The Mario Multiverse Archive does not aim to solve Mario canon but to make its contradictions productive. By treating each inconsistency as an archival data point, the MMA transforms narrative chaos into a researchable, navigable, and even playful structure—one that mirrors the franchise’s own ethos: rules exist to be broken, jumped over, or warped through.
Future Work: Implement a prototype graph database for the 1985–1995 era (CL-0 and early CL-1 splits). Integrate speedrun metadata as primary sources.
Appendix A: Sample World-State Card
Title: Super Mario 64 (1996)
Assigned Cluster: CL-1 (Theatrical Reality)
Evidence: Mario bows to player; castle lobby has stage curtains; paintings as portals.
Gravity: Default, but triple-jump alters local frame.
Letter/Text: Signs are diegetic (Lakitu’s camera advice).
Canon Weight: Low (reboots after credits).
Keywords: Multiverse, video game canon, media archive, Nintendo, platform studies mario multiverse archive
Suggested Citation: [Your Name] (2026). “The Mario Multiverse Archive.” Proceedings of the Ludic Ontologies Conference, 12(3), 44-59.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking pillar is the "RPG Continuity." This section archives the lore of Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi as a single, dying universe. The Archive theorizes that this universe is "bleeding out" due to Nintendo’s shift away from complex storytelling. Here, you will find fan reconstructions of scrapped Paper Mario partners and preserved source code for Geno, the star spirit who has become a symbol of this lost timeline. The Mario Multiverse Archive does not aim to
Navigating the Mario Multiverse Archive is like walking through a ghost town that is surprisingly still under construction. Depending on where you look, you can find: