The official discord link if you wish to join the discord: https://discord.gg/j5RKwCvAFu
Support the wiki on our official Ko-Fi page or Patreon page!
User:GiverOfThePeace/Delving Into The Nintendo Multiverse
Disclaimer
I notice a lot of people for whatever reason like to take blogs from this wiki and try to use them on other wikis for upgrades or downgrades so I guess I have to deal with that elephant in the room. Do note the standards and practices we accept on this wiki is not the same as other wikis so taking what we say and applying it to another wiki isn't exactly the best practice. This blog is purely for this wiki and follows its standards.
Introduction
Nintendo has a large franchise of various games spanning various characters, in this blog we will be discussing why at least all of the 1st party Nintendo franchises are connected. There will be evidence ranging from concrete to possible to less likely easter eggs that are more so fun nods.
Scaling
I want to break this out of the way at the beginning, in no way should this blog be used ever to grant one a tier. We consider the conservative route of assuming when a character is talking about destroying everything or are affecting an entire cosmology, they're talking about specifically what the verse itself has as a cosmology and not the other Nintendo universes.
Connections
Plot Important Showings
Metroids and Samus directly appear to Kirby in Dream Land 3: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=84
This is important to the plot because you literally HAVE to defeat the Metroids and meet Samus so she can give you a piece of the macguffin to fight Dark Matter. This also doesn’t contradict any showing of Samus since she’s naturally a person who travels through different planets in space. The only argument one could make is it’s weird that she has her helmet off but this was Dream Land 3 before Samus’ character was fully fleshed out so this can be ignored quite honestly and really contradicts nothing in the grand scheme of things since we see her in casual clothing in the ending of Metroid Fusion chatting with people.
Yoshi doll is directly shown and it’s a required item to complete a trade quest that’s important to the main plot’s progression: https://youtu.be/ZfmLTTJf05E?t=177
Mamu, the Japanese name of Wart, is in Link’s Awakening and is a plot important character that teaches Link a song required to progress the plot: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=100 https://www.mariowiki.com/Mamu
Wart is a character associated with living within dreams too, which is the main plot of Link’s Awakening and it is also noted in BS Super Mario Brother 2 that he escaped to another dream for a little while to hide: “In this game, it is shown that after his defeat, Wart and his crew escaped to another dream and laid low for a while; they eventually return and attack Subcon once more, forcing its king into hiding and moving him to summon Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Peach once more.”
BS Super Mario Brothers 2 also notes he can naturally travel to others dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzeaMWdiX84&t=34s
Direct Showings
Samus appears in Super Mario RPG: https://youtu.be/4Pe1tmKQ55g?t=27
Little Mac fights Donkey Kong: https://youtu.be/eF1-4_E2rtY
R.O.B. appears in Dream Land 3: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=820
Gordos appear in Super Mario Land 2: https://youtu.be/l38AW1mcKec?t=7
Goombas appear in Link’s Awakening: https://youtu.be/ZfmLTTJf05E?t=36
Chain Chomps appear in Link’s Awakening & A Link to the Past: https://youtu.be/ZfmLTTJf05E?t=48 https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=17
Kirby appears in Link’s Awakening: https://youtu.be/ZfmLTTJf05E?t=482
This is reaffirmed by the developers, along with both of them having no problem with Kirby being in the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=175&v=qApEgUxp58k&feature=youtu.be
He’s even directly mentioned in the Encyclopedia: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/599768465099980811/792557189793316884/unknown.png
Reaffirmed to have appeared in his own encyclopedia: https://i.imgur.com/ePiisWN.jpeg https://youtu.be/tlU-hDDfv6Y?t=459
Link directly shows up in Mario Kart: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=549
Along with his own circuit: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=555
There’s so many more Mario enemies in Link’s Awakening so just going to link the whole video here: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA
Lakitu’s appear in Minish Cap: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=436
Link is shown sleeping in a hotel: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=111
Tons of Nintendo Franchise items appear in the great cave offensive: https://kirby.fandom.com/wiki/The_Great_Cave_Offensive#Treasures
Link is directly shown in the ending to DK Country 2: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=37
Duck Hunt Ducks are shown in Tropical Freeze: https://youtu.be/d6pe3HEF2Q0?t=411
Background Showings
Mario Characters are in the background of the Dedede wrestling fight & megaton punch: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=199 https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=221
Mario characters still appear in the updated version of the fight: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=279
Mario pictures can be found in the background of most people’s houses in ALTTP: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=35
Crocomire can be seen in the background of a Donkey Kong Country stage: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=196
Samus’ ship can be seen in the background of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=223
Metroids can be seen in the background: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=229
Mr. Game & Watch is in the background here: https://youtu.be/d6pe3HEF2Q0?t=345
Kirby and Starfy are background posters in M&L Super Star Saga: https://youtu.be/l38AW1mcKec?t=285
Mentions
Link is mentioned in DK Country 3 by name: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=48
Metroids are directly mentioned, along with Viridi’s statements of them being separate universes with her only saying that cause she didn’t want Pit to break the 4th wall: https://youtu.be/0wEtqTlMb2A?t=255
Minor Evidence
Wario Ware Gold’s microgames show other Nintendo verses: https://youtu.be/gVW_e7CPqHg
Link icon shown here: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=513
Zelda costumes in Mario Maker: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=585
Christine does a fake picture using Princess Peach: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=67
Egad makes an object similar to the triforce: https://youtu.be/0mN1N9pMn2c?t=234
Happy Mask Salesman has a Mario mask: https://youtu.be/I3q6--_GkrA?t=317
Stone Kirby can turn into different nintendo characters statues: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=115 https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=310 https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=383 https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=866
One of the paint rollers is a triforce symbol: https://youtu.be/qfZs56EmnPM?t=41
Zelda shield along with the “it’s dangerous to go alone” quote: https://youtu.be/FRz85Fw2jog?t=303
Nintendo Newspaper shows a whole list of Nintendo characters names in Yoshi’s Story: https://youtu.be/ii-FPtg5eWQ?t=48
Different nintendo designs on Yoshi in Yoshi’s Wooly World: https://youtu.be/ii-FPtg5eWQ?t=204
Kirby’s an icon in the Earthbound debug menu: https://youtu.be/XtwpQV7avh8
This one is questionable because this is cut content but this was moreso cut content due to time constraints and not anyone disagreeing with putting said content in, anywho, several Nintendo characters were supposed to make a visit to the bean bean castle: https://themushroomkingdom.net/mlss_lost.shtml#cameos
Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. I believe is strongly apart of the Nintendo canon, such as Master Hand & Crazy Hand directly appearing in Kirby and Kirby absorbing Master Hand giving him the “smash” copy ability, which gives him his moveset from super smash bros. though it should be noted that the characters in smash bros. aren’t the actual characters but rather the representation of the characters. For example, many may think Young Link is smash bros. Is based purely off the Majora’s Mask Young Link, however if you read his trophy description he is a composite of literally every Link that’s a kid: https://www.ssbwiki.com/Young_Link_(SSBM)#Trophies “Link's younger incarnation is often considered to be the true Link: he was a young boy in the very first Legend of Zelda game, and he has appeared as a youth in most of the subsequent games. Since his debut on the original NES in 1987, Link's appearance has changed over and over again, each time adding to the mystique of his incomparable story.”
Smash would just be an alternate imaginary realm known as the “World of Imagination” canonically trying to travel back to our “Real World”: https://www.ssbwiki.com/Trophy
Dealing with Counter-Arguments
- Labeling them as just Easter Eggs
Let’s go over the definition of an “Easter Egg”: https://www.webopedia.com/definitions/easter-egg/ “An Easter egg is a secret image, message, feature, or action that is embedded within a movie, video game, application, or other media/program. EXAMPLES OF EASTER EGGS Easter eggs in video games In Grand Theft Auto V, a recreation of the ending of Thelma and Louise (1991) can be seen by stealing a helicopter and navigating to Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness between 19:00 and 20:00. In Assassin’s Creed 3, feeding a turkey and then entering the Konami code will change the turkey’s appearance to resemble that of the assassin’s cloak and hood. In Battlefield 1, a series of intricate steps reveals the iconic house from Pixar’s Up (2009), carried away by its chimney of balloons.”
So an easter egg is a message, image, or feature hidden in software, which some of these I would agree are by definition an easter egg, however the plot important stuff at the very beginning of this blog are not easter eggs, as noted by definition. Hell, the direct showings are not even easter eggs since they’re not hidden anywhere. They don’t even match any of the examples given. So by definition a good majority of this evidence is not an easter egg.
- Saying they're non-canon crossovers
Alright, so let’s go over the definition of “canon” then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_(fiction)#:~:text=In%20fiction%2C%20canon%20is%20the,for%2C%20works%20of%20fan%20fiction.
“In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, timeline, universe and continuity are often used, with the first of these being used especially to refer to a richly detailed fictional canon requiring a large degree of suspension of disbelief (e.g. an entire imaginary world and history), while the latter two typically refer to a single arc where all events are directly connected chronologically. Other times, the word can mean "to be acknowledged by the creator(s)".”
So we know most Nintendo games are not a singular universe and have a multiverse, Metroid, Mario, Zelda, and Star Fox have direct showings of this. We know the creators directly acknowledge these events and that the lore itself acknowledges the events as not only has Miyamoto and Aonuma been asked about Kirby being in Link’s Awakening but the official Kirby anniversary guidebook re-affirms he was in the game. Them being asked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=175&v=qApEgUxp58k&feature=youtu.be
Kirby being noted to have appeared in his own encyclopedia: https://i.imgur.com/ePiisWN.jpeg https://youtu.be/tlU-hDDfv6Y?t=459
Kirby being mentioned in the Zelda Encyclopedia: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/599768465099980811/792557189793316884/unknown.png
Now the argument would be “well where’s the evidence that the other moments are acknowledged”, but I wouldn’t really need to prove that since I’ve already established Nintendo’s view on Nintendo characters appearing in other games, which is that they acknowledge them and don’t really see the problem with it nor see it as weird that they appear in other games.
So we know these events are acknowledged by the creators, and we know some of them are straight up canon plot important events that have to be done in order to progress the game, and we know the characters that appear are not only ones with Dimensional Travel or can fly through space but are known for being able to do that.
- Saying each of them view each other as fiction
This argument is extremely weak because this same logic is like saying Donkey Kong and Mario isn’t canon because Cranky Kong plays NES Mario in the game.
Or that Mario characters view themselves as fiction because they play their own games: https://youtu.be/v6gTTzfs3sI?t=130
Or that Earthbound views itself as fiction because Captain Strong directly notes he’s playing EarthBound and in the Japanese translation a character mentions playing Mother 1: https://youtu.be/ZDOOJL8i6jA?list=PL_sYhAj0WXRNAq14rcgKF7KZmGz8R3Xrh&t=1115
Or that Star Fox Zero Falco views the Original Continuity of Star Fox as fiction since he plays it’s game: https://youtu.be/6XkhPXXbPXY?t=137
This is just such a weak argument that makes no sense when you actually think about it, uh yes, Nintendo characters constantly play their own games, that’s kind of a running gag in their verse.
- Arguing they just exist in different multiverses
I mean, sure? I don’t see exactly what this debunks about them being a connected Multiverse. Hell SMT and Persona are canon to each other but are different multiverses. That’d just make the cosmology larger if anything, this really debunks nothing unless you’re trying to do this to prevent cross-scaling, which cross-scaling wasn’t going to be used for this anyway.
- Saying it's all headcanon since there's no explicit statement that they all share the same canon by numerous Nintendo reps
I want you to genuinely think about this real quick. Why would a Nintendo rep come out and just say for no reason that they share the same canon. Doesn’t that seem like an out of the blue statement? From what I’m aware from the many interviews I’ve watched, no one has ever bothered to ask Nintendo devs if characters share the same canon cause that’s just not a relevant discussion matter, like ever. Nintendo’s one big crossover fighting game is Smash which is referenced by a lot of the games, like Fire Emblem and Kirby. https://youtu.be/6-LXF7X-DtM
So I don’t ever see a reason why a Nintendo rep would have to come out and say it, there’s like no virtual relevance for that. It’s not like it’s some huge industry-breaking statement that’d land them tons of money or something. At best it’d just have some people go “Cool” and move on with their day.
- Arguing that official explanations don't matter without the consent of both sides so Viridi's statement is just Sakurai fanboying about trying to make Metroid canon to Kid Icarus
This is just straight up wrong on every front, and no by the way I’m not making up this counterargument, someone unironically argued this and thought this was a legitimate refute. Sakurai is not “fanboying” about trying to make Metroid canon to Kid Icarus, he has no reason to fanboy, he’s literally the developer of Smash who has full control over all of the Nintendo properties in that game, so why would he fanboy about putting it in another game? Secondly, this is just stubbornness to the peak, why would the Metroid dev come out and say “yoooo lol, that one specific scene in Kid Icarus Uprising is canon”? If the Metroid dev actually had a legitimate problem with that scene, you think that Nintendo, the fuckers that are so strict with their intellectual properties to the point that they will call and complain about their characters holding a fucking teacup incorrectly would not have immediately told Sakurai to not use that statement and take it out?
This actually leads to my next point, Nintendo is so strict with it’s properties that any official explanations do matter since if Nintendo actually had a problem with them, they would immediately remove it. So to argue that we don’t see a side consent? That’s unironically Nintendo’s way of consenting, for all we know the Metroid dev consented during the game production, hence why we see the scene we see today. The Metroid Dev isn’t going to make a statement regarding this unless someone asks since this isn’t really a relevant matter in most metroid discussions.
- This would make [insert some random dumb Nintendo game here] canon to the multiverse
I mean, ok sure, what’s the issue exactly? Is there a contradiction? Is there some elaborate expansive cosmology that we’ve seen in this game that contradicts the multiverse or something? If neither and it’s a first party Nintendo game, I really don’t see the issue with it being canon, I really doubt you’ll lose sleep over that.
Overall these are not easter eggs, nothing implies they’re non-canon, the argument that they view each other as fiction is weak and ignores the concept of it being a running gag, it being different multiverses means nothing for them being a connected wider multiverse, requiring a dev to come out and make a statement is asinine since that would never ever be something topic relevant for them to bring up, trying to argue official explanations don’t matter due to lack of consent or Sakurai “fanboying” is just plain wrong, and arguing that it’d make a random Nintendo game canon isn’t an argument nor a debunk without legitimate reason and evidence for why they wouldn’t be.