The "Crushing" Folklore Behind Mario's Thwomp! - Yokai Hunters
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Check out my new D&D 5e playable yokai race, the Kappa, by clicking here! ► tinyurl.com/y3...
Starting off spooky month in honor of Super Mario 3D Allstars with a deep look into the ghost story origin of another of Mario's colorful cast, the Thwomp! It seems that out of ALL of Nintendo's big properties, the Mario franchise is just FULL of yokai inspired enemies. But the living stone head that crushes you? Yes, even THAT has folklore behind it!
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Original artwork provided by:
@TheGeckoNinja
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#mario, #supermario, #gaijingoombah
SO many yokai in Mario! Still got TONS more to look into. In the meantime, if you want to spice up your D&D game with some yokai goodness, check out my new Kappa race over on dmsguild! tinyurl.com/y3voxpsp (P.S. Sorry about the clipping at the end!)
Gaijin Goombah Media
Hi Gaijin
Can you do My fan comic Yokai University in Yokai Hunters
No straight Roads cultural references
Which Ninja
Randy Cummingham
Miraculous Ladybug franchises
Red Hood
The Phantom Thieves
Black Star from Soul eater
Gaijin Goombah Media I love your Yokai research that I make a 5 chapter of a Yokai University in my videos in my channel
New One Day of Marshmello part 1&2 are now released on my channel
As a D&D newbie, I'm excited for this homebrew!
um from the cover you d and D Kappa looks like a ronin/samurai build does the kappa you built have sumo characteristics or was there nothing in D&d that translated well into those skills?
I Love The Japanese Mario Videos. They're Quite Interesting.
I had zero idea thwomp is a yokai. Nintendo is a wild card when it comes for japanese mythology
Wildcard as in "everything goes!" I mean, look at Nintendo's games why shouldn't they use the rich mythology japan has?
@@QuintarFarenor so true
Quintar Farenor I mean they even put a Kasa Obake in a KIRBY GAME
Is this a hanafuda pun? 😂
Well it makes sense that Nintendo puts quite a few characters or yokai from Japanese mythology in their games as they are a Japanese based company.
I feel like yokai are the “Simpson’s did it” of in game monsters. Fascinating how much they are connected to.
A little more accurate to say "fairy tales did it.," but yeah. Though it's funny to say that borrowing from old folklore and storytelling is "inspired by" yet borrowing from established modern media is considered straight up plagiarism. I also have to ask, Super Mario Land 2. Did they just give no shits about directly referencing Japanese Yokai that no one outside of the country would get, or did they just see no point in localizing everything and just thought they'd just be weird characters that needed no explanation?
Video games originated in Japan after all.
Well a LOT of well known videogame series' are from Japan, and stuff being based on yokai is the same kind of thing as stuff being based in christianity or really any religion, the only difference is that Japanese religions and folklore are less well known
Anything made in a given country will retain its country's culture. They can try to make everything culturally ambiguous as possible, even outright have localization teams rename things and dance around others, but you still know that it's made from that country of origin because of those hallmarks. Even when they try very hard to emulate another country, those references sneak in. Look at the cartoon series Gumball. They WANT you to think the series if American, but they'll use the terms "Car Park" and "Cinema."
@@mightyfilm I'm pretty sure we still call it the Cinima in America, as an American. That's what I call it.
Dude, I heard "viewers like you" and had a flashback to years of watching PBS and almost said "thank you"
It's no less true though.
@@GaijinGoombah Is there a yokai called Butsuri-Nasji? I looked it up, with no success
@@GaijinGoombah You know, the comparison makes sense when you compare the Tsurube Oroshi to the Thwomp's artwork from the original SMB3, as the spikes use to look like hair. There is another Yokai that the Mario series has, and it's the Nurikabe, the Wall Yokai that became the Whomps in SM64.
I feel like there’s a yokai for just about anything, they come in so many shapes and sizes and do a lot of different things
Isn’t that what yokai are an explanation for a bunch of phenomena?( in no way am I trying to be mean I’m just asking to make sure)
@@manuelcastillo9932 correct heck theres even a yokai explanation for sleep paralysis
That’s the beauty of it!
Is there a yokai that explains why I get bubble guts?
I guess Japan could have a similar motto to Apple; "There's a Youkai for that," lol.
"Thwimps and Thwomps
And Wimps and Womps
And Grindles and Spindles and Grrrols
There's Tox box and Flomps
And Rhomps and Bomps
And Walleyes and Wallops
There all pretty much invincible and they will crush you without hesitation like a cartoonish Sherman's March to the Sea"
- BDG
Brian David Gilbert, Polygon, Bowser's Military Hierarchy | Unraveled, 2/17/19
Never in my life did I think a video game about two Italian plumber brothers stomping on mushroom people would have so much contained within.
This yokai looking like it had it's universal record of a stunt bike arcade game broken by a blue jay and a raccoon.
ooooohhhh!
I have a feeling your going to drop a lot of heavy Yokai lore on us, Hehe.
Warm Lillie I see you watch mat pat a lot.
1:10
"It likely doesn't mean much for anyone under the age of thirty"
You have never told a worse lie.
On the contrary, I'm 25 and Super Mario 64 is the first game I ever saw my brothers play on console. Granted, I gravitate more towards Zelda nowadays, but one never forgets their first.
I'm 24 and while I've never played the console release of Mario 64, I grew up on the DS version. Not to mention that different generations would have grown up on all three of the games in the collection. Friend of mine from work is 19 and got it so he could play Mario Galaxy again.
25, I played 64, Sunshine was one of my favorites, and I completed Galaxy.
15, when i had the wii i didn't have a single mario game.
But now i can finally experience the klunky camera of 64, the klunky dialogue of sunshine and the klunky motion controls of galaxy!
Waaaaait a minute…
Are the three heads that work for Yubaba in Spirited Away Tsurube Oroshi?
My thought exactly! 😍
HexManiacHana that’s what I was thinking
6:25 I guess I’ll see this thing in my nightmares soon
what if you just put a gaint spike on your head.
lol
5:08 for the patrons wondering what their money is used for... Boom here you go
THIS IS VERY CORRECT!!!
That's what's sad imo, clear waste of funds.
@@jakejutras5420 i thought it was pretty dope lol, but what would you have used the funds for? Just curious
@@jakejutras5420 so researching and using your favorite games to teach people is a waste of funds? Miss me with that crap
@@esppupsnkits4560 where did I say that? It was pretty clear I was talking about the animation. I agree with you 100% and don't think money should have been spent on an elaborate animation. With the grueling research he does I think he could have kept a lower-fi presentation and budgeted that money more for himself. I get the vibe that he is happy with having that animation though and if that makes him feel better about the content he puts out then all the power to him. I just didn't think the flashiness was necessary :)
1:45 Minus the backwards long jump from Mario 64 because they ported the Shindou version from 1997! RIP the most memorable (and iconic) glitch ever found!
And them reversing the camera...
@@jazz5753 they at least did that in the Shindou version right?
If I ever saw this yokai I would say “heads up”!
Gaijin!!! I’ve been doing Yokai research for a couple years for a story/game I want to make, and I found a Yokai that was a blend between a cat, dog, rabbit and fox, and had elemental powers. Sounds like a pretty straight forward inspiration for the Eevee-line, but I haven’t been able to find it again. I haven’t seen any PokeTubers mention it as an inspiration of Eevee so it could be cool for a Yokai Hunters video 🤷🏽♂️
I wanna see this knowledge.
Lockstin & Gnoggin made a video about Eevee and he said the inspiration was just to make a Pokémon that looks as normal as possible. The evolution in different elements probably has nothing to do with that yokai.
I could be wrong though.
@Sushi :3
Nope, you had it right, the different elemental evolutions weren't even thought of until later. Eevee is just meant to look strangely familiar.
The mystery creature is a carbuncle btw.
@@ZombieBarioth I don't know, Carbuncle isn't from Japanese mythology as far as I know,
the story I heard about it involved the devil among a few things.
Sushi :3 I know the video you’re referring to, he just says that’s his assumption for the inspiration, Nintendo/GameFreak have never said the actual inspiration for it to my knowledge
Nintendo sure loves putting yokai in their Mario games don’t they.
BOUT TIME WE GOT THE SUMMONING CHANT AGAIN!
Cue me having to drop everything I'm doing to perform the correct hand signs to go along with it.
I learned that chant from tactics and from Rei Hino on Sailor Moon, so of course I say it in time with Little G.
I got excited when you mentioned the fluff balls in yoshi's island being a yokai and wanted to look them up and MY GOD kesaran-pasaran is so dang cute and wholesome! thank you for that throw away line it made my night to learn about that
Hey Gaijin, ever thought of checking out little nightmares and dissecting the Japanese influence in the last 2 levels? It’s had me intrigued for years!
*Thomps: Haha, Plumber go splat*
Haha plumber go flat
I always love your Yokai vids. Always fun to learn neat facts like this.
John Blake:
Sir, that could all just be a coincidence.
Jim Gordon:
You're a detective now, son. You're not allowed to believe in coincidence anymore.
Today I have realized that the word "Koopa" was based of the other word "Kappa".
it's even closer in japanese, where the former is spelled "kuppa" (in romaji, at least. and it's only a one-character difference in kana too).
"Yokai hunters"
*literally everything in existence is a Yokai being hunted*
“I know it likely doesn’t mean much for anyone under the age of 30”
Me: *Going to be 30 in 4 months* “I feel attacked.”
As a ninja chipmunk, I think you'll be ok. Ninja are usually well prepared.
I'm about to be 30 next year in April
"...the entire fame is full of glitch gremlin yokai"
That's a pretty good reference right there, my friend. A very good one.
The last time you brought up these guys in passing (don't remember the video) I mentioned in the comments something to the effects of "Aren't these guys the origin of Thwamps?" glad to see you agree with the idea.
I actually made a Kappa monster stat block for a friend who's been considering running a Japan-inspired DnD campaign. At her suggestion (because she knows a bit more about yokai than I do) I basically made them like goblins, small and squishy, easy to kill, but very deadly in large numbers. I also threw in stuff to make the good at grappling, because sumo stuff. The hard part was including their butt ball grab, but what I settled on was an attack that requires the target to be restrained or incapacitated to work, and requires a relatively low Con Save, dealing a butt load (heh) of Necrotic damage if they fail, and straight up killing the target and extracting their shirikodama if the damage drops them to 0. I thought I had it all figured out, but then your Kappa player race made me realize something...the little bastards have shells. BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, THANKS GAIJIN!!!
Hey, GG, have you found out the origins for the D&D Kenku yet? They were originally based on Tengu, and had swordsmanship to match! 5e kinda fails to bring this to the table, though.
Anyone that confuses whomps and thwomps should not exist.
Korporal K. Reep yea
You know kinda interesting how the most successful video game franchises of the past had creatures based on folk lore. I mean aside from Mario and the Japanese lore, we got Castlevania which took in pretty much every horror movie monster trope they could find, werewolves, dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, hunchbacks hoppers, flying medusa heads, soooo much. Man I know your main thing is japanese lore but I'd kill for an analysis of the monsters of Castlevania one day.
I was going to ask about the fire buckets. Then I see a mention towards the end.
Oddly, a From Software game is what first comes to my mind of this. Lost Kingdoms. Both the first and second games have these as monsters. They can also be captured in cards as well to be summoned as traps later.
Likewise, this talk of "fighting in groups" actually helps to make sense of their combo attack in Lost Kingdoms.
I'm also surprised to see no mention of that game due to the whole card summon thing. I had thought it was just a gimmick to match with other card themed games. However, this talk of Onmyodo (spelling) is making me think otherwise. Though, I do admit I didn't even make that big a connection until the mention of the bucket fires and the ritual earlier in the video.
I'm curious of what you say of both Lost Kingdoms games, on the subject of lore.
A little thing to add, the walking version of the Thwomp could be a nod to the Nurikabe (a living wall) at least in appearance anyway
When are we getting the *Kitsune Race* for your Homebrew DnD Series?
1:51 Bowser: "WHEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Not quite the "sweeping analysis of devotion to Edo-era Japan architecture, fashion, and speech patterns in Shogun Studios" video I thought would be coming, post-release of Paper Mario: The Origami King. But I missed the Yokai Hunters series as well. I love gaining insight into the various humanoid spirits, long-lived inanimate objects, and bizarre creatures that govern the otherworld and cause trouble for unsuspecting humans.
Not meaningful to anyone under the age of 30? Excuse you, Gaijin. I am 27 and watched my cousins play Mario 64 on their N64 system, and later played a bit for myself when I inherited the system as a young teen. I played a few opening levels in Galaxy, my favorite 3D Mario game, back when the Wii console was new, but I never played Sunshine. And all three of these games are LPs that I initially watched when getting into chuggaaconroy, and gaming UA-camrs in general, in 2014.
Next thing you're telling me Gay Bowser is a Yokai with deep lore, history and cultural significance.
More like an Eastern deity... thing.
From an older video by Gaijin, Bowser is revealed to be a Chinese turtle god. There is a mystical being from China, Tonglinxian Longgui(同性戀龙龟), or Homosexual Dragon Turtle. So Gay Bowser is some Yokai with deep lore.
@@broccolijjb2997 My mind has been blown
There is a game called Kemono Heroes and I hadn't heard of it.
They're gonna revoke my furry card
6:16 What game is that? Looks like something I'd like to play!
The game is "Kemono Heroes" . It's on Nintendo Switch. Check the Eshop.
I never knew this yokai existed until I saw this video. Thanks Gaijin Goombah! You learn something new every day!
I thought you're gonna talk about the Nurikabe.
It looks more like a Thwomp but, I guess their objective is different.
Time to get smacked by some yokai hunters.
"Tsurubeotoshi" has the image of throwing a bucket into a well.
In addition to the name of the youkai, the seasonal word for the haiku "Autumn sun sets", the expression that the stock price plummets, the waterfall, and anything that falls from above is called Tsurubeotoshi.
Yes, more Yokai Hunters!
Well, this yokai explains what the three bouncing heads in Spritied Away (a Miyazaki film) are.
the thumbnail: WHAT ARE YOU DOING STEP-THWOMP
Man, I so wish more devs watched your videos and responded to confirm or deny their awareness of your correlations
One of the yokai featured in the intro reminds me of the Whomps.
Holy crap, Thwomp is that green head thing from Spirited Away!
Based off the yokai art for the fire variant, i wouldnt think lava bubbles/potaboos (which i believe the only difference between is the presence of a face), but instead of the fire ropes. A much rarer enemy in the series, they also first appear in 3, and take the form of a bouncing chain of flames with no distinguishing connection, with the largest wisp in the chain having a face and ALWAYS being the first to land, then beginning their next jump shortly after the final chain segment lands. The enemy usually appears in desert areas, and more recent games seem to give them a preference for dark underground caves, where light sources are often limited to various animated fire. Looking at the extended universe of spinoff games, i can point to their existence in both the grumble volcano and desert hills racetracks in the Mario Kart series.
I was laughing for 5 minutes straight after seeing that clip of Bowser basically getting blown away so far that it felt like a home run being hit in Smash Bros.
Looks like I got a new game to pick up, Kemono Heroes.
Being October would the night of Hundred Demons would be Mario Yokai Inspired baddies we would never have thought to be based on Yokai?
This is really cool! I never knew about this particular yokai, but Thwomps are one of the most interesting enemies I've come across in the mainline Mario games! Love the video!
Huh, I was expecting the wall yokai, but I must've been thinking of Whomp's inspiration. Love to discover a new yokai
I think your right about your comparisons, but I was hoping you would also cover the whomps as well, since they remind me of the wall yokai, nurikabe. But overall, yes thank you for telling me how the thwomp is actually based off a yokai that is giant head and it’s sole purpose is to crush me. ^^ Thank you.
What was that sidescroller action fox-swordsman game you showed footage of?
I'd like to know as well.
@@Sparkbomber Kemono heroes on Switch
I personally thought the Thwomps were based off of a wall yokai (can't remember the name of it), but I guess that's more of an inspiration for Mario 64's, and Mario Party's wall enemies. You did show a clip of one face planting onto the poor plumber.
What if the lava bubbles are the babies, the thwimps are the children and Thwamps are the adults.
That actually makes sense, the lava cools down and forms rocks, thus transitioning from Lava Bubble to Thwomp!
lol you cut your self off at the end, thanks so much for the video's GG I love your Yokai hunter vids and yes I think it's a one to one cameraperson on all three. unless Nintendo say's otherwise this makes to much sense not to fit.
I love the idea of electronic or digital yokai, I had a couple ideas already for them once I saw Butsuri-Nashi
Thwomps being stone versions of a giant head yokai that waits for victims to crush actually makes a lot of sense. Too bad in Super Mario 64 and Galaxy they constantly slam.
I love how satsifying Mario enemies names are
1:59 Should be called "Butsuri-Ana", because it doesn't DISABLE collision, but makes a gap in its geometry.
Under 30 (21) and Mario 64 was one of the first video games I ever played ( my favorite growing up)
I seriously never would have guessed Thwomps, of all things, have that deep of an inspiration! Very cool!
I was expecting Thwomps to based on a Stone Yokai but no there based on a Yokai who's literally a Giant Head
I simply love the little chant the gumba does
I wonder if these guys ever move around... It's implied that, like most stone creatures on Mario games, they're born from volcanoes. So... does Bowser just move them from their volcanoes to his fortresses? Maybe Whomps also do that. Who knows?
i just love that cutscene feeling at 5:08 ^^ loved it since its first appearance :D
If Kirby and Mario were ever to meet up they would have at least one common interest trying not to get squashed by thwomps
So.... Mileena and Kitana from the Mortal Kombat series have a wide mouth with sharp teeth, just like that yokai who wears a mask and asks you if she’s beautiful. You know the thing’s name right? And can you do a Yokai Hunter episode on that?
man what a great video I have always wondered about thwomps and thwimps so it was a pleasure to finally hear where they were inspired from as a guy who is around your age I get how you feel and also in regard to the fire variation you were talking about at the end there is another enemy in mario 3 that resembles what you were saying in world 2 in any stage with a pyramid there is a fire enemy that jumps around that resembles a head with a fire like tail trailing behind it maybe this is what the developers intended the fire version of the enemy to look like? just a thought as a fellow old guy who remembers the games well
I was assuming it would be a nurikabe but I was proven wrong. Colour me impressed!
I would have bet my ridiculously small paycheck that Thwomps were based on Nurikabe, invisible walls that block and/or misdirect travelers. Though in hindsight, I guess that would work more for Whomps than Thwomps.
The first games I ever played on N64 was "Yoshi" (I don't even remember what it's actually called, that's how young I was, when I first played it) and Tetris. So kinda the same franchise, just a different main character (I still love that little derpy dino 🥰)
I'm not a Mario fan, but I'm thrilled to see people happy in this, the year of despair.
Love this guy!
I can't unsee the Yokai that is literally a hairy ball 2:30
Really thought we were gonna learn about the nurikabe today, but I guess that's more Whomp's territory
Okay, for real, the guy in the Patrons list who called themself Captain Hastagazpacho deserves a medal and a high-five. Don't think I don't see that reference~ X3
There are quite a few fire spirit Yokai in Japan, from the Kitsune-bi to Hitodama, having few differences between them.
However, I don't think that lava bubbles are malicious enough to be considered thwamp cousins, as they simply jump in and out of lava for fun. I would consider the fire cousin to the thwamp to be more of the fire snake, that literally jumps up and down to chase Mario.
I think potabos would be closer related to a Hitodama, a soul, or Boo, encased in lava that's jumping to say "my body has been forgotten down here and I need a monk's blessing so my soul can move on"
how about the phanto? scary relent;ess flying things that hunt you down if you take what they're gaurdung, that has youkai all over it.
4:23 no wonder I had a feeling Maui looked familiar.
Can’t wait for a Yokai hunters on all of the Funny Parade!
I really like the video!! But...
I don't mean to contradict you Gaijin, but I think of something... Else when it comes to Thwomps and these "Tsurube Oroshii" (Which kinda look like the Rollen and Dubbles Yo-Kai too).. Thwomps don't taunt people... (Whomps do however, but not THWOMPS) They just grunt as they hit the floor/ground/Whatever they are slamming into... How do you factor that into the theory? (I am not trying to be mean, I am just asking a question, would love if you answered BTW!! :) )
5:08
This transition was so prompt and out of nowhere I thought it was an ad break at first.
As much as you researched Mario's Thwomps for this, you seemed to miss the fact that the ones that don't have spikes on them are actually Whomps. The ones that are spiked are also different from the ones that have the ridged edges, although they don't have a name difference. I figured your analytical mind would have caught that
I love hearing about the inspiration behind creatures from the games of my childhood. But you've intrigued me with your D&D creations. I so have to get me hands on the races you created to use in my other channel.
[Also, really loved your Ninja character build video.]
this is amazing! I'm wondering if (you could suggest to the patrons) that you do a splatoon-based episode, I have wondered if octavio could be connected to a koromodako and the great zapfish is a giant electric catfish... not much unlike Ōnamazu, minus the tectonic consequences of its writhing...
Ah, the Thwomp family. Comprised of the Thwomp, the Thwimp, Spindel, Grindel, Toxbox, and Whomp.
A weird variant of the Thwomp are Grindels from Mario 64 which appear to be mummified Thwomps that can move horizontally as well as vertically somehow
Anyone else look at the first drawing of the Tsurube Oroshi and go "so _that's_ what the head monsters in Yubaba's office in Spirited Away are!"?
That kitaro exhibit looked terrifying.
Them being very sneaky about their Japanese culture made Mario appealing to the entire world
Yooo I didn't even know about the poll, you should definitely make an episode on The Oni/The Spirit from DBD. Would love to hear your opinions on their character's and designs
I can't believe the head from gravity falls that told people to get into its mouth could have been inspired by this kind of neat. 😊
Everyone knows about the twomps.
But does anybody remember about the *SHLOMPS* ?
They were really cool...
All jiggly and jolly.
I thought you were going say it was the wall yo Kai but this makes more sense
My flip flops became sentient and now I got two new besties.