I wonder if that suit’s “canonically” (lol) a raccoon or a Japanese raccoon dog, which look sorta like raccoons but are canids where raccoons are procyonids
Not natively, but they’re an invasive species there (ever since the early 60’s) and they’ve become a bit of a problem – just like in eg. Germany. It’s definitely possible the suit’s a raccoon, but tanukis (the raccoon dogs) are a Thing™ in Japanese culture which is what got me pondering
Yeah, honestly I hope it is referencing the tanukis then, though I suppose it is fitting in a weird way to dress up as an invasive species and then proceed to murder everything…
I wonder if that suit’s “canonically” (lol) a raccoon or a Japanese raccoon dog, which look sorta like raccoons but are canids where raccoons are procyonids
Raccoon dog canonically
Ha, my gut feeling was actually right for once! It makes sense because tanukis feature in Japanese folklore
There are two different suits in Mario 3. The tanuki (raccoon dog) is the one with the statue ability. The more basic one that can fly is the raccoon.
Officially it’s a tanuki, but when I was a kid we always called it “raccoon Mario” lol
Does Japan also have raccoons?
Not natively, but they’re an invasive species there (ever since the early 60’s) and they’ve become a bit of a problem – just like in eg. Germany. It’s definitely possible the suit’s a raccoon, but tanukis (the raccoon dogs) are a Thing™ in Japanese culture which is what got me pondering
Yeah, honestly I hope it is referencing the tanukis then, though I suppose it is fitting in a weird way to dress up as an invasive species and then proceed to murder everything…
:)