Chuckster

About

Chuckster is a type of Pianta NPC from Super Mario Sunshine which tosses Mario to locations based on the angle Mario approaches it. The Chuckster has grown infamous among Mario players as using them are necessary to complete the "The Secret of the Village Underside" challenge yet are notoriously difficult to get to throw Mario to the correct location. This has led to the creation of numerous memes satirizing Chucksters as villainous and chaotic.

Origin

In Super Mario Sunshine, released on August 25th, 2002,^[1] a type of Pianta NPC called a Chuckster which throws Mario directly behind it is peppered throughout the world. Using them is necessary to complete the challenge "The Secret of the Village Underside"^[2] (shown below).

Spread

"The Secret of the Village Underside" grew infamous among players due to how difficult players found it to align the Chuckster throws correctly, leading to misthrows that cause a player to lose a life. On October 15th, 2019, Redditor USS___Dolan___ called the level the bane of their existence in /r/supermarioshunshine,^[3] writing, "If I have to see 'I'm a chuckster' one more time on my screen lol. I honestly think this level is the most frustrating to me because of the exact location the people have to be in and then the camera angle has to be almost precise in order not to be too far to the left or to the right." On May 18th of that year, ResetEra user Red Devil included it in a list of screenshots representing the worst of Super Mario Sunshine, writing "pick your worst nightmare!"^[4]

This led to the creation of parodies satirizing the Chucksters as chaotic and evil creatures. For example, on August 1st, 2019, the Facebook page King K Rool posted a video by user @cappnriki in which Scar from The Lion King says "I'm a Chuckster" before dropping Mufasa (shown below).

The release of Super Mario 3D All Stars for the Nintendo Switch, which features a collection of Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy revived hatred for Chucksters. For example, on September 20th, 2020, Twitter user @malb1e^[5] posted, "i’m sorry but who at corporate nintendo thought this chuckster level should exist- we need to talk." The same day, user @Pluckmin^[6] posted a picture of the devil to represent the creator of the "Chuckster" level (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References