Igbo Il Piantissimo - The Black Man of Super Mario
14I have remade Il Piantissimo with African cultural influences. Since Mario is Italian, I figure Il Piantissimo can be Igbo. In this video I will discuss how the black man of the Mario Bros. series should be brought back into prominence and how Nintendo can enhance his character by giving him a cultural background like Mario and Luigi have.
If you didn't know this character, he comes from the Gamecube game Super Mario Sunshine. He's one of very few black characters in the Mario series.
For this artwork, I shortened his name to Issimo just because I think its more catchy. When he wears the mask he could call himself Il Piantissimo but without the mask he's just Issimo. In this image he is joined by a character of my own creation known as Gibo. Gibo is to Issimo as Luigi is to Mario. Since Issimo is small and slender, Gibo is tall and thick. So he has the height of Waluigi and the girth of Wario. Personality wise, Gibo is very kind and more importantly very chill. Since Issimo likes to go fast all the time Issimo is kind of the opposite and likes to take life slow. In this scene you see the two cousins in front of the gate to their Igbo inspired compound where they live.
Both of their masks, especially Gibo's mask are inspired by real Igbo masks and their clothes are decorated with Nsibidi symbols.
If they ever make a Super Mario Sunshine 2 Il Piantissimo must be included and he should appear in spinoffs as well such as Mario Kart and Mario Party.
A black character like Il Piantissimo A.K.A. Issimo should be elevated out of obscurity and made into a more established Mario Bros. character to help diversify the Mario cast.
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