacter major prominence in the series]].
** Nikki, the Mii character host of ''UsefulNotes/{{Swapnote}}'' was met with a good amount of surprise, especially considering that Swapnote is generally considered to have been ScrewedByTheNetwork.
** Mario. No, not just normal Mario, but [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/b/b7/Mario_%28Super_Mario-Kun%29_-_SMM.png Mario as he appears in the]] ''Manga/SuperMarioBrosMangaMania'' manga series as part of a MilestoneCelebration. This also marks the first time the manga is acknowledged in an official ''Mario'' title.
** Shinya Arino of ''Series/GameCenterCX'' was this to players outside of Japan who were unfamiliar with the show, and because he is the only Mystery Mushroom character based on a real life person. Arino himself even provides his own voice clips in the game!
*** However, him being the only real life person represented is no longer the case now that '''''Music/BabyMetal''''' has been added. And yes, we do mean ''all three of them as one playable character''.
** [[Manga/{{Nisekoi}} Chitoge Kirisaki]], a character from a Shonen Jump manga series of all places, became a Mystery Suit character in the game to much surprise. And she's not even from one of Jump's flagship series, like ''Franchise/DragonBall'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', or ''Manga/OnePiece'', or even from an action series. ''Nisekoi'' is a romantic comedy.
** An update brought in a bunch of new Mystery Suits, among them being Disk-kun, the mascot character of the Famicom (not entirely unexpected, mind you, but still surprising to see as a playable character in a Mario game), and a volleyball player from the little-remembered NES Volleyball game.
** Princess Daisy also came as a bit of a surprise, as she hadn't appeared in a platformer since her debut.
** Franchise/HelloKitty and her buddy My Melody were later added. They (especially the former) are major pop-culture icons, but them making an official appearance in a Mario game still took many by surprise.
** ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'', of all characters, eventually debuted in the game. And unlike the other obscure costumes, he's a cartoon character that originated in the UK and not Japan. However, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff this can be attributed to his immense popularity with Japanese audiences]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'':
** Toadette's inclusion as a playable character in this game came off as a shock to numerous people as her biggest role outside of the sport-related spin-offs (barring her brief cameo in the opening of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'') was in ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'', which was a spin-off from the main-line ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' anyway.
** The announcement that Princess Daisy (who likewise has seldom appeared outside of the usual spin-offs and makes fewer appearances in the mainline ''Mario'' titles than even Toadette does) would be added to the game in a later update makes Toadette's inclusion almost seem innocuous in comparison.
* ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'':
** The original installment on the Nintendo 64 not only marked the debut of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Waluigi]], but it also featured the returns of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand Daisy]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Birdo]], and most surprisingly, ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', all of whom had faded into obscurity in the mid-to-late 90's.
** ''Open'' for the 3DS has a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Luma]] as a playable character (marking the first time the character was seen without Rosalina), while ''Ultra Smash'' on the Wii U has the [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Green Sprixie Princess]] as well.
** ''Aces'' takes this UpToEleven by featuring a Chain Chomp, a generic {{Mook}} who doesn't even have any appendages and was never playable previously (outside of being a Capture target in ''Odyssey'') as well as Fire Piranha Plant, which follows up on Piranha Plant being playable in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has quite a few of these. Most notably Pauline from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'' series, but also Donkey Kong himself (as he almost never appears in the main Mario platformers due to having [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry his own series]]), Poochy from ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'', Dorrie and Klepto (last seen in a major role in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and its DS remake) and Toadette (a character who'd never previously appeared outside of spinoffs, not counting her brief cameo in the intro to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''). On a related note, most of the Captures are series staples, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Parabones and Ty-Foos (two fairly minor enemies introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'') as Capture targets too.
* The MobilePhoneGame ''[[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario World]]'' has the cast take up the Doctor mantle alongside Mario, including the Babies, the Princesses, the Kongs, the Wario Bros., the Koopalings, etc. There are also Assistants, which consist of many enemies and some bosses from throughout the series. Of these Assistants, three of them have become Doctors, including Dr. Lakitu, Dr. Koopa Troopa, and even ''Dr. Dolphin''. These surprised players as they figured that being Assistants prevented them from ever being playable. Outside of Assistants, there's also Dr. Goomba Tower, who's basically just three Goombas standing on each other while wearing a doctor's coat like a couple of kids wearing a trench coat to disguise themselves as an adult, based on the Goomba Tower enemy from ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''.
** After ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'', Baby Wario more or less vanished for a long while. Cue the fandom's surprise when this game brought him back as Dr. Baby Wario to start off Season 3.
* While the roster for ''VideoGame/MarioGolf: Super Rush'' was more or less stock standard, it did happen to include a ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Chargin' Chuck]]'' of all things as a playable character! Even more shocking was when ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Ninji]]'' was revealed as a downloadable character later on, as that particular enemy rarely ever appears in modern ''Mario'' titles.
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** [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy R.O.B.]] showed up as a secret character in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'', which helped pave the way for his recurring appearances in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.
** For ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'', major surprises include [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Funky Kong]] and [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros Dry Bowser]].
** And in ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'', we have a Lakitu, a Wiggler, [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 Metal Mario]], and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy the Queen Bee]] (now known as Honey Queen).
** [[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Petey Piranha]] and [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion King Boo]] showing up as unlockable racers in ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash''.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', the very first game, features [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]] instead of regular DK.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'':
*** The game has the 7 Koopalings as playable characters after being regulated to being boss characters in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'', and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU''. Pink Gold Peach, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a pink, metal version of Princess Peach]], also came as a huge surprise since a metal Peach character never existed outside of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' until now, as did Baby Rosalina, Rosalina's baby counterpart. ''8'' is also the first game in the series to include DownloadableContent, and Nintendo surprised everyone by revealing that Link from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and the Villager and Isabelle from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' would be part of said DLC packs.
*** After the second DLC pack came out, everything went completely quiet from Nintendo regarding ''Mario Kart 8''. Then, the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch was announced with ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'', which features the Inklings from ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' as playable characters, with corresponding vehicles and Urchin Underpass as a Battle Mode stage. Perhaps even more surprising was the addition of [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2 Gold Mario]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Link in the Champion's Tunic]] as PaletteSwap options for Metal Mario and Link respectively.
** No one was surprised when ''Mario Kart Tour'' announced King Boo to be added into the Gacha during the Halloween Tour. However, nobody expected him to get a Spotlight Character Alt at the same time, nor for said Alt to be his ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' design, a look the ''Mario'' Spin-Off games typically ignore.
*** One of the characters included in the game via the Ice Tour was Ice Mario...that is, the original Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[TheBusCameBack who hadn't been seen at all since]] ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Galaxy 2]]'', not the Ice Mario from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' who had become a series semi-staple since his first appearance replacing the former.
* The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series had a pretty standard roster up until the fifth game which promoted Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid, who had traditionally been board [=NPCs=] in the previous games, into playable characters. ''Mario Party 6'' also featured Toadette as the series' first SecretCharacter, who had only made her debut the previous year and was relatively obscure at the time, but it was the seventh installment that really took fans by surprise when Dry Bones was announced as a playable character, which cemented him as a main-stay in most Mario spin-offs during the DS and Wii era. Later, no one ever expected to see Blooper (and to a lesser extent, Hammer Bro.) in ''Mario Party 8''. The tenth game took players by surprise with Spike, which no one really expected either as they had never really been that prominent in the series (aside from a giant-sized specimen who served as a MiniBoss in ''9''). And ''Super Mario Party'' features Goomba as a playable character for the first time since ''VideoGame/MarioSuperSluggers'', released over a decade prior.
* Among the new playable characters in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'' are [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU Nabbit]], who had only made two playable appearances beforehand, Ludwig, Larry, Roy and Wendy, who had previously never been seen without their other siblings (Iggy, Lemmy, and Morton), Dry Bones, who, while appearing as a rival in previous Olympics titles, is a nonspecific {{Mook}} character, [[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld Zavok and Zazz]], who had not made any previous playable appearances before this game, [[VideoGame/SonicRiders Wave]], who had never appeared outside of the ''Riders'' series even as a cameo, and '''''[[WesternAnimation/SonicBoom Sticks]]''''', a character from a completely different continuity than the other Sonic characters.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' was rather infamous for featuring mostly characters from the main series and had only a few unique original characters. Some of the old characters brought in make sense, such as Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Petey Piranha, but there's one odd one: Gooper Blooper, a boss from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. Unlike Petey, who also debuted in ''Sunshine'', Gooper Blooper only made a few cameoes after his debut, mostly in spinoff games. He's now the third major boss of the game and a DanceBattler.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' has a number of enemy types that make their Paper Mario debut:
** Sidesteppers, who have only appeared as cameos and stage hazards in spinoffs since their ''VideoGame/MarioBros'' debut, appear as enemies in the Water Vellumental Temple.
** Crowbers, which last appeared in ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' and were [[DummiedOut planned to appear]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', are found in the purple streamer areas.
** Sumo Bros., infrequently-appearing enemies from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', are a mini-boss. Even more surprising is ''Boss'' Sumo Bro returning, after only being in ''New Super Mario Bros. U''!
** Galoombas, the Goomba type introduced in VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld, make their Paper Mario debut, largely in Autumn Mountain and the aptly named Chestnut Valley.
** Stingbies, found at the Spring of Jungle Mist, make their RPG debut. They were introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' in 2011, making them among the most recent of common enemies in this game.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'':
** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' the game's BigBad Cackletta [[GrandTheftMe hijacks]] Bowser's body, and when she suffers a loss, she retreats, regroups [[spoiler:and brings in the 7 Koopalings who hadn't been seen at the time since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''.]]
** [[spoiler:Bowser Jr.]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', showing up as the BonusBoss with no foreshadowing whatsoever. ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' continues this with [[spoiler:Dry Bowser]].
* When it was announced that ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' would be getting a fourth character alongside Franchise/DonkeyKong, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong to be revealed later in 2013, fans were expecting someonelike Kiddy Kong or Funky Kong. So people were naturally surprised that it turned out to be Cranky Kong. Also compounded by the fact that Reggie Fils-Aime's VGX appearance was to reveal Cranky rather than the next ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game like many anticipated. The Switch version actually does add Funky Kong as a playable character, who was relegated to an [=NPC=] role in the UsefulNotes/WiiU version.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' enables you to play as different characters other than Mario in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' setting via the Mystery Mushroom/Mystery Suit power-up, including non-Mario characters such as [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]], and even [[Franchise/FireEmblem Marth]] and VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog. With more than a hundred of these bonus characters, a number of them were bound to be this:
** Waluigi, while he ''is'' an EnsembleDarkhorse in the Mario series, took people by pleasant surprise, considering he had never appeared in a platformer beforehand.
** The eponymous character of ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', considering that the character has otherwise seen rare use since early in the [=GBA=] era outside of remakes and minor cameos.
** A mahjong tile. True, mahjong is a popular game in Japan, but a giant walking tile being a playable character in a Mario game turned some heads. That said, the Japanese mahjong game ''VideoGame/YakumanDS'' featured Mario characters about an entire decade prior to this game's release.
** Dr. Lobe from ''VideoGame/BigBrainAcademy'', of all things. Seriously, did ''anyone'' see this coming at all?
** Ashley from the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series. Characters from that series usually don't appear in Mario games proper, although this could be attributed to her [[EnsembleDarkhorse incredible popularity]] and [[BreakoutCharacter major prominence in the series]].
** Nikki, the Mii character host of ''UsefulNotes/{{Swapnote}}'' was met with a good amount of surprise, especially considering that Swapnote is generally considered to have been ScrewedByTheNetwork.
** Mario. No, not just normal Mario, but [[http://www.mariowiki.com/images/b/b7/Mario_%28Super_Mario-Kun%29_-_SMM.png Mario as he appears in the]] ''Manga/SuperMarioBrosMangaMania'' manga series as part of a MilestoneCelebration. This also marks the first time the manga is acknowledged in an official ''Mario'' title.
** Shinya Arino of ''Series/GameCenterCX'' was this to players outside of Japan who were unfamiliar with the show, and because he is the only Mystery Mushroom character based on a real life person. Arino himself even provides his own voice clips in the game!
*** However, him being the only real life person represented is no longer the case now that '''''Music/BabyMetal''''' has been added. And yes, we do mean ''all three of them as one playable character''.
** [[Manga/{{Nisekoi}} Chitoge Kirisaki]], a character from a Shonen Jump manga series of all places, became a Mystery Suit character in the game to much surprise. And she's not even from one of Jump's flagship series, like ''Franchise/DragonBall'', ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', or ''Manga/OnePiece'', or even from an action series. ''Nisekoi'' is a romantic comedy.
** An update brought in a bunch of new Mystery Suits, among them being Disk-kun, the mascot character of the Famicom (not entirely unexpected, mind you, but still surprising to see as a playable character in a Mario game), and a volleyball player from the little-remembered NES Volleyball game.
** Princess Daisy also came as a bit of a surprise, as she hadn't appeared in a platformer since her debut.
** Franchise/HelloKitty and her buddy My Melody were later added. They (especially the former) are major pop-culture icons, but them making an official appearance in a Mario game still took many by surprise.
** ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'', of all characters, eventually debuted in the game. And unlike the other obscure costumes, he's a cartoon character that originated in the UK and not Japan. However, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff this can be attributed to his immense popularity with Japanese audiences]].
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'':
** Toadette's inclusion as a playable character in this game came off as a shock to numerous people as her biggest role outside of the sport-related spin-offs (barring her brief cameo in the opening of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'') was in ''VideoGame/CaptainToadTreasureTracker'', which was a spin-off from the main-line ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' anyway.
** The announcement that Princess Daisy (who likewise has seldom appeared outside of the usual spin-offs and makes fewer appearances in the mainline ''Mario'' titles than even Toadette does) would be added to the game in a later update makes Toadette's inclusion almost seem innocuous in comparison.
* ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'':
** The original installment on the Nintendo 64 not only marked the debut of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Waluigi]], but it also featured the returns of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand Daisy]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Birdo]], and most surprisingly, ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Donkey Kong Jr.]]'', all of whom had faded into obscurity in the mid-to-late 90's.
** ''Open'' for the 3DS has a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Luma]] as a playable character (marking the first time the character was seen without Rosalina), while ''Ultra Smash'' on the Wii U has the [[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld Green Sprixie Princess]] as well.
** ''Aces'' takes this UpToEleven by featuring a Chain Chomp, a generic {{Mook}} who doesn't even have any appendages and was never playable previously (outside of being a Capture target in ''Odyssey'') as well as Fire Piranha Plant, which follows up on Piranha Plant being playable in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has quite a few of these. Most notably Pauline from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'' series, but also Donkey Kong himself (as he almost never appears in the main Mario platformers due to having [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry his own series]]), Poochy from ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'', Dorrie and Klepto (last seen in a major role in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and its DS remake) and Toadette (a character who'd never previously appeared outside of spinoffs, not counting her brief cameo in the intro to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''). On a related note, most of the Captures are series staples, so it is a bit of a surprise to see Parabones and Ty-Foos (two fairly minor enemies introduced in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'') as Capture targets too.
* The MobilePhoneGame ''[[VideoGame/DrMario Dr. Mario World]]'' has the cast take up the Doctor mantle alongside Mario, including the Babies, the Princesses, the Kongs, the Wario Bros., the Koopalings, etc. There are also Assistants, which consist of many enemies and some bosses from throughout the series. Of these Assistants, three of them have become Doctors, including Dr. Lakitu, Dr. Koopa Troopa, and even ''Dr. Dolphin''. These surprised players as they figured that being Assistants prevented them from ever being playable. Outside of Assistants, there's also Dr. Goomba Tower, who's basically just three Goombas standing on each other while wearing a doctor's coat like a couple of kids wearing a trench coat to disguise themselves as an adult, based on the Goomba Tower enemy from ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''.
** After ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'', Baby Wario more or less vanished for a long while. Cue the fandom's surprise when this game brought him back as Dr. Baby Wario to start off Season 3.
* While the roster for ''VideoGame/MarioGolf: Super Rush'' was more or less stock standard, it did happen to include a ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Chargin' Chuck]]'' of all things as a playable character! Even more shocking was when ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Ninji]]'' was revealed as a downloadable character later on, as that particular enemy rarely ever appears in modern ''Mario'' titles.
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