Bowser's castles

[Yoshi Master]

Lets explain all the nonsense stuff that goes on in Bowser's castles. Like:
The fire bars
The differnt colored Goombas
The axe
The bridge over the lava
The hammers
The fire bubbles
The things in the background
The underwater place in SMB 8-4
The roto disks
How Bowser can survive the lava
And the laser statues, for a start.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Very good idea, YoshiMastar. I suppose we should discuss them in the order you listed them in, as to not get confused.

So, the fire bars. One question to ask here is, do we know that they're actually fire bars and not just stretches of normal flame? After all, we've seen from certain games that Bowser employs flamethrowers through out his castle(s). So that's always a possibility. However, if the fire bars are, in fact, what they're depicted to be (a chain of single fireballs seemingly strung together) then I suppose the question is, how are they held together? I'm gonna say that it's magic right off the bat; it seems like something the magikoopas would be able to string together (no pun intended).

A possible alternative answer would be plasma. For those of you who don't know, plasma is basically a pocket of super-heated and electrically charged gas; electric fire, if you will. I know that one way to make plasma is to heavily ionize an existing flame (there's an experiment that involves putting a candle in the microwave, but I'll save that for later ). The one problem there is that I'm not sure whether plasma can be magnetized or not. However, if it can be magnetized, then it's possible that each of the fireballs could be charged to opposite polarities down the string: positive, negative, positive, negative, and so on.

[Yoshi Master]

Good but there's also this:

What would it look like from another veiw point? Would the fire be rotating in a split block? The side?

img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/YoshiMastar/firebar.png

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Another good point. I'm relatively sure that they spin on the side, but I'll look into it.

[Yoshi Master]

This is what that area probably looks like. It gets thin enough for only one person so that the fire would fill up most of the gap.

img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/YoshiMastar/firebarwall.png

[Claws]

Awesome drawings. I'm thinking the spinning flame bars are actually segmented chains that are somehow on fire. But your plasma explanation sounds good.

[Yoshi Master]

Ok that's pretty much settled. Now what about the Goombas? And why only the Goombas? They are the only ones with a color change in the game in the cave and castle levels.

[Kamikaze Koopa]

No, I'm pretty sure the Koopa Troopas turn blue too.

[Yoshi Master]

Nope. Not at all.

Wait....

Don't the buzzy beatles change colors....?

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Sorry to burst you're bubbel, but they do.

sprites.fireball20xl.com/NSA/Sheets/supermariobros.png

Check out the sprites for them. The red and green are from the overworld, the blue are from underground and castle levels.

[Yoshi Master]

Ok well not for the All-Stars version.

[Yoshi Master]

Moving on, now the axe, WHAT IS IT FOR!!! The most forgotten thing in the entire Mario universe.

[Claws]

Maybe it's intended to do exactly what it did: collapse the bridge. Maybe Bowser wanted to use the axe to plunge Mario in the lava.

[Yoshi Master]

How does it work? A flashing magical axe... and when you touch it the bridge collapses. Could a gear be under the axe that makes the bridge fall?

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Perhaps the bridge was being held up by the axe's magic?

[Toomai]

But if that was true, wouldn't you have to destroy the axe to stop the magic?

[Kamikaze Koopa]

Maybe you'd just have to take it. After all, doesn't the axe dissappear after Mario touches it? That might signify that he either takes it or destroys it.

[Yoshi Master]

Or he throws it in the lava.

Hmm...

"Cast it into the fire!"

"No, the axe is mine."

( villan music )

Dun dun dun!

[Claws]

I always thought he grabbed it and threw it at the bridge, cutting the ropes holding the bridge and sending the axe and the bridge into the lava.

[Yoshi Master]

There's never been ropes or anything holding the bridge up.