Raccoon Mario, Furry Community Embrace Of


Raccoon Mario

The 1990 North American release of Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. 3 is now considered by some to be a major factor in the formation of the then-nascent Furry movement (or “Furrydom,” if you prefer). 

The sight of the Japanese company’s famous plumber decked out in a tanuki get-up (raccoon in the West) caused many future members of the Furry community to feel stirrings in their as-yet-unfurred loins in ways they couldn’t hope to understand.

Nintendo, perhaps embarassed over the later use of the Raccoon Mario image in Furry literature and in protest posters for equal Furry rights (”The Hell you said / we won’t shed!”), has never commented publicly on the connection between Mario and the Furry lifestyle. But it hasn’t shied away from stroking the controversy, either: in Super Mario Galaxy, the plumber wears a giant, furry bee suit. Many in the Furry community took that as an acknowledgment from Nintendo that their cause — to convience everyone to get freaky in giant, homemade suits of fur — was supported by at least one major video game company.

With or without Nintendo’s explicit support, Raccoon Mario remains a Furry icon. It also didn’t hurt that he’s probably friends with Fox McCloud.

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December 2nd, 2008
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Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Noodleman
Posted on:
Dec 2, 2008 at 5:39 pm

If Mario started it than Star Fox made take off.

Dang, Nintendo really does support this. Just look at Crystal.

Then again, Sega and Sonic may be to blame as well.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Omar G.
Posted on:
Dec 2, 2008 at 5:41 pm

I’m glad you brought this up because there’s a big difference: Fox McCloud is an actual fox. Sonic is a hedgehog.

Raccoon Mario is an Italian dude dressed in a raccoon outfit. That’s a Furry right there.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Craig
Posted on:
Dec 3, 2008 at 3:54 am

Ah, but Fox McCloud is an anthropomorphic fox, which is pretty much what the furry is aspiring to be/fantasizing about, so it applies either way. And there was a blissful time in my life when I did not know that. I blame SomethingAwful.

Ah, thanks Omar. Just when you think your childhood memories can’t get defiled enough, here comes Rule 34 again. *shudder*

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Omar G.
Posted on:
Dec 3, 2008 at 5:03 pm

Hey, at least you didn’t have to hear the story of how I once dated a Furry.

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Noodleman
Posted on:
Dec 3, 2008 at 5:52 pm

That seems like it would be frightening to me.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Omar G.
Posted on:
Dec 3, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Oh, it was, Noodleman.

It was.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Kel Varnsen
Posted on:
Dec 4, 2008 at 4:33 pm

If Mario was a furry when he was wearing the racoon suit, what would it be called when he was wearing the frog suit? ANd was he an icon to any particular group then?

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Omar G.
Posted on:
Dec 4, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Amphibbies. They are a moist lot.

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Craig
Posted on:
Dec 4, 2008 at 9:02 pm

I almost dated a furry once. I didn’t know he was a furry, and he decided the best way to break the news was by e-mailing me an “erotic” furry picture. I don’t care who you are, that shit right there is enough to make you vote Republican.

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
Omar G.
Posted on:
Dec 4, 2008 at 9:12 pm

My experience was before I knew there was such a thing as a Furry. I thought it was so cute that she was making a cat costume for herself.

That’s what I thought at the time.