Nintendo has a new trailer for That Super Mario Bros. Movie as part of a direct on Thursday. In it, we finally get to hear what Chris Pratt’s Mario voice sounds like, but the trailer also had a cameo appearance from a relatively unknown group of characters. It starts off with Bowser and his Koopa army taking on a kingdom of penguins. The birds put up a good fight throwing snowballs, but it can’t stand Bowser’s flames. The inclusion of the penguins is surprising, especially since they haven’t been the most central Mario characters in previous games. However, they are an integral part of the franchise series, so we decided to explain what the penguins are all about.
according to a Entry in the Mario wiki Penguins appear in the Mario series as part of Mario in 1984 pinball
On several levels in the world you can interact with the monstrously large two-legged birds. In Big Penguin Race you have to race against one down an ice slide to get a star. In “Li’l Penguin Lost” Mario is tasked with helping a mother penguin to find her lost penguin child. In this level you have to navigate a slippery and treacherous terrain while holding the crying penguin. (The whiny cries of the baby penguins haunt me to this day, and people regularly joke about dropping the penguin off a cliff.)
Since 64, Mario game routinely incorporated penguins into its worlds. Fans of the Mario Party series may remember rounding them up as part of the minigame Super Mario Party
Of course, some lore questions are left to our imaginations. We still don’t know why the penguins have an argument with Bowser, and we don’t know how they came to rule and dominate their own kingdom, so we’ll have to wait for the details. But now, at least the franchise mainstays are getting their own moment of focus by appearing in the film. (Even when it comes to getting knocked out by Bowser.)