PROPOSAL #2 - THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Background

After the creation of the first proposal, artist Jiro Mifune was uncomfortable with the idea of Mario wearing armor & swinging a sword like a traditional RPG characters. Therefor, he decided to make his own proposal for his own idea. His idea was to base the game upon a pre-existing story, in specific the story of the "Three Musketeers". This propsal was originally made on June 26th, 1994. This pitch was scrapped after it was decided that weapons as the primary antagonists was the direction they wanted to go with.

Story Proposal

The story in Mifune's proposal goes something like this. The game takes place in the Mario unviverse between three kingdoms, the Mushroom Kingdom, the Koopa Kingdom, and the Slug Kingdom. The Slug Kingdom is located underground, and ruled by Emperor Slugion, who wishes to conquer the surface. With this goal, the Magician Enigma Slugnid, alongside the Slug Kingdom, overthrows the Koopa Kingdom, and kidnaps King Bowser, Queen Peach, and the Toads. In their rescue are the three Royal Guards of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, Luigi, & Wario, who journey through multiple locals in order to restore order & prevent the ressurection of the demon god Aon. On their journey, they encounter a baby frog named Keron, who wishes to find its mother, joining Mario's crew. By the end of the journey, they rescue & recruit Bowser into their team.

Artwork + Notes

Please note that these translations were made using DeepL & Google Translate, so they might not be the best! Also, please click on images to enlarge them.

■MARIO
by ?

■MARIO
by Jiro Mifune.

ダ[?]タニアン
D'ARTAGNAN
ポふトス
PORTHOS
アトス ATHOS
アラミス
ARAMIS

D'ARTAGNAN
D'ARTAGNAN
PORTHOS
PORTHOS
ATHOS ATHOS
ARAMIS
ARAMIS

「MARIO RPG」
(character)
by mifune

■MARIO
キノコ王国の近衛師団陵皮。
数々の戦歴を持つ剣土。

■MARIO
Lead Royal Guard of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Swordsman with a long history of battles.

■RUIGE
キノコ王国の近衛師団副陵皮。
マリオの弟。

■LUIGI
Deputy Royal Guard of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Younger brother of Mario.

■WARIO
キノコ王国の近衛師団皮。
かつては盗賊の頭だったが会心し、近衛兵に。

■WARIO
Royal Guard of the Mushroom Kingdom.
He was once the leader of a gang of bandits, but he met his match & became a member of the Royal Guards

■KINOPI
キノコ王国の新米近衛師団皮。
連れ去られたキノピオ達兄。

■TOAD
Newest Royal Guard of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Toad & his brothers were kidnapped.

■QUEEN PEACH
キノコ王国の女王。
今回はナメクジ王国に囚われる。

■QUEEN PEACH
Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom
This time, she's trapped in the Slug Kingdom.

■KING KOPPA
カメ王国の王にしてカメ族NO.1の[?]土。
が今回はナメクジ王国に囚わてしまう。,
後半、マリオ進の仲間に。

■KING BOWSER
King of the Koopa Kingdom & the #1 member.
But this time, he's trapped in the Slug Kingdom.
In the latter half of the game, he becomes Mario's companion.

■トキムポール
?
?
?
?
?

■Tokim Pole
?
?
?
?
?

■CARROT (キヤロツト)
ローズパックン女王の部下。

■CARROT (Carrot)
A subordinate of Queen Piranha Plant.

■KERON (キヤロツト)
母を探しているカエルの子。
マリオ進と少しの間、冒険をする。

■KERON (Keron)
A baby frog looking for its mother.
He goes a short adventure with Mario & Friends.

■SPIDERL (スパイダール[?][?])
「黒の森」の支記者。 ケロンの母親を捕えている-

SPIDERL (Tarantera?)
A reporter of the "Black Forest". He holds Keron's mother captive.

Mifune's Comment
This image made me chuckle that I was the one who drew the initial setting of the "frog kid" traveling with Mario and his friends. (I don't remember that at all) :)

■NUME NUME (ヌメヌメ)
ナメクジ王国兵。

■NUME NUME (Slug)
A Soldier of the Slime Kingdom.

■NUME DON (ヌメドン)
A Soldier of the Slime Kingdom.

■NUME DON (Don Slug)
A Soldier of the Slime Kingdom.

■NUME PATA (ヌメパタ)
ナメクジ王国の飛行兵。

■NUME PATA (ParaSlug)
A flying Soldier of the Slime Kingdom.

Mifune's Comment
My original concept for #supermarioRPG was that a third force called the "Slug Kingdom" would invade and rule the "Turtle Kingdom" and kidnap Princess Peach. #スーパーマリオRPG

■MASUTEMA-KILLER (マステマキラー将軍)
かつてはカメ王国のキラー軍団を[?]いる将軍だったかクッバ大王を裏切り、ナメクジ王国の将軍になる。
[?]導土エニグマからカメ王国を王されていた。

■MASUTEMA-KILLER (Demon/Mastema^[1] General Bullet Bill?)
He was once the general of the Koopa Kingdom's Bullet Bull army, but he betrayed King Bowser & became a general of the Slug Kingdom.
?

■J,O (死神ジョー)
「ゴーストタウン」の文[?]者にして、ナメクジ王国の暗殺者。テレサ達の親分。

■J,O (J.O the Grim Reaper)
A resident of "Ghost Town" and an assassin for the Slug Kingdom. The Father of all Boos.

■EMOEROR NUMERION (ヌメリオン)
ナメクジ王国の帝王。
地下世界から地上征服を夢見ている。
カメ族はナメクジ族の天敵らしい。

■EMOEROR NUMERION (Emperor Slugion)
The king of the Slug Kingdom.
He dreams of conquering the surface from the underground world.
The Koopa-tribe seems to be the natural enemy of the Slug-tribe.

■ENIGMA (魔導士エニグマ)
ピーチ姫誘拐の黒幕であり、魔神アーオンを復活させて地上征服を企む、郵な魔導士。
ナメクジ達の中で最も知能が高い。

■ENIGMA (Demon Magician Enigma)
The mastermind behind the kidnapping of Princess Peach, and a masterful magician who plans on reviving the demon god Aon to conquer the world.
The must intelligent of all the slugs.

Mifune's Comment
I had envisioned a story in which a genius mage named "Enigma Slugnid" was born in the "Kingdom of Slugs" living in the underground world, and that's how it all began.

○オ[?]ポス
○ゴードンアクス

○?
○Gordon Axe

○ヤリホ[?]
○クイン・メニア?

○
○Queen Sonia

Mifune's Comment
After this, just as I was thinking of drawing anthropomorphic snails and sea crustaceans, the direction of "weapons" as enemies was confirmed. Then, immediately after, I drew the bosses of the "Weapon Tribe," "Gordon Axe & Quinn Sonia."

Mifune's Comment
Queen・P・Rose
Queen of the Packenflower
He enjoys gardening and has an elegant spirit that values the harmony of beauty. When he gets angry, countless huge pack-n-flowers appear from his lower body.

SiteMaster's Comment
While not from the initial "Musketeer" thread, she is explicitly referenced by the Carrot enemy's description, plus I mentioned her name appearing on Twitter & he liked the tweet. I also wanna mention that the pronouns in Mifune's comment might be incorrect, as Google Translate (which is what I assume Mifune is using to speak in English) seems to mess up with pronouns a lot, at least from my experience working on these translations.