Game Theory: Toad's DEADLY Secret (Super Mario Bros.)

MatPat introduces the Game Theory show and welcomes viewers interested in Nintendo game analysis.

• Nintendo fails to understand supply and demand principles • Examples of supply shortages: Amiibos, GameCube adapters, Majora's Mask 3DS XL

• Where are all the human beings in the Mushroom Kingdom? • Why does a human ruler govern a kingdom called the Mushroom Kingdom? • What about royal succession between Mario and Peach?

Something fishy is happening in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the culprit is not an obvious villain but someone coasting along secretly—Toad.

Toads are a parasitic lifeform that took over the bodies of the Mushroom Kingdom's original citizens.

• Toad has a mushroom growing from his head that never comes off • The design is consistent across all games despite Toad's movement and actions

• Real-world Cordyceps fungus can control the minds and bodies of hosts • Infects hosts like ants and forces them to environments with proper temperature and humidity • Produces spores that spread through optimal wind conditions • Mycelium threads replace the host's body until it dies, and fruit bodies emerge near the head

Toads are found huddled together or standing alone in dark, moist places—exactly where infected creatures would gather.

The original Super Mario Bros. manual reveals that Goombas are mushrooms who betrayed the Mushroom Kingdom, implying fungi were the kingdom's original inhabitants.

• Goombas are based on shiitake mushrooms, confirmed by designer Takashi Tezuka • The kingdom was named after the fungi who originally inhabited it

Goombas, the original inhabitants, were displaced by the parasitic Toad fungus and defected to Bowser to reclaim their homeland.

Bowser's troops appear weak because they are not fighters but refugees of war victimized by the Toads, fighting to reclaim their home.

• Mycelium threads connect plants and fungi underground, creating a vast fungal internet • About 90% of land plants have beneficial relationships with fungi through this network

• Organisms share nutrients and advantageous information • Fungi can send toxic chemicals to sabotage invading forces • Boosts immune systems of connected flora

In the Mushroom Kingdom where fungi achieved sentience, the mycelial network would make the landscape seem almost alive.

Weirdly shaped Mushroom Kingdom hills actually have eyes, which is far scarier than the movie of the same name.

A recent game focused entirely on Toad revealed significant evidence about Toad nature and reproduction.

• Toads don't have genders in the way humans think of them • Captain Toad and Toadette are not romantically involved • Most fungi reproduce via spores with approximately 36,000 different genders

Each coloration and variety of Toad functions like its own sex—hundreds to thousands of different Toad genders, matching real fungi reproduction patterns.

Producer Koichi Hayashida stated that Toads aren't mushrooms, calling it one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Mario universe.

• Scientists have created self-growing building material stronger than concrete from dried mycelium mixed with natural compounds • A 2014 Museum of Modern Art tower in New York was constructed from these blocks

The original Super Mario Bros. manual reveals Bowser's first plan was to transform all Mushroom People into rocks, bricks, and horsetail plants.

• Horsetail plants are real and contain high silica content that stops fungal growth • Bowser strategically planted horsetail to prevent fungus spread

Bowser's actions show he was trying to stop a parasitic fungus from spreading to his kingdom and to help refugee Goombas regain their homeland.

Bowser was defending his kingdom and thousands of Goomba refugees from a parasitic fungal plague threatening to overrun his territory.

• Mario appears as a disruptor touching Bowser's bridge axe, causing it to fall • The manual describes Mario as the hero of the story with questionable certainty: '(maybe)'

History is written by winners; the player as Mario becomes the winner and hero, while Bowser becomes the villain by default.

The real conflict was a biological plague caused by parasitic fungi, not a simple good-versus-evil story.

Peach uses Toads to get what she wants and somehow maintains control of a kingdom despite limited intelligence.

Peach's original name was Princess Toadstool, revealing her connection to the fungal conspiracy from the beginning.

Peach brought the Toads to the Mushroom Kingdom in the first place, establishing her role as the mastermind behind the parasitic infection.

The Toads worship Peach because she introduced the Cordyceps fungi that control them, making her the true force behind the kingdom's rule.

Something is certainly rotten in the state of the Mushroom Kingdom beneath the surface narrative.

The entire Mario franchise is built on a hidden biological conspiracy involving parasitic fungi controlling the kingdom's population.

Princess Peach is the true architect and beneficiary of the Toad fungal control system in the Mushroom Kingdom.

But that's just a theory—a Game Theory.