So, what enemy needs time to shine ahead of Bowser? Let us bring in a crazy scientist into the scene, someone who is capable of so much in more ways than one. He is Fawful, the mad scientist from the highly acclaimed Mario & Luigi RPG series. We last took sight of him in the end of Bowser’s Inside Story, and haven’t heard of him since. It would be great to witness his psychopathic self and his odd speech formats once again, but in a 3D environment. We need more crazy people in the 3D Mario titles, and Fawful fills in the spot very well.
Fawful is famous for his odd manners of speech. He commonly resorts to speaking in metaphor with a focus on food. “The mustard of your doom!!” “I drizzled rage dressing on the country next door. Rage dressing on a salad of evil.” One just can’t get enough of him. He also contains large amounts of “fury”, and ultimately, his “fury” caused his own demise, as that makes himself act in a delusional way. Though Fawful is a genius, and yes he is able to construct abstract machinery (as we have seen in the Mario & Luigi RPG titles), but it’s his delusional self combined with his excessive self-confidence which will always lead to his destruction. But I would love to see that be played out, in 3D.
This mad scientist is the perfect villain, but also one of the most psychopathic out of all enemies. He carries no sympathy for those who are to be destroyed, he harms others with little to no hesitation, and he is sent out to obtain full glory, recognition and power. Bowser seems to be quite simple for a villain (which some may find just fine), but he doesn’t act in the ways of Fawful. Fawful has more going on with him, as his personality helps bring out tons of effects in the world.
There is a question though, what will Fawful need to do in order to get the attention of Mario? He worked for Cackletta, but wasn’t the main enemy. He was a shop keeper in the past, but nothing more. The only time when he became the full-on main antagonist was in the 3rd installment of the Mario & Luigi series, but since then has vanished. He likely will not return in the Mario & Luigi series, but his debut in 3D would be fantastic. The story of the game should be something similar to what happens in Bowser’s Inside Story: have Fawful become interested in a particular power, and allow him to obtain it. This power should cause turmoil in the Mushroom Kingdom, and then Mario is instructed to go ahead and stop this from progressing any further (because apparently thousands of Kingdom Guards can’t handle this).
This power source can come from the Dark Star, as it was in Bowser’s Inside Story (or something along those lines). It possesses enough power to threaten the destruction of the world, and Fawful should get his greedy hands on it. As usual, Mushroom Kingdom security is awful, so obtaining such an object would be an easy feat for Fawful. He unleashes this power which causes the entire Mushroom Kingdom to be shrouded in darkness (hence the name “Dark” Star), darkness which scatters throughout the lands as far as the eye can see. Enemies attack the kingdom under Fawful’s control and order, and only the famous plumber Mario can stop him. Mario must travel the lands of the Mushroom Kingdom, brightening up everything Fawful darkened down, and collect enough Power Stars to even stand a chance against the star of darkness.
Perhaps the developers should introduce the idea of the real ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach is a Princess. As her title suggests, there must be a King who rules above her. In this game, Fawful would then overthrow the King and then take control of the Mushroom Kingdom, overpowering anything kingdom guard forces have at their disposal. Residents and citizens attempt to run away from this darkness, but it catches up with them and takes them in, all to power the Dark Star. With the combined power of the living beings the Dark Star has absorbed, Fawful has then become one dangerous entity, with powers rivaling that of a god. Mario, with the influences of the Power Stars, fights in a similar manner to take back the Mushroom Kingdom, and restore it to its former glory. The final battle would then take place within the palace (or castle) of the King which Fawful has taken over.
Aside from the story, here is where things can get interesting. Something of this caliber must of course be done right. Yes, I’m speaking about voice acting. Fawful would need one crazy voice in order to portray him correctly. I would love to hear “I have Fury!!” said in his voice. This could be a perfect time to re-introduce voice acting into the Mario series, and it’ll be well fitting for one heck of an epic game. But it NEEDS to be overseen by someone with experience. It must be someone who oversees voice acting for a living, because the first attempt for the Mario series was a joke. And yes, I would like it if Mario actually was voiced completely. I’ve had it with people complaining about things like “no, he should never speak!” or “voice acting would kill Mario’s personality.” Considering how only one man currently voices Mario (and will likely continue doing so), I don’t see the problem with giving Mario full lines of speech.
The psychopath Fawful is one of the most ingenious creations ever to have been bestowed upon the Mario series, and leaving such a creation to die off would be the worst thing Nintendo could have done. I highly doubt Nintendo EAD would create a game with such complexities as these (with full story, voice acting, etc), so another studio would need to step forward in the creation process (Retro Studios comes in mind). So what do you think? Would Fawful become a great main villain in a 3D Mario title to replace Bowser?