The 'Shroom:Issue 215/Pipe Plaza

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Director's Notes

Written by: Zange (talk)

Shroom2019 Zange.png

Happy Day of Discounted Chocolate \o/

Did anyone else watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials or am I the only one? Either way, the ones I did get to see were pretty good! Unfortunately I had to stop watching before halftime so I could go play Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. But there was a commercial with the Muppets!!! That's a WIN in my book.

We have a BUNCH of cool new things to spice up your Pipe Plaza this month! First, we have a guest section from our amazing subdirector Sparks (talk), who writes about a very special pony! Next, we have two regular sections making their debut this month! For section number one, we have Camwoodstock (talk) keeping track of updates and changes on the main page's fancy To-Do list in To-Do Tracker! For section number two, yours truly gets to explain development and evolution of Muppet characters in A Section of Muppetational Origins! The rest of the sections you know and love are here too!! Oh how I love to see a thriving Pipe Plaza... If you have an idea for a cool section of your own, don't forget that you can sign up to write for The 'Shroom at any time! It really is possible to write a section about anything, I promise. Just head to the sign up page to learn more!

That's all I've got for you here, happy reading~

Section of the Month

Congratulations to this month's winners! In first place, we have Shoey (talk) with What's in a Campaign?! Claiming silver this month is Hooded Pitohui (talk) with Poll Committee Discussion! Finally, Waluigi Time (talk) rounds us out at third with Awards Analysis! Thank you to everyone who votes for their favorite sections as well.

PIPE PLAZA SECTION OF THE MONTH
Place Section Votes % Writer
1st What's in a Campaign? 5 33.33% Shoey (talk)
2nd Poll Committee Discussion 4 26.67% Hooded Pitohui (talk)
3rd Awards Analysis 3 20.00% Waluigi Time (talk)
News and information
Mario Calendar
GPM1000 (talk)
Find out all about this month's Super Mario releases.
read more
To-Do Tracker
Camwoodstock (talk)
No clue what to do? Join the fun and see what's been done!
read more
Poll Committee Discussion
Waluigi Time (talk)
The best analysis of the polls around!
read more
Awards Analysis
Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Awards may have come and gone, but let's talk about the results!
read more
The 'Shroom Report
Waluigi Time (talk)
All the latest writers and all the milestones of the current ones.
read more
The History of The Great and Powerful Trixie
Sparks (talk)
This section should make your day a little more magical!
read more
A Section of Muppetational Origins
Zange (talk)
It's not easy being green... Unless you're in Pipe Plaza.
read more
What's in a Campaign?
Shoey (talk)
Chaos... No emeralds though :(
read more

Mario Calendar

Written by: GPM1000 (talk)

Happy February everyone! I hope you have all had a fantastic start to your month - how's 2025 treating everyone so far? I hope it's going great, but I also have the perfect way to brighten it up if it's not… a new Mario Calendar! Let's get into it, shall we?

Region Abbreviations

Abb. Region
ALL All Regions (JP/NA/EU/AU)
JP Japan
NA North America
EU Europe
AU Oceania/Australia
SK South Korea
CHN China
UK United Kingdom

Console Abbreviations

Abb. Console
NES Nintendo Entertainment System
Famicom Family Computer Disk System
SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System
N64 Nintendo 64
GC Nintendo GameCube
GB Game Boy
GBC Game Boy Color
GBA Game Boy Advance
DS Nintendo DS
3DS Nintendo 3DS
Switch Nintendo Switch
Wii VC Nintendo Wii Virtual Console
3DS VC Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
Wii U VC Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console
VB Virtual Boy
G&W Game and Watch
64DD Nintendo 64 Disk Drive
MS-DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System
CD-i Philips CD-i
IQ iQue Player
NVS Nvidia Shield
ACPC Amstrad CPC
ZX ZX Spectrum
Coleco Colecovision
TI-99 Texas Instruments TI-99/4A


Well, as you can see, there's very little worth saying about this month. There are always gems, but it's just a lot of smaller-scale games, re-releases, and obscure spinoffs! However, I would definitely like to shout out the fact that Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario, and Mario Party came out in North America - if there are any highlights, these are the ones!

As we know by now, the first few months of the year are rarely standouts - people have already splurged during the holidays, so there aren't going to be many purchases made. But that just means we get more time to enjoy all of the awesome games we bought during the holidays! So let's hang in there, and we'll have many great games soon. And the Switch 2!! Have a great month, everyone!

To-Do Tracker

Written by: Camwoodstock (talk)

Heya, howdy, hello, and good whenever-it-is-you're-reading-this to whomever-is-reading-this, and most of all; welcome, to the To-Do Tracker! We have a bit of a bulky issue for this inaugural episode, so you'll have to bear with us here; hopefully, future issues won't be so. Throwing numbers at you-y.

Our goal here is simple; as of a fairly recent proposal, the wiki has added a to-do bar for logged in users on the main page. This gives a quick rundown of various maintenance categories and things that require assistance. Of course, given the constantly-shifting nature of it, it might be impossible for some to tell what exactly is going on behind the numbers. This is to serve a dual purpose; to preserve the state of the to-do bar, and to give observations and showcase what all has been going on with it!

For this first issue, we've got a whopper of an issue for you, so we need to wrap up this introduction quick. We'll be going over both January and what has currently gone on in February. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a rather large table! If you just want to read our remarks, scroll below it, but we highly suggest you at least see the January 1st and February 12th columns; that way, you have a sense of scale for how things progressed.

Note: All dates here, with the exception of January 1st (which was at 11PM EST), were taken fairly late at night in EST; around 1-3 AM EST.

January & February To-Do Items
To-Do Item Jan 1, 2025 Jan 8, 2025 Jan 15, 2025 Jan 22, 2025 Jan 29, 2025 Feb 5, 2025 Feb 12, 2025
Spotlight Focuses N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 3
Ongoing TPPs 12 13 16 22 21 20 16
Unimplemented Proposals 15+ 15+ 20+ 20+ 20+ 20+ 25+
Unresolved Discussions 282 286 285 291 290 298 291
Construction Projects 260 257 253 238 219 222 219
Rewrites Needed 514 510 494 490 430 94 97
Sourcing Issues 19,771 19,767 19,770 19,748 19,766 19,805 19,800
Stub Articles 238 232 218 222 277 563 565
Unknown Meanings N/A N/A 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Wanted Articles 1000+ 1000+ 1000+ 1000+ 1000+ 1000+ 1000+
Version Deletions 33 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Pending Deletions N/A N/A N/A N/A 12 6 4
Requested Deletions 15 30 27 29 7 10 8
Suggested Merges 66 66 76 72 74 75 72
Suggested Moves 51 50 50 49 46 46 46
Suggested Splits 19 20 19 20 20 22 23
Wanted Categories 50+ 50+ 50+ 50+ N/A N/A N/A
Deprecated Templates 1,240 1,397 1,161 1,114 995 917 723
Invalid Parameter 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Incomplete Tag N/A 1 N/A N/A 1 N/A N/A
Math Errors N/A N/A N/A N/A 2 N/A N/A
Image Quality 3,992 3,986 3,977 3,970 3,973 4,060 3,919
Images Needed 816 814 818 774 776 777 779
Media Needed 245 194 194 192 189 190 194
Media Quality 10 10 10 9 9 9 9
Unused Files 500+ 500+ 400+ 300+ 300+ 300+ 300+

There are a few changes the to-do bar has undergone in the past month and a half! Rather than meld this into one segment, we've elected to cover these uniquely:

  • You might've noticed that the deletions got a bit weird in late January. That's normal; on the night of January 22nd, the deletions were split from just "Requested deletions" to "Requested deletions" and "pending deletions"; naturally, this is reflected in the table itself.
  • Similarly, you might've noticed a huge dip in rewrites alongside a huge gain in stubs; this came as part of an effort to clean-up cases where "rewrite" was being used to denote missing information, rather than information that needed to be rewritten.
  • You might've noticed something creeping in at the very end of the table, there; born from a discussion on the Discord quite literally the afternoon before our final data collection, we have a 'Shroom Spotlight section now! We obviously won't be tracking this one in fine details, as that's the 'Shroom Spotlight's job, not ours; however, we will showcase its numbers adjusting like any other item. (Incidentally, if you aren't already checking it out yet were somehow interested enough to read this far--check out the 'Shroom Spotlight! It's got our approval.)
  • Last one on the "massive fluctuations caused by changes to maintenance categories" front, we promise; by the time you're reading this, there's a real chance that Image Quality will be splitting soon courtesy of a proposal that, as of writing, has 100% approval, though won't be passing early. Thusly, if that one's smaller, and there are a few extra categories, you know why. If it passes, you will certainly see this reflected in next month's edition as well.

Okay, now it's time for some observations for how the numbers have progressed, and some potential targets:

  • The number of unimplemented proposals has hovered in the 20-to-30 range since mid-January. If you want to pitch in, this would be a good time.
  • The obvious number-one here are sourcing issues; a truly ludicrous amount of which come from unsourced foreign names; an approximate 17,700 of them come from that subcategory alone(!!) If you're looking at any of these items that might become the focal point of a huge editing project... We'd start with the only one in the quintuple digits. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one in the coming issues, for sure.
  • Wanted Articles has held at 1000+ the whole month and a half; this makes sense, as its Special Page can only cache 1,000 results. Maybe take a look in there, and see if we can't get it below 1,000 before the end of the year, will ya?
  • Media Needed took a dive early on, before hovering around 190; a lot of the entries left are samples from various soundtrack releases. If you happen to have these albums lying around, now's as good a time as any to break them out. Just make sure you abide by the 30-seconds-limit rule, and apply a fadeout, of course.
  • Media quality has held very steady, from 10 to 9 across the entire month and a half long period. It is so tantalizingly close to being taken care of, and yet it's not quite there yet. If you can pitch in, now'd be a good time to do so.
  • Deprecated templates had an early spike up to just under 1,400, but has been on a gradual decrease until reaching around 725, and is reasonably on pace to be completely taken care of by next month; make sure to keep up the pace!
  • The success story of the month has got to be Wanted Categories; it went from 50+ entries to... absolutely none. Every single wanted category has been properly accounted for. Major kudos there!

Poll Committee Discussion

Written by: Waluigi Time (talk)

Hello there, 'Shroom readers! Waluigi Time here with more polls, more discussion, but still the same amount of committee as last time. Not for long, though - the Poll Chairperson Election is now underway! Who will lead the Poll Committee's fifteenth term through 2025? It could be you, the person reading this right now! All I know is it won't be me!

Archives

What was your favorite Mario game released in 2024? (MightyMario (talk), January 4th, 2025)

What was your favorite Mario game released in 2024?

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door 26.46% (1,023 votes)
Super Mario Party Jamboree 20.59% (796 votes)
Mario & Luigi: Brothership 20.05% (775 votes)
I have not played any of these games 12.31% (476 votes)
I liked all of the Mario games released in 2024 7.58% (293 votes)
Princess Peach: Showtime! 3.98% (154 votes)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2.46% (95 votes)
I have no opinion 2.17% (84 votes)
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD 1.78% (69 votes)
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition 1.71% (66 votes)
I did not like any of the Mario games released in 2024 0.91% (35 votes)
Total Votes: 3,866

What are you most hoping to see from Nintendo in 2025? (MightyMario (talk), January 18th, 2025)

What are you most hoping to see from Nintendo in 2025?

Brand-new releases for consoles 74.68% (2,009 votes)
Remakes of classic games 9.85% (265 votes)
New additions to the Nintendo Switch Online service 5.02% (135 votes)
DLC for current games 3.72% (100 votes)
New non-game entertainment like theme parks and movies 2.79% (75 votes)
New mobile games 2.01% (54 votes)
New applications like Nintendo Music 1.08% (29 votes)
New non-console products like Alarmo 0.86% (23 votes)
Total Votes: 2,690

Analysis

What was your favorite Mario game released in 2024?

North American icon for the Nintendo Switch remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
It's the FAVORITE GAME FROM 2024 and it's... PAPER?!?!

A fairly self-explanatory poll to kick things off! As I recall, the top spot changed a few times during the two weeks this poll was running, but the Nintendo Switch version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door came out on top in the end, with a decent margin of victory to boot. Maybe it says something that the one with the most votes was technically twenty years old already, though... But hey, an already beloved game, and a highly anticipated and apparently well-received remake, so are we really surprised that this one came out on top? In second and a close third, we have our other big releases of the year, Super Mario Party Jamboree and Mario & Luigi: Brothership. So it looks like the big winners here are RPGs and games you can easily play with friends.

There's a significant drop-off for our next option from ~20% to ~12%, and that's the voters who haven't played any of these games yet. Maybe these releases just don't appeal to them, or maybe there's budgetary or time constraints for them. Next we have basically the opposite, the voters who liked all of 2024's games! I'm curious if all of them actually did play each one, though... Anyway, back to games. Princess Peach: Showtime! and Mario vs. Donkey Kong are next, followed by the obligatory no opinion option. Presumably, these voters played at least one game but didn't feel too strongly about any of them, or we have some overlap with the ones who didn't play any games going on. That doesn't bode well for Luigi's Mansion 2 HD and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition at the bottom of the poll though, but hey, at least they got more votes than the option for people who didn't like any of these games, which received less than 1% of the total vote.

Back in September 2023, the Thirteenth Poll Committee ran a similar poll on what upcoming games our visitors were most looking forward to. Of the 2024 releases that were announced at the time, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door had the most votes, followed by Princess Peach: Showtime!. However, Luigi's Mansion 2 HD managed to pull ahead of Mario vs. Donkey Kong, meanwhile they're flipped around here. I'm not too surprised that there's a disconnect between expectations and final opinions. Mario vs. Donkey Kong has a very fresh coat of paint on it and additional content, and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, uh, doesn't!

What are you most hoping to see from Nintendo in 2025?

Footage of a Mario Kart game for the Nintendo Switch 2
Mario Kart 8 Even More Deluxe looks great!

BREAKING NEWS: Video game fans want the video game company to release new video games! Specifically, console video games, which isn't a big shock since the Nintendo Switch 2 was announced just a couple days before this poll launched. It's already got a new Mario Kart title that looks pretty promising! One voter on the forums said that it would be nice to see some new games intended to show off the features and power of the Switch 2, especially after a year that had quite a few remake releases. Can't argue with that! With nearly 75% of the vote concentrated on this option, it almost doesn't seem worth discussing the others, but I guess I might as well do it.

Our next two extremely distant options both focus on legacy content - remakes of classic games and new content for Nintendo Switch Online. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, especially for a company like Nintendo with an extensive and strong history. A lot of games haven't been available officially for a long time, and whether you want the chance to play an older game you've never had the opportunity to, or you just want to revisit an old favorite on modern hardware (perhaps with a fresh coat of paint), there's certainly still a lot of people clamoring for new ways to play old games. Speaking of games that already exist, our fourth place option is new DLC for currently released games. DLC can be a great way to return to a game you've already finished, or to flesh out a game that was maybe a little underbaked at launch. (Somehow, I don't think we'll be getting Mario Party Superstars DLC anytime soon, though.)

Below that, it's basically everything else. Non-game entertainment like theme parks and movies beat out new mobile games. They're probably going to be waiting for a while since there's no movies or shows announced as far as I know until 2026, and the new Donkey Kong Country expansion at Super Nintendo World just opened, so it'll probably be a while before anything new shows up there. On the other hand, Nintendo's mobile games have mostly turned out to be short-lived gachafests, so it makes sense that not too many people are strongly hoping for more of them. Next comes entirely new applications like Nintendo Music. I'm curious what else they're hoping to see, since I can't really envision anything else that would be interesting or useful. If you voted for that option, let me know! Continuing the theme of the last place option having less than 1% of the total votes, our last one is non-console products. In hindsight, this option may have shot itself in the foot by mentioning Alarmo, which is a pretty weird and niche product that not too many people seem interested in, but I think this option could also encompass things like soundtrack releases or new merchandise.

Conclusion

That wraps things up from me for the last time this term! Next month our chairperson MightyMario (talk) will be concluding the Fourteenth Poll Committee's term with a look at some of our last polls, including one on the newly released Donkey Kong Country Returns HD! Be sure to come back for it, and don't forget to check out the election and maybe even throw your hat in the ring!

Awards Analysis

Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)

Hello, all you readers of The 'Shroom! It's your 2024 Awards Sub-Director, Hooded Pitohui, back for the final Awards Analysis written by the fourteenth Poll Committee. Rest assured that we'll be talking with the next Poll Chairperson to keep this project going! After all, there are plenty more awards we can cover before this year's ceremonies roll around.

This month, we'll look at two awards where a nominee managed to surge their way to the gold after not making it on the podium in 2023.

Archives

M3. Favorite Mario RPG Character

M3. Favorite Mario RPG Character

Vivian 18.79% (325 votes)
Fawful 11.91% (206 votes)
Geno 10.35% (179 votes)
Goombella 9.13% (158 votes)
Bobby/Bob-omb 5.32% (92 votes)
Dimentio 5.32% (92 votes)
Count Bleck 4.86% (84 votes)
Mallow 4.95% (63 votes)
Admiral Bobbery 3.47% (60 votes)
Doopliss 3.24% (56 votes)
Total Votes: 1,730

F4. Worst Obstacle

F4. Worst Obstacle

Poison Mushroom/Rotten Mushroom 15.02% (224 votes)
Pursuing doppelgänger (Cosmic Clones, Rift Mario) 15.02% (224 votes)
Wind 14.29% (213 votes)
Quicksand 7.58% (113 votes)
Black Hole 7.24% (108 votes)
Lava/Poison 7.24% (108 votes)
Feezing water 6.71% (100 votes)
Fire Bar 5.90% (88 votes)
Water levels 4.23% (63 votes)
Mine Carts 2.82% (42 votes)
Total Votes: 1,491

Analysis

M3. Favorite Mario RPG Character

This award came into being all the way back in 2022. The Awards Committee of the time had received a suggestion to retool the staple Favorite Major Character and Favorite Supporting Character awards into a three-tier system, retaining them both but adding a third award for "minor characters". A few concerns were raised, such as how exactly minor characters would be defined, and that particular idea didn't stick, but, in the process of discussing it, Waluigi Time remarked on the possibility of a Favorite RPG Character award. The AC of the time circled back to that thought while looking at the Favorite Supporting Character nominees, and, realizing none of them were RPG characters, the decision was made to give this award a try.

Admiral Bobbery using Bob-ombast in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Live footage of Bobbery blowing away the other new nominees

In its first year of existence, this award saw three perennial fan favorites on the podium, with the underling-turned-main antagonist Fawful taking the gold, the requested-in-Smash-since-the-N64-days Geno taking silver, and the enemy-turned-ally Vivian taking third. It's interesting to see the top three all came from a different RPG series (for a given value of "series" in Geno's case). That's a trend that has kept up since the category's introduction, speaking to the enduring popularity of all three of these approaches to making a Mario RPG, and, I suppose, to the most well-received character each approach has produced.

Vivian's continued placement as the highest-scoring Paper Mario character was no foregone conclusion, however. Even in 2022, a challenger waited in the wings, with just eleven votes separating Vivian from the fourth-placing Bobby from The Origami King. While this is where a joke could be made about a divide between fans of the older Paper Mario games and the newer entries, the takeaway here ought to be that giving one of Mario's companions a bit more of a fleshed-out story and an opportunity for personal growth is a surefire way to make a memorable Paper Mario character.

Their similarities noted, in another close contest come 2023, while Fawful and Geno solidified their placements and claimed a slightly higher share of the vote, Vivian narrowly lost her place on the podium to Bobby, coming in fourth thanks to a difference of fourteen votes.

The 2024 Awards cycle, however, encompassing the back half of 2023 and the front half of 2024, however, brought some major changes to the Mario RPG landscape. Super Mario RPG released for the Switch, putting Geno, Mallow, and others firmly back in the spotlight after twenty-some years... as did The Thousand-Year Door, bringing the likes of Vivian, Goombella, and Doopliss back after just short of twenty years of absence. The stage was set for a shakeup, and in fact, the big movement in RPGs delayed the possibility of merging Favorite Supporting Character and Favorite RPG Character to at least next year. Looking at past write-ins to guide their decisions, the AC swapped out Admiral Bobbery for the poorly-performing Broque Monsieur. With members noticing a surge in support for Booster online, he took Prince Peasley's place. Finally, in a TTYD-for-TTYD swap, recurring Boss Lord Crump replaced Rawk Hawk. It was a year of chopping out M&L nominees in favor of characters expected to get a boost from the remakes, but how did these new additions fare?

Well, they had a mixed showing. In terms of the nominees, Booster only scored above King Olly, while Lord Crump only did little better, coming in fourth-to-last when looking at only the nominees. On the other hand, Admiral Bobbery, who got in solely on the strength of his write-ins, did quite well, cracking the top ten and even beating out Doopliss to land in ninth. The takeaway here? The voters will never steer you wrong when it comes to choosing nominees. Let high-placing write-ins take the place of low-placing nominees to find the nominees with the strongest shots.

Looking at the top ten as a whole, the remakes of this cycle had a clear effect on things. In 2023, the top ten had two Origami King characters, one Rabbids character, two SPM characters, one PM (64) character, two TTYD characters, Geno as the lone SMRPG representative, and Fawful as the sole M&L holdout. 2024 has four TTYD characters, two SMRPG characters, the same two SPM characters, one Origami King character, and retains Fawful as the sole M&L representative, so you can see the list was condensed as the remakes claimed a larger portion of the top ten.

Image showing a partner move in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Basically this, but with Geno and Fawful in place of the Goombas

Of course, though, the biggest change happened at the top of the list, and we need to finish the story we started, so let's zero in on the top three. With shiny new remakes, both Geno and Vivian had a shot at toppling Fawful, and, in the end, it was Vivian who did so, rocketing into a dominating first place with over 18% of the vote. Fawful held onto the silver, and Geno took the bronze. So what made the difference here? Why did Vivian perform so well, and get a noticeably bigger boost than Geno? After all, while he doesn't get as much characterization as she does, due to not showing up outside of the party as often, he did get a little additional characterization through the Scrapbook, while Vivian didn't get additional scenes.

Well, Vivian may not have received any new scenes, but what scenes she has were revised in ways which generated a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. Frequently commented on was the re-addition of Vivian's identity as a trans woman in the English version of the game's script and the greater sensitivity given to her identity in the original Japanese script, which garnered notice even before the remake's release. The handling of her identity in the original GameCube version had been widely discussed even before the remake's announcement, so it's little wonder that players took note of this change.

Less widely commented upon but roundly welcomed was a change to Vivian's role in the game's ending sequence. In the GameCube original, she awkwardly returned to her sisters in an odd scene which felt like it left her story, along with that of Beldam and Marilyn, without resolution. In the remake, a slight tweak to the dialogue gives her more agency in the decision, explicitly framing it as her attempt to give her sisters a second chance. These changes addressed the most common criticisms of the character and her story, spurring a lot of excitement which I would attribute to her performing so strongly this year.

Will that last into next year? Will Mario & Luigi: Brothership create a resurgence of interest in M&L characters, or even propel one of its characters (probably Technikki, maybe Connie) into a strong debut next year? Only time shall tell, but it seems clear Mario RPGs are having their time in the sun right now.

F4. Worst Obstacle

Alright, alright, after that framing, I admit I'm cheating a little bit with F4, because its surging nominee wasn't on the list in 2023 to begin with. Still, let's step back, just as before, to 2022, when this award debuted. This category began life as a suggestion from long-time Awards Director Anton, which the AC at the time supported and fashioned into a full award. In its first year, it had a pretty interesting top three... because the silver and bronze went to two mechanically-similar obstacles. The winner (157 votes) in 2022 was the ever-pushy Wind featured in various Super Mario levels, but it was trailed closely by Poison Mushrooms (144 votes), which were in turn trailed by the Super Mario Maker 2 Rotten Mushroom (125 votes). Given how closely they placed and how similar they are in their functions and designs, the possibility they had split the vote between themselves and would have beaten Wind if they were combined was floated.

In 2023, the Awards Committee deemed that possibility likely and decided they were similar enough to merge them, so they combined them into one nominee, and, sure enough, they beat Wind handily, sending it to second while allowing Lava/Poison to move one space up to get on the podium. Outside of the top four, the top ten of those two years didn't change all that much. Quicksand, Black Holes, and Freezing water shuffled positions a bit, Skewer lost some ground, and Toxic cloud managed to sneak its way into eighth, but nothing dramatic happened.

They have such a neat story this year you could almost forget how annoying they are!

In 2024, in light of low expectations for a change, with Poison Mushrooms/Rotten Mushrooms having such a strong lead and Wonder's obstacles not being seen as particularly bad, the Awards Committee initially blue binned this category, setting it aside for later review. A meeting later, fellow blue binned award "Most Disappointing Update Cycle" was axed, but the AC decided against axing Worst Obstacle unless anyone put forward a strong concept that could replace it. It stuck around, and the AC looked to Wonder for any new nominee ideas, with Lava/Poison geysers being suggested but not garnering much enthusiasm. winstein suggested "harmful doppelgängers", and, after a bit of workshopping, the suggestion made it on as a new nominee in the form of "Pursuing doppelgängers", encompassing obstacles like Cosmic Clones and Wonder's Rift Mario.

It's always a bit exciting to see how new nominees fare, but this year, this award's new nominee proved especially exciting for the directing staff to follow. Throughout the entire voting period, Pursuing doppelgängers trailed Poison/Rotten Mushrooms, the gap sometimes widening and sometimes shrinking, but never getting further than a few votes apart. True to their namesake, those doppelgängers sure did pursue the previous year's winner, staying just steps behind the mushrooms in an apt race to the goal. Then, in the final hours, they did it, catching up to the mushrooms and tying them. It was a notable enough saga for us to acknowledge it with a Bonus Star at this year's ceremony.

Why did this new nominee perform so well? Maybe Rift Mario contributed in some way, but with as much as Wonder offered and as short as any Rift segments were, I suspect anything it contributed was actually quite small. I would posit that there's a more fundamental reason people don't like these obstacles, and that's because they inhibit exploration and force you to rush through an area. We've seen a distaste for this kind of thing shape the results of Worst Level Concept, with autoscrolling levels and low timers consistently scoring high in the category, both being factors which force players to hurry through a level and which leave little time for self-directed exploration.

Outside of the success (or, er, failure?) story of pursuing doppelgängers, the changes here were relatively minor. Quicksand leapfrogged Black Holes. Lava/Poison fell a bit. Volcanic Debris fell out of the top ten, suggesting people are forgetting those NSMB DS and NSMB Wii levels which had it rushing them along, and Skewers fell out of the top twelve, probably as a result of not appearing in Wonder.

Time will tell if the Poison Mushroom and Rotten Mushroom can escape the doppelgängers next year or not. Perhaps we'll see a new 3D Mario and get some new nominees from it. Who can say? In just three years, this award has gained quite a storied history despite some dips in enthusiasm, so keep an eye on it!

Conclusion

With these stories of resurgence told, I suppose there's just one story left to tell... that being the story of the resurgence of the Poll Committee! As the fourteenth Poll Committee passed to the fifteenth, we'll do our best to keep this project going in this format. Come back in March for one more Awards Analysis from Waluigi Time (talk) and keep watching this space after that!

The 'Shroom Report

Written by: Waluigi Time (talk)

We're starting the year off with a bunch of new sections! You love to see it. There's even more new sections debuting in this issue! What more could you ask for? Well, you could ask for a new edition of The 'Shroom Report to summarize all those new sections and more from Issue 214. And who would I be to say no to that? Thanks as always to Meta Knight for updating our spreadsheets!

For new readers or anyone needing a refresher, please open the box below.

​
  • First-Time Writers lists everyone who wrote their first section for The 'Shroom in the previous issue.
  • New Sections lists recurring sections that started their run in the previous issue. This includes returning sections that previously went inactive.
  • Guest Sections lists one-off submissions from the previous issue.
  • Milestones covers certain section numbers reached in the previous issue. Writers are mentioned for every 10 sections written in a team and every 50 sections written overall, teams are mentioned for every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom itself is mentioned for every 500 sections.
  • Most Sections Written lists the current all-time record holders.
First-Time Writers
Writer Section
Aomaf (talk) Story Without Text
New Sections
Section Writer
Musical Quiz Ninja Squid (talk)
Mixdown Breakdown Zange (talk)
Random Video Analysis Sparks (talk)
Story Without Text Aomaf (talk)
Killing the Killing Game Roles Roserade (talk)
Guest Sections
Section Writer
Random Image of the Month Shoey (talk)
Community Report Waluigi Time (talk)
A Curse Crackers: For Whom The Bell Toils Review Paper Plumm (talk)
Milestones
Writer/Team Milestone
Hooded Pitohui (talk) 130 Strategy Wing sections
350 overall sections
Hypnotoad (talk) 200 Critic Corner sections
MarioMorty (talk) 40 Fun Stuff sections
Roserade (talk) 80 Fun Stuff sections
ViableBunnyBudd (talk) 10 Fun Stuff sections
Waluigi Time (talk) 150 Fake News sections
Pipe Plaza 1,200 sections
Most Sections Written
Team Writer Number of Sections
Main/Staff Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) 142
Fake News Waluigi Time (talk) 151
Fun Stuff Shoey (talk) 152
Palette Swap FunkyK38 (talk) 204
Pipe Plaza Yoshi876 (talk) 128
Critic Corner Hypnotoad (talk) 200
Strategy Wing Hooded Pitohui (talk) 133
Overall Yoshi876 (talk) 747
'Shroom Trivia
Yoshi876 holds the record for the most times submitting a section in all six teams for the same issue, with a total of 34!

For anyone interested in the full statistics on that piece of trivia since I don't want to waste them, here they are:

Statistics
# Writer Count Issues
1 Yoshi876 34 100-105, 107-108, 110, 112-134, 136-137
2 Shoey 14 171, 190-196, 198-200, 202, 205, 210
3 Waluigi Time 8 200, 203, 205-206, 210-213
4 Crocodile Dippy 2 100, 103
Hooded Pitohui 2 181, 200
5 Meta Knight 1 200
Sparks 1 215
Superchao 1 141

The History of The Great and Powerful Trixie

Written by: Sparks (talk)

“Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
—Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

What's this? A section about ponies? YES!!

Well not for all of them sadly. If that was the case then this Issue's Pipe Plaza would go on forever. This is about one unique pony in particular - Trixie Lulamoon (better known as The Great and Powerful Trixie)! Trixie is a female unicorn pony in the well-known cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. She's had quite a history throughout the show's run, but what exactly happened and who even is she in the first place? That's what I'm here for - to teach you readers on who she is!

Personally, she is my third favorite character in the show, but this isn't about my opinion on her! I'm here to educate you on Trixie! Think of this section as a fun lesson where you'll never ever ever feel bored. Please don't doze off or anything!

I'm only covering her history in Friendship Is Magic, so the spinoffs (Equestria Girls, Pony Life) won't be included. I'm not familiar with them at all. Same goes for the comics.

Some images in this section are courtesy of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Wiki.

Concept and creation

According to the show's creator, Lauren Faust, Trixie's debut episode (Boast Busters) originally called for a male boastful unicorn, but writer of the episode Chris Savino came up with the character of Trixie instead. He also had the idea to make her speak in the third person (using their full name to address themselves instead of using pronouns like "I" or "my"). After Trixie's first appearance, Season 1-5 and My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) Director Jayson Thiessen expressed his liking for the character and could see potential for her to return.

After Trixie's season 3 appearance in "Magic Duel", she wouldn't return until season 6's "No Second Prances". Season 5-9 Director Jim Miller stated that the show's staff "...always wanted to bring her back. It was just a matter of finding a good place to do that." It's good to see even the staff excited about Trixie!

Kathleen Barr provides the English voice for Trixie.

Appearance and personality

Trixie's normal appearance and her "Great and Powerful" persona.
Trixie's normal appearance and her "Great and Powerful" persona.
Trixie's normal appearance and her "Great and Powerful" persona.

Trixie is a female unicorn pony who has a manestyle similar to Fluttershy's. As for her tail, I wouldn't say it's spiky but it does remind me of Rainbow Dash's tail. Trixie's Cutie Mark is a star wand in front of a bright blue crescent moon. I'm not the best at describing colors, so I had to consult the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Wiki to discover what her interesting colors are:

  • Trixie's coat is brilliant azure.
  • Trixie's eyes are dark grayish violet.
  • Trixie's mane is primarily pale cornflower blue.
    • Her mane also has very pale cerulean stripes.
  • Trixie's magic aura is normally pale, light grayish magenta.
    • When she is affected by the Alicorn Amulet, it is vivid red.
    • In the comics, her magic aura is pale, light grayish cornflower blue.

As The Great and Powerful Trixie, she wears a purple wizard hat with blue and yellow stars and tiny circles. Trixie also wears a cape to match said hat. A turquoise gem connects the cape at the neck area.

Personality-wise, Trixie started off as a showboater who loved to create spectacles for the crowd. She's also shown to be boastful and arrogant, basically thinking she's better and above everypony else. Trixie is also vengeful, wanting to get back at Twilight Sparkle for humiliating her. Trixie even goes as far to use the dangerous Alicorn Amulet to do so. After realizing the error of her ways, Trixie becomes reformed and doesn't cause any more trouble... usually. She's trying her best, OK?

Trixie is adept at illusions and stage magic, far better than she is at actual unicorn magic. Season 7's "All Bottled Up" has Trixie successfully learn a teacup transfiguration spell - she then proceeds to transform mostly everything around her into teacups!

History in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Season 1

Quite a dazzling display!

Trixie made her debut in the season 1 episode "Boast Busters". In this episode, Trixie arrives in Ponyville and captures the attention of a large crowd. She tells them all that she had vanquished an Ursa Major, a ferocious, humongous cosmic bear. Twilight Sparkle, Spike and their friends don't buy her story and think of her as a showoff. This leads to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity to challenge Trixie in 1-on-1 bouts to show their skills, all of which result in the boastful unicorn humiliating them. Twilight Sparkle, worried that her friends will also think of her as a showoff due to her advanced knowledge of magic, runs off and does not compete against Trixie.

After the performances, two young ponies known as Snips and Snails have the brilliant idea of luring an Ursa Major to Ponyville. This is because the colts adore The Great and Powerful Trixie and wish to see her powers in a conflict, much to their hero's dismay. After casting out dud spells against the large ursine, Trixie admits that she actually didn't defeat an Ursa Major - she made the whole story up to make herself look better. Thankfully, Twilight Sparkle arrives on the scene and uses magic of her own to safely and successfully fly the Ursa Major back to its cave in the Everfree Forest. Afterwards, Twilight points out that the bear wasn't even an Ursa Major - it was an Ursa Minor! In other words, that was just a baby. The real Ursa Major is much more gigantic and dangerous.

Now annoyed, Trixie runs off into the horizon. Twilight believes that she will learn her lesson about being humble and not prideful. If only that was the case...

Season 2

Four Trixies appear at once during a distant shot of Ponyville in part 1 of "The Return of Harmony". Wait, why are there four Trixies? Maybe they're identical quadruplets or something? Probably an error.

Season 3

This town ain't big enough for the two of them.

Did you think Trixie was a one-time character? Nope! (Turns page) She returns in the season 3 episode "Magic Duel". Out of the blue, Rainbow Dash informs Twilight Sparkle of an emergency, which turns out to be you-know-who causing quite a ruckus. Turns out Trixie holds a grudge against Twilight. Why is that you may ask? It's because after the Ursa Minor incident, Trixie could no longer put on shows in Equestria due to everypony mocking the brilliant azure unicorn. She was a laughingstock everywhere she went, and so she had to take a job on the Pinkie Pie family rock farm just to earn a living.

However, Trixie has acquired a dangerous relic known as the Alicorn Amulet. This trinket bestows immense power onto the wearer at the cost of corrupting them. Additionally, only the wearer can take it off. Trixie then challenges Twilight to a magic duel, with the loser forced to leave Ponyville forever. After The Buff and Unfair Trixie casts an age spell (on Snips and Snails no less!), Twilight is unable to dish up a comeback and therefore loses the duel. She gets kicked out of Ponyville and Trixie becomes its tyrannical dictator. Twilight consults the wise Zecora to think of a plan and brush up on her magic. She then gets the idea to use one of Zecora's charms to match the strength of Trixie's Alicorn Amulet. After Twilight brags about her new charm's potential, Trixie hesitantly agrees to a second duel.

Fortunately, Twilight Sparkle's the one with the flashy spells this time! After witnessing astonishing feats like aging and duplication spells, Trixie steals Twilight's charm and takes off the Alicorn Amulet. The ponies then snatch the amulet and seal it away for good. Twilight then reveals that Zecora's charm had no power and was simply a doorstop. Plus all those spells? They were illusions only made possible with the help of her friends! At the end of the episode, Trixie apologizes to Twilight for her prior actions and wishes for forgiveness. The two make amends and Trixie dubs herself "The Great and Apologetic Trixie". We wouldn't see Trixie for a while...

Season 5

Trixie makes a small cameo in part 2 of the season 5 finale "The Cutie Re-Mark". She is seen in the Changeling timeline, standing atop a hut in the resistance village. She doesn't do anything worth notable here.

Season 6

From that moment, Trixie and Starlight became bestest friends forever!

WAHOO! Trixie is back in the season 6 episode "No Second Prances"! In the episode, Twilight Sparkle tasks the recently reformed Starlight Glimmer to make a new friend before they all have dinner with Princess Celestia. Starlight initially struggles with doing so, and decides to relax at the spa after being overwhelmed. Inside, she meets Trixie, who's also enjoying her time there. The two bond over having troubled pasts and therefore understand each other really, really well! Upon hearing of Starlight's new friend, Twilight shows concern and doubt because Trixie tried to enslave Ponyville. Well Starlight enslaved that one village right? Yeah...

Moving on! Twilight tries to get Starlight to make new friends instead of Trixie before the dinner, those being Muffins, DJ Pon-3 and Cranky Doodle Donkey. Of course, Starlight disagrees and meets up with her new buddy. Trixie has her own plans for the evening; currently in her "Apology Tour", she aspires to perform the "Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive", an ultra risky stunt only the legendary Hoofdini pulled off. A pony is shot out of a cannon and into the mouth of a manticore. After being eaten, that same pony teleports into a nearby box and remains unscathed. That's what she wishes to accomplish! Trixie then convinces Starlight to skip the dinner and to help her with the trick. Having been annoyed by Twilight's skepticism, she agrees to assist her new pal.

That night, before the show starts, Twilight barges in backstage and confronts the two unicorns. They all get into an argument and Trixie claims to only befriended Starlight to beat Twilight at something. Heartbroken, Starlight runs off, and The Pathetic and Friendless Trixie proceeds to reluctantly attempt the stunt without her. Thankfully, Starlight saves Trixie at the last possible moment and they truly become best friends. The show is a success, and everyone is happy... well except Princess Celestia and Twilight's chosen friends for Starlight. They're having the most boring dinner ever.

What's this? A second appearance in the same season? That's right! Trixie appears in the two part finale "To Where and Back Again". In the beginning, she joins Starlight on her way back to her old village, but the two quickly skedaddle when Starlight remembers what she did and is overwhelmed. The two of them (as well as good Changeling Thorax and the lord of chaos Discord) then set off together to rescue everypony after Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army capture the most important characters. That's not to say these characters aren't important though!

This is more of a Starlight Glimmer episode so I won't go into detail, but the four previously mentioned characters all complete their mission and save everyone from the Changeling Hive. Trixie did get annoyed with Discord during the journey, but the two made up in the end. Yay!

Season 7

Trixie appears in several episodes of season 7, so I'll try to keep things brief:

  • In "Celestial Advice", Trixie is one of the recipients of the Pink Heart of Courage for her bravery in "To Where and Back Again", the others being Starlight Glimmer, Thorax and Discord.
  • In "All Bottled Up", Trixie learns a transfiguration spell and excitedly turns many objects into teacups. When trying to teleport an apple, she accidentally misses it and teleports the entire Cutie Map instead! Whoops! Throughout the episode, Trixie and Starlight Glimmer look for it, but because of Trixie's carefree, nonchalant attitude, she unknowingly angers her friend. Starlight doesn't show her anger but instead bottles it up; later on the bottle breaks and Starlight's anger spreads to Granny Smith, Buff Biceps and a jeweler pony. All three of them attack Trixie, expressing Starlight's anger towards her. Starlight then tells of her own frustrations and Trixie apologizes for making her upset in the first place. The two reconcile, and Trixie remembers where she thought of when she accidentally teleported the map - the spa. They then get it back to Twilight's Castle.
  • In "To Change a Changeling", Trixie and Starlight Glimmer pay a surprise visit to the Changeling Kingdom... and meet Thorax's brother Pharanx. He hasn't changed like the others did, and so the two unicorns make it their mission to get him comfortable with the new Changeling ways. It's difficult however, and the two think of their efforts as a lost cause. Starlight has a plan to lure a large creature currently attacking the hive - a maulwurf - towards the Changelings so Pharanx can save them. The plan almost backfires because Pharanx overheard what the others said about him, but he returns and teams up with everyone to stop the maulwurf. The other Changelings then accept him and he metamorphosizes like the others did. Yeah!
  • In "Uncommon Bond", Trixie befriends one of Starlight's friends, Sunburst when they find out they both enjoy stage magic. At the end of the episode, Starlight's friends (Trixie, Maud Pie and Sunburst) cheer her up with a life-sized edition of her favorite board game - Dragon Pit.

Season 8

Only true friends would do something so ridiculous for each other.

Trixie appears in the season 8 episode "A Matter of Principals", where she is hired by Starlight to be a substitute teacher in the School of Friendship. She attempts to perform a magic show for the class, but Discord ruins it.

Trixie has an important role in "Road to Friendship". After performing a show with Starlight in Ponyville, Hoo'Far, a resident of Saddle Arabia requests that Trixie and Starlight perform for all of Saddle Arabia to see. Hoo'Far offers to trade Trixie's wagon for Hoo'Far's larger, more luxurious one but Trixie insists on keeping her wagon. The two then set off for the distant Saddle Arabia. Along the way they sing a song (We're Friendship Bound), marking Trixie's first song in the show!

Once at their destination, tensions grow high when the two unicorns passive-aggressively anger each other. Starlight for example snores loudly while Trixie talks in her sleep amongst other things. Eventually, Starlight encounters Hoo'Far and proceeds with the deal Trixie didn't want to make; Upon finding out she is devastated and the two part ways. Starlight ventures back to Ponyville while Trixie tries to reclaim her wagon - she even goes as far to lie on the road in front of it for an entire day! That's dedication.

Starlight reunites with Trixie and they apologize to each other. They then attempt to reverse the trade Starlight made with Hoo'Far, and he agrees! Well, if the two can demonstrate how much friends they are. The two then perform a super awkward friendship dance they clearly made it up as they did it. Hoo'Far states only true friends would do something so embarrassing for each other and gives Trixie her wagon back, in exchange for Hoo'Far's one of course. Satisfied, they head back home.

Season 9

From boastful unicorn to guidance counselor - what a journey!

Last season here we go! Trixie returns in season 9, starting out in the episode "Student Counsel". She's annoyed because she can't spend any time with Starlight due to her guidance counselor duties at the School of Friendship. She reminds her of them needing to help out Maud and Mudbriar with their "Spring Solst-astic" party. Trixie also encourages Starlight to take a break, which causes her to miss out on a meeting with Silverstream. Trixie then helps to find Silverstream after Terramar reports of her disappearance. They all find her in the Everfree Forest researching cockatrices, and the group attends the "Spring Solst-astic" party afterwards.

Trixie appears as another small cameo in "Between Dark and Dawn", pulling her wagon in the background during the song "Lotta Little Things".

In "A Horse Shoe-In", Trixie offers advice to Starlight Glimmer when she becomes the new Headmare of the School of Friendship. Starlight expresses interest in a Vice-Headmare, and has a group of ponies participate in various activities - Trixie included. Unfortunately, Trixie believes she'll get the job simply because she's Starlight's friend. This causes her to not take teaching seriously, argue with Grandpa Gruff during a parent-teacher conference, and endanger a class on a "field trip" to Froggy Bottom Bogg, which is simply teleport a piece of land into the classroom. Frustrated at Trixie, Starlight tells her she'll never get the job. You know what happens next, right? Apologies! Starlight apologizes to Trixie and they make up. After hearing more advice from Trixie, Starlight hires Sunburst to be the Vice-Headmare, to which he accepts. Trixie then becomes the new guidance counselor due to her insightfulness, helpful advice, and willingness to help others. She also throws away Phyllis (Starlight's plant) while redecorating the office, much to the dismay of Starlight.

In "The Ending of the End Part 1", Trixie helps evacuate the students of the School of Friendship before the villains attack. Trixie then partakes in the final battle against Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. Finally, the episode "The Last Problem" shows an older Trixie still serving as the guidance counselor of the School of Friendship, where she assists a young griffon.

Mentions

  • In season 2's "Ponyville Confidential", Rainbow Dash points out that Trixie is under the "Gabby Gums" column of the Foal Free Press.
  • Trixie is mentioned in season 6's "Every Little Thing she Does", Twilight Sparkle mentions that Starlight Glimmer hasn't completed any friendship lesson since she befriended Trixie.
  • In Season 8's "Horse Play", Pinkie Pie says she bought untested magical fireworks from Trixie in a dark alley. When the largest firework explodes, the explosion resembles Trixie's face.

My Little Pony: The Movie (2017)

Trixie makes small cameos in the beginning of the film and during the song "We Got This Together", where she launches fireworks in the latter scene. She also appears with Starlight in the film's credits, launching more fireworks.

The Best Gift Ever

Trixie appears in two small scenes:

  • Walking with Starlight during the "One More Day" song
  • Sharing hot cocoa with Starlight during the "The True Gift of Giving" song

Rainbow Roadtrip

It's another small nonspeaking cameo, once again in the introduction! She looks to Pinkie Pie after she yells "ROAD TRIP!"

Summary

Trixie has had quite the character arc! Even when she became reformed she had her arguments, especially with Starlight Glimmer. Thankfully they reconciled each and every time!

And there you have it - a complete history of Trixie Lulamoon AKA The Great and Powerful Trixie! Whew... I'm outta breath. I sincerely hope you enjoy your newfound pony knowledge. (Throws a smoke bomb and runs off)

A Section of Muppetational Origins

Written by: Zange (talk)

(before we officially start I would like to extend a shout out to the Muppet Wiki for being a valuable resource of information and images!)

Hello and welcome to a sparkly new ‘Shroom section!! My name is Zange, and I’m here to talk about one thing and one thing only: Muppets. That’s right, I’ll be talking about the history and origins of one Muppet every other month! Had to do something with my love of these silly guys and the wealth of Muppety knowledge in my brain, after all…For our first edition, we’re covering the green machine himself, Kermit the Frog!

What humble origins you had…

We can trace Kermit’s origins all the way back to March of 1955. Jim Henson, then a college student, created the first version of Kermit out of one of his mother’s old coats, using a ping pong ball that was cut in half and drawn on with marker for eyes. This version of Kermit first made his television debut on Afternoon, which was broadcasted on WRC-TV. This station was an affiliate of NBC, serving the Washington, D.C. area. Just two months after Kermit’s debut, Henson was given his own show at WRC-TV, called Sam and Friends, which lasted until 1961. This show featured not only Kermit, but a whole cast of Muppet characters. The show still remained local to the D.C. area, but was popular enough there that the Muppets (including Kermit) made appearances on national television as early as 1956. Interestingly enough, one show they appeared on (Tonight!, hosted by Steve Allen) had the time slot directly after Sam and Friends in WRC-TV’s lineup! A real full-circle moment for this early version of the Muppets if you think about it…

For the majority of Sam and Friends’ run, Kermit did not have a voice of his own. This was due to the reliance of having the characters lip-sync to various songs and coming up with skits through that manner. Formal skits that didn’t rely on lip-syncing didn’t happen until late in the show’s run. It is not clear when Kermit first had a speaking appearance, as a sheer majority of the episodes are considered lost media. However, the first documented speaking appearance for Kermit was January 6th, 1961, where he was voiced by Jim Henson. Henson would continue to perform as Kermit until his death in 1990.

It is worth noting that this earliest version of Kermit was actually not a frog! Jim Henson described him as more of an abstract and lizard-like creature during this time on multiple occasions. The start of Kermit’s shift towards frogness didn’t occur until the late 1960’s. I say ‘shift’ here because there’s really not one clear line that can be drawn between Kermit not being a frog and Kermit being a frog. I would say the shift formally began in 1965, after Johnny Carson referred to Kermit as “Kermit the Frog” during a guest appearance by the Muppets on The Tonight Show. In 1968, the Kermit puppet was redesigned and rebuilt to include flippers and a thirteen-point collar. This is the appearance that Kermit would have in the Sesame Street pitch reel and the first season. Finally, the shift was completed in 1971, with the airing of the Tales from Muppetland special The Frog Prince. This is when it is most widely accepted that Kermit was no longer a lizard-like creature, but instead a fully-fledged frog.

We all have that look we wanna forget about.

In the early 70’s, Kermit actually had two collars instead of just the one, but this extra collar would later be removed.

After the end of Sam and Friends, Kermit would make appearances in various TV specials before landing in Sesame Street. His most notable segment was Sesame Street News Flash, in which he would play reporter and interview various fairytale and nursery rhyme characters. Occasionally, he would have some songs as well as his own segment where he would teach concepts to the viewers, and even to other characters (most commonly, Cookie Monster). However, his inclusion in Sesame Street was a very odd choice, from multiple standpoints. From a rights standpoint, Kermit was the only Muppet not created specifically for the show. As a result, Children’s Television Workshop, the producers, didn’t own the rights to him and he was not easily able to be included in merchandise. From a character standpoint, Kermit was essentially the “adult” out of all the Muppet characters. This resulted in personality clashes and angry outbursts from Kermit when he was interacting with characters like Cookie Monster or Grover. For a prime example of this, please see the video below.

At one point, Kermit even faced removal from Sesame Street due to criticism that he was becoming “too commercialized”. These criticisms mainly arose after the airing of the TV special Hey Cinderella! because of how the segues to the advertisements featured Kermit. Fortunately, Kermit did return to Sesame Street for its third season, albeit in less of a regular capacity.

While all this was happening, Jim Henson was trying to find a network willing to give him a variety show with the Muppets that wasn’t just aimed at kids. In 1974, ABC ordered two pilots with this concept - these ended up becoming The Muppets Valentine Show and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, though nothing came out of either of those. Kermit was featured in these specials but did not star in either. Eventually, Lord Lew Grade, an impresario, gave Henson the financial backing necessary to produce what would become The Muppet Show.

During the planning stages of The Muppet Show, Jim Henson was trying to find a host that would work for the show. The hosts from the pilots - Wally and Nigel - were unable to be used, as Nigel was now cast as the orchestra’s conductor, and Wally was never featured again after The Muppets Valentine Show. Eventually, the decision was made to have Kermit be the host of The Muppet Show, and it WORKED. Kermit became the showrunner / boss man / host of the show, who was just desperate to make all of the things happen when they needed to happen without any issues. Instead of coming across as angry, he was seen as trying to keep everything running smoothly. It was a choice that worked, and more importantly, it gave Kermit the Frog a home where he could thrive.

Look what the poor, beleaguered frog has to put up with!!

With the premiere of The Muppet Show, this version of Kermit is aligned with the character that many people know and love today. His appearance is fairly streamlined, as this is when his collar became a single layer with eleven points, and his personality is fairly consistent with any Muppet media released after this time. This is the version of the character that is loved across generations; that audiences watched faithfully not only in The Muppet Show, but also in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. However, this does not mean that there aren’t more changes for Kermit on the way, and we’re about to hit a major one.

On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson passed away due to toxic shock syndrome caused by a bacterial infection. After the initial wave of shock and grief from his sudden passing wore off, one question remained: who would perform Kermit? Performing Henson’s most well-known and beloved character is a rather large pair of shoes to fill, after all. In the end, it was decided that Steve Whitmire would inherit the role of Kermit. Whitmire’s first performance as Kermit was in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, though Whitmire would later state he considered his first ‘real’ production as Kermit to be The Muppet Christmas Carol.

If you are to compare Henson and Whitmire’s performances as Kermit directly, Whitmire’s voice is noticeably higher pitched and has a tendency to talk at a quicker pace. Otherwise, there isn’t much of a difference. Additionally, the Kermit puppet would receive some changes during the time that Whitmire performed him, but all of them were fairly minor. Whitmire’s Kermit would entertain a new generation of viewers in Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Tonight, Muppets from Space, The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, 2011’s The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, and many other movies, specials, and TV series.

Same frog, new story.

In October 2016, Steve Whitmire was informed that he was dismissed from the company of Muppet performers, and that his characters, including Kermit, would be recast. However, this news did not break to the general public until July 2017 when Disney released a statement saying that Whitmire was no longer affiliated with the Muppets. Whitmire claims he was let go over creative disagreements and union negotiations being delayed, while Disney claims that they let Whitmire go due to "unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years" that apparently failed to be addressed by him. In the same statement, Disney revealed that Matt Vogel would take over the duty of performing Kermit.

After Vogel’s first performance as Kermit premiered in August 2017, many people were taken aback by the very abrupt change in Kermit’s voice. It makes sense, though: If you are to make a direct comparison of Whitmire’s Kermit to Vogel’s Kermit, they are noticeably different. Vogel’s voice is a much lower pitch, speaks more slowly, and almost has a bit of a nasal quality to it. Really, it sounds closer to Jim Henson’s Kermit, but it is by no means perfect. However, I think Vogel’s Kermit has its own charm to it. It gives the impression of a frog who has gotten wiser with age, almost like a fine cheese or wine. Not to mention, I really enjoy Vogel’s singing voice as Kermit! It reminds me of Henson’s original Kermit voice while still being distinct enough to differentiate the two.

With this, we have reached the most current phase of Kermit the Frog. So far, Matt Vogel has entertained viewers in Muppets Now, Muppets Haunted Mansion, and copious amounts of YouTube videos. Vogel has shown some real promise as Kermit in recent years, and I cannot wait to see what comes next for everyone’s favorite amphibian. Until next time, keep believing and keep pretending!

What's in a Campaign?

Written by: Shoey (talk)

Hello, and welcome back to another What's in a Campaign?, a section where I take a look at various competitors from the hit BBC show Robot Wars. Last month we looked at quality-pun and animal-themed robot Crushtacean. This month, we're going to look at the debut of a robot whose last ever win was, interestingly enough, against Crushtacean - the Series 3 run of Chaos 2.

The birth of an icon!

Chaos 2 was built by Robot Wars legend George Francis. Also on the team were George's friend Ian Swann and his young son Richard Swann, who were honestly mostly there for moral support. Ian Swann did help modify Chaos 2 while Richard Swann stood there and looked cute in interviews, but make no mistake; Chaos 2 was George Francis' baby. Mostly designed by him, he also drove the robot and operated the weapon. Considered one of the most talented engineers in the history of Robot Wars, George Francis by this point was already a veteran, having made the Grand Final of Series 1 with Robot The Bruce and having made heat finalist Chaos. Chaos 2 was built from the lessons of Chaos 1, who, while okay, quick, and nimble, also featured just an okay lifting bar as a weapon that George Francis called "too narrow" and "not powerful enough". So George Francis decided that he needed to widen the lifting blade and, in the process, he created (along with the criminally underappreciated Facet) the first ever front hinge flipper!

You deserved better, Facet.

For a weapon system, George Francis designed a system where CO₂ was supplied by a fire extinguisher along with two pneumatic rams designed to give Chaos 2 extra power. This not only allowed Chaos 2 to quickly throw robots over, but it also allowed Chaos 2 to self-right, something the original proved unable to do! A bungee cord connected to two pulley wheels allowed the flipper to quickly retract so that it wouldn't get stuck in the firing position. Armored with 10mm Dural plating and a top cover made of polycarbonate and powered by lawnmower blades, Chaos 2 was on the faster side of things, with a top speed of 20mph. Quick and powerful and upgraded from Chaos in every way, Chaos 2 was ready to take on Series 3

As a reminder, all pictures are sourced from the fantastic Robot Wars Wiki. But in genuinely surprising news, nobody has ever done a full compilation of Chaos 2's Series 3 matches. So because they're all so good (unlike Napalm), there will be videos for each fight this time!

Series 3 ditched the seeding system the other classic series featured, so Chaos 2 had to qualify through the gauntlet. Placed in Heat E, Chaos 2's first opponent was Crocodilotron, an interesting little robot with a pretty solid dual-weapon system. A crocodile-designed mouth with metal spikes was designed to crush robots that entered it, or the jaw could close and two spikes on the ram would allow it to operate as a ram/lifter. For Series 3, this is a pretty good machine with a pretty weapon system. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter because this fight (13:42, first video) is over before it begins. Both robots move off the starting line decently fast, but Chaos 2 is faster. Crocodilotron attempts to circle around to attack Chaos 2, but the faster Chaos 2 instead pushes it in the wall.

79 KG thrown over like it's nothing

Chaos 2 then wastes no time getting under the jaw of Crocodilotron and just throwing it over. Now you might not know this is a huge deal because we've covered a bunch of flippers. But here's thing! At this point, flippers didn't really exist at this level. They usually had lifting arms and they weren't this powerful or fast. Chaos 2 completely changed the flipper game! Crocodilotron lands on its side and then Matilda manages to push it up against the wall, where it desperately attempts to self-right. But Chaos 2 isn't done. Chaos 2 flips Crocodilotron high in the air again, this time throwing Crocodilotron on its back. Crocodilotron can't self-right because self-righters were actually pretty uncommon at the time. Chaos 2 then attacks Matilda, breaking part of its chainsaw before the other House Robots move in to stop Chaos 2! Chaos 2 wins its debut fight in dominating fashion!

In the next round, Chaos 2 was matched up against Sonic, a pretty solid Series 3 rambot who may or may not have been named after Sonic the Hedgehog! And who, judging by the amount of Diotoir fur on it, got a lot of mechanical help from the team before the fight! The fight (33:53) starts with both robots charging at each other in the middle if the arena. The two robots clash front-to-front, which, if you're Sonic, is a terrible position to be in… and sure enough Chaos 2 immediately flips it over! This puts Sonic on its back where it can't self-right, but luckily for Sonic, Chaos 2 doesn't like easy wins, so Chaos 2 actually rights Sonic, who flees. Chaos 2 keeps up the pressure and actually gets behind Sonic but doesn't fire its flipper as Sonic manages to get away.

Sonic can't outrun Chaos!

Sonic ends up stuck in Matilida's CPZ but manages to get away before the menacing chainsaw of Matilda can do any damage. Chaos 2 then returns to attack Sonic, but Sonic does a little rope-a-dope and actually manages to get under Chaos 2 with its front spikes!!! But only for a second… After that second, Chaos 2 gets to the front of Sonic and flips it over… This time Chaos 2 decides to leave well enough alone and just lets the House Robots hand an immobile Sonic its ass while Chaos 2 heads to the Heat Final in dominating fashion.

In the Heat Final, Chaos 2 faces off against the predecessor to Wheely Big Cheese, The Big Cheese. A very good robot using a very solid lifting arm that can not only throw robots over but also be used to stab at robots, The Big Cheese can also use its arm to trap robots! The fight starts (37:47) with Chaos 2 getting stuck on the side on The Big Cheese, allowing it to put Chaos 2 on its side. But Chaos 2 falls back on its wheels, partially into the opening between the lifting arm and The Big Cheese. Before The Big Cheese can grab them, Chaos 2 skirts away! Some tentative action unfolds as the zippy Chaos 2 attempts to get under The Big Cheese when, WHAM! Chaos 2 gets right under the front of The Big Cheese and throws it onto its back! Chaos 2 then drives The Big Cheese into the wall, flipping them again and this time sending The Big Cheese back onto its wheels. The much faster Chaos 2 zips around to the front of The Big Cheese, but this time, instead of getting under The Big Cheese, they drive onto The Big Cheese's wedge. The Big Cheese uses its large lifting arm combined with its momentum from driving to put Chaos 2 on its back before pushing it into the wall!

This is why you shouldn't play with your food!

Chaos 2 manages to self-right, but in the process uses precious CO2. Using its superior speed, Chaos 2 darts the length of the arena, getting to the back of The Big Cheese and just flipping them over! This leads to my favorite visual from the fight. The Big Cheese attempts to use its lifting arm as a self-right and it gets so close to getting back on its wheels. The lifting arm presses on the ground and you can see The Big Cheese start to rock. Every time you watch it, you think "this is gonna be the time".

Just inches away…

But of course, the lifter isn't designed to self-right, so The Big Cheese can't actually self-right. This time, Chaos 2 chooses not to self-right The Big Cheese and spins around in victory as The Big Cheese is counted out and destroyed by the House Robots! But The Big Cheese does get a small measure of revenge against the House Robots, flipping over SGT. Bash with its arm!

The Big Cheese vs Chaos 2 fight is one of the most highly-regarded fights from the early days of Robot Wars, to the point where the judges actually gave it a fight of the year award (the only time they ever did that). This fight is generally regarded as one of the best from the early series, and some even consider it one of the finest fights in the history of Robot Wars. And man, I just don't understand that sentiment! I always have a hard time giving high ratings to fights that are only close because one competitor lets the fight be close, and this fight is like that, because this fight's over immediately! That flip from Chaos 2 should have ended the fight because The Big Cheese can't self-right. And barring Chaos 2 randomly breaking down, there's just nothing The Big Cheese can do to Chaos 2. Like, yeah, it's cool when The Big Cheese flips over Chaos 2, but: A) This only happens because Chaos 2 righted The Big Cheese, and B) Chaos 2 can self-right. So basically, you've got a fight that is only this close because Chaos 2 wanted to play around with The Big Cheese. Chaos 2 was never really in danger of losing this fight. Now, I will admit I'm probably lacking the context of the time because I wasn't watching Robot Wars when Series 3 was airing. In fact, I didn't watch at all until Series 5 and Extreme 1. So I'm sure it was easier to appreciate this fight more if you were in on the ground floor of Robot Wars. But for somebody who just wasn't, I just don't understand the love for this fight!

Regardless, Chaos 2 is through to the Semi-Final. As a robot who participated in the top half of Series 3 Heats, Chaos 2 was placed in Heat A. Chaos 2's first Semi-Final opponent is the worst robot that ever made a Semi-Final (and that's in a world where Napalm made a Semi-Final). It faces off against the weird six-wheeled axe bot Trident! This fight (27:41, second video) is over before you know it. Chaos 2 charges in and gets under the stupidly long backside of Trident, and, while they don't flip it over, they send it flying.

Get the hell out of here and don't come back, you waste of space Trident!

Trident attempts to go on the offensive, missing an axe strike, but then Chaos 2 just flips over Trident, who can't self-right. Unlike in the Heat, Chaos 2 is in no mood to play around, so they leave Trident to burn to death on the flame pit! After a dominating two flip performance, Chaos 2 moves on to the second round of the Semi-Final!

This sends Chaos 2 into a grudge match against Mace 2, seeking revenge for Mace 1's defeat of the original Chaos in Series 2! The fight (38:16) starts with the two robots charging at each other. Chaos 2 manages to get under the front of Mace 2 but can't quite flip the heavier machine over. The two robots then spend some time sizing each other up. Chaos 2 goes in for another attack but backs off when they're unable to get under Mace 2. The two robots then clash at their sides, spinning around in an attempt to break the stalemate. Chaos 2 uses its speed to create some distance before charging in, but they're forced to retreat when Mace 2 attempts to flip Chaos 2 with its lifting arm. Chaos 2 again charges in, this time missing a flip, allowing Mace 2 to get under Chaos 2. Mace 2 takes advantage of this, lifting Chaos 2 on its wheels and throwing it after a mighty drive.

WHO IS THE BAD DRIVER NOW, HUH?

Mace 2 then attempts to reverse away, but the much quicker Chaos 2 quickly seizes the advantage, charging at the backside of Mace 2 and flipping them, this time almost up and over. But Mace 2 is just barely saved by their lifting arm hitting the ground first, saving them. Chaos 2 continues its attack, this time getting under the front of Mace 2 and hurling it over! Mace 2, whose driver once said that if you need a self-righting mechanism you're just outing yourself as a bad driver, is unable to self-right, leaving Chaos 2 the victor, successfully avenging Chaos 1 and moving on to the Grand Final!

In the Grand Final, Chaos 2 was first awarded the Best Engineered award before facing off against fellow flipper (although this bot has a bar flipper), Firestorm! Firestorm is the first robot Chaos 2 fought that could actually self-right! The fight (18:26 third video) starts with the two robots charging at each other, looking for an opening. They crash and bash each other as Chaos 2 drives over Firestorm's flipper multiple times, looking for an opening for its own flipper. Chaos 2 manages to get to the back of Firestorm, but just as it goes in for the flip, Firestorm manages to turn away from Chaos 2! Finally, Chaos 2 manages to get to the side of Firestorm, throwing it over. Then, because Chaos 2 knows Firestorm can self-right, Chaos 2 pushes Firestorm into the wall, launching its flipper in an attempt to pin Firestorm against the wall.

it's cool now, but just you wait by Series 6. You'll be sick of this!

But their flipper is too powerful and instead, for the first time in the history of Robot Wars and on complete accident, Firestorm is thrown out of the arena! It's the first time one competitor has thrown another competitor out of the arena! In the booth, you can see George Francis laughing because he didn't intend for that to happen at all! In fact, George Francis admitted he was worried he was going to get disqualified for throwing Firestorm out of the arena. Instead, Chaos 2 once again revolutionized Robot Wars, creating a whole new way for roboteers to defeat their opponents!

This sends Chaos 2 into the Grand Final Championship against fellow icon and fellow newcomer robot, the terrifyingly destructive Hypno Disc (winner of the Most Original Entry award). Unfortunately, at this point in time, Hypno Disc is pretty beat up. Not only did it have just an absolute slugfest with Steg-O-Saw-Us in its Grand Final match, but its spinner design means that it was taking recoil damage every hit it dished out, so its spinner isn't working at full strength. The fight starts (39:22) with Chaos 2 moving tentatively around Hypno Disc, trying to avoid its spinning disc. Hypno Disc is also moving somewhat tentatively, partially because of how beat up its insides are, and partially because Series 3 Hypno Disc's disc can only speed up when Hypno Disc isn't moving. It can't move and keep its disc spinning at the same time. At one point, Chaos 2 has a perfect shot at a not-moving Hypno Disc but doesn't go for it because they're rightfully afraid that Hypno Disc would spin around and shatter their flipper with its disc. Chaos 2 decides to do a reverse charge at Hypno Disc, driving back-first into Hypno Disc and pushing it into the arena wall. Chaos 2 then (I think accidentally) fires its flipper, which I think is accidental because, like, it's not under Chaos 2 when the flipper fires.

Chaos 2, pictured here as luckiest robot alive!

This could have led to disaster, because Chaos 2 drives under Hypno Disc's disc, wedging its open flipper panel inside the disc of Hypno Disc. Against any other version of Hypno Disc, and this fight would be over because Hypno Disc would have just shredded the insides of Chaos 2. But because of how bad of shape Hypno Disc is in, the disc just stops upon getting wedged into Chaos 2. This allows Chaos 2 to escape and we get a little back-and-forth action. Chaos 2 attempts to get around to the side of Hypno Disc, but Hypno Disc uses its blade to block them. Chaos 2 then charges forward and takes a blow right to the flipper from the disc. Chaos 2 again decides to go on the attack, charging towards Hypno Disc and this time not only taking a blow from the disc of Hypno Disc, but also slamming itself into the wall! But Hypno Disc is barely moving at this point and everything is taking place along the side this one arena wall. Finally, Chaos 2 gets under the disc of Hypno Disc and flips it over. Hypno Disc can't self-right, and, with that, Chaos 2 is crowned Series 3 champion after thoroughly dominating all of its opponents! Chaos 2 would celebrate this win by flipping over Matilda and Shunt.

But this isn't all for Chaos 2 in Series 3! Fresh off its UK Championship win, Chaos 2 would enter the First World Championship representing England! In its eliminator, Chaos 2 would face off against one of BattleBots' finest, a bot representing the Czech Republic (for some reason), Killerhurtz! One of the best robots in Battlebots, Killerhurtz had yet to really establish itself across the pond, having lost every battle it competed in up until now! The fight (26:45, fourth video) starts with maybe the most confusing sequence I've ever seen in Robot Wars. Killerhurtz just doesn't move and Chaos 2 drives the length of the arena all the way to Killerhurtz, who keep in mind is not moving, and just doesn't flip them?

WHAT ARE YOU DOING? KILL THEM! THE PRIDE OF ENGLAND IS ON THE LINE!

This allows Killerhurtz, who apparently just realizes there is a fight going on, to just drive away. From this point, Killerhurtz starts hot, just barely missing two axe blows right to the weakly armored back panel of Chaos 2. This is a strange fight, because Chaos 2 is just driving around. Finally, it rams Killerhurtz as the two do that classic side-to-side spin-around dance. The two robots break away from each other and Chaos 2 just drives into the arena spikes for some reason.

Killerhurtz makes them pay for their lethargic behavior, striking them at the back with their spiked axe before charging them and getting them right in the flipper with the axe. Chaos 2 reverses to get away, driving themselves right into the CPZ where Shunt is. Shunt pins them against the wall as Killerhurtz charges in, landing a huge blow with the spiked axe right onto the top of Chaos 2 and getting stuck into Chaos 2 in the process. With Chaos 2 stuck, Shunt lands an even mightier blow right into the polycarbonate back panel of Chaos 2, shattering it and piercing through the CO₂ system of Chaos 2!

You know what? Chaos 2 had this coming!

Finally, Shunt gets bored of picking on Chaos 2 and decides to attack Killerhurtz, finally allowing a severely wounded Chaos 2 to escape. Realizing they've got Chaos 2 on the ropes, Killerhurtz charges back in, but with probably one of their last flips, Chaos 2 flips the charging Killerhurtz on top of Shunt. In the process of Shunt getting Killerhurtz off of it, Killerhurtz lands on its back with its axe extended out.

Killerhurtz, pictured here as unluckiest robot in the world!

This prevents Killerhutz from self-righting, allowing Chaos 2 to escape with a victory in a fight it probably didn't deserve to win! This is a weird fight because, like, it's objectively a good fight and Killerhurtz finally does some ass kicking even if it ends up defeated. But man, that start where Killerhurtz doesn't move and Chaos 2 just doesn't flip Killerhurtz over bugs me. Like I'm sure what happened is Killerhurtz didn't realize the fight had started, but you know what, George Francis? That's not your problem! Kill this dork! 'Cause now your robot took a bunch of unnecessary damage!

The fights don't get any easier for Chaos 2! In the next round of the First World Championship, Chaos 2 faced off against Razer, a robot that, with some better luck could have won every championship from Series 2-6 except for Series 4. Honestly, this is kind of a dream fight, because it's two of the three best robots in Series 3 (the other being Hypno Disc) matching up against each other! The fight (36:58) starts with the two robots sizing each other up, crashing and bashing into each other and looking for an opening. Chaos 2 strikes first, getting to the back of Razer, but they aren't able to flip them over, instead just throwing them.

So close…

The action remains zippy as neither robot can get to the other's weak point, but Chaos 2 makes a fatal mistake, driving into the flame pit and then bumping into Dead Metal while trying to get off of it. This causes Chaos 2 to spin around, presenting its back to Razer, who immediately pounces. Razer drives that hydraulic claw into the back side of Chaos 2, going through the polycarbonate back like a knife through butter and completely destroying Chaos 2's CO₂ canister.

Just a brutal attack!

Razer, with complete control of Chaos 2, drives them into the waiting claws of Dead Metal, who, using its giant circular saw, carves right through the now-useless flipper panel of Chaos 2. Chaos 2 finally gets away, but with no weapon and mangled armor, George Francis just drives Chaos 2 into the pit in an attempt to escape further damage!

I would honestly say Chaos 2's Series 3 run is the best run in classic Robot Wars. Every robot Chaos 2 faced was, at minimum, Heat Final quality. Every robot it beat was a solid robot that in any other Heat would have found success (Killerhurtz is a weird one because, while it lost in the first round of its heat, it was a former Battlebots runner up and it only lost because John Reid honestly forgot there was a pit in Robot Wars). The worst robot it beat was Trident, who, while being the worst Semi-Finalist in the history of Robot Wars, was still a Semi-Finalist. And it beat Mace 2, the only robot returning from Series 2 to do better than they did in Series 2, as well as Firestorm, who would go on to be a multiple-time runner-up. And it even beat fucking Hypno Disc, one of the scariest robots in the history of the show! On top of this, Chaos 2 beat The Big Cheese, a Semi-Finalist in probably 75% of the Heats, plus Sonic and Crocodilotron, who are Semi-Finalist quality robots who would have made a Heat Final in almost every other heat. And your only loss is to probably the greatest robot of all time, Razer. It's a classic series run that's unparalleled!

Chaos 2, despite making few upgrades, would continue its run as one of Robot Wars' finest and most revered robots. In Series 4, Chaos 2 would become the only robot in the history of televised Robot Wars to win back-to-back UK Championships when it defeated Pussycat in the Grand Final Championship to claim the crown. The only loss Chaos 2 would suffer in Series 4 was in the first round of the Northern Annihilator, where the other five robots teamed up to make sure Chaos 2 didn't advance!

Chaos 2, victim of a brutal gang attack

That's how ahead of the curve Chaos 2 was from the jump. One of the best robots in the history of the 80kg era, with only Razer really coming close (Razer won a lot of side tournaments while Chaos 2 won in the main series), the weight increase era (Series 5 onwards) proved to be a bit of a mixed bag for Chaos 2. While George Francis was himself a brilliant engineer who was capable of making great machines, limited financial means meant that, instead of building a brand new robot for the 100kg era, George Francis would instead attempt to upgrade Chaos 2 by making the flipper more powerful. And while this worked, the flipper would end up so powerful that it would even flip over Chaos 2 sometimes, preventing it from self-righting. Despite this limitation, Chaos 2 made it all the way to the top eight in Series 5 before being defeated by eventual runner-up Bigger Brother in what was considered a huge upset (not the only upset Bigger Brother would pull off!). That fight was its first ever main series loss, Chaos 2 having gone 18-0 prior to that fight.

The end of Chaos 2 in the UK Championship

By Series 6, however, Chaos 2 would finally show its age, being eliminated by Dantomkia in what was a really neat sort of passing of the torch moment between the two flippers.

One of the three greatest robots in the history of the classic wars and voted the third-most iconic robot on Robot Wars: Top 100 Icons, Chaos 2 went on a run of domination between its first fight in Series 3 to its upset loss against Bigger Brother in Series 5. That dominating run was never equaled, even by more powerful robots such as Carbide or by the most feared robot in all of Robot Wars, Razer. Chaos 2 was a robot that revolutionized Robot Wars, completely changing the game for flippers, which would soon become the most popular weapon type in British robot combat. A true icon of the sport, Chaos 2's worthy legacy as one of the greatest combat robots still persists to this day!

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The 'Shroom: Issue 215
Staff sections Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Poll Chairperson Election • Credits
Features Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing
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