Princess Toadstool for President

Princess Toadstool for President is the fifth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Plot Synopsis

Toad comes running out of his his house to find Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool, who are fishing at a pond, and warns them about how King Koopa has brought a plague of Paragoombas to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Meanwhile, King Koopa and Cheatsy wheel a cage full of Giant Land Paragoombas to the top of a hill. King Koopa tells Cheatsy that he intends to have the Paragoombas eat up the local crops so that the Mushroom People will have no food, and so that Princess Toadstool will be forced into giving him her kingdom in exchange for his food.

As soon as the Paragoombas are unleashed, Mario and Luigi arrive and make quick work of them. Princess Toadstool then confronts King Koopa, telling him that if he's so desperate to rule her kingdom, that he should do it properly. She informs him of an upcoming election, and that he should run in it. That way, the citizens will be able to elect their next leader, and the loser will agree to leave the kingdom. Mario doubts that King Koopa would actually enter the running, but King Koopa surprises him by agreeing to Princess Toadstool's suggestion, and shakes her hand.

Having returned to his throne room at Castle Koopa, King Koopa whines to Cheatsy about how nobody in the Mushroom Kingdom would ever vote for him, because Princess Toadstool is a goody-two-shoes. Cheatsy suggests being nice, but King Koopa claims that he's never been nice in his life, and that he's allergic to nice. Kooky enters and sprays his dad with a strange, blue chemical, which suddenly forces him to act nicely. Kooky explains that he has created a Nice Guy Potion, and with it, King Koopa stands a chance against Princess Toadstool.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Toadstool is giving a one-sided debate against King Koopa, when King Koopa and his kids arrive as a marching band. King Koopa then tosses Gold Coins out to everyone, telling them all to have a nice day. He then goes on to toss more freebies down to the Mushroom People from his Doomship. Back at Toad's House, Mario and Toad worry that all of King Koopa's offerings will persuade people into voting for him, so Princess Toadstool plans to give a speech about what he's done in the past at the Mushroom Kingdom Founder's Day Picnic. Cheatsy and Kooky, who are spying on them through a window, realize that they need to deal with Princess Toadstool's plan.

At the picnic, Princess Toadstool starts to give her speech, when Kooky sets off a firecracker, which hits a mountain of blocks, causing it to collapse. The blocks scare Princess Toadstool into falling off a cliff, but when Mario and Luigi go down to find her, they learn that she hid in a Warp Pipe.

Meanwhile, King Koopa is sweet-talking to a baby, when he slowly stops acting nice. Kooky figures that the Nice Guy Potion is wearing off, so King Koopa orders him and Cheatsy to return home and create some more before his final election speech. Mario and Luigi, who were spying on the Koopas, head after them.

Mario and Luigi soon arrive in Dark Land, where they are ambushed by Tanks and Rocky Wrenches. They escape into a Warp Pipe leading underground, but find themselves in a fire pit. In the pit, the brothers are chased around by Fire Chomps, Hot Foots and a Fire Snake, but they manage to avoid them and get to the other side.

Mario and Luigi soon make it inside Castle Koopa, and arrive at the entrance to Kooky’s lab, where Kooky and Cheatsy are preparing more Nice Guy Potion. Luigi gets the Koopalings' attention, and they chase him out of the lab. While they’re gone, Mario walks into the lab and pours the Nice Guy Potion down the drain. Cheatsy and Kooky return to the lab without find Luigi to see that the potion is gone. When King Koopa finds out, he's furious, because the election is about to start.

After Princess Toadstool gives her final speech, King Koopa is reluctant to give his, as he's still angry. Kooky and Cheatsy tell him to fake his way through his speech, so he attempts to do so. As he gives his speech, Princess Toadstool claims that he used a Nice Guy Potion to try and win the election. King Koopa claims that he would never need such a potion to be nice, and threatens to pound anyone who opposes into mush.

Afterwards, Mario reveals the final vote count, announcing that Princess Toadstool won by a landslide, and that King Koopa only received one vote. When King Koopa ponders as to why the only vote he recieved was his own, Cheatsy and Kooky explain that Princess Toadstool was so nice, that they had to vote for her. King Koopa growls, and starts chasing his kids around.

Trivia

• If the Mushroom Kingdom is ruled by a monarchy, then it would never have any elections.
• Grand Goomba-sized Paragoombas have never appeared in any game.
• King Koopa is referred to as Bowser Koopa twice in this episode.