Variants of Paper Mario Baddies

[Lord_Brand]

In Shanty Pete's topic about his idea for expansions to the Glitz Pit in the TTYD remake, I posited the idea of gender variants of traditionally male or masculine enemies in the Paper Mario series, in the interest of adding some variety. I also began positing the notion of regional variants of Mario baddies, such as pirate or western outlaw versions of Goombas and Koopa Troopas. I didn't want to derail that topic however, so I'm making this topic to discuss the idea instead.

So first, regional variants. I think this would be an interesting alternative to the more traditional palette swap variants like Gloombas and Hyper Goombas. The stats of these variants would depend on when they're introduced of course, but presumably they would have higher HP and Attack than the base versions encountered early in the game, not to mention extra abilities.

As for gender variants, I think there are a couple ways to approach this concept. One would be aesthetic variants that add some feminine touches (within reason) to traditionally male or masculine enemy designs. For example, maybe a Goomba with eyelashes and a cute fang like Goombella, or a Koopa Troopa with a ponytail like Koopie Koo. The tricky part is to convey that these enemies are functionally the same, unless we want to explore the idea of them having distinct stats and/or abilities. Subtlety and small touches are key, there. A female Spiked Goomba might keep her hair low in buns so as not to distract from the pointy spike on top of her head, for instance.

Regional and gender variants can thus combine in interesting ways, like a Koopa Troopa pirate wench (maybe with a black shell emblazoned with a skull and crossbones for that extra piratey touch) or a Calamity Jane-esque outlaw Goombette.

A consequence of enemies looking homogenous most of the time is that it trains the mind to treat any difference in appearance as important; if the enemy is a different color or has different features, that's got to mean it's different functionally, right? And that is, to an extent, a handy tool for distinguishing different kinds of enemies. But, it's also kind of boring on an aesthetic level. So, I think it'd be cool if there was a certain range of features enemies can have that provide a bit of variance in their appearance while still conveying which kind of enemy they are. Ordinary Goombas for instance could have hair, eyewear, and/or non-pointy headgear, but do not have spiked hats or wings, whereas Spiked Goombas all wear spiked hats, green hats in particular, and Paragoombas have wings (would be cool to see variants with bat wings, especially in a spooky region).

The Ninjakoopas in PM64 are an interesting example of subverting the homogeny rule, incidentally; though they are distinct enemies and characters, they have the exact same stats and moves. Come to think of it, standard Shy Guys in PM64 also have different color variants, and one formation encountered late in Shy Guy's Toy Box actually clues you in to a puzzle solution. And honestly, I'd be cool if more enemy formations could be like that. Imagine encountering a gang of Goomba outlaws in a Western region; they each have different facial features, hair styles (in the cases of ones that have hair), and wear differently-colored hats and clothes, but their attire is still uniform enough to convey that they have similar if not identical abilities.

As an aside, I think it'd be neat to see more Mario NPCs exhibit such a range of greater variance. In their case, there isn't a concern for conveying gameplay distinction since they're neither playable nor enemies. I like the idea of a grid where each NPC on that grid is a unique combination of two traits, one from category A and another from category B. Just five traits for each, and you have 25 distinct NPCs ready to go right there. That's more than what most towns in the first two Paper Marios even have. Add in different ages, genders, etc. for these characters and the variance becomes even greater. For example, a village of Koopa Troopas could have five different shell colors, child/adult/elderly ages, and a mix of males and females among them. Goomba Village was a great, if simple, example of this: Goompa and Gooma were the elders, Goompapa and Goomama were the middle-aged parents, and Goombario and Goombaria were the kids (implied to be teenage and possibly young adult in Goombario's case). The Yoshis of Lavalava Island were another great example, where the five main colors each have a corresponding adult and kid version.

Feel free to share thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc.

Edited April 14 by Lord_Brand

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

Great idea, to spin this off as its own thread!

One question to ask is - what will the theming of the next Paper Mario game be? I haven't played Princess Peach: Showtime! beyond the demo, but I know its trademark quality is presenting the player with different aesthetic themes and gameplay styles to go along with them. There's Mermaid Peach, Cowgirl Peach, Musketeer Peach, and many others - each inhabiting their own scene. Could a future Paper Mario game offer different settings, and specialized enemies to go along with them? Such as a Privateer Parakoopa in the Pirate World, or a Gunslinger Goomba in the Wild Wild West World.

Alternatively, what if the next game saw Mario travel through time? Or simply, various settings themed to particularly times and places? In Ancient Egypt, Mario might find himself faced with "Mummy Bones", whereas a "Samurai Guy" might be one of the foes in Edo Japan. Hang out with some "Koopunks" in 70's London, or "Gangnam Goombas" in 2010s Korea. ...Okay, maybe not that last one. But there's still potential, I swear!

Thinking on it, the first couple Paper Mario games were no strangers to visually distinguishing members of a given species... when it came to overworld generics. In Toad Town, Rogueport, and plenty of places around the world, there was plenty of variety. But whenever you faced Koopas in battle, they always look the same. ...I mean, they can look different, but only when it affects the gameplay. Stuff like "Dark Koopa" vs. "Koopa Troopa". ...Okay, the KP Koopas are an exception to this, but they kinda stand out on this front. The fact that you have to Tattle them - when they're just a Koopa and Paratroopa by any other color - is honestly kinda funny.

In any case, this has been kinda rambly. But broadly speaking, I'm on the side of "character design variation good". Either when it's thematic, or something as simple as a color swap. It'd be great to see more of it, in the next Paper Mario series entry.