Geno

1996video game character / fan campaign memeclassic

Geno is a star spirit character from the 1996 Super Nintendo game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars who became the face of one of the longest-running fan campaigns to add a third-party fighter to Super Smash Bros. His inclusion push spans nearly two decades of Newgrounds animations, roster polls, mock reveals, and Mii Fighter costume workarounds.

Overview

Geno is a fictional character from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, released in 1996 for the Super Nintendo by Square (later Square Enix)1. In the game he is a star spirit sent from Star Road who possesses an otherwise lifeless wooden doll to help Mario defeat the villain Smithy1. His true name is a set of unpronounceable symbols (♥♪!?), so he adopts the doll's name for the rest of the story1.

Outside the game, Geno is best known as the face of one of the longest-running fan campaigns for a third-party Super Smash Bros. addition2. The character is also linked to "Rawest Forest," a 2004 fan remix of Super Mario RPG's Forest Maze theme with added lyrics3. Players still describe the in-game version as an "overpowered" party member because of his high attack stat4.

How It Spread

Fan lobbying for Geno as a Super Smash Bros. fighter picked up during Super Smash Bros. Brawl's development in 2007 and 2008, and in late 2007 Newgrounds animator Araskin500 released a Flash short called "Smash Kingdom" featuring Geno as a Smash candidate, followed by sequels3. Director Masahiro Sakurai later confirmed in an interview that the character had actually been considered for Brawl before the licensing situation with Square blocked it2.

The campaign got a partial payoff when Cloud Strife joined Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as downloadable content, and Nintendo shipped a Geno costume for Mii Fighters in the same update as a nod to campaigners2. In Source Gaming's 2018 Mega Smash Poll of more than 2,000 respondents about wanted Ultimate newcomers, Geno placed among the top requested third-party picks2. WatchMojo ranked him at #2 in its September 2018 video counting down the most fan-wanted Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters3.

Frequently Asked Questions