The first Paper Mario title released in 2001 for the Nintendo 64 and delighted fans with its RPG elements and adorable paper-like graphics. It was a critical success and went on to become a firm fan-favorite out of the entire Mario franchise, and has remained the highest-rated Paper Mario title on Metacritic to date, including the recent release of Paper Mario: The Origami King for Nintendo Switch.
The Paper Mario franchise now has six main titles in total, as well as a cross-over title with the Mario & Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam for 3DS. Even if you are a long time fan of the series, there may be a thing or two that you didn't know about Paper Mario, so check out these interesting facts.
10 Super Mario RPG 2
Paper Mario wasn't Mario's first foray into the world of RPGs, as Nintendo had previously released Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the SNES in 1996. Interestingly, when development began for Paper Mario, it was initially planned to be a sequel to Super Mario RPG and was titled Super Mario RPG 2, but it was eventually changed into its own series.
Other than sharing some RPG gameplay elements, such as turn-based battles, and the obvious Mario tie-in, there are no connections between Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG. To date, Super Mario RPG has never received a direct sequel, with Nintendo moving on to focus on the other RPG series it created, Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi.
9 Darker Side to the Mario Franchise
Super Mario is considered to be one of the most family-friendly franchises out there, so it was surprising when Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door contained a number of darker elements. For example, in the middle of the plaza in Rogueport, there is randomly a gallows set up, likely prompting many a child to ask their parent what is is.
Additionally, in the Japanese version, you could even find a murder scene where a toad character has apparently been killed, complete with blood splatter and chalk outline. However, this was censored out of the western release.
8 Bowser's Crush on Peach
Paper Mario was the first title outside of Japan to explain Bowser's true motives for constantly kidnapping Princess Peach - he has a crush on her. This is evident from a diary of Bowser's that states: "I kidnapped Princess Peach! I couldn't be happier, diary! I hope she likes me...".
This idea is also emphasized in later titles, with just a couple of examples being that Bowser tells his son, Bowser Jr. that Peach is his mother, before admitting it's untrue in Super Mario Sunshine, as well as forcibly trying to make Peach marry him in various titles, with the most recent being Super Mario Odyssey.
7 Separate Canonical Universe
It would appear that the Paper Mario series is in a separate canonical universe from that of the Super Mario franchise as a whole. This is evident in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, which was the first Paper Mario title to feature both Bowser Jr. and Kamek.
When Mario first meets each of these characters, though they know of him from his reputation, they make it clear that they haven't met before. Of course, Mario has encountered both Bowser Jr. and Kamek in many titles that released previous to this, but they were not of the Paper Mario universe.
6 The Fuzzy Mistake
The Gold Fuzzy featured in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as a mini-boss in Shhwonk Fortress. Unlike the normal Fuzzies who drain the player's HP, the Gold Fuzzy uses melee attacks and can also summon normal Fuzzies to attack Mario.
Interestingly, a Gold Fuzzy appeared on the back of the strategy guide for Super Paper Mario for the Wii, but the game didn't actually feature any Gold Fuzzies. It's unknown whether this was just a graphical mistake, or whether there were plans to include a Gold Fuzzy in the game but it was later cut.
5 Bowser Reclaims the Bad Guy Role
Paper Mario was the first Mario RPG title to feature Bowser as the main bad guy. Though this seems rather obvious, as Bowser is the recurring enemy throughout the Super Mario franchise, he surprisingly was not the antagonist in the previously released Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Instead, in that title, he teams up with Mario to help get rid of their common enemy - Smithy.
Additionally, Bowser didn't reprise his role as the main bad guy in the Paper Mario series again until its fourth title, Paper Mario: Sticker Star for 3DS.
4 The Super Mario Bros. 3 Connection
In Paper Mario: Color Splash, a talking black paint can who calls himself Huey enlists Mario's help to recover the six Big Paint Stars in order to stop Bowser and his cronies from draining the world of color. Including Huey as the color black, there are seven colors in total with the Big Paint Stars consisting of red, yellow, blue, violet, orange, and green.
Many fans don't realize that these seven colors directly correlate to the colors of the Koopalings' Magic Wands that first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 and that have also made other appearances in later titles.
3 Paper Mario Inception
There are a few occasions within the Paper Mario franchise where the games reference the series itself. For example, in Paper Mario, during the party scene at the end, it is revealed that the novelist character named Hemmingway that Mario met earlier in the game is now writing a new book called "Paper Mario."
Additionally, in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, there is a blue toad character who lives in Rogueport who writes a Paper Mario novel that then gets adapted into a play.
2 Enemy Redesign
With the release of Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Nintendo decided to revamp the original enemy designs and instead bring them in line with the newer models that were currently being used in the New Super Mario Bros. games.
Originally, as shown in the Paper Mario image in the top left, enemy goombas had pink feet and koopas wore sunglasses. However, the next image on the bottom left shows the Sticker Star redesign where the goombas have brown feet and the koopas have lost their cool, as taken from the designs from the New Super Mario Bros. enemies, shown on the right.
1 Missing in Action Partners
One of the fan-favorite features of the Paper Mario franchise is the use of partners. These are NPCs that Mario befriends throughout his journey and who can join him on his quest, with them being helpful both in battle and in the overworld. All of the partners have their own unique skills. For example, in the overworld Koopa can withdraw into his shell so Mario can launch him at switches, enemies, or items.
The first Paper Mario title featured eight different partners, but many fans don't realize that there was originally going to be an additional three NPC partners included: Twink, Goompa, and Goombaria. Despite being a popular feature, partners were replaced with "pixls" in Super Paper Mario and then scrapped entirely for the next two titles. Fortunately, partners have returned in the recent release of Paper Mario: The Origami King.