In the late hours of October 10, Nintendo of Japan uploaded a Super Mario Bros. Wonder animated short to its Twitter account. In the Super Mario Bros. Wonder fashion of expecting the unexpected, fans have taken a shine to this short not so much for its smooth animation but instead thanks to Bowser’s surprisingly wholesome behavior.
The short features Princess Peach minding her own business when Bowser comes along and tries to impress her with a flower. However, before the courting attempt can go anywhere, an Elephant Fruit rolls in from off-screen and transforms the princess into Elephant Peach. Although the transformation seems to shock Bowser and first, he quickly rebounds with an even larger bouquet for the powered-up princess.
Fans aren’t being shy about how much they absolutely love Bowser’s wholesome side. Since the short’s posting, there have been plenty of key smashes over Bowser’s adorable response to Peach’s transformation, such as in user @emzberry’s reply shown below.
There’s also been a great showing of support for the koopa king’s dedication to Peach, no matter her appearance.
Some responses have even taken to referencing the “Would you still love me if I was a worm?” meme, such as user @JordykJordan’s declaration that “Bowser would pass the ‘turn into a worm’ question with flying colors.” Other users gave the meme their own elephant-sized twist, such as user @jbx9001’s reply below.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder may be all about the surprises, but fans are unsurprisingly hoping for more wholesome Bowser content. “I need more of Bowser being sweet,” says user @harryamoros. If user @ScratchyDerose is right that “Nintendo knows exactly what their audience wants,” we may well get to see more of the big baddy’s soft side.