Minor Defects
"Minor Defects" is a Super Mario Bros. comic, published only in Nintendo Comics System featuring Super Mario Bros. No. 8. The title is a pun on "minor defects", small issues that do not significantly affect a product's performance or usability, and "defect", or to forsake one cause or party for another because of a change in ideology.
Plot synopsis[edit]
One morning, Princess Toadstool is awakened by a commotion in the castle and asks Wooster what it is. He tells her that Mario is currently entertaining some guests, and she barges in to the room where the noise is coming from, only to find it crowded by about twelve thousand Shyguys, Snifits, and Beezos. Mario explains to the Princess that the 8 bits have defected to their side for a reason he is not aware of. The Princess is not at all keen about Mario letting the 8 bits in, but he tells her that they want him to lead an attack against King Koopa. With that, Mario and Luigi lead the 8 bits on an attack to Dark Land, dragging the Princess and Wooster with them.
Meanwhile, at Koopa's Castle, King Koopa asks Mouser why the Shyguys have gone missing and wonders if maybe he did something to drive them away. Mouser, however, cannot figure out why it is that the Shyguys have disappeared.
A few days later, after a lot of marching, the protagonists and the 8 bits arrive at the front door of Koopa's Castle, which is guarded by a lone Shyguy named Clarence, who is very unpopular among the other Shyguys because he supposedly has cooties. Unfortunately for Mario, none of the 8 bits want to go after Clarence, and they instead spend the next three days building a watchtower.
Koopa, in the meantime, gets sick of waiting for Mario and the 8 bits to storm his castle and goes down to talk to them. When he does, Mario tells Koopa that he is beaten because his army has turned against him, but Koopa says he does not know the reason why. The 8 bits then answer that the actual reason they ran out on Koopa was because they think he forgot to give them their fruit baskets for Be-Kind-to-Lackeys Day. Koopa tells the 8 bits that they have not received the fruit baskets yet because the holiday is actually tomorrow, not last week as the 8 bits mistakenly thought. As the 8 bits beg Koopa to take them back, the Koopa King asks Mario and the Princess if they know what actually happened to the fruit baskets, because they were supposed to have arrived days ago. Clarence then speaks up, saying he knows where the fruit baskets went, but he refuses to tell Koopa because he never asked him. As Koopa furiously yells at Clarence for withholding the information, Mario, Luigi, the Princess, and Wooster retreat back to the Mushroom Castle. When they arrive home, they find out that Koopa's fruit baskets mistakenly got delivered there, and that Toad and King Toadstool have been feasting on them.
Characters[edit]
- Mario
- Luigi
- Princess Toadstool
- Toad
- King Toadstool
- Wooster
- King Koopa
- Mouser
- Clarence
- Shyguys
- Snifits
- Beezos
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish | Pikkuvaurioita[1] | Minor damage | |
| German | Der Aufstand der Shyguys[2] | The Shyguys' rebellion | |
| Swedish | Fruktansvärda frukter[3] | "Terrible results," also features frukter ("fruits") |
Notes[edit]
- The scene where the Mario Bros., the Princess, Wooster, the Shyguys, and the Beezos leave the Mushroom Castle and enter the Mask Gate to Koopa's castle is reused as part of the cover art for The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Taiwanese VHSes Chāojí Mario 5: Mario Dàzhàn Koopa and Chāojí Mario 9: Mógu Kāiguóshǐ.
