Summary
Everyone knows that Mario is one of the most selfless andcourageous protagonistsin all of video games, but not exactly everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom shares his same positive qualities. The truth is, the universe ofMariois packed full of shady and devious characters who simply want to hog everything for themselves, whether it be for the sake of wealth, reputation, or simply just to prove their superiority over their peers.
These selfish characters only care about themselves, and while this might not always be obvious at first, sooner or later, their true ambitions and goals will inevitably come to light to expose who they really are behind the facade. There have been plenty of selfish characters seen throughout theMariofranchise, but some individuals take the cake for being the most self-obsessed of them all.
Wario is the opposite of Mario in almost every way, and that includes being the selfish version of his more selfless counterpart. For one, Wario has proved on numerous occasions that he’s obsessed with treasure, a character trait that was first seen in Wario’s debut game,Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Warioplays the role of main antagonistin this early Game Boy title where he decides to steal Mario’s palace and brainwashes all the inhabitants to view him as their new master.
Since then, Wario has had a fiendish desire to get his hands on anything that will make him look superior to his rival, even if it comes at the expense of innocent citizens. Over the years, Nintendo has made an attempt to make Wario a bit more comedic and likable as a character, but he’s still one of the most selfish characters in the series who very rarely shows compassion or consideration for anyone but himself.
Once Mario arrives at the Comet Observatory inSuper Mario Galaxy, he will meet Rosalina and her small flock of Lumas. At first, these small star-shaped creatures may seem identical, but many of them actually serve different purposes, and more importantly, are after Mario’s precious Star Bits for their own reasons. One such Luma who seems to want to hog all the starts for himself though is Lumalee, a Luma who can provide Mario with an item upon feeding him a certain amount.
However, Mario can also find hungry Lumas who are clearly more in need of the stars than Lumalee is, which suggests behind the wide eyes and gleaming smile, he’s actually quite a selfish character. This is further implied in theSuper Mario Bros Moviewhere Lumalee can be seen reveling in the sight of Bowser’s prisoners being captured and tortured, all for his own twisted pleasure.
In a weird way, Dimentio fromSuper Paper Mariois eerily similar toFinal Fantasy 6’s villain, Kefka. Both are jester-like characters who initially seem to be nothing more than lackeys but eventually reveal themselves as the true main villain after betraying their masters. Additionally, they both want to destroy the world, but in the case of Dimentio, he wants to do this so he can restart the multiverse, thereby making him a god in the process.
In fact, Dimentio even dubs himself “The King of All Worlds”, which gives an idea of just how obsessed with this idea he really is. There’s even a bad ending in the game where Mario and Luigi give in to Dimentio’s influence and help him defeat the Count, only for a creepy Game Over screen to pop up, suggesting that Dimentio managed to pull off his evil scheme of becoming the ruler of the universe with the help of the brainwashed brothers.
Nabbit is one of the many enemies Mario and the gang will come across during their adventures. He stands out from the others since he never fails to steal items when he appears on a stage. Once Nabbit comes across a mushroom or shell for example, he can toss them into his large sack and run for the hills until he’s chased down and caught by the heroes.
Unlike say the Koopa Troopers or Goombas, Nabbit doesn’t seem to pledge loyalty to Bowser, and instead, is simply a no-good thief whose only concern is filling his sack with as much valuable treasure as possible. Nabbit is a selfish character through and through, but he’s also managed to become somewhat of a fan favorite since his debut inNew Super Mario Bros Uand has even become a playable character in many recentMariomultiplayer games.
King Olly is a character from the Paper Mario universe, specifically in the gamePaper Mario: The Origami Kingwhere he tries to completely annihilate the Mushroom Kingdom, and everyone in it, due to his own selfish reasoning. The truth is, Olly was created by the Origami Craftsman, but while designing his newest creation, he would scribble a small message onto Olly’s body as a way to encourage him to become a king when he grows up.
Olly didn’t view it this way though, and simply saw the message as a form of ridicule and mockery rather than anything to be celebrated. As a result, he would develop a burning hatred for anyone made with flat paper rather than origami and therefore dedicated himself to killing every last Toad in the kingdom, not because of anything they did wrong, but purely due to Olly’s own insecurities.
Despite being the big bad main villain of mostMariogames, Bowser’s main goal is pretty simple: kidnap Princess Peach so he can marry her, and it’s fair to say thathe goes to some extreme lengthsto make this twisted dream a reality. Bowser has been going at this for so long that he has even been spotted wearing a wedding suit in preparation for the big day, as seen inMario Odyssey, despite the fact Peach clearly wants nothing to do with the King of the Koopas.
Speaking of the Koopas, Bowser has an army of loyal servants at his disposal, including his Koopa kids, but rather than keeping them safe from danger like a good father, he instead uses them as his own elite soldiers and is constantly getting them to do his dirty work for him. Needless to say, Bowser is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, and it’s that fiery passion that makes him such a dangerous character in theMariouniverse.
