FULL DISCLOSURE: This is exceedingly informal; while we at least tried to keep everything in a comprehensible format, don't be surprised if we crack a few jokes every now and again. In addition, we put this on its own userpage subpage rather than just our sandbox for archival purposes; after all, this is technically relevant to a proposal.
We are bored, and we have literally nothing better to do, so against the better judgement of our own wrists, we've decided to take a close look at every single category of look-alikes as of December 20th, 2023, and do a quick dissertation of every article and if it makes sense to declare them a look-alike. It then ballooned way out of control because it turns out we have a lot of articles in these categories, oh no.
Mario
- Big Cosmic Clone: Makes sense, see Cosmic Clone.
- Bowser Memory M & MX: Makes sense. This is a rectangular representation of Mario as a whole.
- Bubble clone: Should probably go in the Clones category; technically, the Bubble Clones are just lookalikes for anyone in Mario Party: Island Tour. They're technically a Mario lookalike, but that's because they can look(a)like anyone.
- Cosmic Clone: Makes sense. This is literally just a Mario model with a few texture changes as an enemy.
- Cosmic Mario: Makes sense. This is basically just a Cosmic Clone situation.
- Cursed Mini Mario: Should probably be removed entirely. This is literally just a Mini Mario with a Monkey robot on him, and by proxy, the article is mostly about that Monkey robot.
- Dark Mario: Ah, our first shapeshifter in this roster! Y'know, unless you cound Bubble clones. These technically count, but we already have a Shapeshifter category these guys fit in much better. They can technically look(a)like anyone, so we kind of need to determine if shapeshifting is included in the hard limit or not.
- Dark Mario (Super Mario Bros. Wonder): Makes sense, see Cosmic Clone.
- Ditto: Let's keep this one brief so we can cite it later; if we count shapeshifters they can stay, if not they need to get out.
- Doopliss: Unclear, see Ditto. We literally just talked about this!
- Dreamy Mario: Makes sense, this is literally to Mario what Dreamy Luigi is to Luigi.
- False Mario: Should go in the clones category, see Bubble Clone.
- Fighting Polygons: Should probably be removed entirely. We don't feel confident in calling them clones, they sure aren't shapeshifters, and they're literally just model swapped with Mario and multiple other fighters. This thing is as much of a Mario look-alike as it is a Ness look-alike.
- Gold Mario: Makes sense, literally just a texture swap for the sake of a kart game.
- Gold Mini Mario: We feel like if Waluigi isn't allowed due to having multiple degrees of separation, we should probably remove this one.
- Imposter: We think this is a Bubble clone situation? We haven't played the olympic games and so we can't say for certain.
- Kaiju Mario: Makes sense, it's a drawing of Mario that came to life Doodlebob-style.
- Luigi: ...This is likely going to be controversial; we think this needs to go. The main reason is that Luigi has his own category for these, and there's basically nothing gained by acknowledging Mario looks like his own brother; no duh, right? It'd be more notable if Luigi looked nothing like him. This inclusion only opens the doors to some truly questionable inclusions in similar categories, like Terrormisu for Peach or Foreman Spike for Mario. Especially seeing as, for whatever reason, in Luigi's own category, Mario isn't in there as a Luigi look-alike??? We get the through line here--Luigi's sprites began as a simple color swap for Mario--but to play devil's advocate, Pauline began with roughly the same sprite design as Mario, and she sure as heck isn't a Mario look-alike.
- Marco Polo's Plumbers: Makes sense. This is clearly a character that exists to be an analogue to Mario in some form, a lot like the various brotherly duos in Superstar Saga, but this guy at least has an actual resemblance.
- Mario Clone: Unclear, see Ditto.
- Mario Joe and Luigi Bob: Makes sense, see Marco Polo's Plumbers.
- Master Shadow: See Fighting Polygon Team.
- Metal Mario: Makes sense, see Gold Mario, but with debuting in Smash Bros. and Mario Golf instead.
- Mini Mario (toy): Makes sense, this is a toy based on Mario.
- Paper Mario (character): Makes sense, this is a paper based on Mario. That's not grammatically correct, but it's funny.
- Prince Mushroomkhamen: Makes sense, see Marco Polo's Plumbers.
- Red (Super Paper Mario): We're gonna give this a tenuous "Makes sense", since this is clearly a similar situation to Marco Polo's Plumbers, but something about this one feels way more... Off, seeing as they're Flip-Flop Folk.
- Robo Mario: Makes sense, see Gold Mario.
- Shadow Mario: Makes sense, see Cosmic Clone.
- Snakey: Probably makes sense, see Marco Polo's Plumbers, but this guy needs an image for us to be confident.
- Tanoomba: Unclear, see Ditto.
- Wario: Should probably be removed just for the sake of drawing a hard line and preventing these categories from devolving into uselessness, but unlike Luigi, he lacks his own category at the moment. He sure looks a lot less like Mario does, and it's kind of on purpose; at least that's a deliberate design decision...?
- Yellow Alloy: Should be removed. This is like the Fighting Polygon team, but worse; this is literally an entirely original design that just happens to use Mario's animations. And seeing as it looks nothing like Mario, even in silhouette, the argument for stuff like the Cosmic clones falls flat.
Luigi
We won't go over any redundant cases in-depth, so yes:
- The Bowser Memory Ls, Cosmic Clones, Cosmic Luigi, Marco Polo's Plumbers, Mario Joe and Luigi Bob, and Mini Luigi stay.
- Likewise, Ditto and Tanoomba should be addressed based on if we decide to include shapeshifters.
- Bubble Clone, Dark Luigi, False Luigi, Imposter, and Master Shadow should be removed.
...Also, Paper Luigi isn't in this for some reason. And despite Luigi being in Mario's category, Mario isn't in Luigi's. In the case of the latter, we don't want it in here anyways, but in the former's case, that feels like a tremendous oversight.
- Dirk Drain-Head: Makes sense, and in this case, he has an image, so we can solidly say this is a Marco Polo's Plumbers situation with this guy.
- Fury Shadow: Makes sense, see Cosmic clones.
- Ghost (Super Mario Galaxy 2): Makes sense, this is basically just a kart racer's staff ghost.
- Gooigi: Makes sense. We mean, just look at him. He's literally just Luigi with a green goop texture and shader, and his name is Gooigi.
- Green: See Red in Mario's section; we're giving them a tentative approval, but we do wonder how close we are to these just being unrelated brother duos who happen to resemble Mario and Luigi for the sake of a gag.
- Metal Luigi: We assumed Metal Luigi was just a power-up state, unlike Metal Mario. Then we remembered Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. exists. Makes sense, we guess? But he lacks an article all to his own... Metal Mario as a character is weird.
- Mini Luigi: Makes sense. See Mini Mario (toy).
- Waluigi: Should be removed if we decide to remove Wario from Mario's article. Waluigi is, similarly, designed to be Luigi but with everything about him being off in some way.
Bowser
For a quick run-down on the redundants:
- Depends on if we include shapeshifters: Bowser Clone, Dark Bowser (Super Paper Mario).
- Should be removed: Ditto, False Bowser, Imposter, Master Shadow.
Also, for whatever reason, Mechakoopas aren't in here, but their category for their varients is. We personaly feel like they should probably be removed, just because they gradually became more and more distinct, but we definitely see the reasons why you could include them; perhaps this is something for a future proposal?
- Bowser Monument: Makes sense. This is just a more individualized Bowser Statue-esque enemy.
- Bowser Snow Statue: Makes sense. See Bowser Monument.
- Bowser Statue: Makes sense; we sure hope obstacles that resemble Bowser look like bowser.
- Bowser Stunner: Makes sense. This is basically like a Bowser Statue and an Amp wrapped in one.
- Bowser Suit: Should be removed. This is literally an item a character can wear to look like Bowser; it's not even alive! This is like putting the Mario Cap item from Super Mario 64 DS in the Mario look-alikes category.
- Bowser X: ...Tentative approval? This literally just seems to be a form of Bowser, but also in BiS, it would definitely not make sense to say Mario & Luigi are fighting Bowser inside of Bowser.
- Bowser's Brother: Makes sense. This is a character who was very literally born through palette limitations, and unlike Luigi, absolutely zero divergent character design happened to him.
- Bowser's mech: Makes sense. It is a robot mech that looks like Bowser, and is even piloted by him.
- Dark Bowser: Makes sense; it's Bowser but evil-er!
- Darkmess Bowser: Makes sense, see Dark Bowser.
- Dry Bowser: Makes sense, we hope Bowser's skeleton resembles him.
- Enma Daiō: Makes sense, for a similar reason to Marco Polo's Plumbers.
- Fake Bowser: Makes sense; do we really need to clarify on this one? ;P
- King Boo: ...Should be removed. He is literally his own unique entity all on his own that is a boo, and the time he looked like Bowser was implied to be part of a costume.
- Koopa Kid: Makes sense. It's a smaller, kiddy form of Bowser.
- Koopa no Yukidaruma: Makes sense. See Bowser Monument.
- Koopa Zombie: Should probably be removed. Sure, they look like Bowser, but this is a form, not a character.
- Mekakuppa: Makes sense. See Bowser Monument.
- Mini Bowser (toy): Makes sense, for the same reasons the other Mini toys are here.
- Tail Bowser: Makes sense, this is just a form of Fake Bowser.
- Wooden cutout: Should be removed. We mean, you could print anything on these, and in the games, they do exactly that. Is a cardboard cutout of a goomba a goomba look-alike? We mean, sure, but only in the most literal sense possible...
Peach
- We already said yes: Robot Princess
- Shapeshifters: Bubble clone, Dark Peach, Toadstool 2, Toadstool Clone.
- We already said no: Ditto, False Peach, Imposter, Master Shadow, Wooden cutout.
Paper Peach isn't here for some reason, and we think she should be. Let's jam.
- Guardian: Well, it turns into Peach? We're a little shaky on this, but we'll give it a tentative approval since we gave the Memory ML the benefit of the doubt.
- Mini Peach: Makes sense. See every other basic form of mini.
- Peach-bot: Makes sense, and it's dawning on us how many robot Peaches there are.
- Peachette: Makes sense. They basically speedran a Metal Mario here, where within literally one game, Peachette had went from just a power-up form to her own distinct character.
- Pink Gold Peach: Makes sense. See Gold Mario.
- Princess Shroob: Should've frankly been removed long before the proposal. She has a pink dress and is a princess... And that is literally all the resemblance you get. She's a lot like Terrormisu, who we've already expressed should not be in this category, but not only does she look even more distinct, she's also from a game people have thought about since 2005. And when Elder Princess Shroob is already not here...
Donkey Kong
- Shapeshifter: Ditto.
- No: Fighting Polygons, Master Shadow.
Mini Donkey Kong (the toy) is NOT included somehow! He really ought to be. There's a lot of Kong family members absent here if we decide to include those, but... Well, see our thoughts on Funky Kong. You can kinda sense we're getting fatigued here, right? It's good we've at least gone over everything important already, so these just get shorter... ;P
- Bink: Makes sense. See Dry Bowser.
- Chained Kong: Makes sense. See Guerrilla, as this guy is a late-game version of him.
- Cyber Kong: Makes sense. This is pretty similar to the many robotic look-alikes of Mario characters, like the assorted robotic Princess Peaches.
- Eddie the Mean Old Yeti: The most unclear case in the entire set of categories. Eddie is a blatant model-swap of Donkey Kong; he is literally just DK with a different fur color, different accessories, and pointy teeth. But in-story, Eddie isn't meant to be a Donkey Kong look-alike... He's a yeti. We feel like this is the (extremely il)logical extreme of a case like Luigi, where a pallete swap/asset swap has somehow become its own thing. We can't think of a compelling set of guidelines where Luigi isn't a look-alike of Mario that doesn't also remove Eddie from DK's category, yet we also can't think of a compelling set of guidelines that includes Eddie in Donkey Kong's look-alikes while excluding Luigi from Mario's category; which is baffling, because, well, he *does* look like DK! He's a literal swap of his textures and accessories! Yet, our gut is telling us that for the health of the category, we do feel like Eddie can probably be removed rather safely... though, honestly Eddie's page needs a lot of paintenance outright; it calls him a Kong in his infobox despite him being called the Mean Old Yeti.
- Funky Kong: Probably shouldn't be here for largely the same reasons we shouldn't put Luigi in Mario's Look-alikes; like, of course Funky looks like DK, he's a Kong just like DK is and is even a friend of his. But... We dunno, we feel like slamming every member of the Kong family in here without prejudice would extremely rot the usability of this category. We already have a Kong category, we probably don't need to turn DK's look-alike category into a duplicate of it.
- Guerrilla: Makes sense. The entire joke behind this enemy's design is that he looks like Donkey Kong, to the point where his Thought Peek literally is a parody of the "this character is a work of fiction, any resemblance to pre-existing individuals is coincidental".
- Mini Donkey Kong (Game & Watch): Makes sense. It's a chibi-fied version of a DK-like monkey, that's not a formal member of the Kong family, and is expressly based on DK himself.
- Super Kong: Can probably be removed; while we aren't exactly sure what Super Kong is seeing as it's been a hot minute since we've thought about DKCR, but he seems to be either a form of Donkey Kong, or what we'd consider to be a "clone" of him; and clones are already covered by their own category. We don't know if they actually are a clone, mind you, but if he isn't, we feel like a form is probably a more close analogy given the various Super Guide-esque item forms that exist in Mario games.
- Swanky Kong: Should be removed. See Funky Kong. Kinda anticlimactic, really.