TANSMSE: Various Residents of Shroomopolis

"TANSMSE" stands for "The All-New Super Mario Super Extravaganza," my idea for what would be the first 21st-century animated television series based on Nintendo's beloved "Super Mario" video game franchise. This is Part 7 of my series of "group portraits" which each depict one set of multiple characters that would appear in "TANSMSE" if that show were greenlighted; this image depicts various Toads who live in the Mushroom Kingdom's capital city of Shroomopolis. The city is a conversion of the previous MK capital from "Paper Mario" and elsewhere, which was named "Toad Town," into a more upscale and bustling metropolis, with an estimated area of 75 square miles and a population of 800,000. The northernmost area of Shroomopolis functions as a "government district," which is home to the Mushroom Castle and various other buildings and monuments important to the kingdom.

This deviation took longer to work on than any of my previous "group portraits" partly because I had a hard time assigning the right identities and personalities to the depicted characters. Those characters aren't very important to the show, so their introductions, for the most part, will be more brief than those that I've given to many of "TANSMSE"'s other characters.

The man at the front and center of this illustration is Toadward, the city's mayor, who is voiced by Maurice LaMarche. At either side of him are two characters who hail from the "Paper Mario" franchise: Russ T., the crafty and intelligent Toad from the original "PM" (here voiced by Corey Burton), and Zess T., the city's resident top chef (originally from "The Thousand-Year Door"), who in her redesigned version has her sourness and rudeness toned down, and is given a voice by Bernadette Peters.

The Goomba character at the left of the reworked Russ T. is the city's town crier, Goomther (unrelated to the very minor character in "Paper Mario: TTYD" who has the same name). He gives his messages from atop a medium-sized tree (which presumably makes sense, given his size), and is voiced by Frank Welker.

At the left corner of the illustration in the front row is the city's kindly hotel manager, Shroomletta, who is voiced by Tress MacNeille. As you can tell by the differences in her cap's styling as opposed to most of the show's other Toads, she appears to be a conversion of the Rose Town innkeeper from "Super Mario RPG." The relation between the two characters is further solidified by the fact that Shroomletta also has a son nicknamed "Gaz" (real name unknown), who is shown with her - however, this Gaz does not play with dolls or do unusual things that normal boys wouldn't do; I chose not to allow this because if I did it would probably result in legal issues pertaining to the use of the Geno doll (note that its character design, along with those of other original-species characters from "SMRPG," are owned by Square Enix, not Nintendo).
At Shroomletta's right we have a lime-clad Toad named Shroomton, who functions as the city's resident librarian, and is voiced by Jim Cummings. At his right (and directly behind Goomther) is the slightly-overweight local gossip, Shroomfield, whose voice is provided by Tom Kenny.

At the far right of this illustration is Shroomopolis's chief of police, Toadalton, who is accompanied at his left side by his trusty detective, Mr. Shroomlock. Both are serious and clever individuals who are voiced by Billy West.

The leftmost character in the back row is Judge Toadmann, who presides over the court of Shroomopolis. He has served as a prosecutor in the city for over 15 years, and has ruled on over a hundred cases. He is quite stern, competent, and strong-willed, and he perseveres to give as much thought to his court's cases as is possible for them to be resolved. His voice is provided by Maurice LaMarche.

To the right of Toadmann is Erasmus Shroomley, the chancellor of Toadstool University, the Mushroom Kingdom's premier learning institution. He himself possesses an I.Q. of 300, and his professors are skilled and accomplished. Shroomley is voiced by Jim Cummings.

The female at Shroomley's right is Toadahlia, the city's vivacious clerk, who is voiced by Tara Strong. At her right side is The Master of the city's local dojo, who is a direct adaptation of a character from the original "Paper Mario"; voiced by Jackie Chan, he possesses a Southeast Asian accent and a sense of kindness and humility, and for many years he has been training his students in such martial arts as karate and kung fu.

At The Master's right is Toadbanks (voice of Rob Paulsen), who is the banker of the Mushroom Kingdom's primary bank, aptly named the First Fungal Bank. And finally, at the far right of this group portrait's back row, are Toadwall (voice of Jeff Bennett), the director of the Mushroom Railroad Passenger Department (MRPD); and Shroomintz, the local mail carrier, voiced by Rob Paulsen.

For other pieces of "TANSMSE"-related art, check out this gallery.

The "Super Mario" series and all related characters and elements are copyright © 1985-2012 Nintendo. No copyright infringement is intended; this is solely for entertainment purposes.