The Great Gladiator Gig
The Great Gladiator Gig is the sixth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Bonkers from Yonkers".
Plot Synopsis
Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad are all traveling through the Linguine Empire in a horse-pulled chariot/bathtub; it seems they had all been invited to a benefit spaghetti dinner, the proceeds of which would go to Mushroom orphans.
Using a telescope, Mario sees a nearby colosseum and asks Luigi if they can make the bathtub go any faster. Luigi responds to Mario's question by telling him to relax while Princess Toadstool laments that the emperor of the Linguine Empire must be a wonderful to raise money for orphans and that she can't wait to meet him.
As an excited Mario says that he can't wait to attend that spaghetti dinner, King Koopa, up above on a cliff, tells Tryclydius of his plans to trap Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool. Eventually becoming annoyed with Tryclydius' idiotic ramblings about destroying Mario and Luigi, King Koopa violently yanks him away from the cliff top.
Arriving at the town surrounding the Linguine Empire's coliseum, Luigi tells Mario, Toad and Princess Toadstool that they have arrived ahead of time and still have a half-an-hour until the spaghetti dinner. As Mario says he can't wait that long until eating, the ground around the coliseum begins to rumble. Believing an earthquake is occurring, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool take cover, but look up and see a gigantic man standing before them.
The man, seeing Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool, asks if they are the emperor's guests of honor. Replying that they are, Mario asks if the man is the emperor; the man tells them he isn't the emperor, he is Brutius Maximus Grouchimus, the guardian of the colosseum and tells Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to follow him into the colosseum.
While following Brutius into the colosseum, Mario overhears Brutius mention that the benefit dinner may be cancelled. Mario, shocked, asks why with Brutius responds that the dinner may be cancelled because of a plumbing problem in the catacombs beneath the colosseum. Mario, desperately wanting to attend the spaghetti dinner, says that he and Luigi can repair the plumbing problem. Hearing this, Brutius suddenly calls forth several Koopa Troopas and tells them to take Princess Toadstool and Toad on a tour of the colosseum; after Brutius says this, he and the Koopa Troopas lead Toad and Princess Toadstool through the colosseum, leaving a somewhat suspicious Mario and Luigi behind with several Koopa Troopas.
Taking Princess Toadstool and Toad to the center of the colosseum, Brutius introduces them to the emperor, who Princess Toadstool and Toad are horrified to discover is King Koopa, or "Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa". Toad, after seeing Emperor Koopa, begins trying to run-away to get Mario and Luigi, only to be surrounded by several Koopa Troopas. As Toad is forced next to her, Princess Toadstool tells Emperor Koopa that Mario and Luigi will save them and defeat him. Mockingly, Emperor Koopa tells Princess Toadstool that Mario and Luigi won't be able to save her and tells his Koopa Troopas to put her and Toad into confinement while Brutius leaves.
In the catacombs beneath the colosseum, Brutius is in the process of leading Mario and Luigi down a corridor. Stopping, Brutius tells a curious Mario and Luigi that now is the time that they'll be captured. Mario and Luigi, shocked, are surrounded by several Koopa Troopas and a mocking Brutius. Trying to run from the Koopa Troopas and Brutius, Mario grabs a nearby torch from the walls and throws it at them. With the Koopa Troopas and Brutius distracted, Mario and Luigi enter a nearby chariot with a horse attached to it.
Trying to get the horse to pull the chariot they're in, Mario and Luigi see that the horse is too busy eating to acknowledge them. Getting an idea, Mario, using a piece of pipe, dangles a bag of oats in front of the horse. the horse, seeing the oats, frantically begins chasing trying to eat, pulling the chariot Mario and Luigi are in and knocking any Koopa Troopas it encounters out of the way.
Trying to tackle Mario and Luigi's chariot, Brutius and several Koopa Troopas miss it and bump into one another instead. Getting up, Brutius, grabbing two nearby Koopa Troopas, throws them, who are inside their shells, at Mario and Luigi. Mario, seeing the oncoming shells, throws the horse's bag of oats at them. Hitting the bag of oats, the shells ricochet off it and begin to bounce chaotically off of the surrounding walls.
The horse, seeing that Mario and Luigi have no more grains, dumps them from it's chariot, telling them that, unless they give it more grains, they aren't getting another ride. Seeing Brutius and several Koopa Troopas coming-up behind the horse, Mario and Luigi begin to run to a nearby door. Reaching the door, Mario and Luigi burst through and find themselves in the center of the colosseum, being glared down upon by Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa and hundreds of yelling spectators.
Emperor Koopa proceeds to tell Mario and Luigi that, if they defeat his gladiator, they'll be able to leave the colosseum unhindered. After saying this, Emperor Koopa tells a Koopa Troopa to allow his gladiator, a net and trident wielding Tryclydius, into the arena. Seeing Tryclydius, Mario and Luigi run from him in two opposite directions. Tryclydius, after some hesitation, begins to slither after Luigi, who he throws his trident at. Tryclydius' trident successfully pins Luigi's overalls to a wall, leaving him defenseless against the approaching Tryclydius.
Mario, seeing his brother in danger, tries to distract Tryclydius by jumping on the neck of one of his heads. Mario, frantically trying to hold on to Tryclydius' neck, tells Luigi to attack Tryclydius, unfortunately, Luigi is unable to do anything, being incapable of getting loose from Tryclydius' trident.
Tryclydius eventually manages to grab hold of Mario by biting down on his overalls. Lifting Mario into the air, Tryclydius, after swinging him around a bit, tosses Mario into a nearby wall. Luigi, after managing to get his overalls loose from Tryclydius' trident, begins to threaten Tyrclydius, only to have a net thrown over him by Tryclydius. With Luigi captured, Tryclydius, staring menacingly at Mario, unsheathes a sword and begins to slither towards Mario.
Up in the stands, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa begins to taunt Princess Toadstool, saying Mario and Luigi will soon be hacked apart by Tryclydius and no longer be a problem to him.
Down below, Tryclydius prepares to swing his sword at Mario, Mario jumps out of the way, causing Tryclydius to miss hitting Mario with his sword. Jumping on one of Tryclydius' heads, Mario knocks Tryclydius' sword from his mouth and, grabbing it, Mario manages to cut the net holding Luigi open. Seeing Tryclydius quickly approaching, Luigi begins to panic, only to be inexplicably told by Mario to dance. Dancing around Tryclydius, Mario and Luigi eventually cause a confused Tryclydius into tyeing his neck into a knot, effectively immobilizing him.
Seeing Tryclydius defeated, Emperor Koopa, betraying his promise of letting Mario and Luigi free, commands Brutius to free several lions into the arena. Nearby Mario and Luigi, a pen containing to lions opens up, allowing to vicious and hungry lions out. As the lions approach him and Luigi, Mario manages to convince the lions that they don't want to eat two measly plumbers for lunch, they should be having royal meat, namely, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa.
In the stands, Emperor Koopa is beginning to try and grab Princess Toadstool, who is nervously backing away. Suddenly, Mario, using Tryclydius' trident as a pole vault, springs upward to and manages to bash into Emperor Koopa. Knocked backwards, Emperor Koopa crashes into a nearby pillar, damaging it and causing the roof it supports to start collapsing.
As Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad take cover from falling debris, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa and his Koopa Troopas leap into the colosseum arena. Landing in the arena, Emperor Koopa is suddenly chased by the two lions out of the colosseum and into the horizon, vowing revenge on Mario and Luigi.
Afterwards, several people begin to enter the colosseum for the beneficial spaghetti dinner, with Toad collecting their admission coins. Inside the colosseum, Brutius, having seemingly reformed, is cooking spaghetti in a cauldron while Princess Toadstool and Toad show Mario all the coins they have collected. As Luigi appears and begins to tell Mario about how successful the spaghetti dinner, he is suddenly approached by one of the lions from earlier who says that he is so starved that he could eat a horse, or plumber. Luigi, thinking this to be some sort of threat, quickly runs away to get Harry some spaghetti, not wanting to wind-up being eaten by the hungry lion.
Trivia
- King Koopa's alias of Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa is a parody on the name Augustus, which was a name of all Roman Emperors, and also named the month August. King Koopa's name also has the next two months, September and October, listed.
- The color of Tryclydius' sword continually switches from being gray to blue. Additionally, in several scenes, Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa shell disappears and reappears several times.
