Who do you think is the eighth primary character in the Mario series?

What would the 8th character be?

  • Bowser Jr.

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • Wario

    Votes: 7 43.8%
  • Kamek

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Rosalina

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Toadette

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Other (please specify and elaborate)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    16

winstein

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winstein
(Note: This was originally posted on the Mario sub-Reddit, but it's automatically deleted and I can't tell why. No word from the moderators, where at a glance, most of them are inactive for years, except for one or two)

The Mario series has a lot of characters, but let's say we narrow down the choice to 8 primary characters, which is sort of a nice round number, then who would they be? Based on the series history, the following seven characters can be considered the primary Mario characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Bowser, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong. If there is an 8th character, the choice for it might not be agreed on. The possible choices in the poll and their reasonings include:

Bowser Jr.: He basically rounds up the cast in modern times. Bowser Jr. may be a newer character, but he's also quickly become prominent as a main character despite not appearing all the time, like not appearing in every 3D Super Mario game.

Wario: In the older days, Wario was a primary character where he were selectable in the iconic Mario Kart 64 character selection. However, sometime during mid 2000's for the Mario series, Wario stopped being treated like a primary Mario character and he's more or less treated with the same importance as Daisy and Waluigi. That is, except where the Wario series is concerned, since he's the main character and he still gets WarioWare to flaunt his rambunctious character.

Kamek: While the species appeared earlier, Kamek became the key figure in mainly the Yoshi games and in some Mario games, where he's usually being treated as the second-in-command to Bowser. In fact, the wider Magikoopa species as depicted in Super Mario World seems to be phased out to make Kamek more unique. Notably, he appeared in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie before every other character in this list did.

Rosalina: The most recent major recurring Mario character of the lot, she gained fans quickly in part due to her major role and having a very developed character, the latter notably being something more common with RPG characters. She got a unique playable spot in Super Smash Bros., and unique playable fighters are treated as major characters even though they may not be the biggest stars (like Ice Climbers and Min Min). Unlike most Mario characters though, her background is more or less strongly connected to a specific set of games (Super Mario Galaxy) that provided more limited avenues for reappearances.

Toadette: The only one who first appeared in a spinoff series, Toadette is slowly being brought up as a playable character in several Mario games, and she is also treated as Toad's equal when they both appear, such as in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker or Super Mario Maker 2.

Of course, if you feel that none of the choices apply, feel free to sound off who you think is the 8th primary Mario character in the comments! Of course, it helps to justify your choice because not everybody might understand their importance.

Thank you for reading.
 
I really miss the times where Wario was treated as Mario's rival and now he just messes around either with microgames or minigames or gets killed by the minigames. When was the last time we even saw the two actually interact? Mario Tennis Aces intro?
 
I probably would have answered with literally any other one of these a few years ago, but at least in the greater public consciousness I would maaaybe say that Kamek is getting there. The movie is a massive success and probably any random normal person who saw it and isn't really into the games probably could identify him from a lineup of these characters as Bowser's sidekick, with the rest not really having the same presence for the everyman besides Wario.

Bowser Jr. is a common sight in every game, but he's really not that popular. People I have met still call him "Baby Bowser" or "Koopa Kid" to this day so he clearly isn't making that much of an impact. Wario is kind of doing his own thing and barely even counts as a Mario character anymore, and Rosalina is popular but outside of 3D World she seems exclusively relegated to supporting roles. Toadette I don't really think counts, she's basically just a female version of Toad and barely a character.

I don't really think Kamek is at the point where he is a main character yet mind you, but Nintendo has kind of been pushing him more, probably because in media where Bowser talks, he acts as an easy excuse to give him someone to talk to.
 
I don't know, people would identify Kamek as that annoying enemy that threw Playstation symbols at you in Super Mario World rather than a distinct entity.
 
Bowser Jr. is a common sight in every game, but he's really not that popular. People I have met still call him "Baby Bowser" or "Koopa Kid" to this day so he clearly isn't making that much of an impact. Wario is kind of doing his own thing and barely even counts as a Mario character anymore, and Rosalina is popular but outside of 3D World she seems exclusively relegated to supporting roles. Toadette I don't really think counts, she's basically just a female version of Toad and barely a character.

I don't really think Kamek is at the point where he is a main character yet mind you, but Nintendo has kind of been pushing him more, probably because in media where Bowser talks, he acts as an easy excuse to give him someone to talk to.
I should point out that Toadette was a fifth option because you can create up to six poll choices on Reddit (sadly it's deleted for some reason), so I just added her for fun to round up five options outside the "other". I did not expect her to win the poll or get much votes, but it's there in case someone thinks she's up there.

Something about Rosalina that is interesting to mention is how she was viewed as a Major Character for a substantial part of the award, and at one point being one of the 8 options (Toad was relegated to Supporting Character in lieu of her). Perhaps this is a decision of its time since Rosalina was being pushed?

As for Bowser Jr., one of the reasons I can see Bowser Jr. being a primary character is how often he's at the forefront in the group shots. Like this image below:
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They put Bowser Jr. as one of the characters, and I can see how it helps so Bowser isn't alone in the villain department. He also got to play some notable roles if he did appear, like being a recurring antagonist in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle or a major ally in Bowser's Fury. Personally speaking, I predict Bowser Jr. to win out but maybe I'll try again on a more popular avenue on another day.

Thank you for reading.
 
I'm bringing up this topic to post the Reddit results. The relevant link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Mario/comments/16zefk3/who_rounds_off_the_main_cast/

If you just want to see the results, basically it's as follows:
CharacterVotes
Bowser Jr.186
Wario325
Kamek46
Rosalina177
Toadette79
Other53

Of the characters in "Other", Daisy is the most popular choice. Other choices (Toadsworth, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, one of the coloured Toads) hardly got much support.

Thank you for reading.
 
Daisy has been out of the spotlight for a while, but she seems to be making a resurgence as of late, being playable in Wonder. I think she could be considered a contender for primary character.
 
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