The June Nintendo Direct showed off plenty of surprises including a new 2D Mario game called Super Mario Bros. Wonder. And while the new Mario game looks lovely, it ended with a showstopper: Elephant Mario. We have seen approximately 1.5 seconds of Elephant Mario and we are ready to die for him.
Now to be clear, Mario has donned animal-themed suits lots of time in the past. Raccoons, frogs, penguins, even kitty-cats as immortalized in the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie. But all of those suits are just that: suits. They uniformly look like Mario putting on a pair of footie pajamas.
Elephant Mario is different. This isn’t Mario in an elephant suit. This is Mario as an elephant. Like an elephant happened to find 10XL-size overalls and grew out a beautiful mustache. Just look at this thicc king.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 21, 2023
Iconic.
For obvious reasons, Elephant Mario was an instant sensation. He immediately inspired Twitter reactions, Photoshops, and some shockingly speedy fan-art. You can check out a selection of the reactions below.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder releases October 20.
Super Mario Wonder (2023) pic.twitter.com/M5B2luKCO5
— UltimAdo (@UltimaShadowX) June 21, 2023
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH ELEPHANT MARIO#SUPERMARIO #NintendoDirect #SuperMarioBrosWonder pic.twitter.com/NK6uLbKgUp
— ELTOMASSO (TOM) 🇦🇷 -COMMS OPEN!!- (@tomasso_el) June 21, 2023
https://twitter.com/Sammydogge/status/1671533603186962434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1671533603186962434%7Ctwgr%5E4715b4264d8f620fc47945df733179af1e305ab2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gamespot.com%2Farticles%2Feveryone-loves-elephant-mario-thicc-king%2F1100-6515373%2F
Elephant Mario is built like Peter Griffin pic.twitter.com/8wfchEw7uj
— Marsh 🏴 (@MarshKArt) June 21, 2023
Mario Elephant is the new Kirby Car pic.twitter.com/GVVrrcZqfI
— Glitch (@GlitchxCity) June 21, 2023
Everyone's talking about Elephant Mario, but no one is talking about the in-between. pic.twitter.com/zaVzQL1xm9
— gokaiorange.bsky.social (@ItsGokaiOrange) June 21, 2023
Well… with elephant mario… does that mean we're gonna get shit like elephant Daisy? pic.twitter.com/Jr3GiNO1vw
— 𝔸𝕊ℍℂ𝕃𝕆ℕ𝔼 (10 Days until Birthday) (@Charred_Ashes) June 21, 2023