The “Mario Is Dead” Meme Took Over the Internet on March 31st as Expected

Well, it’s a joke that has been in the works for months now so it’s no surprise that yesterday- March 31^st– was a day for Nintendo fans to spread various jokes on the date of his predicted death. Maybe I should explain that a little bit, it could probably be a tad confusing for those not in on it. The internet did what it did best and concocted various conspiracy theories surrounding Nintendo and their iconic mascot Mario following announcements about the celebration for Mario’s 35^th anniversary.

Nintendo planned to remove various Mario games from the Nintendo Online eShop on March 31^st– including Super Mario 3D All-Stars which only released back in September of 2020. With Mario’s anniversary coming to an end and his games being taken off the online store, the jokes began to circulate that Nintendo were planning to kill off the beloved mascot. As is to be expected, this has led to various posts and fan-made content related to Mario’s upcoming demise. Let’s take a look at some of the best finds I came across.

Mario has a question for God and that question is WHY. Thanks to @DoovadHohdan for this surprisingly well done and funny animation.

A little twist on a scene from the 2004 SpongeBob Squarepants movie courtesy of @TheUncleAIShow next. It’s Mario’s desperate wails of “MAMA” that really got me here.

A request for Nintendo to use this skeletal character model in any and all future Mario titles from @AidenRS139 seems pretty accurate.

Of course there was going to be an Avengers: Infinity War reference thrown in somewhere. We get that with this fantastic digital art-from @Mystar_21– with Mario telling Luigi “I Don’t Feel So Good”-as Peter Parker did in the Marvel film-as he begins to be surrounded by floating pixels. I really like this art style and the character designs of Mario and Luigi here too. I particularly enjoy those stylish earrings. Nice work @Mystar_21.

Apparently, no one cares that Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light was also being removed from the Nintendo eShop yesterday too. Thanks for the reminder @SpawnWaveMedia.

Luigi clearly had this planned all along. @DynamoSuperX’s rather threatening Tweet shows that Luigi is now our lord and master and we shall bow to his will. I for one welcome our new green loving, moustachioed overlord.

JFK from Clone High is spitting straight facts courtesy of @NoReferences.

A somewhat menacing look at what could happen if Nintendo really did decide to off Mario. The piracy age is upon us. Thanks to @Fatespire for this creepy take on the meme.

@DekuNaro asks the question, why can we not just let Banjo and Kazooie become the Nintendo mascots now that Mario is dead? This artwork is fantastic and I’m in love with that Infinity War style dusting effect that has been made to look like pixels in a similar way to the art of @Mystar_21.

Mario gets tumble dried. That scream had me in absolute stitches. Thank you @tanisthelesbiab for this simple yet spectacular Tweet.

YouTuber Tea Common Shark shows a simple yet oddly satisfying video of Mario ascending into the light. Don’t worry. He’s going to a better place.

Nintendo remove our memories of Mario in this SpongeBob parody. It is surprisingly accurate too to be honest. Thanks to vernperson on YouTube for this short and sweet one.

Last but not least, a surprisingly heartfelt and emotional animation from ScottFalco on YouTube. I won’t spoil the twist at the end but good lord; I really wasn’t expecting to be kicked in the feels so painfully. This may have been a silly joke but damn it, ScottFalco seriously manages to turn it on its head with this. I’m going to go and try to stop crying now.