Eris' Zelda Lore Blog

So in a Time article by Matt Peckham from June 15, 2016 titled, Next Link May Not Be a Girl, But He’s Androgynous by Design; we learn that the creators of The Legend Of Zelda games design Link as androgynous intentionally.

In the words of Aonuma.... "Back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral. I wanted the player to think ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect. I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure. So I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link." Aonuma also said... "During the development of Twilight Princess, I went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character. Hence I created the version of Link that you see in Breath of the Wild. As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character."

So yeah, as far back as The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time the creators of Zelda such as Aonuma have being designing Link as intentional androgynous so all players could relate to him. Written by Eris the Lorekeeper

So something many people have noticed there are many Mario Enemies that show up in Zelda games. The games include The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords + Adventures, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The enemies in question include Chain Chomps, Shy Guys, Boos, Piranha Plants, Bob-ombs, Pokeys, Cheep Cheeps, Bloobers, Spinys, Poodooboos, Lakitus, and Thwomps. Many people have questioned why they are here, and even some people have speculated this means Hyrule shares a planet with the Mushroom Kingdom. So I'm going to explain what is going on here.

So first off we know the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule cannot share a world due to the fact Mario's World has no room for Hyrule, and the fact their timelines work differently. So if they don't share a world, then what's up?

Well one possible interpretation is like Mamu and the Running Man, these enemies are actually parallel dimension versions of their Mario counterparts. This would explain their subtle differences in many of their appearances. Seems like a decent enough answer, however there is another possible answer.

So in Wario Blast Featuring Bomberman it is revealed Wario got to Planet Bomber using an extra-dimensional portal that links Bomberman's world with Mario's world. So what if there are extra-dimensional portals that Link the various Hyrules and even points in time in Hyrule, to Mario's World. Thus these enemies either ended up in the Hyrule in the distant past or got sucked into there by these portals. From here they either chose to stay here or find the portals back home. Yes Bloopers, Cheep Cheeps, and Chain Chomps are all sapient and can make decisions. These enemies don't even necessarily have to be from the main Mario's World, but another one disconnected from the main one. Although one could argue it's Miyamoto in reference to the games has stated it's always the same Mario, and the only know exception to this is the Mario + Rabbids continuity. Written by Eris the Lorekeeper

So in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Professor Elvin Gadd invents a Time Machine, and uses the Cobalt Star to power it. In this he effectively introduces time travel to the Mario World. But another interesting thing is we learn how time travel works in the Mario World from this, and effectively how the Mario Timeline works.

So there is a part where a past E. Gadd sees Baby Mario and Luigi trying to put out a Thwomp with water. This causes his present self to gain new memories, and gets the idea to create the Hydrogush 4000 and help out his past self. This is establishes time travel instead of creating a branching timeline merely alters the past, and by extension the present. In addition, this would mean the Mario timeline doesn't split but remains as one continuous timeline.

This is further backed up by the events of Super Mario Galaxy where the universe resets, and things are just a bit different. This is seen in the Star Festival and events of SMG technically never happened. And outside of that the timeline remains the same and there is no splitting.

This also explains why Kamek in Partner's In Time says he remembers kidnapping the Baby Bros. once, when he has at least 2 times. It's because this is the first time anyone has time traveled and altered the past. Meanwhile games like Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island involve time traveling and active meddling in the past thus altering the past, making it where the events of Super Mario World 2 Yoshi's Island is not the only time Kamek has kidnapped the Baby Bros. This also explains why Mario is using the alias and disguise Mr. Pipe, he is trying to avoid meddling with the past too much while Bowser doesn't care at all.

This also lines up with what Miyamoto said it's always the same Mario across games. He said this in response to a question about if it was the same Mario in comparison to Link being a different Link in each game via timeline split and reincarnation. While the Zelda Timeline Splits, the Mario Timeline does not. This also means the Zelda games cannot take place on the Mario World let alone in the Mario Timeline. Written by Eris the Lorekeeper

So many people believe King Wart from SMB2USA and BSSMUSA is the same person as Mamu from Link's Awakening. I don't think this is the case, here's why. Now before I continue I would like to note while they are both called Mamu in Japan. I will be referring to them as different names for simplicity's sake.

So first off appearance wise, on the surface they similar fairly similar, especially when look at the eyes, there is some differences. For starters while the 3D model of Mamu retains his design from the original pixels, King Wart doesn't. First off in Mario Advance he has a crown with a red gem, a necklace with a red jewel, and a brown cloak. However, I think the next detail alongside with render this moot. In the art for both Super Mario Bros 2 USA and BS Super Mario USA King Wart's artwork depiction remains the same. But there are interesting differences, between Wart and Mamu. For starters, King Wart wears a crown with a green gem inside and his eyes are not like a frog's typically are. Meanwhile Mamu's are like a typical frog's eyes and he wears a crown with a blue gem in it.

There is also Mamu's eyes might even have frills around them. This is because there is a possibility he is Don Gero as stated hypothesized by one SpekUL8. That Don Gero's Mask depicts Mamu.

There is also the difference in behavior and personality between King Wart and Mamu. Mamu is the leader of the Frog Choir and seems to be a pretty decent guy, even helping out Link. We also know if you revisit his Pond there is a a sign that says he and his choir are away on tour around the world. Meanwhile, King Wart resides in Subcon and tries to overthrow it in SMB2USA and BSSMUSA. King Wart does things like places curses on the people of Subcon and even Mario, instead of being more friendly and leading a frog choir.

So what do I think is up here? I think King Wart and Mamu are 2 different universe versions of each other. This would explain the subtle differences in their appearance, and major differences in their behavior and personality. This would also line up with the fact Mario and Link do not share a timeline with each other, due to the fact their timelines work differently. Written by Eris the Lorekeeper