Great Wall of China
| Great Wall of China | |
|---|---|
 The Great Wall of China, having been vandalized by Bully Koopa in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 | |
| First appearance | "7 Continents for 7 Koopas" (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, 1990) |
| Latest appearance | Mario is Missing! (Deluxe) (1994) |
| Greater location | China |
- “One of the world's seven great wonders, the Great Wall is the only man-made object visible from outer space. The Chinese poetically call it "Long Wall of Ten Thousand Li." It is said that over 300,000 men labored for ten years to complete its 3,946 miles. Begun in fifth century BC, its purpose was to keep northern tribes from attacking southern states. The Wall is wide enough to allow a team of five horses to run, side by side, along its top. This way, messengers could bring food and information without slowing down too much!”
- —Pamphlet, Mario is Missing! (PC)
The Great Wall of China is the longest wall on Earth, and, as its name implies, is located in China. It has two names in Chinese: the official (Traditional Chinese: 萬里長城; Simplified Chinese: 万里长城; Pinyin: Wànlǐ chángchéng) which means "the long wall of 10,000 Li", and an alternative (Traditional Chinese: 長城; Simplified Chinese: 长城; Pinyin: Chángchéng) which means "Great Wall". The wall has made a few appearances in the Super Mario franchise.
History[edit]
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3[edit]
The Great Wall first appeared in an episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, "7 Continents for 7 Koopas". When Bowser tries to conquer the entire Real World, he puts Bully Koopa under control of Asia. Bully vandalizes the Great Wall of China by spraying graffiti all over it. Mario later steals Bully's wand, and turns the wall into a giant dragon, which then attacks and tries to eat Bully. Ironically, this could be seen as damaging the wall even more than Bully did. However, it is seen that later the wall and dragon both appeared at once (in the error screen (which happened due to the heroes' victories) and Bowser's defeat), though it is not explained how.
Mario is Missing![edit]
The Wall later appeared in the PC, SNES, and NES versions of Mario is Missing!, being vandalized by Koopa Troopas again. This time, a single stone was stolen, and the Wall is barred from visitors until Luigi returns it. Returning the artifact will reward Luigi 1,220 dollars. To do so, he has to defeat Koopa Troopas in Beijing and answer questions about the Great Wall to proof the stone's authenticity. The questions are as follows:
- How long is the Great Wall?
- 3946 miles
- 300,000 kilometers
- 3690 miles
- 5000 miles
- When did the building of the wall begin?
- 25th century BC
- 1949
- 5th century BC
- 3946 BC
- About how many men did it take to build the wall?
- 300,000
- 30,000
- 3,000
- 300
Media[edit]
 Video - Live-action footage of the Great Wall of China in the Deluxe version of Mario is Missing! | File info 0:11 |
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | Die Chinesische Mauer[1] | The Chinese Wall |
Trivia[edit]
- The pamphlet says that the Wall is "the only manmade object visible from outer space", and a Beijing boy too claims that it is "the only manmade thing on earth an astronaut can see from space." This, however, is actually debatable.
References[edit]
- ^ Mario wir vermisst. Software Toolworks (German). Retrieved September 23, 2024.
