10 Best Super Mario Fan Theories That Explain Everything

Super Mario is the most celebrated video game franchise of all time. Despite its legacy, the premise is very simple; an Italian plumber living in the Mushroom Kingdom must rescue Princess Peach from the Koopa King, Bowser. That is the entire plot to about 80% of the mainstream Mario games.

Because the characters and plot are so basic, very little is known about the Mario universe. This has caused many gamers to try and fill in the blanks with their own theories. Like most speculation, a lot of these fan-theories simply don't stick and thus, are dismissed.

But there are handful of fan-theories that make too much sense to be discarded. Even if they're not true, some of these ideas should be explored.

Who was King Boo when he was alive? Why does Mario act completely different in his debut game? How does Nintendo's moustachioed mascot have time to have hundreds of adventures? And most importantly, what does a Shy Guy look like? (Okay, that one isn't important, but it's definitely the one that keeps me up at night.)

Here are some Super Mario fan-theories that explain everything.

The most popular theory revolving around the Mario franchise is how Super Mario Bros. 3 is a play.

The game starts with a curtain raising like in the beginning of a show. Most of the backgrounds are bolted to the "set". Some physical objects (including the hills on the opening screen) cast a distinctive shadow to further highlight that the background is fake.

All of the main levels conclude with Mario dashing into a black area on the right side, which resembles the "wings" of a stage. In some levels, the titular character can run around the wings as if he is going behind the set.

The reason why this idea has become so prevalent in recent years is because... it's true. During a 2015 interview, Mario creator himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, confirmed the game is meant to be a show put on by Mario and his friends.

You'd assume that Nintendo fans were thrilled to learn that this theory was confirmed by Shigsy himself and could finally be put to bed.

But no... instead, it created a brand new theory that's so insane, there just might be some truth to it.