A forgotten, terrifying piece of Mario lore goes viral ahead of the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie

We never thought we’d say the words “Mario‘ and ‘Nightmare Fuel’ in the same sentence, but here we are. In a horrifying series of unfortunate events, a Mario-themed Twitter account has posted a long-lost manga that really has to be seen to be believed.

Allow us to introduce the Dead Mario Mushroom Replacement Theory (this title is still being worked on).

A 1996 Super Mario 64 manga suggests that 1-Up mushrooms grow from the bodies of dead Marios, perpetuating the cycle of life and death. pic.twitter.com/KjGsnig3hB

— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) March 23, 2023

Now it’s worth noting that this particular image and accompanying theory exist non-canonically. Instead, they simply serve as an interesting thought experiment that is sure to keep us all up at night. Seriously. The concept that every time a Mario dies, his little plumber’s body is used to grow mushrooms for another Mario to eat is terrifying — and kind of cool, too.

A bit of pathos in the Mario universe, a wacky joke like this definitely can’t be taken seriously, but it’s certainly fun to think about. Even if Nintendo will never support something like that. The closer we get The Super Mario Bros. Movie Released on April 5th, images like this aren’t exactly what the Mario community needs right now. Oh, here’s another one.

Please note that these manga are full of jokes and eccentric theories like this one: so this should be considered an interesting thought experiment rather than anything actually endorsed by Nintendo!

— Supper Mario Broth (@MarioBrothBlog) March 23, 2023

In this next image, we see Mario using underwater coins to stock up on some much-needed air. It’s weird, cool and frankly we want more. The sad thing is that these images are from Mario comics created in the 90’s. When it comes to waiting for more, don’t hold your breath. Terrible pun intended.

Who knows? Perhaps Illumination’s upcoming swing at a Mario franchise will feature some of this weird fiction. Our guess is probably not, but, hey, we can all dream, right? Or – in the case of Dead Mario Mushroom Replacement – having nightmares.