Mario’s friends and foes alike enchant the Internet as they fall under the enchantment of the Super Crown.
It’s safe to say that when Nintendo gave fans a sneak peek at New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe’s Super Crown, which turns Toadette into the Princess Peach-like Peachette, they didn’t expect Twitter user @ayyk92 to apply that concept to Mario’s arch-nemesis Bowser, thereby creating the brashly alluring Bowsette. Likewise, @ayyk92 had no idea he was about to start one of the the most intense fan art trends in recent memory, and it’s mushrooming like the topography of the fungi-covered kingdom Mario habitually saves.
While thousands of illustrators have now shared their personal spins on Bowsette, others have taken the fan art community’s theory about how the Super Crown works and applied it to other members of the Mario franchise cast. For example, the ghostly enemies called Boos…
…have now been turned into Booette, or, as she’s called in Japan, Princess Teressa (in keeping with the specter’s pun-based name in Japan).
Along with her ghostly white hair, Booette’s most distinguishing feature is her long purple tongue, a cue taken from King Boo in Luigi’s Mansion. She also has the jagged teeth that the Boo species sports.
Her standard attire is a long, Gothic white dress, though her build often differs substantially from the perfectly spherical physiques of the in-game Boos.
But it’s not just Mario’s enemies who fans are imagining slipping on the Super Crown. How about the hero’s trusty dinosaur steed, transformed into Princess Yoshi?
At least part of the fascination with Princess Yoshi seems to stem from the way the original character’s tail protrudes straight out from his hindquarters, thus making for some unusual skirt styles for this humanoid version.
The Internet being what it is, there’s also a spattering of artwork showing Princess Yoshi graphically laying eggs, although this reimagined scene of the between-level Baby Mario handovers in Yoshi’s Island is a more wholesome recreation of in-game events.
Speaking of Yoshi’s Island, that game’s recurring antagonist, spell-slinging Magikoopa Kamek, is yet another Super Crown model.
There’s always been a segment of anime and Japanese game enthusiasts with a soft spot for girls with glasses, though Princess Kamek’s lenses don’t seem to be as thick as normal Kamek’s, as you can still see her very expressive eyes quite easily.
Kamek isn’t the only myopic marauder in the Mushroom Kingdom, though. There’s also Lakitu, or Jugemu, as he’s called in Japan.
Actually, those might just be protective goggles, designed to keep wind and debris out of Lakitu’s eyes as he soars around on his cloud. Eyewear is eyewear, though, and so Princess Lakitu can be found hanging out with Princess Kamek.
And as the Super Crown trend continues to grow, we’re seeing more and more two-for-one illustrations.
▼ Bowsette and Boosette
▼ Bowsette and Princess Yoshi
▼ Princess Yoshi and Princess Birdo
And there’s now at least one case of Super Crown fan art spreading beyond Mario to another Nintendo property, resulting in Princess Kirby.
But even within the official Mario continuity, there are still dozens of characters hailing from decades’ worth of games that remain candidates for the Super Crown treatment, so maybe some of them will be trying to muscle in on the fan event being held in Japan exclusively for Bowsette artists and cosplayers.
Insert image: SoraNews24
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he can’t hep thinking that if the Super Crown turns Toadette into Peachette, it should turn Bowser into Peader, not Bowsette.