Too Many Masters Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Master Poet

This Simon isn't simple, and he isn't headed to a fair to meet a pieman. He's worried about the Pop Diva -- Toad Town's favorite singer -- as she has lost her voice. Elsewhere in the greater Mushroom Kingdom, in a faraway, parched desert, the Composer can lend a hand, if Mario brings him the Lyrics that Simon wrote.

The original "Paper Mario" game features many optional side-quests, and one of them involves Simon -- better known as the Master Poet -- who hangs out at a small club by Toad Town's harbor. He's entranced by the lovely voice of Chanterelle, the Pop Diva, but as of late, she cannot bring herself to sing. When Simon finishes writing some lyrics for a new song, he asks Mario to seek out a gifted composer who can set them to music. If the player takes on and completes the task, the beautiful new melody will give the Pop Diva the courage she needs to sing once more.

Answer: The Star Master

For a game that originally didn't sell well in the States, "EarthBound" has long since gained one of the most passionate fanbases in video-game history. Right from the start, the premise is made clear: In the future, an alien entity known as Giygas has plunged all worlds into darkness. But he's also aware that in the present, there are four children who are prophesied to destroy him: Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo. The latter, who is the prince of a small kingdom, is met a few times by the "Star Master" -- who whisks him away in a whirlwind, "to show you the way of the Starstorm."

Instead of using "magic" like most role-playing games, certain of EarthBound's characters learn to use "PSI," or "psionics" -- basically, psychic power. When Prince Poo eventually returns to the party, he brings with him the power of "Starstorm," an unavoidable attack with enough energy to strike down many foes in one blast.

As an aside, the "Legends of Localization" website notes that in the original Japanese version of the game, the Star Master is simply referred to as the "Mystical Old Man."

Answer: Master Necky

When Nintendo introduced the arcade game "Donkey Kong" in the 1980s, who knew that both Jumpman -- the hero -- and Donkey Kong, the titular gorilla -- would prove so popular that they'd both get their own franchise? Well, in the Super NES era, the "Donkey Kong Country" series was brought to life by Rare, the same developer that would later create the "Banjo-Kazooie" franchise. Fans certainly went ape over Donkey Kong Country (and its sequels), while Donkey Kong himself went bananas for, well, his bananas. The aforementioned Kremlings, however, have other ideas -- for reasons not entirely clear, they despise D.K. and the whole clan of Kongs. According to the game and its manual, the Kremlings stole Donkey Kong's banana hoard in the hope that the apes would starve to death.

One of the oversized boss characters faced by D.K. and Diddy is Master Necky -- a comically large vulture with a toucan-like beak. He is the leader of his species (simply called Neckies), who for all intents and purposes are allied with the reptilian Kremlings, as both groups persistently antagonize the Kongs. For ordinary Neckies, their entire body is seen, but at least to the player's perspective, Master Necky's head (and a little bit of his neck) is all that's visible. This annoying character is met in "Necky's Nuts", a boss level named after the annoying bird's attack method -- trying to hit the Kongs by spitting coconuts at them.

As a minor aside, the game establishes that the "modern" Donkey Kong character is not the same ape who once kidnapped Mario's girlfriend in the arcade game. It turns out that Donkey Kong -- that is, the one who goes adventuring in "Donkey Kong Country" -- is the grandson of the original D.K. -- who appears as the curmudgeonly old Cranky Kong. Same name, different characters!

Answer: Master Higgins

"Adventure Island" and its sequels are fairly straightforward platformers. Armed with little more than a crude axe, fire and a skateboard, the hero fights his way through jungles, caverns, forests and more. It's not clear who or what the Evil Witch Doctor really is; he has a human body but the head of a savage animal -- and every time he's "faced," he's got a new head!

Anyway, Hudson Soft's "Adventure Island" series is pretty well-known to those who grew up with the NES games of the mid-'80s, though it's also known for royally confusing its characters' names. In the United States, the man of the hour is simply referred to as Master Higgins, but there's more to it than that. In the original Japanese, he's called Master Takahashi -- named in honor of one of Hudson's executives, who not only helped popularize various Hudson games but was even well-known for being quite a skilled player himself.

Actually, in Japanese, the Adventure Island series' hero wasn't just honored in name only -- the character's appearance was a cariacture of the real-life Takahashi. Of course, none of this would have been meaningful to American players, though, so "Master Higgins" -- a name with no apparent real-life connection -- became the protagonist's new name.

As for exactly who is being rescued, that's where things go from interesting to just plain murky. The English manual explicitly says that the Evil Witch Doctor's hostage is "Princess Leilani" -- but for those players who were good (and certainly persistent) enough to win the game, the underwhelming victory screen says, "Congratulations! You have saved your lovely Tina."

So is the lady in question royalty, just Higgins' girlfriend/wife, or perhaps both? The sequel, "Adventure Island II," tried to solve the discrepancy by stating that Leilani and Tina are sisters. Future games in the series mainly stuck with "Tina" as the name of Higgins' lady, though yet another translation mix-up resulted in her becoming "Jeannie Jungle" in one game. Talk about a case of confused identity!

In fact, even the Evil Witch Doctor has an identity crisis or two. The first game's U.S. manual mentions a mysterious "King Quiller," suggesting this is the real mastermind behind all the trouble. In truth, he and the Evil Witch Doctor are one and the same character; the translator didn't seem to realize this. The implication is that he changes forms with voodoo magic. Yet somehow, all of this almost seems to fit with the Witch Doctor's habit of taking on a different animal head every time he's fought.

At his final defeat, the creepy character loses his head -- literally -- and falls in a hole. Good riddance! (Anyone else got a headache yet?)

Answer: MC, Master of Catastrophes

Who doesn't love a party? Mario and his many pals certainly do, considering this is their eighth one. Even Bowser, the perpetual party-crasher, can't resist some fun (well, troublemaking). This time around, the Star Carnival has come to the Mushroom Kingdom, and it's one heck of an event, with balloons and huge circus tents as far as the eye can see.

Part of the big appeal of the "Mario Party" series has always been its abundance of mini-games, with enough variety that people of all ages can play together. Friends, family members, neighbors -- you can team up with someone else and compete against a rival team, or everyone can just jump into it, free-for-all-style.

Anyway, a close read shows there was a bit of a clue in the question: The word "host" is synonymous with "presenter" -- or "emcee" -- which is itself the pronunciation of the letters "MC," short for "master of ceremonies." In "Mario Party 8," however, the raucous ringmaster MC Ballyhoo uses a bit of wordplay, stating that in his case, his title is "Master of Catastrophes." Is he playfully suggesting that he's a bit mischievous, or does he mean that he's there to keep potential catastrophes under control? The answer seems to be both!

Somewhat interestingly, the word "ballyhoo," other than just being fun to say, is also of obscure origin, though various dictionaries and word-etymology sites say that the term, which dates to the late 19th or very early 20th century, is "circus slang." It more or less refers to loud or sensationalistic talk -- for a particularly apropos example, think of a carnival barker, hollering excitedly to try to attract people to a circus or carnival or similar entertainment.

Sharing hosting duties with the bombastic Ballyhoo is none other than Big Top -- who, in another case of word-play, is the former's large hat. A bit more mellow than his friend, Big Top occasionally reminds Ballyhoo to stop talking so much and keep the games moving.

As "ballyhoo" is an American word, however, neither it nor the pun on "emcee"/"MC" would work in other languages. For that matter, nor would the double meaning of "Big Top." Thus, says MarioWiki, the Japanese version of "Mario Party 8" simply refers to both characters as "Tore," a shortening of the Italian word for "host".

Answer: Master Jiggywiggy

In the first game, "Banjo-Kazooie", players met Banjo the laid-back bear, Kazooie the bigmouthed bird, Gruntilda the warty green witch, and more. In "Banjo-Tooie", the heroes return to again stop the hag. In a wooded hollow is a temple, whose leader has the power to help them unlock new worlds. To be worthy of entering the temple, however, Banjo and Kazooie are told to gather special "images in the form of [the leader] himself." More on that in a minute.

The worlds in which Banjo and Kazooie's adventures take place are overflowing with vividly imagined creatures. Friends and foes alike all have unique personalities, odd mannerisms, peculiar ways of speaking, and decidedly goofy appearances -- and Master Jiggywiggy is definitely no exception. His appearance is mostly shrouded by long, priestly looking robes -- except his hands, which are unremarkable, and his head, which is shaped like a Jiggy with little eyes on top.

For the uninitiated, a "Jiggy" is the game's name for the magical, golden jigsaw-puzzle pieces that were originally encountered in the prequel. In the first game, these glittering artifacts were to be collected and then placed into (incomplete) jigsaw puzzle-boards, completing the image and opening the path to the depicted land.

In "Banjo-Tooie", the Jiggies work a little differently than before. If the heroes have found enough Jiggies, the temple entrance opens, and Master Jiggywiggy awaits inside. He will challenge Banjo and Kazooie to correctly assemble a jigsaw puzzle in a certain time limit -- and if they succeed, a mysterious temple artifact called the Crystal Jiggy will emit a beam of light that breaks open the passageway to the next land.

Eventually, when all ten jigsaw challenges are completed and thus all the different realms have been opened, Master Jiggywiggy offers the bear and bird a bonus eleventh puzzle. This one is harder than the rest: All the pieces have to be placed within the time limit, some pieces have to be rotated to fit properly, and the image depicted isn't static -- it's an animated clip, making it especially hard to tell what pieces go where.

The game's manual makes a passing reference to "the ancient order of the Jiggywiggies," adding to the game's humorous lore that the jigsaw pieces are actually powerful artifacts, and that knowledge of and access to the most powerful one has been constantly guarded by a priestly line of guardians.

Answer: Wall Master

Of all the memorable characters and series Nintendo has created over the decades, two titans have always been the most iconic: the "Mario" franchise, and the "Legend of Zelda" franchise. The NES title "The Legend of Zelda" was the first foray into the mythical land of Hyrule, and Link has time and again traversed realms swarming with bizarre monsters and traps. Time and again, Link and players alike have been plagued by knights, skeletons, wizards, and perhaps most annoyingly, Wall Masters -- a sort of disembodied, sentient sentry. As the name suggests, they lie in wait within the walls, then suddenly appear to grab unsuspecting people.

When a player is in the middle of trying to navigate a gloomy dungeon or an underground maze, there's nothing more vexing than having to start all over again from the entrance. If Link happens to spot a Wall Master's approaching shadow, he has the chance to either sidestep the hand or defeat it outright when it appears -- though another one will usually re-emerge after a time.

The "Zelda" series has a tremendous amount of mythology surrounding almost all its characters and the powerful artifacts scattered throughout the land. However, some things have remained left to the player's imagination -- including what the Wall Masters actually are. Some sort of magical trap? A living species of monstrous hands? It's anyone's guess.

As troublesome as they are, Wall Masters don't actually harm Link -- just reset his position. In fact, in some instances, players can use these weird traps to their advantage -- for example, if you're deep in a dungeon and hopelessly lost, or getting overpowered by monsters, deliberately getting caught by a Wall Master can be the best way to get quickly whisked to relative safety, allowing a chance to regroup and do some strategizing.

Answer: The Dream Master

The character of Nemo, as some people may know, originated in the 1900s as a surreal-fantasy comic-strip called "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Time and again, the boy goes to sleep and dreams of his own adventures -- and perils -- in the vivid world of Slumberland. But he is always jarred awake before his dreamed-up stories can conclude.

In 1989, this comic strip was (somewhat infamously) adapted into an animated movie drawn in manga-like style. The video-game developer Capcom took the film's story and turned it into the NES title "Little Nemo: The Dream Master" -- often forgotten and underappreciated. Anyway, in the game's story, Nemo travels through various dreamy lands until he finally reaches Princess Camille, who tells him of the evil Nightmare King, who has captured the good King Morpheus -- her father, and Slumberland's ruler.

The Nightmare King, Camille says, intends to overtake the entire realm of dreams, eradicating all good or happy dreams that people have and allowing only nightmares instead. Nemo is dubious that he can fell the wicked king, so the princess gives him Morpheus' royal scepter -- the Morning-Star -- which will give Nemo the power he needs. Ultimately, he does indeed prevail, and Morpheus declares him the hero of the realm.

On first glance, the title of "Dream Master" may not seem relevant, as its only real reference is as the game's subtitle. But in truth, in all of this, the designation of "Dream Master" really does fit Nemo. There are a few different reasons why, but first and foremost is the fact -- lest we forget -- that everything that transpires is purely a product of the boy's imagination.

That is, on one hand, he never actually went anywhere -- he simply dreamt about going to a land of dreams and saving it from a "nightmare king." On the other hand, however, that's the very point: Once Nemo realizes he is still asleep and imagining this adventure, he uses this knowledge to determine for himself how the story will end -- and hence why he can wield the Morning-Star and bring a happy conclusion to his dream. Living up to his game-bestowed title, Little Nemo truly is the master of the dreams he has.

Note: Wikipedia was the reference for some of the info about the original comic-strip.

Answer: Master Hand

The original "Super Smash Bros.", on the Nintendo 64, was the first entry into what would become another of the most popular series all over the world. The first game seemed to envision Master Hand -- a giant, disembodied white glove -- as perhaps being a stand-in of sorts for a child playing with his action figures -- or perhaps even a magical force that brings them to life! Once the fighter (of the player's choosing) bests Master Hand, the champion reverts to an inanimate trophy in a bedroom toybox.

The second game, "Melee", expanded significantly on the series' lore -- this game is the one that described Master Hand as the connection between "the real world" and "the imaginary battlefields." However, establishing Master Hand as being a right hand, "Melee" also brought out his counterpart -- Crazy Hand, the left hand. This even-stranger entity was directly contrasted with Master Hand, the former described as embodying a destructive spirit rather than a creating one. A fair analogy for Crazy Hand is Sid from "Toy Story" -- a bullying boy who "plays" with his action figures by finding ways to break or mutilate them.

In any event, as the "Smash Bros." series has evolved and produced more games, a bit more mystery and ambiguity has been reinjected back into Master Hand's role -- for a time portrayed as a near-omnipotent creator of (or animating force for) the many fighters, more-recent games have brought in other powerful, external entities -- a number of which are clearly shown as wielding even more power than either of the Hands.

As fascinating as the series' lore often is, it's also largely inconsistent -- and never very clearly explained. If anything, however, this seems to be intentional, leaving players to guess or imagine for themselves about the particular nature, and different roles, of the various powerful forces of the Smash universe. At the end of the day, the one thing that's clear is that all the battles belong to the realm of fantasy and imagination (read: they're not real), so it's as good an "explanation" as any for the games to say to the players, "Nobody knows what the truth is about these 'other forces' -- make of them what you will!"

Answer: The Dark World Master

We'll get two things straight right off the bat: First, "Monster Party", though it has a small cult following, is largely unknown, obscure to even dedicated NES-era players. And second, this is easily one of the most (amusingly) bizarre games any console has ever seen. By most any metric, it deserves to have its own quiz dedicated to it -- those who have played the game will enjoy revisiting its confused history.

More or less, what happened to the game is that it was developed in Japan, written as a tongue-squarely-in-cheek romp through a parade of parodies of Western culture, especially horror movies -- and somehow, not only did the game never see the light of day in Japan, but by the time it came to the U.S., so much content had been changed that all of the would-be parodies were basically axed and reduced to a bunch of largely nonsensical characters. Most players, not knowing the censorship and translation issues involved, figured that the game's developers had simply dreamt up the silliest ideas they could, piled them all together, and called it "Monster Party".

It is rather absurd on many fronts, especially the idea that a strong monster himself -- named Bert -- lives on a planet full of monsters, who themselves are being terrorized by OTHER monsters. For that matter, Bert's character is far more powerful than Mark -- yet this character comes all the way to Earth and asks for help from a preteen boy with a baseball bat. (On the other hand, maybe Bert was prescient. After all, look at the foretold hero of "EarthBound" -- an average boy with a bat. It worked well THERE!)

Anyway, suffice it to say that in "Monster Party," various odd enemies and boss characters -- most of whom are far beyond description, at least for now -- abound, and Mark and Bert traverse areas from cavernous mazes to spooky mansions. The final area is called, of all things, "Heaven's Gate."

And beyond that gate, there is one final encounter -- the Dark World Master. Either his body is too large to fathom or he's just one massive face, because that's the entire screen -- a bright red face with two very-creepy, big eyes, nostrils, and a huge gaping mouth with fangs. The "sides" of the face are made up of countless smaller, watching eyeballs.

The Dark World Master -- the demon who brought all of his evil creatures to a world of monsters -- is incredulous ... and angry: "How dare you defeat all of my friends! You can't return to your world unless you defeat me! Come! This place will be your grave!"

And if you aren't sufficiently creeped out by all that you've seen so far, just wait and watch the ending!

NOTE: Thanks to TCRF (The Cutting-Room Floor) for some of the translation.