Tatanga

Tatanga
Artwork from Super Mario Land
Full name	Tatanga the Mysterious Spaceman
Species	Alien
First appearance	Super Mario Land (1989)
Latest appearance	Super Mario-kun Special Selection (2023)

“I am not interested in what Mario would do! Tatanga does as he pleases!”

—Tatanga, In the Palm of Your Hand...

Tatanga (also known as Tatanga the Mysterious Spaceman) is an alien invader from an unknown planet. Although feared as an invader, outside of his spacecraft he is only a meek purple alien. During the events of Super Mario Land, Tatanga captures Daisy, the princess of Sarasaland, and orders his armies to guard the land's four kingdoms. Tatanga is also the first extraterrestrial main villain to appear in the Super Mario franchise.

While Tatanga's homeworld and the name of his species are not revealed, what may be another member of his race appears as a boss in the SNES version of Wario's Woods, named Katsini.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Land

Tatanga makes his debut appearance in Super Mario Land, as the main antagonist. Appearing out of a large black cloud, he invades Sarasaland and captures Princess Daisy while hypnotizing the inhabitants of Sarasaland. With them under his control, he has the most powerful of his new minions guard the four kingdoms of Sarasaland - the Birabuto Kingdom, Muda Kingdom, Easton Kingdom, and Chai Kingdom. When Mario defeats the hypnotized creatures and liberates all four kingdoms, Tatanga engages with him in air combat in a last-ditch effort. During the climactic battle, Tatanga fights in his war robot, Pagosu, while Mario fights in his airplane, the Sky Pop. Mario has to fire his missiles at Pagosu while dodging its big projectiles, which immediately split into three small projectiles upon being fired. After twenty-five hits, Pagosu is destroyed, and the player gains 5000 points. Immediately afterward, Mario rescues Princess Daisy and peace is returned to Sarasaland.

Tatanga also appears in the board game adaptation, Das Super Mario Spiel, where he reprises his role as the game's final boss. However, his artwork on the game board depicts him with a teal coloration, rather than purple.

One of Tatanga's most notable minions is the Honen, who, according to the game's instruction manual, is the skeleton of a Torion after being eaten by Tatanga.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Tatanga piloting a smaller spaceship in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Tatanga, known only as the "Alien" in preview material, reappears as a boss in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Although his role in this game is not as significant, he does play a part. While Mario is distracted fighting Tatanga in Super Mario Land, Wario takes over Mario Land and occupies Mario's castle. After Tatanga's initial defeat, he is given one of the 6 Golden Coins by Wario, and then sets up a base in the Space Zone.

During Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Mario tracks down Tatanga, and the two fight for a second time. However, in this battle, Tatanga fights with a different, smaller spacecraft, capable of shooting energy weapons and dive-bombing Mario. When he descends for his dive-bomb attack, Mario must jump on top of the vessel to land a hit. After three hits, or six fireballs, Mario defeats Tatanga and recovers the Golden Coin of Space Zone. Like all other bosses except Wario, Tatanga falls off the screen upon defeat, though his spaceship simply disappears before he falls. While falling, his full body is shown, being notably shorter than Super Mario.

The Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten indicates Tatanga became Wario's henchman to get revenge on Mario for ruining his scheme to marry Daisy.

A mini-guide of the game included in the Kodansha adaptation suggests that the alien may not be the same character as Tatanga, despite the manga itself and other sources indicating otherwise.

Unlike the other bosses featured in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Tatanga does not appear in Nintendo Power's Mario vs. Wario comic, despite being perhaps the most major boss next to Wario, given his status as Super Mario Land's antagonist.

Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up

Tatanga makes a cameo in Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up, piloting Pagosu in the Astronaut coloring page.

Game Boy

Tatanga appears as the villain in the Game Boy comic books spun off from the Nintendo Comics System, produced by the company Valiant. In the comics, Tatanga lives in an alternate dimension that exists within a Game Boy. He hypnotizes Herman Smirch, a human from New Jersey, while playing Super Mario Land, causing the man to release Tatanga from the Game Boy. Upon arriving on Earth, Tatanga hopes to conquer the planet and rule it with an iron fist. He is released several times, each time attempting to conquer an Earth monument, such as Walt Disney World, the World Trade Center, or the Great Wall of China. However, Mario is always released from the Game Boy as well to thwart his schemes and bring him back to the Game Boy dimension.

In the miniseries, Tatanga's relationship with Daisy is similar to the one between Princess Peach and Bowser, in that he appears to genuinely love the princess, with several of his attempted conquests being done solely in an attempt to impress her. Additionally, in this series he is considerably bigger and more muscular than in the games, has more pronounced fangs and claws, and wears a black uniform. His Pagosu is also able to assume a more humanoid form, making it resemble battle armor.

Super Mario (Kodansha manga)

Tatanga introducing himself

Tatanga appears in the Super Mario gag manga by Kodansha, as a recurring character.

In Super Mario Land he plays the role of main antagonist. He is seen doing many of the things described in that game's instruction booklet, such as abducting Daisy, having hypnotic powers, eating Torions and creating Honens, and trying to force Daisy to marry him.

Tatanga later appears in Super Mario Land 3 during a tennis tournament as Bowser's tennis partner, and makes a cameo next to Daisy on the sidelines in the Super Mario Kart arc.

During Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Tsu no Kinka 2, Wario convinces Tatanga to get revenge on Mario, offering a new spaceship to replace the destroyed Pagosu. When Wario manipulates Daisy into becoming Warudaisy, she hitches a ride on Tatanga's spaceship to his home planet. Tatanga announces his marriage to the now evil Daisy, but she seizes the opportunity to use a brainwashing technique on his people to serve Wario, and she proceeds to convert Luigi and Peach as well. However, Mario breaks the spell by kissing Daisy on the cheek, stunning Tatanga as he drops the wedding ring he was about to give to Daisy. He attacks Mario with his spaceship, dropping gas bombs which prompt Luigi, Peach, and Mario to put on suits, but the nearby aliens are caught in the gas; when Mario wonders why Tatanga would risk harming his own people, Wario's hologram shows up and reveals that it is because Tatanga is under his mind control. With the help of the Hippo's soap bubbles, Daisy and the aliens float to safety. Mario catches a wide space cutter and tosses it back at Tatanga's ship, cutting it in half and causing an explosion that leaves behind a letter to Daisy, saying that he enjoyed his time with her, making her teary-eyed. Later, Tatanga is revealed to have survived and arrives to help in his spaceship with Daisy, who takes her flowery earrings off and throws them to Mario and Luigi, turning them to Fire Mario and Fire Luigi as all three blast Wario together.

While an overall villainous figure, Tatanga is also depicted as comical, particularly in his genuine crush on Daisy. A recurring gag is for characters to be disappointed by Tatanga's short height. In the manga, he is given a more detailed design as opposed to the game. He now has a frilled black uniform, a cape, batlike ears, a belt with the letter T on it, and an entire mouth full of fangs.

Super Mario-kun

Tatanga and his minions working with Bowser in Super Mario-kun volume 3

In Super Mario-kun, Tatanga is mentioned in volume 2, when Mario recalls the ending of Super Mario Land, right when he rescued Daisy.

Tatanga appears in the last chapter of the next volume, where he rents his minions to Bowser. A newspaper clip read by Bowser's Minions reveals the negotiations between the two villains, with Tatanga wanting to ask for ¥5,000 in total and Bowser offering ¥50.

Tatanga last appearance in the manga is in the ninth volume, where he appears in the Space Zone, steals Mario's collected Golden Coins, and flees, prompting Mario, Carrot, Yokkī, and Hippo to follow him. During the battle, Tatanga seems to have the upper hand until his projectiles are used against him, but he then shoots a spherical projectile that Yokkī eats, later revealed to be fireworks, which send the heroes back to Earth. While Tatanga rejoices, someone surprises him from behind. Back on Earth, a Santa Claus-like character appears and gifts Mario the six Golden Coins, who is later revealed to be Bowser, who wanted to do something good for his "best enemy" during the Christmas season. The chapter ends with a shot of a bruised Tatanga, muttering something about a horned Santa.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Tatanga makes an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Advanced-class Shield-type primary spirit with two support slots. It simply raises the user's power without granting any special effects. The spirit's puppet fighter is Morton, who starts the battle with a Super Scope, on the Battlefield form of the Mario Galaxy stage. Tatanga is also mentioned in the Palutena's Guidance for Daisy, where Pit and Palutena discuss Daisy's history; Pit ends up dismissing Tatanga as little more than a cheap substitute for Bowser to kidnap a princess and kick off the plot.

Other appearances

Tatanga is mentioned in Princess Daisy's bio in the game Mario Superstar Baseball and her trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is later mentioned in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Profiles and statistics

Super Mario Land

• Instruction booklet:

• English (American):
  This unknown space monster appeared suddenly from deep space. He drives the war robot Pagosu, and attacks with scattered meandering rockets.
• Other languages:
  • French (Europe):
    Monstre, dont la nature même reste une énigme, apparu soudain d'au delà du cosmos. A bord du robot combattant Pagosu, il attaque dans toutes les directions à l'aide de roquettes

• Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual description:
  • English (American):
    This unknown monster appeared suddenly from deep space. He pilots the robot Pagosu and attacks with scattered rockets.
  • English (British):
    This unknown space monster suddenly appeared from outer space. He drives the war robot Pagosu and attacks with scattered, meandering rockets.
  • Other languages:
    • Dutch:
      Dit mysterieuze ruimtemonster dook plotseling op vanuit de ruimte. Hij bestuurt de oorlogsrobot Pagosu en valt aan met een breed spervuur van onvoorspelbare projectielen.
    • French (Europe):
      Ce monstre venu de l'espace et inconnu de tous est apparu un jour sans crier gare. Il est aux commandes de Pagosu, son robot de guerre, et tire des roquettes dans tous les sens.
    • German:
      Das Ungeheuer, das eines Tages aus den Tiefen des Alls erschien. Er steuert den Kampfroboter Pagosu, der mit unberechenbaren Geschossen bewaffnet ist.
    • Italian:
      Questo misterioso mostro spaziale è apparso all'improvviso dallo spazio più profondo. Guida un robot da guerra chiamato Pagosu e attacca con razzi dalla traiettoria impazzita.
    • Spanish (Europe):
      Este misterioso set llegó de repente de los remotos confines de la galaxia. Pilota un engendro robótico de guerra al que llama Pagosu. Sus ondas nucleares de choque pueden llegar a resultar devastadoras...

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten

タタンガ (JP) / Tatanga (EN)
	Original text (Japanese)		Translation
	出身しゅっしん	不明	Place of origin	Unknown
	性格せいかく	小心者	Disposition	Timid person
	登場とうじょうゲーム	ランド1、 ランド2	Game appearances	Land 1, Land 2
	今やワリオの手下？ 「オイラは宇宙怪人うちゅうかいじんタタンガ。マリオランドでサラサ・ランドを乗のっ取とり、デイジー姫ひめを妃きさきにしようとしたらマリオに邪魔じゃまされちまった。今度こんどはオイラが邪魔じゃまをしてやる!」		Now Wario's lackey? “I'm the Mysterious Spaceman Tatanga. In Mario Land, I took over Sarasa Land and tried to take Princess Daisy as my queen, but Mario got in my way. This time I'll get in his way!”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Spirit #57 Tatanga
	Series/game	Super Mario Series
	Type	Primary
	Slots	2
	Class	Advanced
	Strength / effect(s)	Shield
	How to obtain	Spirit Board
Spirit battle	Opponent(s)	Morton
	Conditions	The enemy starts the battle with a Super Scope
	Stage	Mario Galaxy (Battlefield)
	Song	Underground Theme - Super Mario Land

Gallery

• 

  Tatanga in Das Super Mario Spiel

• 

  A Kellogg's sticker based on Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

• 

  Tatanga's cameo in Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up

• 

  Tatanga in the Game Boy comics

• 

  In the Palm of Your Hand...

• 

  In the Palm of Your Hand...

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	宇宙怪人タタンガ Uchū kaijin Tatanga	Mysterious Spaceman Tatanga
	宇宙人うちゅうじん Uchūjin	Space Alien
Dutch	De Mysterieuze Ruimteman Tatanga	The Mysterious Spaceman Tatanga
French	Tatanga[?]	-
	Tatanga, monstre mystérieux de l'espace	Tatanga, mysterious monster from space
	Tatanga, le monstre de l'espace
German	Tatanga, der rätselhafte Raumfahrer	Tatanga, the enigmatic spaceman
	Tatanga	-
Italian	Tatanga[?]	-
	Tatanga, il Misterioso Personaggio Spaziale	Tatanga, the Mysterious Space Character
	Alieno	Alien
	Tatanga, il mostro dello spazio	Tatanga, the space monster
Russian	Татанга[?] Tatanga	Tatanga
Spanish	Tatanga[?]	-
	Tatanga, el ser del espacio	Tatanga, the Being from Space