Minor Defects
"Minor Defects" is aSuper Mario Bros. comic, published only inNintendo 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 asksWooster what it is. He tells her thatMario 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 thousandShyguys,Snifits, andBeezos. Mario explains to the Princess that the8 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 againstKing Koopa. With that, Mario andLuigi lead the 8 bits on an attack toDark Land, dragging the Princess and Wooster with them.
Meanwhile, atKoopa's Castle, King Koopa asksMouser 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 namedClarence, 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 thatToad andKing Toadstool have been feasting on them.
Characters[edit]
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 featuresfrukter ("fruits") |
Notes[edit]
- The scene where the Mario Bros., thePrincess,Wooster, theShyguys, and theBeezos leave theMushroom Castle and enter theMask Gate toKoopa's castle is reused as part of the cover art forThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Taiwanese VHSesChāojí Mario 5: Mario Dàzhàn Koopa andChāojí Mario 9: Mógu Kāiguóshǐ.
