Big Penguin
- "Racing Penguin" redirects here. For the group of racing penguins in Super Mario Galaxy, see Penguin Racers.
| Big Penguin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Species | Penguin |
| First appearance | Super Mario 64 (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020) |
- “I know speed when I see it, yes siree--I'm the world champion sledder, you know.”
- —Big Penguin, Super Mario 64
The Big Penguin,[1][2] also known as the Penguin Champ,[2] Champion Penguin,[3] or Racing Penguin,[4] is a giant penguin in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS. He is a competitor character raced against in the third mission of Cool, Cool Mountain, where he claims to be the world-champion sledder and, in the Nintendo 64 version, refers to Mario as "buddy." The Big Penguin is located inside the house at the top of the mountain. When Mario, Yoshi, Luigi, or Wario drops in through the chimney, the Big Penguin speaks to him and challenges him to a race. If the player character accepts, he has to race down the icy slide in the mountain and beat the penguin to the finish line. The penguin gives the player character a Power Star if beaten. However, if the player character takes a shortcut by jumping onto another section or if he takes the hidden shortcut, the Big Penguin accuses him of cheating and disqualifies him. After every Power Star is collected, the Big Penguin gains weight, which he attributes to not racing on his slide. He can easily knock the player character off the slide if he is raced against in his resulting enlarged state. There is no reward for winning the race again except for further praise from the Big Penguin.
In original releases, if the player loses to the Big Penguin, he makes a Koopa Troopa sound when talking instead of his own sound,[5] and he uses the feminine pronoun 「あたし」 atashi to refer to himself; both of these are not the case in anglophone releases.
An unrelated character also described as a "big penguin"[6] appears in Snowman's Land.
Gallery[edit]
Mario racing alongside the Big Penguin
Additional names[edit]
Internal names[edit]
| Game | File | Name | Meaning
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Super Mario 64 DS | data/enemy/penguin/penguin.bmd | PENGUIN_RACER | Penguin Racer |
| Super Mario 64 DS | data/enemy/penguin/penguin.bmd | PENGUIN_DEFENDER | Penguin Defender (Snowman's Land) |
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ペンギン チャンピオン[1] Pengin Chanpion |
Penguin Champion | |
| スライダーのチャンピオンペンギン[7] Suraidā no Chanpion Pengin |
Penguin Champion of the Slider | ||
| French | Grand Pingouin[?] | Big Razorbill | |
| Pingouin[1][8] | Razorbill | ||
| Gros pingouin[8] | Big Razorbill | ||
| German | Schneller Pinguin[?] | Fast Penguin | |
| Italian | Pinguino gigante[1] | Giant penguin | |
| Pinguino Gigante[9] | Giant Penguin | ||
| Korean | 펭귄 챔피언[?] Pengwin Champion |
Penguin Champion |
Trivia[edit]
- In Super Mario Galaxy, penguins refer to Stars as gold medals; similarly, in Super Mario 64, when the Big Penguin gives Mario a Star after being beaten, he says that he cannot give Mario a gold medal.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Big Penguin Race
- ^ a b Pelland, Scott, and Dan Owsen (1996). Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (English). Page 39.
- ^ Pelland and Owsen. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Page 128.
- ^ NintendoAUNZ (December 24, 2020). Super Mario 3D All-Stars - Racing Penguin! Racing to the tree tomorrow morning.. Facebook (Australian English). Retrieved August 16, 2022. (Screenshot.)
- ^ ある東大生実況者しゅん (April 28, 2018). 【実況】スーパーマリオ６４を完全初見でテンションMAXプレイ. YouTube (Japanese). Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- ^ Pelland and Owsen. Super Mario 64 Player's Guide. Page 89–91.
- ^ Kazuki, Motoyama. KC Deluxe vol. 36 - Super Mario 64 part 1. Page 6.
- ^ a b Nintendo official French magazine N1. Page 88.
- ^ November 15, 2018. Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 88.
