10 Awesome Super Mario Fan Theories You Had No Idea Existed

8. Gold Coins Are Souls

Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo

In the original instruction manual for Super Mario Bros. on the NES, it was suggested that King Koopa actually transformed the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom into blocks.

What does this mean? Well, it means that Mario has been rather savagely ploughing his way through innocent Toads in order to save Princess Peach. He€™s been smashing them open, using them as platforms, breaking them into pieces with his bum, and just generally massacring the entire population in order to rescue his beloved.

I should point out: this isn€™t a theory. It actually says this in the instruction manual, mentioning the citizens were turned into "stones, bricks and even field horse-hair plants".

It€™s an undeniable fact: Mario is a monster, and he€™s personally responsible for the loss of countless innocent lives. The fact that he€™s heralded as a hero is perhaps the single greatest travesty in the history of video games, though it gets worse.

There€™s actually a theory that suggests Mario has not only been bludgeoning Toads to death, but gorging on their souls in order to extend his own life. After all, if blocks are Toads, what does that make the coins inside the blocks?

Contributor
Contributor

Formerly an assistant editor, Richard's interests include detective fiction and Japanese horror movies.