Paper Mario The Origami King is WellCrafted Body Horror

Paper Mario: The Origami King is Well-Crafted Body Horror

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The Origami King, the latest entry in the Paper Mario series, is a well-crafted blend of Cronenberg-style body horror and oddball whimsy.

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Paper Mario The Origami King is WellCrafted Body Horror

From one of its opening scenes, in which Mario and his new companion Olivia watch from the shadows as old friends get twisted and folded into zombie-like origami versions of themselves, Paper Mario: The Origami King is a blend of Cronenberg-style body horror and oddball whimsy. Nintendo’s latest Paper Mario game is the fastest-selling entry in the franchise, and despite a few mixed reviews, it successfully pushes the series forward into new and interesting places. But its colorful, whimsical appearance belies a darker theme of body horror that runs rampant throughout the game.

David Cronenberg, who perfected the art of body horror in films like The Fly and Scanners, would feel right at home in the world of Paper Mario: The Origami King, where even the title character is a madman hellbent on bending and twisting everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom into origami imitations of themselves. There are countless times throughout the game that Mario runs into old friends whose minds and bodies have been warped, turning them into enemies that must be defeated if they cannot be saved. It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but with paper.

Most of the body horror is lighthearted, like Mario’s ability to stretch his arms out to enormous lengths using the 1,000 Fold Arms ability. It’s a Mario game, after all, so there’s not blood or other especially gory moments. But that doesn’t mean Paper Mario: The Origami King doesn’t experiment with plenty of creepy undertones. Whether it’s a golem mashed together from bits of folded koopas and shy guys, or the possession of Princess Peach by the vampiric Origami King himself, there’s still a lot of unsettling bits to unnerve players.

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Paper Mario: The Origami King Succeeds At Body Horror

The first bits of body horror come early in the game’s prologue, when several of Mario’s friends (including a goomba who players just got to know) are dragged into a torture chamber and folded into origami. From that point on, the bosses in Paper Mario: The Origami King (like Scissors, who literally wants to cut the paper characters into pieces) and the plot continue this unsettling theme.

It would be easy for Paper Mario: The Origami King to lean too heavily into these aspects of horror, but toeing the line is where the game really succeeds. By keeping everything colorful and whimsical, and by playing a lot of the body horror for laughs, Paper Mario: The Origami King creates a parody showing just how silly some tropes of the genre are, all while sporting an atmosphere that shouldn’t scare off younger players.

In fact, this is what makes Paper Mario: The Origami King such a well-crafted game and a somewhat unique example of body horror. Like the characters in the game who are folded into beings devoid of freewill, Paper Mario: The Origami King folds body horror into a silly new style that is sometimes unsettling. It’s both an homage to a horror sub-genre of grotesque visuals and a parody of the tropes that define it. It’s a kid-friendly game that still might freak out an adult or two.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/paper-mario-origami-king-body-horror-themes-scary/

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