The Wanted List: Video Game Names and Terms With Unknown Origins
Can you lend an etymology to some pixels and sprites in need?
Does the Tower of Babel Make a Cameo in Super Mario Bros. 3?
The Super Mario games generally don’t incorporate religious iconography, but…
Don’t Call Her ‘Titty’
How Martial Champion did an M. Bison-style name swap to eliminate boob jokes.
Fighter’s History: Legally Not a Street Fighter Clone
But here’s why you may have encountered its Chun-Li analogue more than once in video games news in late 2024.
Street Fighter’s Surprising Crossover With Red Earth
Weirdly, Capcom’s fantasy fighter is closer to its flagship franchise than the more popular DarkStalkers is.
Why Does Street Fighter Have a Character Named ‘Sodom’?
And is this the best name for a guy who’s most prominent trait is liking Japanese culture?
Ryu and Ken No Longer Practice Shotokan Karate
And they never did in Japan, though the concept of the shotoclone lives on.
Sheng Long, Street Fighter and the Legacy of W.A. Stokins
One April Fool’s joke seemingly shaped multiple faces of the Capcom series.
How Impa Jumped from Background Lore to the Zelda In-Game Canon
And she’s not the only game element foreshadowed in the Legend of Zelda instruction booklets.
We Don’t Know Where Ganon’s Name Comes From
Also we have questions about where the Zelda big bad got his “dorf.”
You Cannot Grasp the True Form of Giygas!
The cosmic horror of Earthbound’s big bad should leave you with more questions than answers.
A Complete History of Birdo’s Gender
In English and Japanese, from Doki Doki Panic to present, Nintendo’s stance on the pink egg-spitter has evolved.
Where Did You Go, Ms. Pac-Man?
We lost the female counterpart to Pac-Man in 2020, but Namco had been plotting her demise years beforehand.
Princess Peach Can’t Get a Break
Princess Peach: Showtime! makes it seem like Nintendo didn’t learn the right lesson from her first solo adventure.
The Legend of Bowser’s Dead Wife
Was Nintendo punking Mario diehards into thinking Bowser’s long missing missus had been revealed?
Since When Is There a Simpsons Character Named Nina Skalka?
A girl with blond pigtails underscores the problem with fandom wikis.
Is Valentina from Super Mario RPG a Jimmy Buffett Reference or Not?
Sometimes a woman with a parrot on her head is just that, margarita or no margarita.
Localization Strangeness in the Super Mario RPG Remake
It’s less what got changed from the original so much as what stayed the same.
Hard Hats in the Mushroom Kingdom
The Mets of Mega Man are a lot like Buzzy Beetle… which isn’t actually a beetle at all.
Christmas Eve on Shooting Star Summit
Are Star Hill from Super Mario RPG and Shooting Star Summit in Paper Mario one and the same?