The Legend of Zelda Vs. Super Mario RPG! Two puppets with magical might will battle it out, but only one can reign supreme!
Intro[]
Boomstick: You know what I hate? Those creepy puppets, you know the ones. (Image of Slappy the Dummy appears ) AAAAAAAAAAAAAHBURN IT! BURN IT AND THEN KEEP BURNING IT!
Wiz: While they may be nothing more than er, niche artifacts in real life, puppets can take on a whole slew of supernatural powers in fiction. Such as the Skull Kid, Majora’s twisted puppet.
Boomstick: And Geno, the literal Star Warrior in doll form. He’s Wiz and I’m Boomstick.
Wiz: And it’s our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who would win… a Death Battle.
Skull Kid[]
Wiz: The land of Termina is filled with life. Honest farmers making an honest living, tribes of Goron living peacefully amongst themselves, the care-free and expressive Zora. Life in the central Clock Town is equally passive, as each day goes by as quickly as the last.
Boomstick: I could do without all the zombies and aliens, but Termina seems pretty neat, otherwise! Could fancy myself a little trip to the Gerudo’s fortress, too.
Wiz: In this land lived a small being known as a Skull Kid. Before Termina as we know it was formed, the imp met and befriended four kind giants, whose power would go on to represent the four regions of the land.
Boomstick: Yeah, turns out they just kinda up and left to go sleep in their designated spots, leaving the Skull Kid all alone. Dick move, guys.
Wiz: Losing the only friends he’d ever had, the Skull Kid naturally lashed out, pulling tricks and causing mischief among the people. So much so, that the four giants were called specifically to punish the forsaken Skull Kid.
Boomstick: Wait, they seriously turned around and banished him? Who would even want a meatball with legs as a friend, anyway?
Wiz: Skull Kid was never seen from again in Termina. At least, not for a while. Sometime later, the Skull Kid found himself once again in his home land, though alone all the same.
Boomstick: That is, until he met two fairies who actually decided to not be dicks to the poor guy, and they became close friends. Aw, I love a good wholesome friendship.
Wiz: Unfortunately… one day, after encountering a… bizarre mask salesman, the Skull Kid obtained a relic he should never have taken.
Boomstick: It was Majora’s Mask, and it turned out it wasn’t just for decoration. This thing was like the One Ring, except on your face. Which is just as horrifying as it sounds!
Wiz: The Skull Kid unknowingly invited powers well beyond his control, and quickly became influenced by a mysterious, ancient and malevolent force. Slowly but surely, the Skull Kid’s being became overtaken by the mask.
Boomstick: And that’s how he was able to do some crazy things, like bring the MOON DOWN. What the ever loving hell is wrong with its’ face? WHY DOES IT HAVE A FACE???
Wiz: Using the power of the mask, the Skull Kid possesses incredibly potent and versatile magic. He can fly, teleport, fire precise lasers from the mask’s eyes, conjure up twisters, alter the perception of his targets, and of course, can channel dark magic into concentrated blasts.
Boomstick: That’s not all though. He can make you younger! Wait, that sounds great! What’s so bad about that?
Wiz: It may be for some, but you probably wouldn’t want to revert to the body of a child right before your wedding.
Boomstick: I- yeah, when you put it that way, that would be an even worse wedding than mine. And it didn’t even happen…
Wiz: Don’t be mistaken, though. The Skull Kid can do far more than just make you young. Using a simple curse, Skull Kid can manipulate his targets’ souls, entrapping them in a shell of a body. Or, more specifically, a mask. Going one step further, he can even shapeshift your entire body into something else entirely.
Boomstick: Like when he turned Link into a Deku Scrub. Jeez, that’s horrifying.
Wiz: Even with all that said, the scope of Skull Kid’s power cannot be understated. After all, he could pretty casually bring the moon down – actually, it’s wrong to even call it Skull Kid’s power.
Boomstick: Yeah, turns out the Mask itself is a living entity, made by an ancient tribe to do… probably some really messed up stuff. You really gotta wonder what the hell is up with the Mask Salesman for even having a demon mask on him in the first place.
Wiz: Majora’s Mask can grant the user immense power, but at a cost. Slowly but surely, Majora began to control Skull Kid until he was little more than a puppet. Indeed, every ability displayed by Skull Kid actually belongs to Majora. Including the ability to transform the world into a twisted, parallel version which became what we know as Termina.
Boomstick: Wait, Majora made Termina? What about all that history we went over?
Wiz: It should be specified that the world Skull Kid resided in before obtaining the mask was not actually Termina at all. It was only after obtaining the mask that Termina was formed, an alternate reality born of Skull Kid’s troubled emotions and the Mask’s wicked influence.
Boomstick: He apparently even knows Link when they first meet, so… wait, did Majora warp Hyrule into Termina? That would explain why everyone looks so similar, anyway.
Wiz: Surprisingly perceptive of you, Boomstick. While we can’t say for sure, it certainly doesn’t seem implausible. After all, later installments have shown the Triforce of Courage to protect ones’ soul from alteration, so it would make sense why only Link could retain his sense of self after Skull Kid’s new reality. Although it's also just as likely, if not moreso, that Skull Kid merely created a portal between Hyrule and whatever land existed before Termina's creation by Majora.
Boomstick: Speaking of Link, Skull Kid didn’t even think of him as a problem! He needed the Fierce Deity mask to fight Majora, and regular Link was tough enough to beat Ganondorf!
Wiz: Frankly, Majora far outclasses even the Gerudo king. With his vast array of tricky magic spells, Majora and the Skull Kid already have much, much more versatility, but here’s where the most important distinction lies.
Boomstick: Remember how Ganon got his power from the Triforce of… well, Power? Well, if we highball it and say that the Triforce of Power has about the same power in it as Din used to create a planet, then Ganondorf might be able to draw enough energy to fight on that level.
Wiz: In comparison, by feeding off Skull Kid’s heart and manipulating his mind, Majora was able to create an entire parallel world with ease. In fact, Majora didn’t just create Termina, but a whole other pocket reality inside the Moon. That alone would give Majora the ability to operate on a planetary level, but it goes even further.
Boomstick: Remember that part about the aliens? Yeah, turns out that’s not just for show, because these aliens are ACTUALLY aliens! I know that sounds dumb, but…
Wiz: See, it would be one thing if Majora just created an alternate reality on a planetary level, but the existence of literal aliens from another planet proves that Majora didn’t just create one planet, but multiple. In fact, it becomes increasingly likely that the stars that fill Termina’s skies aren’t just illusions, but actual solar-systems with their own stars in place.
Boomstick: Which is friggin’ insane! And don’t forget that he could fight Link – actually, not just Link, but a GOD version of Link, and even regular Link could dodge lasers.
Wiz: We can even get a pretty decent approximation of Majora’s speed by taking a look at the climax of the game. After discarding the Skull Kid, Majora opens a portal into the moon itself and creates yet another pocket dimension with a clearly visible sun inside of it. Assuming it took 10 seconds for Majora to create this reality, as that’s how long it took for him to take control of the moon, and plugging in how large our solar system is, Majora would have had to created this new pocket dimension at more than five trillion miles per hour, or 832 times the speed of light.
Boomstick: Holy crap! Forget dodging lasers, it makes total sense now why Link would need the Fierce Deity mask to take on something like that.
Wiz: With all its’ devious magic, incredible power and malicious intent, Majora understandably has very few actual weaknesses.
Boomstick: But for one, it seems to be kind of insane. Like, no shit, but instead of using all its solar system creating power for battle, it just kinda seems to prefer slapping with tentacles, or… moonwalking.
Wiz: Majora’s greatest flaw is indeed its’ own unhinged personality. After all, it did need a host to influence to actually enact most of its’ plans. On its own, Majora seems completely devoid of reason or logic, instead capable only of consuming all.
Boomstick: Still though, you seriously can’t underestimate this little imp. He would love nothing more than to turn you into a tree for all eternity… or he could just, uh, spank his butt at you, I guess.
Geno[]
Wiz: The Mario universe is no stranger to bizarre beings, whether they be friend or foe.
Boomstick: But there’s one weird thing that has somehow managed to stay relevant despite coming and going faster than my marriage: Geno.
Wiz: Little is actually known about the being known as Geno, but we do know from where it came and why.
Boomstick: Yeah, Geno is a Star Warrior who was sent by someone really important to take care of the Star Road, which Smithy had destroyed. Turns out the Star Road is what lets dreams come true, and this was completely ruined.
Wiz: In order to repair the Star Road, Geno set out to retrieve the Star Pieces. In doing so, the mysterious agent crossed paths with none other than Mario himself, and the two formed an alliance.
Boomstick: But who is Geno, really? Why does he look like Pinocchio mixed with a magician?
Wiz: That’s a good question. See, it’s technically not correct to even call him “Geno.” His true name is, er, “heart, musical note, exclamation point, question mark”, and he is a Star Warrior, sent by a “higher authority”. We don’t really know who, but given how much the Mario universe has expanded, there are a couple possibilities, though nothing is certain.
Boomstick: Still, working for someone in charge of an entire reality is pretty darn cool, and apparently Geno even has some taste for cool stuff on his own. His true form is a star, so when he had to pick a body, he specifically chose the one you know now. Why? Because it was the coolest, that’s why!
Wiz: It’s actually hard to say whether Geno’s abilities in this form are even his own. Earlier on, we see the toy that Geno later possesses apparently has special moves of its own. So, it’s possible Geno is merely emulating what the toy is supposed to do, rather than inserting his own attacks into it.
Boomstick: And boy are they some attacks! Geno is a puppet after my own heart, with his signature weapons: Guns! He can shoot star pellets, small cannonballs, Destructo Disks, you name it, he can shoot it!
Wiz: Geno wields superhuman strength, able to create shockwaves with a single punch, has the Geno Boost for an amp to attack and defense, and he can morph his body into multiple physical forms even after possession. Not only that, but his body is apparently resistant to being crushed by giant weights, or being afflicted by all manner of statuses.
Boomstick: If typical ammo isn’t enough for you, he can even shoot lasers or beams of light, or hell, he can fire off an entire exploding friggin’ sun!
Wiz: Granted, these all run on a supply of energy. In this case, Flower Points. In order to maintain enough for continued use of his abilities, Geno tends to carry around an arsenal of items.
Boomstick: Like the Bad Mushroom, which can poison opponents, or the Able Juice, which can heal Geno of status effects in a snap.
Wiz: Using items, Geno can gain access to even ice and fire elemental attacks, and has no shortage of healing options. However, perhaps his most deadly item is the… Sheep attack.
Boomstick: That might not sound too potent, but don’t sleep on this sheep. Geno can literally transform his enemies into these fluffy featless herds.
Wiz: It goes without saying that Geno is understandably pretty comparable to Mario and his world. After all, he was able to keep even Bowser in check, and fought alongside Mario on even footing.
Boomstick: So he can probably scale to some of their best feats, like when Bowser survived a BLACK HOLE of all things. I’m no scientist, but even I know that makes no goddamn sense.
Wiz: Similarly, Geno likely scales to Mario’s reactionary feats, such as when he launched across entire galaxies within a few seconds.
Boomstick: But, wait. Didn’t all those things happen WAY after Mario even met Geno? Can you really say Geno can compare to things that didn’t even happen when he was around?
Wiz: This is certainly contentious and could go either way, but given Geno’s own accomplishments in his single appearance, these kinds of scaling feats aren’t actually that far-fetched. For example, remember how Geno’s cannon can launch an exploding star?
Boomstick: Geno’s sun shot doesn’t look like it’s the actual size of a sun, but then again, he’s a Star Warrior and beings above him like Rosalina were powerful enough to create entire solar systems in an instant. So he probably could shoot out actual suns if he wanted to.
Wiz: When a sun goes supernova, at minimum it can output at least 2.9 tenatons of TNT, and this number can easily go higher, seeing as how Geno’s energy output is limited only by his Flower Points.
Boomstick: And remember how Mario could react at speeds faster than light when blasting through a galaxy? Well, Geno actually managed to react to Aurora Flash, a light-based attack, so even if that feat hadn’t happened yet to Mario, Geno was already on that level.
Wiz: Though perhaps the most nebulous thing about Geno is also his greatest asset. Recall how Geno chose his body because of its’ appearance. There’s actually nothing stopping Geno from removing his spirit from his “Geno” form at any time, and occupying an entirely new one.
Boomstick: And remember how Geno apparently can make the attacks of the doll come to life? Well, he also could’ve chosen Mario, Bowser, or Peach, which means he’s also probably more than capable of doing all the same things as them too!
Wiz: Theoretically, Geno could very well abandon his current physical form for another if the situation called for it. And while we aren’t entirely sure of his capabilities in his true form, seeing the power he’s capable of already should be more than enough for most encounters.
Boomstick: How about the time Geno fought Culex, who looks like he came straight out of Final Fantasy?
Wiz: Culex specifically claims to come from an entirely separate dimension, apparently has future sight, and even controls his own pocket reality. It’s clearly pretty impressive that Geno could compete with anyone with that much power.
Boomstick: Although with all that power comes some drawbacks, sadly. Can’t have too much of a good thing, I guess, even if you are a wacky little gun-toting puppet.
Wiz: For starters, Geno’s items aren’t unlimited, and this can be a problem given his reliance on Flower Points, of which he also has a limited supply to draw from.
Boomstick: I guess he could always just find a new body if he ran out, but it’d be a damn shame to leave behind that supernova cannon.
Wiz: And while Geno has no shortage of potent ranged options and items, he isn’t much for close-range combat, and his adopted bodies don’t tend to be quite as bulky as his allies, even if he can somewhat keep up.
Boomstick: Like that matters! Who needs to wish on a star when you can have this Star Warrior take care of all your troubles for you?
Wiz: It’s true. With Geno’s help, Mario retrieved all seven star pieces, restoring the Star Road, defeating the evil Smithy and his army, and ultimately restoring peace to the world.
Interlude[]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set, and we’ve run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: It’s time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!
FIGHT![]
Geno is seen walking through a vast, yet cramped forest path. The light barely creeps through the overhead trees, illuminating a bridge connecting two halves of the forest. The doll walks slowly through the clearing before stopping in his tracks suddenly. The floating sprites and musk of the trees settle around Geno briefly as his eyes track the field. The camera pans close to his face, revealing a pair of glowing orange eyes in the darkness behind him.
The Star Warrior continues pacing forward once more. The air remains tight, and the camera claustrophobic, as though something just out of frame is looming. Once more, Geno halts his progress, revealing his gun-morphed arm from below his cloak. Nothing appears to be there, at least… not in front of him. A sharp-pointed object radiating a dark, purple aura manifests behind Geno.
In the blink of an eye, Geno whips backward, firing a star from his arm. However, the projectile harmlessly rockets into the web of trees. Letting out a sigh, Geno relaxes his armed arm. Behind him, the lanky, hunched body of a Skull Kid can be seen perched atop the end of the bridge. As quickly as Geno’s gun is lowered, the mischief maker pounces, throwing his weight onto the living doll.
The Skull Kid lets out a ringing laugh, his head throbbing back and forth in a fit of ecstatic joy. Geno turns around, his wooden neck swiveling 360 degrees to stare his attacker in the eyes. Taken aback by this, Skull Kid leaps off the Star Warrior, and bobs his head sideways in curiosity.
Geno twists himself into shape, regaining his footing and standing face-to-face with the Skull Kid. For a brief moment of silence, the two share a gaze. Geno finally breaks the peace, lunging forward with both arms in an attempt to grapple the imp. However, Skull Kid leaps into the air, evading the sluggish swipe.
Skull Kid lands atop a branch resting above Geno’s head, laughing once more.
Geno: You’re a mischievous one, aren’t you?
In response, the Skull Kid turns his back to Geno, slapping his rear-end with his palm repeatedly. Geno shakes his head in disappointment, then begins to walk away. As he’s doing so, Skull Kid turns around, waving a shiny object in his hand. From the corner of his vision, Geno can already tell: It’s a Star Piece! But wait, where could he have-
Geno lifts up his hat, finding nothing. It is now that the Star Warrior realizes what has just conspired, and the Skull Kid is relishing in every second.
Geno: Hand that back! You have no idea how important that is, do you?
Skull Kid pauses for a moment to inspect the Star Piece, before lumping it behind his back and cackling. In an instant, Skull appears to fly away, fleeing from the Star Warrior. Geno instinctively pursues the imp, leaping into the nest of trees overhead. As Geno finds his way to the top of the trees, he sees the Skull Kid floating well above the sea of green, his arms folded and position laid out as though on a bed.
Geno raises his arm once more, firing a sequence of star-shaped bullets from his firearm, though Skull Kid simply remains still as the projectiles approach. Once inches before his face, the past-Kokiri laughs as a purple aura surrounds him, erupting in a blast of energy and consuming the stars in their tracks.
The Star Warrior is taken aback slightly. In exchange, the Skull Kid props himself forward in the air, reaching out with his face and firing off a crimson flash of energy. Geno leaps from the tree he’s standing on, landing on a nearby treetop safely before the laser can hit him. Skull Kid is silent, and begins to swipe his arms left and right, hurling twisters out of seemingly thin air. Geno can do nothing but drop back beneath to the forest bed and the twisters begin to rip the forest head apart.
Landing on the ground, Geno is met by a crashing blast, the Skull Kid imbued with some form of magic. In the small crater caused on impact, Geno is tackled over by the imp, whose energy is radiating all over now.
Geno: You’re not just an imp, are you…?
The Puppet begins to morph his body, forming a compact cannon. In the instant the transformation finishes, the Skull Kid finds himself face-first in line of the cannon’s aim. Geno fires off a cyan laser, searing the Mask’s wearer and launching him backward into a tree. As Geno returns to normal, he notices something strange. The trees are… upside down? He attempts to raise his arm, but it only goes down instead. Motioning left, and he sees his view shift right. Skull Kid begins to cackle once more, before Geno realizing the purple energy stemming from his opponent must be altering his perception somehow.
Unfortunately, Geno cannot react in time before the Skull Kid hurls another ivory energy blast toward him, creating a small eruption of grass and dirt as Geno takes the full brunt of the attack. Geno’s senses, however, are returned to normal, and he is knocked out of the presumptive sphere of influence. As he hurtles through the air, Geno takes aim once more, calling down beams of light all around the trouble-making thief.
Skull Kid evades the beams, before trading his own eye-beams once more, aiming for Geno’s landing and nailing him in the chest. His wooden body begins to splinter as the heat starts to build, forming a fire and eating away at his form. With another distorted laugh, Skull Kid floats backward, his arms and head flailing in ecstasy.
Shuffling through his cap in a hurry, Geno finds a mushroom and consumes it, healing his burn nearly instantly. While the Skull Kid continues to bellow in joy, Geno readies his gun once more, leaping into the air, fist raised. With an air-splitting crack, Geno’s fist smashes into the Mask, before the Star Warrior’s gun blasts a close-range cannonball in succession. Skull Kid is sent flying, smashing through trees before slowing his acceleration with magic.
The imp’s laughter stops in a dead silence.
Skull Kid: You’re more trouble than this is worth.
With another burst of pulsating purple energy, the Skull Kids limbs extend outward in diagonal directions, his body trembles and letting out a shrill cry. Geno is surprised by the sudden ominous energy overtaking him, and turns his view upwards past the now-visible skyline. To his horror, the moon had suddenly appeared, the night sky interrupted by the presence of a grotesque face.
Geno: What is this?
Skull Kid merely laughs.
Skull Kid: If you think you can stop it, just go ahead and try!
With that, the imp rushes into Geno, his body wrapped in dark energy. Yes, that’s it, Geno realizes. Dark magic. No wonder this imp gave him a bad feeling. Much more was at play than just a trouble-making forest-dweller picking a fight. Geno struggles to lift his gun arm as Skull Kid continues ramming him through the forest, flattening trees in their path every second. At last, the Mask-bearer stops, letting the momentum hurl Geno multiple yards further. As Geno attempts to stand, Skull Kid’s mask begins to shake violently, another wave of dark magic filling the vicinity.
Geno’s sight goes black. When he regains cognitive function, he sees himself in a dreamlike state, surrounded by creatures he has never seen, in a black void, empty of any hint of reality. Before he can realize what magic is at play, the wooden beasts with their gaping maws begin to overtake Geno, burying him in a stampede.
When Geno awakens, his first view is that of Skull Kid staring back, once again in a relaxed levitating position. Geno attempts to move, but feels no part of his body respond.
Skull Kid: Heeheehee! This look suits you a lot more!
It dawns on Geno that the dark magic has forcibly transmuted his physical form, from the figure of “Geno” to little more than a mundane, albeit faced, tree. Skull Kid muses himself, before realizing something strange. No response from his incapacitated opponent. That was odd. Usually they at least reacted, he thought. The imp temporarily grounds himself, waddling over to the motionless bark. With the tilt of a head and the scratch of his cranium, the Skull Kid pokes the tree in confusion.
Suddenly, the mass brushing and bending of toppling trees can be heard. From the edge of the forest, a red-and-blue clothed plumber with wooden skin is seen leaping through the foliage, accelerating toward the unassuming Skull Kid. Geno, in his newly adopted form, breaks into the clearing and delivers a flaming-fisted strike against Skull Kid from behind. The impact flashes flames in the air temporarily, and sends the imp flying further into the forest.
Geno stretches, his wooden body creaking.
Geno: So this is how it feels like to be him!
With his plumber garb, Geno charges an orb of flames in his palms, anticipating the Skull Kid’s return. Indeed, the enraged imp is back shortly, covered in a rushing wave of dark magic. As he rapidly approaches Geno, the Star Warrior thrusts his palms forward, unleashing a torrent of concentrated fire. The blast levels the nearby and surrounding forest, leaving it barren and singed, devoid of the color green.
In the aftermath, Geno forces himself up, while Skull Kid’s injured body is propped back into the air via magic. Geno glances up, and realizes the moon is growing closer with each second. As it is, nearly the entire sky view from the ground is obstructed by the unsightly lunar body. Noticing this, Skull Kid cackles. Geno begins to transform his wooden body into a cannon, creating a bizarre decoration boasting the clothes of a certain mustached hero.
With a brief charge, the cannon is imbued with cosmic energy, shaking the ground before unleashing a crimson burst. Skull Kid glances at the energy blast for a second as the sphere begins to expand rapidly, flashing a light so intense the immediate area begins to become unbearably white. The heat rises, and Skull Kid realizes the severity of the attack aimed toward the moon. He desperately flies toward it, shielding the celestial body from Geno’s supernova. The exploding sun thins out into nothingness, leaving behind the force and energy of a dying star.
In what seems like hours disguised as seconds, Geno transforms back into his anthropomorphic form, his fake mustache burnt slightly. The Skull Kid’s body is seen lifeless, charred and flickering with wisps of fire. Geno sighs, and begins to turn away, when he suddenly glances back. The Mask, which had previously been stuck to the imp like glue, is floating on its own, well above the body of the Skull Kid. The moon is gone, but the Mask’s empty expression paralyzes Geno in his place.
Majora: What a useless puppet. If you want to play with me to get your star back, follow me. I’ll be the good guy, and you can be the bad guy.
With that, the Star Piece rematerializes beside the floating mask, and Majora creates a ray of light that consumes his presence, seemingly teleporting him away. Geno, determined to retrieve the star piece, rushes into the light.
When he enters the portal, Geno is shocked to find his body reverted to his “Geno” doll frame. The Mask greets him in an open field, bright green grass as far as the eye can see, with little more than a blue sky and yellow sun to accompany the emptiness. Suddenly, however, the world becomes distorted, cracking from all ends, as twisted, dark purple walls begin to reveal themselves, shattering the illusory planet. Geno is now standing in a room, sealed off from all but his opponent. Majora flies to the center of the room, sprouting limbs and a face from the core Mask. Whatever dark magic was used to create this atrocity, Geno thinks to himself, is overwhelmingly one of the deadliest things he’s ever seen.
The Final Form of Majora lands in front of Geno, his arms striped in a bizarre mesh of colors, leading to expansive, whip-like tentacles from his palms. From his head, a single eye expands from his forehead, highlighting the lack of eyesockets where most humanoids would bear them.
Without any warning, Majora thrashes its arms, spinning forward with tentacles slashing. Geno leaps up, firing down a barrage of star pellets. Majora is struck by the bullets, but hardly flinches on impact. As Geno falls back down, Majoras’ appendages latch onto the Star Warrior, thrashing him into the impenetrable wall and hurling him across the room. The ancient demon lunges forward, but Geno is prepared, and dodges under Majora’s horizontal whip and delivers a crushing uppercut.
Majora is sent flying into the air, and Geno takes the opportunity to fire beams of light once more, blasting through the demonic deity. As the beams carry Majora to the ground, Geno utilizes his cannon form, blasting the pinned Mask with a second Supernova. A piercing, feral scream is heard as the heat begins to incinerate Majora, before Geno’s sight goes blank once more.
Geno finds himself back on the Star Road, shocking him.
Geno: I’m back? But how…?
Suddenly, Geno’s amazement is cut off by the instant cut of a tentacle impaling his body, ripping it in half from behind. Majora stands, charred and injured, but alive all the same. As Geno’s spirit escapes the wooden shell, it frantically flies around looking for another body. As we follow the perspective of Geno’s true form, the Star Road suddenly turns into Smithy’s Lair, surrounding the lone spirit in a wall of ghastly metallic faces.
Geno: What’s going on???
Majora merely laughs, his diabolical joy ringing out, echoing throughout the castle despite the lack of his presence. Geno’s soul smashes against the walls of the lair, to no avail. The scene slowly pans out, revealing Smithy’s Lair to be a mere pocket reality inside the Star Road, yet another dimension created by Majora. The perspective continues to expand, showing the Star Road itself inside Majora’s lair, hidden again inside the open field reality. Finally, we see the moon mere miles above the ground in the true reality, minutes before impact. Majora’s Mask rests beside it in the air, and a low, sinister cackle rings out as the sound of Geno’s spirit trying to escape slowly fades out. The screen goes black as a Clock Tower begins to ring out.
Verdict[]
Boomstick: Woah! I can barely even keep up with what happened there. That’s some Inception shit!
Wiz: Both Skull Kid and Geno held enormous amounts of power, and had some comparable feats and counters for the other.
Boomstick: Like how Skull Kid could shoot lasers, but Geno could do that and dodge them, but Skull Kid could also-
Wiz: Though more importantly, Geno actually had a counter to Skull Kid’s otherwise game-ending transmutation. Skull Kid could trap souls into masks and alter the physical form, but Geno’s spirit already had the capability to freely exit and inhabit other forms at will, meaning this would do little more than annoy the Star Warrior. However, Geno’s advantages end right about there.
Boomstick: It’s super impressive that he could fight someone with future sight, and not everyone can just shoot out supernovas on a whim, but Majora was just on a whole other level.
Popup: While Geno's Supernovas are probably within the power range of Mario's higher tier combatants, the effect that is used for his attack is very clearly nowhere near the size of an actual star, and neither is the destruction it causes. Granting Geno this much power off that attack is extremely generous, and backed up only by the fact that it's not an outlier for the Mario universe. Majora's power, on the other hand, is far more concrete with far less questionable reasoning needed.
Wiz: Recall how Majora could create an entire solar system in just ten seconds. Such a feat would require massive and rapid expansion at 727,200,000 times the speed of sound, FAR faster than anything Geno has ever faced.
Boomstick: But how does that mean anything when he was just making something? He clearly doesn’t fight that fast, does he?
Wiz: Perhaps not physically, but Majora’s power alone was what created this alternate dimension… inside a parallel universe. Recall how Geno fought Culex, a being who existed in another dimension entirely. While he was able to defeat Culex with Mario's’ help, he didn’t exactly dispel the reality by himself. Geno didn't create the portal to that reality, nor did he escape of his own volition. Against someone like Majora, who can consecutively stack realities inside each other, Geno would have no way to escape such attacks. Especially considering the speed at which Majora can create them.
Popup: Culex's power is pretty questionable, but the important factor in his fight is that he explicity came from another reality, one in which Geno could not enter on his own, nor escape without defeating Culex. The same principle applies to Majora, whose realities could easily ensare Geno, and we've only seen them dispelled by Majora's own defeat, something Geno would be unlikely to achieve.
Boomstick: But that’s just one way Majora would win, isn’t this about the majority?
Wiz: Yes, and Geno certainly wasn’t a slouch. We know Majora could take hits from the moon-rending Fierce Deity, but anything above that is unproven. So Geno, judging by the people like Mario and Bowser, who Geno scales to, and can even mimic, actually did have the firepower to put Majora down, but landing that blow in any meaningful way seems unlikely given Majora’s superior movement options, like teleportation and flight, paired with his speed and ability to flee to new realities on a whim.
Boomstick: Yeah, Geno definitely was better suited toward actual combat, but Majora’s tricks and magic could keep Geno at bay well enough.
Wiz: Still, it’s entirely likely Geno could land a single winning blow given enough time, and his body swapping would certainly allow the opportunity. This fight ultimately came down to Majora and Geno having solid win conditions, but while Majora could feasibly avoid the supernova, Geno had little to no defense for being trapped in the many realities Majora can bend to his will. And, think of it this way: Geno was subservient to higher beings, who are likely on the level of someone like Rosalina, for example. On the other hand, Majora was already a being of that power.
Popup: Even if you scale Geno to beings like Rosalina, you can easily give Majora some added benefit from vague statments that would bring him up to similar power levels. Geno would still be much slower and have no answer for Majora's reality warping.
Boomstick: Okay, last question: does that even count as a death?
Wiz: As we’ve seen with beings like Darkseid, death can sometimes be a bit more complicated than the mere destruction of the physical form. For all intents and purposes, Majora can kill any of Geno’s physical forms with the power he has available to him, and that alone will eventually be his victory once Geno runs out of alternate bodies to inhabit. And importantly, Geno’s spirit has no way to escape the layers of alternate realities Majora can place him in, making it a logical finishing move.
Boomstick: The Star Warrior came close, but in the end, he stood Ge-No chance to take a Majora-ty here.
Wiz: The winner is Skull Kid… or Majora, I suppose.
Bonus[]
Connections:
- Both Skull Kid and Geno are 'puppets', in a way. Geno's physical form is literally a puppet being inhabited by ♡♪!?, and Skull Kid is a vessel for Majora's power to manifest through in order to cause chaos.
- Both Majora and Geno are amongst some of the most powerful in Zelda and Mario.
- While Skull Kid has appeared in Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros, he has only actually been in one core mainline Zelda game, similar to how Geno has only been in a single Mario game, with the exception of a cameo in Superstar Saga (Setting aside the possibility of Skull Kid in Ocarina of Time, for the purposes of the connections, only the Skull Kid with Majora's Mask is being considered here)
- Despite their limited appearances, both Skull Kid and Geno have become fan-favorites and highly requested for Smash Bros, but neither have made it in, although both have gotten a Mii costume.
