Our story begins like no other…
A certain Zike of the Zoom variety had been pondering to himself about a certain plot point in Luigi's Mansion
How in the lost levels did Mario get captured by King Boo?
He's adventured through countless ghost houses containing way more boos than fifty
And has physically triumphed over way bigger boos
So how did he lose?
This led him to do some digging that would help him uncover...
『Mario's Story in Luigi's Mansion』
To figure out the puzzle of what exactly happened to Mario
We need to gather evidence from the instruction booklet and game
The former tells us that Luigi had received an unexpected message informing him that he had won a huge mansion
Along with a map that leads there
He got excited and phoned Mario, telling him the great news
And they both agreed to meet each other there to celebrate
The booklet also tells us that Mario had arrived first
Upon starting the game, we see Luigi walk up to and enter the mansion
Once inside, there's no sign of Mario, and he meets up with Professor E. Gadd
Who testifies that he had seen "[Mario] walk up to the mansion without eve, stopping to chat…and never returned."
After Luigi tells E. Gadd that he'd won this mansion in a contest he never entered
E. Gadd claims that the "mansion [had] appeared just a few days ago!" and that "The spirits have fooled [him]!"
Later on, we learn what became of Mario, King Boo had trapped him inside a portrait
However, this capturing doesn't seem to be as simple as Mario entering the mansion
And BAM, he's a portrait
A lot of his belongings are scattered throughout the place
Which implies he was in here for a quite a while before he was securely caught
But something's off; when Luigi arrives, all the doors are locked
So how did Mario make it to various parts of the mansion?
It's quite possible that for some reason, the doors weren't locked when he arrived
Anyways, Madame Clairvoya, a friendly fortune-telling ghost helps Luigi in observing Mario's lost belongings
So we'll use her as a reference
First up is Mario's cap, which is found in the washing machine of the Laundry Room
Luigi observes that "It's been laundered recently"
Which is backed up by Clairvoya, who says that "It's so clean… AS IF SOMEONE JUST WASHED IT."
Adding on, Luigi notes that he washes his cap by hand
Whereas Mario washes it using a washing machine, exactly where we found the cap
The second item is Mario's letter, we find it folded up in a little birdhouse in the Courtyard
Which oddly resembles Mario and Luigi's own mail box back home
Clairvoya reads the letter to us as "Look out for Boos, Luigi!"
And then remarks that the letter "Must have been written in quite a hurry."
The third item is Mario's star, we find it in the Observatory on the second floor
However, unlike the previous items we've discussed, this one seems to have been magically sealed inside the room itself
As Luigi needs to destroy a moon in order for the star to appear
Since Luigi makes contact with this star and doesn't turn invincible
We can be sure that this star isn't a superstar, but a power star, most likely from Super Mario 64
In that game, we can see Mario summon these stars and apply their energy to locked doors in order to unlock them
Making it likely that he used that same technique to hide the star in that room
The fourth item is Mario's glove
Luigi remarks that it's still sweaty
Clairvoya says it's "still damp with the sweat of the living."
The fifth and final item is Mario's shoe
Luigi says that "It smells…like Mario's feet"
Whereas Clairvoya comments "The sole is so worn, as if he's walked a thousand miles!"
These last two items are found in locked chests
Which are only revealed when all the ghosts in the room have been vanquished
Implying that the ghosts hid these items themselves
One last detail about Mario's belongings, is that he can be seen fully equipped with his cap, glove, and shoe
Despite having lost these items within the mansion
This lets us know that for some reason, he brought spares...
Now let's talk about the first toad we meet
He exclaims "You finally made it!"
"Princess Peach asked me to come here to look for Mario. He left when he heard that you'd won a mansion."
If Peach and the toads had seen Mario depart
Then that means Mario was likely at Princess Peach's Castle before he left
Which completely explains why Luigi had to phone him and arrange a meet-up, since they were in two different places
That's all the evidence we've got!
It's time to reveal the truth behind the capturing of Super Mario!
A few days prior to the incident, the leader of ghosts, King Boo had created a mansion out of thin air
He wished to exact revenge upon the Mario Bros. for defeating his boo brethren in their past adventures
To do this, he needed some way to lure them in
So he sent over an envelope which contained a disingenuous message congratulating them on having won a mansion
His plan was for the brothers to read it and arrive at the mansion together
But as fortune would have it...
Only the younger brother was home at the time
Luigi was skeptical of the message at first, since he hadn't entered in any contests
Despite this, he excitedly called Mario - who was staying over at Princess Peach's castle - to tell him the news
Luigi: Mario?
Mario: Hey Luigi! Yohoo!
They both agreed to meet each other there to celebrate
But little did Luigi know, his brother had other plans
Mario didn't have a map, so viewed the mansion from afar in order to gauge where it was
Having experience with ghost houses, he grew suspicious of the mansion he and his brother had supposedly won
And decided he would check it out for himself first, a mistake he would come to regret
He took with him a power star for extra strength
Pieces of paper and a pencil to take notes
And spare clothes, so he could stay overnight at the place in the event it wasn't actually haunted
With these items in tow, he traveled directly up to the mansion with such focus...
That he hadn't noticed Professor E. Gadd just a little ways away
Upon entering the mansion
Mario discovered that all the lights were turned on, all the doors were unlocked, and there weren't any ghosts in sight
King Boo created this set-up as a ruse to let the brothers' guards down
However, his initial plan of cleanly capturing both of them at once fumbled due to Mario's early arrival
Assuming Luigi wasn't far behind, he and his minions laid hidden and waited for their chance to trap them both
Mario, fully unaware of the predicament he'd been caught in, explored rooms of the mansion with a more relaxed demeanor
He eventually entered the Laundry Room, which was a short distance from where he first entered
At this point, he had mistakenly deemed the place safe, and felt comfortable enough to wash his spare clothes
He set down his shoe and glove beside the washing machine, put his cap inside of it, and turned it on
King Boo at this time must've realized that Luigi wasn't coming anytime soon
So he made quick preparations to capture Mario while he was still vulnerable
He locked the doors to the foyer, shrouded the entire inside of the mansion in darkness, and seconds later, made a beeline for Mario
With quick reaction time, Mario narrowly avoided King Boo, and escaped the Laundry Room
Leaving behind a cap in the washing machine and his other belongings which the boos then took and locked away in chests
Mario's instincts led him along the hallway wall to the foyer doors
And after a few faulty attempts at budging them open, he quickly realized an easy escape wasn't possible anymore
He instantly dashed through the unlit hallway, desperate to get away from King Boo
A thought weighed in on his mind as he ran
If he did get caught, what's to stop the ghosts from pulling the same trick on Luigi as they did him?
Wishing to avoid this worst case scenario, Mario brought out paper and a pencil, and hurriedly wrote down the message:
This way, he could ensure that his brother wouldn't mistakenly believe the mansion was safe, just as he had
Mario folded the letter up, reached the end of the hallway, and stepped foot into the courtyard
He needed a place to hide the letter
A place the boos wouldn't look, but Luigi would
Luckily, a mail box shaped quite similar to their own back home was visible
He threw the letter in and kept running, not giving King Boo any time to catch up
Mario ran upstairs to the second floor
And in an effort to lose the ghosts, he dashed through Astral Hall and hid in the Observatory
This was a hopeless effort however, as King Boo has total mastery of this mansion
And it wasn't long before Mario heard the ghosts approaching
He took out his power star, saddened by the fact it ended not being useful since he was at first caught off-guard, and now, cornered
Accepting his fate, he put faith in his brother, and imbued the power star's energy with the room
Sealing it in such a way that no ghost could ever steal it
Seconds later, King Boo had arrived, and successfully trapped Mario inside a portrait
Storing him deep down in the secret alter beneath the mansion
Completely unaware that his ghosts failed to hide Mario's cap, letter, and star
Which would turn out to be of use to the very same person that would eventually undo all his actions and seal him away
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