Nintendo has created some of the greatest franchises in video game history, many of which have been staples throughout the lives of gamers. It’s hard to imagine the world of gaming without characters like Link, Mario, and Pikachu, as they have left such a massive impact on the industry as a whole.

There have been many games produced by Nintendo or by other companies for Nintendo systems over the years, and some of them have left us with unanswered questions. The developers of these games have often maintained a code of silence about some of the more mysterious aspects of their stories, which has forced the fans to come up with their own theories to fill in the gaps.

The internet has many websites filled with fan theories and speculation about different aspects of Nintendo games, which has prompted some developers to break their silence and confirm or deny the validity of these theories. There have also been instances where fans have discovered the answers themselves by digging through the files of each game or in obscure manuals that never left Japan.

We are here today to learn which of the crazy Nintendo fan theories were proven to be correct. From the disgusting secret behind the tadpole Pokémon to the truth behind Link’s adventure in Termina, here are the the 20 Wildest Nintendo Fan Theories (That Were Actually Confirmed)!

The Swirl On The Poliwag Line’s Belly Is Its Intestines

There are a lot of Pokémon that are based on creepy animals and disturbing creatures from folklore, yet the people who develop the games rarely come out and confirm the inspirations for the various Pokémon in the series.

The Poliwag line is based on tadpoles, with Poliwag resembling a tadpole and possessing the ability to potentially transform into a Politoed. The Poliwag line all feature a swirling design on their belly. The fans believed that this was a reference to how some real-life tadpoles have transparent skin that allows you to see their intestinal tract, which has a spiral pattern. Satoshi Tajiri confirmed in an interview that the swirl on the Poliwag line’s stomach is indeed meant to be its intestines, as he remembered seeing them when he was a child.

Mario Was Punching Yoshi In The Back Of The Head

Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo introduced Yoshi to the series as Mario’s trusty mount. The superior hardware of the Super Nintendo allowed Mario to be able to ride and dismount a dinosaur, which opened up the ways in which you could complete certain tasks. You could make Yoshi fire out his tongue in order to grab and swallow enemies, which led to a lot of discussion among the fans about how this was accomplished, due to the animation that was used.

The 2D side-on view of Mario and Yoshi made it look like Mario was whacking him in the head, while some people thought Mario was just pointing. It turned out that the Yoshi abuse theory was correct, as Shigefumi Hino confirmed in an interview that Mario was indeed meant to be hitting Yoshi in the back of the head, causing him to fire out his tongue in surprise.

There Was Another Playable Character Planned For Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time, yet it left some important questions unanswered that frustrated fans for years, such as the fate of Schala and the true nature of Lavos’ final form, some of which were answered in Chrono Cross. 

The fans of Chrono Trigger suspected that an eighth playable character was planned for the game and would tie up the loose ends of the story. A lot of fans thought it was going to be Schala, but it turned out to be another mage from the kingdom of Zeal. The Chrono Trigger V-Jump Player’s Guide revealed that there was another playable character was cut during development. The cut character was actually Gaspar the sage, who references the possibility of him joining the party when you meet him at the End of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has one of the darkest endings of any game in the series, as it’s revealed that the entire adventure took place in Link’s mind. Link’s ship had been destroyed in a storm and he had only dreamed about landing on an island. The game ends with Link left floating out in the middle of the sea with no help in sight.

The nature of the split timeline of The Legend of Zelda series meant that fans speculated that Link could have survived and been the star of one of the other adventures in the game. The revised timeline that appeared in The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia revealed that Link had survived the events of Link’s Awakening and it was this iteration of the character who the appeared in the Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons games.

Setzer From Final Fantasy VI Let Fashion Dictate His Equipment Choices

Final Fantasy VI was riddled with bugs and glitches when it was first released, which meant that some fans were confused over whether certain aspects of the game were intentional or not. When Setzer joins the party in Final Fantasy VI, he is wearing a bandana as a piece of equipment. If you take off the bandana, then Setzer cannot equip it again, which led some fans to come up with the humorous theory that he chooses not to wear it due to Locke wearing a bandana all the time, which made it no longer fashionable to wear.

The developers of Final Fantasy VI actually confirmed this theory in an interview for V-Jump magazine, though it’s possible that they came up with it to cover for a glitch in the game.

Porky From Mother 3 Was Successful In Staying Safe Forever…

It’s possible for people to time travel in the EarthBound/Mother series, which is how Buzz Buzz was able to go back to the past and warn Ness about the threat of Giygas. Buzz Buzz wasn’t the only time traveler in the series, though, as Porky Minch also managed to visit different time periods, which had the effect of rendering him immortal.

In order to try and survive the oncoming end of the world in Mother 3, Porky orders the creation of the Absolutely Safe Capsule in order to protect him. At the end of the game, you can find an object in the darkness that may or may not be the Capsule, but it isn’t stated for sure. One of the darkest theories about Porky is that the Absolutely Safe Capsule succeeded and that he was trapped in it until the end of time. Shigesato Itoi confirmed this theory, stating that Porky would still be alive and trapped within the Capsule for billions of years to come…

Canalave City From Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Was Meant To Appear In Johto

In Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, the player will eventually need to travel to Canalave City in order to complete the Gym Leader challenge, as they need to defeat Byron and his Steel-type Pokémon in order to collect his badge. The music that plays when you visit Canalave City uses several elements from the ending theme of Pokémon Gold & Silver, which led fans to believe that Canalave City was somehow linked to Johto in a way that wasn’t apparent in the story.

The leaked beta of Pokémon Gold & Silver finally revealed the truth - that Canalave City was planned to be one of the cities in the game. Canalave City was originally known as “New Type” and it was in the center of the map of the Pokémon equivalent to Japan, as Pokémon Gold & Silver was originally meant to be set over the entire country.

The Cast Of The Mario Series Are All Actors (Which Is Why They Love Racing & Sports So Much)

There was a prominent fan theory concerning Super Mario Bros. 3 that stated that the entire game was a play being put on by the cast. Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed this theory in a video that was made during the promotion of Super Mario Maker.

It turns out that there is more to this theory than everyone thought, however, as there are plenty of other Mario games in existence, some of which involve Mario competing with his enemies in a friendly manner - are all of those games plays as well? Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed this theory in an interview with MTV, where he stated that the cast of the Mario games are just actors who are playing out different roles in each game and that there is no genuine animosity between any of them.

The Mysterious Villain At The End Of Metroid Prime: Federation Force Was Sylux

There is a mysterious bounty hunter in the Metroid series called Sylux, who first appeared in Metroid Prime Hunters for the Nintendo DS. Sylux made a surprise appearance at the end of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, where his ship is seen trailing Samus.

Those of you who bothered to finish Metroid Prime: Federation Force may have seen a post-credits sequence where a mysterious figure is seen acquiring a Metroid Egg. We are only given a few glimpses at the figure in the scene, but it was hinted to be Sylux. One of the artists who worked on Federation Force confirmed that the figure seen in this cutscene was Sylux. Kensuke Tanabe mentioned at E3 2015 that he more plans for Sylux in the future, which may finally come to fruition in Metroid Prime 4. 

Klavier From The Phoenix Wright Series Isn’t Actually From Germany & Is Just Putting On The Accent

The Phoenix Wright series managed to bring the courtroom drama genre to video games in an exciting way, which was helped by some rival prosecutors who Phoenix has to face in every trial. These rival prosecutors include the likes of the sadistic Franziska von Karma and the mysterious Godot.

Apollo Justice has to face off against a prosecutor named Klavier Gavin, who used to be a rock star before giving up music to become a full-time lawyer. Klavier uses words from Germany in his speech, which led many fans to believe that he was originally from Germany, while others thought that he was putting the accent on in order to sound cool, as it was never consistent. Janet Hsu confirmed on the Capcom Unity Blog that Klavier wasn’t actually from Germany and had only spent a brief period of time in the country while he was studying.

Kaepora Gaebora From Ocarina Of Time Was A Sage In Disguise

One of the most hated characters in The Legend of Zelda series is Kaepora Gaebora, who you might recognize as the owl from Ocarina of Time. He’s the one who dumps a ton of text on you, before asking if you want to hear everything again while the cursor is on the “Yes” option.

Kaepora Gaebora offered Link a lot of information on his journey, which led some fans to speculate that there was more to the owl than meets the eye. The Gossip Stones in Hyrule hinted that Kaepora Gaebora is actually a sage in disguise, which led some fans to believe that he was actually Rauru, the Sage of Light. Hyrule Historia confirmed that Kaepora Gaebora was indeed Rauru, who had taken on an animal form in order to guide Link on his journey.

Humans Eat Pokémon

The Pokémon series does its best to downplay the effects of the violence that happens when two Pokémon battle, as there are very few Pokémon that suffer permanent injuries or fatalities. It wasn’t explained for the longest time if humans bred Pokémon for the purpose of eating, even though characters in the anime are shown eating fish and meat from unknown sources.

The fans had long speculated that humans ate Pokémon, but it was never explicitly stated. The truth wasn’t revealed until Pokémon Sun & Moon, where Sharpedo’s Pokédex entry in Pokémon Moon revealed that they were hunted in droves since their fin was used for food, proving once and for all that humans do indeed eat Pokémon.

Mario & Luigi’s Surname Is Mario

The live-action Super Mario Bros. movie made a lot of bad decisions and made people wary of video game adaptations, with the people at Nintendo among them, as they have only recently started to allow their properties to be made into movies again.

One of the questionable design choices made in the Super Mario Bros. movie was the reveal that Mario and Luigi’s surname was Mario. The canonicity of this surname was debated for years among the fans, with some siding with the movie and others claiming that information that didn’t come out of Shigeru Miyamoto’s mouth was meaningless. Shigeru Miyamoto made the surprise move of canonizing the theory and the movie’s interpretation of the Mario brothers when he confirmed that their names were Mario Mario and Luigi Mario.

The New Content In Final Fantasy VI Advance Was Meant For The Super Nintendo Version Of The Game

Final Fantasy VI lacks any kind of post-game content or secret bosses for the player to test themselves against. However, fans who hacked Final Fantasy VI discovered an unfinished secret boss called CzarDragon, who was planned to be the most powerful foe in the game.

Final Fantasy VI Advance included a new post-game dungeon called the Dragons’ Den, where the player fought more difficult versions of the dragons, including a finished version of CzarDragon called Kaiser Dragon. The fans had speculated that the Dragons’ Den was meant to appear in full in the Super Nintendo version of the game, but it was never finished on time. There is dialogue buried within the files of Final Fantasy VI that contains text for the more difficult boss battles against the eight dragons, proving that the post-game content from the Advance version of the game was indeed planned for the original.

The Cast Of Super Smash Bros. Are Just Toys

The single-player modes of the Super Smash Bros. series have attempted to try and cross all of the characters over into one story, with the implication that they all share the same multiverse. The intro to the original Super Smash Bros. game tells a different story, however, as it hints that the cast are all just toys that are being played with by a child, with Master Hand representing the person in control.

Satoru Iwata confirmed the toy theory in an interview with Time magazine, as the people at Nintendo wanted the battles to be imaginary, since it wouldn’t be cool for Mario to actually be hitting Pikachu in the face.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is one of the most underrated games on the Nintendo 3DS, as it offers exciting (and sometimes frustrating) multiplayer action in the Zelda universe. It’s clear that Tri Force Heroes was developed using the A Link Between Worlds engine, with both games sharing the same assets.

Some fans had speculated that the version of Link that appeared in Tri Force Heroes was the same one from A Link Between Worlds, due to the similarities between both games. However, no one was quite sure who the other two Links were. The official Nintendo of America Twitter page confirmed that Tri Force Heroes did indeed star the same Link from A Link Between Worlds and that you were all playing as him at once.

The Lost Pyramid Of Zeal In Chrono Trigger Was Meant To Be Explored At One Point

When the player travels to the Age of Magic in Chrono Trigger, they are treated to a new world map that is set across several floating islands. You are given the chance to visit all but one of these islands, with the last one containing a mysterious blue pyramid. The blue pyramid reappears in the present day, where it contains a choice between some treasure chests.

The anticlimactic ending to such an intriguing location led many fans to suspect that there was more planned for the pyramid but it was never finished on time, like the mysterious Singing Mountain dungeon that still had a song on the soundtrack. This was proven correct, as the demo of Chrono Trigger has an entire cut dungeon that was intended for the mysterious pyramid, yet it wasn’t finished in time and was given an unsatisfying conclusion instead.

Machoke & Machamp Aren’t Wearing Pants… It’s Their Skin

There are some Pokémon that are born with clothing and weaponry, such as Cubone’s skull and Throh’s judo gi. Some fans used to wonder whether Pokémon were actually wearing clothes or not, and if so, could they be removed. These fans mostly existed on DeviantArt and they produced artwork based on these ideas that weren’t fit for human consumption.

There was a theory that the clothing worn by some Pokémon was actually part of their body and couldn’t be removed, such as with the speedos worn by Machoke and Machamp. You would think that this was a subject that Nintendo wouldn’t touch with a pole, but the official Pokémon website confirmed that Machoke and Machamp had markings on their body that resembled clothes but was actually their skin.

Tony From EarthBound Is Gay

There is a point in the story of EarthBound where Ness and Paula are trapped, which causes Paula to reach out to a brilliant young inventor named Jeff to come and help them. Jeff must escape from his boarding school with the aid of his friend Tony.

Shigesato Itoi once claimed in an interview that a character in EarthBound was gay and that he included the character due to all of the gay friends he had. The hints that Itoi gave led many fans to believe that it was Tony who was gay. The English localization director of EarthBound confirmed in an interview that Tony was gay and had a crush on Jeff.

Link’s Adventure In Termina Actually Happened - It Was Never A Dream Or Purgatory

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is a bizarre and creepy game with a setting that seems unreal. The land of Termina is so unreal that many fans refused to believe that everything was as it seemed. There are many fans who point to the musical references to Link’s Awakening in Majora’s Mask as proof for their theory that the game takes place in a dream. There are also many fans who believe that Link passed away at the end of Ocarina of Time and was in Purgatory, with the different sections of the game representing the five stages of grief. There are also fans who believe that everything in Majora’s Mask should be taken at face value and that Link really did stop the moon from crashing into the planet.

Eiji Aonuma has officially shut down the two most famous theories, as he claimed that the music from Link’s Awakening was a stylistic choice and nothing more, while the five stages of grief theory is over-simplifying the events that happened in the game. It’s possible that Aonuma may confirm some other wild theory someday, but for now, we should take him at his word and believe that Link really did save Termina from a terrible fate.

Are there any other confirmed Nintendo fan theories that we forgot to mention? Sound off in the comment section!