People who played the original Super Mario 64 likely remember the then-epic fights against Bowser where you needed to grab his tail and swing him into giant exploding metal balls. During the moment you throw Bowser, Mario says something that’s quite muffled, which has led to various mondegreens of what was said.
The most common interpretation is that Mario said “So long, Bowser!” but with a longer G sound as part of Mario’s accent, and “So long, eh Bowser”, “So long, gay Bowser!” and other such interpretations have also prevailed among those who still study the subject. The latter one may be the reason why Nintendo opted to swap out the line for a more general “Bye bye!” in the Nintendo DS remake.
However, Mario’s voice actor Charles Martinet has finally revealed what was actually said during the recording.
So long kinga Bowser!
— Charles Martinet (@CharlesMartinet) April 29, 2019
It turns out that Mario is actually saying “king-a Bowser” with an ‘A” sound that got muffled when being added to the game. Who would’ve thought that asking the right person would get you some answers?
Super Mario 64 originally released on the Nintendo 64.
