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Neglected Mario Characters (also known as NC) is the first known sprite comic, having started on September 6 1998. It takes place in the Mario universe. NC is done primarily by Jay Resop. NC began life as a text-based site before the comic began. Much of the site remains a shrine to the lesser known characters of the Super Mario Brothers universe, but the comics remain the prevalent focus, as well as a few other features which focus on comedy. It is technically a section of the Mario fansite, Super Mario Bros. HQ, but it often acts as a site in its own right. The site updates irregularly.

As a side note, the name Neglected Mario Characters comes from the author's original intention to make multiple versions of the page, highlighting the neglected characters from other famous video game series. (Neglected Zelda Characters, Neglected Pokémon Characters, etc.) This idea was abandoned after the comics took off and most fans now know the site as simply Neglected Characters or NC.

Table of Contents

Comic series

The comics are divided into several series which, viewed in sequence, features an ongoing storyline for NC. However, due to the nature of one project starting and continuing for years while other projects are run, the storylines often cross unnaturally, meaning it is often best read in the publishing sequence. In addition to the series, NC has many single-part comics.

List of NC Comic series

The EVIL-Luigi Story

A scene from the comic

Written by Jay Resop
Started September 6 1998
Ended November 25 1998
Special edition started June 18 2004
Special edition last update posted June 18 2004

The first comix series was four short episodes long, but it has had a lasting impact on the site and sprite comics in general. It established many typical themes of sprite comics, such as expanding upon the known videogame universe through use of old characters, and using modified images from the games as parody. It also contained a reference to Star Wars, which sprite comics have become notorious for. In the comic, it explores the possibility of Luigi becoming enraged and evil over his neglected state behind his brother. A 'Special Edition' version of the series was adapted by Patrick VanDusen of the Super Smash Stadium which, while staying largely true to the original version, offers more legible dialog and a more pleasing visual style.

The Mushroom Wars

A scene from the comic

Written by Lemmy Koopa and Jay Resop
Started December 17 1998
Ended September 6 1999
Special edition started June 18 2004
Special edition ended March 1 2009
This comic explored similar themes to the Evil Luigi Story, this time with Luigi and Bowser forming an alliance against Mario and the Koopa Kids. The comic introduced a few key characters and recurring jokes that would establish the rest of NC's overall feel. Although half the comic was text, the comic portion which Jay Resop created was definitely improving, showing that there could be real quality to sprite comics.

The way that Mushroom Wars is currently represented on the NC Comix page can be somewhat confusing, so some explanation will be attempted here: The original story, written from 1998 to 1999, had 14 parts, with every odd part written by Lemmy Koopa and every even part written by Jay Resop. While all of Jay's parts were sprite comics, Lemmy Koopa instead wrote all of his parts in a form of prose. Lemmy's parts were also a bit different in tone from Jay's, making the flow of the comic somewhat disjointed in this form, with some readers opting to skip Lemmy's parts altogether.

To try and alleviate this, in 2004 Lord Reid started the Special Edition of the comic, which (loosely) remade all of Lemmy's parts of the story as sprite comics. The special editions were later continued by Alph, who finally completed them with Part 13 in 2009. Note that only Lemmy's parts of the story were remade as "special edition" comics; Jay's original versions have not been touched.

Bill and Fred's Quazi-Mediocre Adventure

A scene from the comic

Written by Steven Reich and Jay Resop
Started September 26 1999
Ended June 26 2001

This is where NC really started to come into its own. This series was the first to really establish Bill and Fred as the main characters for NC.

The NC/SSS Crossover

A scene from the comic

Written by Lord Reid and Jay Resop (with contributions by Sir Adam Cooper (Lemmy Koopa) and Patrick VanDusen)
Started August 12 2001
Ended October 5 2001
This comic was supposed to be a crossover between NC and the SSB Fan-Fiction site Super Smash Stadium. However, the plot never took off and the comic was scrapped and, later, restarted.

Due to the erratic writing process for this series, Patrick VanDusen is often mistakenly given co-writing credit alongside Jay Resop, and Lord Reid is often credited as a contributing editor. (Even the NC Comix page itself continues to say this.) However, the truth is the exact opposite; Lord Reid and Jay Resop shared writing duties with contributions from Adam Cooper, while Patrick VanDusen was primarily responsible for illustrating Lord Reid's contributions, a partnership they had used previously.

Mario Busters

A scene from the comic

Written by CodieKitty and Jay Resop
Started September 29 2001
Ended November 13 2003
Jay Resop teamed with CodieKitty (of The Super Nintendo Super Shire) for what is, to date, the longest comic series in the history of NC (in terms of number of chapters). Although not a direct parody of Ghostbusters, it contains many references to the movie and even a theme song similar to the one written by Ray Parker Jr. It is currently being remade into a series of Flash movies.
The NC/SSS Crossover Mach 2

A scene from the comic

Written by Lord Reid and Jay Resop with Sean Kelly, Patrick VanDusen, and Metal Man, and contributions by Sir Adam Cooper (Lemmy Koopa)
Started October 7 2001
Ended January 12 2011
Jay once again teamed up with the SSS to re-attempt the NC/SSS Crossover. In terms of start-to-finish date, it was NC's longest-running series, lasting for roughly ten years, and its ending was highly anticipated by NC readers.

Five years after Part 12 was posted, with Jay Resop having retired from NC and Lord Reid nowhere to be found, the final 13th part was written and posted by Metal Man (the current NC maintainer) and Patrick VanDusen, finally concluding the series.

NC Chronicles

A scene from the comic

Written by Jay Resop
Started October 13 2002
Last episode posted December 6 2002
The NC Chronicles focuses on the origins of the characters who were created for the strip. Readers get an inside look into events such as the characters' births, or their appearances in Mario games. The series also introduced Magruder and Redox.
The Lord of the Wings

A scene from the comic

Written by Sean Kelly and Jay Resop
Started January 29 2004
Last episode posted July 22 2004
Cast of Lord of the Wings

NC Shorts

The First NC Short - Halloween 2002 NC started making short (single-image) comics on May 21 2003 (though the first short was on Halloween 2002).

The shorts are created quite quickly, hence are posted more frequently than the comic series.

NC Deathmatches

Also, from time to time, NC makes "Deathmatches" inspired by MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch featuring characters from video games. The announcers are named John Poser II and Lyle Orlando (Parodies of Jay Resop, creator of NC, and Kyle Orland, founder of Super Mario Bros Headquarters, host of NC) So far, nineteen Deathmatches have been released. They are:

Characters

In spite of the strip's title, most of the characters were created exclusively for the strip, rather than Mario's underappreciated co-stars. However, their appearances, usually depicted by NES sprites, are based on actual game characters, mainly from the Super Mario Bros. NES games or Kirby's Adventure.

Main Characters

  • Image:Ncbill.gif Bill The Extra Guy (First Appearance - The EVIL-Luigi Story, Part 2) - Bill is, well, an Extra Guy. Born in Sub-Con, he's spent his whole life being an obscure character in Super Mario Bros. 2 and doesn't really mind being neglected. Bill is an easy going guy but will fight back if pressured. He has also been perfecting his skill called the "Extra Power", which he claims he learned from the Discovery Channel. Bill tries to avoid confrontation whenever possible. Bill may have a more mysterious past then he lets on. There are some that believe that his "Extra Power" in fact comes from a greater source. In 2000, he was elected as the first ever president of Neglected Characters. He was defeated in 2004 by Captain Churro. His appearance resembles that of a Pidgit from Super Mario Bros. 2.
  • Image:Ncfred.gif Fred The Spanyard (First Appearance - The EVIL-Luigi Story, Part 3) - Born somewhere in the Isles of Span on Popstar, he's a Spanyard. He's crazy, angry, and loves to fight. He's Fred. While Fred has a lot of issues with his control, he still tries to do good. At least when he feels like it. Fred is the kind of person to try to get the most out of any situation. He acts first and thinks later. Sometimes this gets Fred in trouble, but Fred is more than prepared for any danger. His Deathray, Ray of Death, and Deathly Deathray of Deathly Deathness make up Fred's attack force. Fred has no known relatives and some have guessed that he is the last of the Spanyard race. He loves tacos. A lot. His appearance resembles that of a Buggzy from the Kirby games.
  • Image:Ncdonez.gif Dr. Donez (First Appearance - Bill and Fred's Quazi-Mediocre Adventure, Part 10) - Dr. Donez, a native of Sub-Con, is an evil genius. Great for coming up with crazy inventions and crazy plans. But he's not a REAL evil genius. He's good-evil. He still has his moral side. He fights for the common good, as long as it doesn't sidetract him from his real goal, which happens to be world domination. Dr. Donez can sometimes be forgetful. When in trouble, Donez either runs away or whips out his Ice Pick, one of the most powerful weapons in the world. He also runs an advice column. His appearance resembles that of a Tweeter from Super Mario Bros. 2. In fact, he was the second Tweeter in the game.
  • Image:Ncchurro.gif Captain Churro (First Appearance - The NC/SSS Crossover Mach 2, Part 1) - Captain Churro is insane. Really insane. In fact, no one knows why he's a Captain. Like Phone, he has Cloneish qualities. His personally is a little dry, much like sandpaper. But he seems to just want to have a good time. Although he seems a little confused about even that. Churro does what he does for no particular reason. He was made by Jay to have the best qualities of every neglected character. However, it seems that Churro has instead gained the most annoying qualities of every Neglected Character. Most people in NC Land just get bothered with him and send him away quickly. In the mean time, he simply enjoys to "Fly Away!!!" He currently serves as the president of Neglected Characters. Like Donez, he is a Tweeter, but with a different color scheme.
  • Image:Ncjill.gif Jill the Extra Gal (First Appearance - The NC/SSS Crossover Mach 2, Part 4) - Jill, is well, an Extra Gal. If little is known about many of the Neglected Characters, practically nothing is known about Jill. She seems quiet and independent. As the lone girl in the NC Crew, she gets a lot of attention from the guys, but she mainly ignores them. Some believe that she also possesses Bill's "Extra Powers", but they have not been witnessed so far from Jill. She resembles the common Kirby enemy drone Bronto Burt. Her birthplace is currently unknown at this time.

Secondary Characters

  • Image:Nccitrus.gif Citrus Man (First Appearance - The Mushroom Wars, Part 12) - Citrus Man actually Mario, in his Raccoon Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3, under the temporary effects of amnesia whenever he receives a bump on the head. When he is Citrus Man, he fights for good and against evil. He's a very honorable person who fights for the little guy.
  • Image:Ncgooba.gif Gooba the Goomba (First Appearance - Bill and Fred's Quazi-Mediocre Adventure, Part 4) - As the names suggests, Gooba is a Goomba. Simply a servent to greater master. Be it Bowser or Kyle, Gooba gets pushed around a lot. But he doesn't mind too much. The pay is good and so is the vacation. The only bad part is getting stomped on by Mario all the time. But what's he going to do? He's a Goomba. The answer? Not much.
  • Image:Nclemmy.gif Lemmy The Lemming (First Appearance - Mario Busters, Part 5) - For more information about Lemmy, check out SNSS.
  • Image:Ncmag.gif General Magruder (First Appearance - NC Chronicles #2) - Magruder is the lost child of a group of three brothers born in the Mushroom Kingdom. While his brothers tend to get into trouble, or start trouble, all the time, Magruder is the odd duck. Where Prof. Executrain is the evil mastermind, and Zadok is the crafty hunter, Magruder grew up in the Military Academy of NC Land. He quickly rised in rank to General after long years of service. Magruder is an honorable person, a knight of the old times. He is something that is quite lacking in NC Land, a true hero. While unknown to many, his legend is quickly spreading, and some have rumored that he has never lost a fight. Magruder's appearance is based on a Hammer Bro from Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • Image:Ncredox.gif Redox (First Appearance - NC Chronicles #4) - A mysterious character who hides in the darkness, Redox is a ninja. So far he has been seen rarely, mostly working undercover and away from watching eyes. He claims to be a member of the Secret Order of Rubisco. Redox has been seen protecting the young Bill the Extra Guy for reasons still unknown. We will only learn more about Redox when he chooses to reveal himself again, but he currently acts as the entire police force in NC Land, stopping bad jokes from happening. His origins are still unknown at this time.
  • Image:Ncbiggsnwedge.gif Biggs and Wedge (First Appearance - The NC/SSS Crossover Mach 2, Part 5) - As guardians of the Forest of Illusion, the odd duo of Biggs and Wedge make it their goal to prevent the escape of anyone who finds their way into the forest, or at least do an interpretive dance about it. They like to talk. A lot. They are two specimens of Ninji from Super Mario Bros. 2. It is still unknown where these two mischief makers came from.
  • Image:Ncnarrativeguy.gif Narrative Guy (First Appearance - The NC/SSS Crossover Mach 2, Part 5) - As a member of the Neglected Neglected Characters, the aptly-named Narrative Guy (a grey Shy Guy) gives a face to the anonymous voice that narrates the NC Comix. Even though he doesn't really enjoy the job, Narrative Guy sticks to his task, because he knows that the comix would become even more confusing without someone guiding the readers along. As a member of the Neglected Neglected Characters, his origins are unknown.

Villains

  • Image:Ncbutch.gif Darth Butch (First Appearance - The EVIL-Luigi Story, Part 1) - Little is known about Luigi's alter ego. Darth Butch is evil on a molecular level. He has mastered an ancient skill called the "Worse" which few people know about. Most believe that Luigi became Darth Butch after being "Player 2" for so long. With the exception of a cameo in the second NC/SSS crossover, he has not appeared in the strip since the Evil Luigi storyline.
  • Image:Ncphone.gif Phone The Clone (First Appearance - The Mushroom Wars, Part 4) - Phone, an inverted recolor of Toad, is a Clone, simply put. But what exactly IS a clone? No one really knows. Clones are a sort of mixture between artificial life and biological life. Nevertheless, Phone is here and he's ususally causing trouble for someone. Simply put, he's not a very nice clone. His true origins are unknown, but it has been hinted that he was created by Bowser and Luigi to be used as a weapon against Mario during The Mushroom Wars.
  • Image:Ncexec.gif Prof. Executrain (First Appearance - Back To School) - Born in the Mushroom Kingdom, Prof. Executrain, who has the appearance of a Boomerang Bro, is the arch-nemisis of Dr. Donez. He's everything that Dr. Donez isn't. While Dr. Donez has his good side, Prof. Executrain has no good side. He gets pleasure in the suffering of others. He's bad-evil. Executrain can be goofy sometimes, but that's only a side effect of how evil he is. Like Donez, his goal is also world domination. No one knows where Executrain is currently, but many suspect that he has been working underground on his ultimate plans. Executrain would love nothing more than to see Dr. Donez fail. Executrain's main weapon is the powerful Philips Screwdriver. Prof. Executrain has two brothers, Zadok and Magruder. It is believed that he hasn't seen either brother in years.
  • Image:Nczadok.gif Colonel Zadok the Huntmaster (First Appearance - Mario Busters, Part 10) - Born in the Mushroom Kingdom, Zadok is a Huntmaster. But not just any old Huntmaster. He's THE Huntmaster. Master of the Hunt. He's an expert explorer, guide, woodsman, ect. No one knows his real motives. Zadok uses careful skill in his attacks. It is believed that he was separated from his two brothers, Prof. Executrain and General Magruder, when he was young and grew up alone. He trained himself in the wild to be a ruthless hunter. Not evil at heart, but definitely a dangerous character.

Running Jokes

right right right

  • Scenes where Earth spontaneously blows up, always shown in three consecutive frames. The first shows a picture of the moon, Earth, and outer space, with respective captions. The second shows an explosion over Earth with "Explode!" written in it. The third frame shows just the moon and space remaining. This usually happens when a character needs to come up with an idea, and decides to avoid it altogether by having Earth blow up.
  • Mario posing as Citrus Man.
  • Close-ups of the Dr. Donez character (or any other character he portrays) whenever he enters a scene. An example is like this: First frame: The frame shows the entire scene. Fred the Spanyard says something like, "Well, if it isn't..." Second frame: "Dr. Donez!" with the entire frame centered only on Donez's body and nothing else. The gag sometimes involves Captain Churro as the recipient of the close-up. Over time, Donez hated the persistent close-ups, yet the gag still continues to this day.
  • Extensions of the name of Fred the Spanyard's Death Ray; the most elaborate being "Deathly Death Ray of Deathly Deathness."
  • Jay's excuses for lack of frequent updates. He often is honest, mentioning his schoolwork, but he sometimes shows himself playing the latest Mario game released or some random Final Fantasy title, most often Final Fantasy VI.
  • The "Crystal of Restop" effect. Originally conceived in the Mushroom Wars, this is what gives Citrus Man and Captain Churro their powers. The gag works similar to the Dr. Donez close-up gag, but the frame with the close up looks something like this: "Gag recipient's name" at the top and a close-up of the character in the middle. On the left-hand side, a caption reads "I am the defender of all that is (adjective) and (adjective). On the right-hand side a caption reads "I stand for (noun), (noun), and a nice, (adjective) (container) of (liquid)." (Although, in more recent episodes, the glass of liquid was replaced with just a generic noun).
  • The fact that Luigi is not appearing in the story (although, technically, he is appearing to be pointed out that he's not appearing). This is an obvious jeer at Nintendo for not having Luigi as a playable character or only giving him minor roles in important Mario games (Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine in the former case, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG in the latter).
  • "Al Gore?" This is Bill's catch phrase. He often says it when he is asked to think of someone who may be helpful or harmful to him and to the NC's as a whole.
  • Literal running gags which usually involve Churro just running. Sometimes, these are called "Gags about running." This is evident in the 50th Short and the 2004 NC Presidential Election.
  • Breaking the fourth wall. An example of this is in Bill and Fred's Quazi-Mediocre Adventure, when Fred says something about the environment, Bill says "It must be what Jay Resup thinks ____ looks like." Then Fred says "Didn't we already kill Jay Resup?" In this, Bill talks of the author Jay, and Fred is talking about the character Jay.
  • Fred vs. the Kirby family. Fred, for some reason, always blows up kirby within five frames. Possibly because he was defeated by "Jirby" on planet Popstar.
  • The game Mario Is Missing is Jay's least favorite game, and thus he makes fun of it quite often in NC Comix.
  • The Neglected Neglected Characters often make appearances. These characters are the ones that even Jay neglected to put in his comics. They include a Blue Virus from Dr. Mario who speaks with a quasi-Jamaican accent and ebonics (he is the leader), a Snifit named Simon (who always says "Simon Says" at the beginning of his sentences), a Magic 8 Ball which is actually a modified pallate swap of Kirby and only speaks in phrases that an 8-Ball wouold say if one were to shake it, and the Narrative Guy.

Cultural References

See Also: List of Cultural References on Neglected Mario Characters.

NC, like most parodies, is full of references to popular culture. Due to the video game-centric nature of NC, many of these references are to other video games (not just Mario games), but there are references made to other forms of entertainment. These references became more and more common as the series grew. Some of the projects themselves were even satires of a sort, in the case of Mario Busters (Ghostbusters), Bill and Fred's Quazi-Mediocre Adventure (Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), and Lord of the Wings (Lord of the Rings). Also, as the series grew, many of the cultural references (especially in NC/SSS Mach 2) became remenicent of Family Guy gags. In fact, in the first chapter of NC/SSS Mach 2, the gag from Family Guy in which the Kool-Aid Man jumps into a courtroom when Peter is on trial saying "Oh yeah!" after the Griffins say "Oh no!" one by one is shown when Mario transforms into Citrus Man. Bill, Fred, and Donez each say "Oh no!" before the Kool-Aid Man jumps in. Unlike Family Guy, though, the gags tend to center around 1990's cultural icons as opposed to 1970's and 1980's icons. Some common references include:

  • Star Wars. The most common reference. Various villains from the series make guest appearances, usually as an SMBHQ staffer or writer of the comic. They often have lightsabers, but rarely use them. Scenes from the series are spoofed as well. Another reference are the characters Biggs and Wedge. They are named after two pilots that made the Death Star run with Luke.
  • Squaresoft. The company responsible for Final Fantasy games and Chrono Trigger are often referenced, especially in the Deathmatches where characters from these series are either referenced or appear as guests. This may be due to the fact that Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger remain some of Jay's all-time favorite games. The names Biggs and Wedge come from a running gag in the Final Fantasy series (a reference to 2 Star Wars characters).
  • Cable News, especially C-SPAN and MSNBC. Fred and Donez often wonder what they're missing on these channels when they're traveling on adventures.
  • Political figures commonly guest star in the series. So far, guests have included Bob Dole (as Jay Resop), Richard Nixon (as Carter, a contributor to NC), Al Gore (as "Jay Respo"), Ross Perot (as "Jay Reesop"), Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
  • Spy vs. Spy. Jay's love for this Mad Magazine comic was the inspiration for the recurring "Shy vs. Shy" shorts, featuring Shy Guys playing the spies.
  • Ebert & Roeper. This popular movie review show has been spoofed as "Q*Bert & Doppler"
  • The Matrix. This trilogy has been parodied frequently in recent comics. In addition to guest appearances by Morpheus and others, a spin-off trilogy, entitled "The NCTrix," has been shown from time to time. It is a trilogy starring Fred as Neo ("Freo"), Donez as Morpheus ("Donezious"), Jill as Trinity, Bill as Tank, and Zadok as Agent Smith ("Agent Zad."). The second two movies are called "The NCTrix Re-Exploded" and "The NCTrix Revolting Delusions."
  • The infamous Tootsie Pop commercial in which a boy asks an owl how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop. This commercial has been parodied in many ways, including one starring Link, Kaepora Gaebora, and Navi. A live version of Ask Dr. Donez! also features this parody. In addition, an NC/SSS Mach 2 comic begins with frames from the commercial and the boy asking the owl what happened during the previous episode. The owl explains, eating the poor boys lollipop while doing so and threatening to eat the boy's soul as well.

See also

External links

Category:Comedy Category:Parody/satire Category:Sprite
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