Evil Poplin

Evil Poplin is a recurring Poplin character in Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Nintendo Switch.
==History==
Evil Poplin lives in his Evil Poplin House with a Nonverbal Flower (the opposite of a Talking Flower).
The player first encounters Evil Poplin after reaching the Goal Pole and reversing Castle Bowser's spell on his house, freeing him. Evil Poplin responds by pawning off his Disappointing Seed (the opposite of a Wonder Seed) to the heroes—the only one in the game. He seems to be disgusted by the Disappointing Seed, unable to avoid his countenance contorting into one of revulsion when he lays eyes on it. It does not count toward the player's Wonder Seed total.
Evil Poplin is next encountered several worlds later in the game, in the course Evil Poplin's Summer Villa, whose name is not revealed until it is cleared. When the player enters, a cutscene plays where Evil Poplin tries to take one of Prince Florian's badges and lock it in the treasure chest. The player character helps tug-of-war it back and leaves, at which point the prince wonders if they should stop trespassing on random people's homes. From this point on, Evil Poplin seems to bear a grudge against Prince Florian and the monarchy.
After 100% completing the game, another Evil Poplin House, titled Disappointment, opens up. Here, Evil Poplin's backstory is revealed. When the player enters, Evil Poplin is not currently home. The Nonverbal Flower tells the heroes (through AAC) that Evil Poplin isn't a bad guy. He was just so disappointed by the Disappointing Seed that he had to get rid of it immediately, but Bowser's magic locked him in his house with it, deepening his despair. After being freed, Evil Poplin had tried taking a vacation at his summer villa, only for the player character to intrude upon him. This reminding him of his imprisonment within his former home, causing him to act out. Afterwards, he moved to the current Evil Poplin House to prevent the player from ever finding him. However, the Nonverbal Flower assures them that Evil Poplin has since started mellowing out and is getting therapy to help him process the events.
Prince Florian is confused by the idea that Evil Poplin isn't evil when it's literally in his name. The Nonverbal Flower explains that "evil" is the Poplin-language word for "bread clip", and that Evil Poplin is a bread clip collector, a common hobby among Poplins. Florian is ashamed that he knows so little of his subjects' culture and resolves to learn more.
Just then, Evil Poplin returns home, startling the heroes, only to joke that he is "disappointed" in them (the opposite of "wondered" about them). Everyone laughs. Suddenly, Evil Poplin stops laughing and reminds them to get out of his house.
==Trivia==
*When the player returns to the world map after meeting Evil Poplin every time, they unlock an achievement titled "The Bloomp with a Purple Sock Drawer". It is unknown what this refers to.
**Nintendo's official social media accounts confirmed that this was a bug and would be patched.
**However, in the next update, clearing all Evil Poplin Houses instead unlocks three copies of the achievement. This was never fixed.
*His favorite TV show is Ultimate Spider-Man on Disney XD because he likes the fourth-wall breaks, revealed on Twitter.
*Evil Poplin is notable for his anti-monarchy sentiments, a rarity in the Mario franchise.
*Evil Poplin is the first new character whose name starts with E since Erik Satie in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
*Evil Poplin.
*Evil Poplin's favorite letter is W.
**A reference to his Japanese name, 悪わるいポプリン.
*You could fit Evil Poplin in a cereal box if you tried hard enough. He is double-jointed and you can fold him over on himself until he is only the size of a cereal box.
*Evil Poplin secretly hates the Disappointing Seed.
**The reason Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, Toadette, Yoshi, Red Yoshi, Yellow Yoshi, Light-Blue Yoshi, Nabbit, and Prince Florian are unaffected by the aura of the Disapponting Seed is that they are used to disappointment.
*Evil Poplin's loading screen tip is, "Evil Poplin is a resident of the Flower Kingdom. When he gets surprised, his flower may !" This refers to the flower bud on top of his head, which is doomed.
*Evil Poplin is implied to have a secret romance with Captain Toad and with Sprixie Princess, two characters who shared his role in previous 3D Super Mario games.
*As his name suggests, Evil Poplin has used the popcorn button on his microwave before. He is the only Poplin to have done so.
*Evil Poplin's garden contains many roses, for Captain Toad and for Sprixie Princess.
*Datamining the game reveals that Evil Poplin is in it.
*Evil Poplin loves the Downpour Clouds in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
*Evil Poplin once stubbed his toe. Revealed on Twitter.
**According to Shigeru Miyamoto his toe "got better".
*Evil Poplin hates the Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Everyone has standards.
*Evil Poplin is able to eat a bar of soap.
*Evil Poplin is a subtle inversion of the themes of the game: "wonder".
*Evil Poplin has an excellent singing voice. But, it is by a completely different actor than his crying voice.
**Evil Poplin's birthday is 12 Fantendo 205293. (North American order: Fantendo 12, 205293.)
**This is also his street address.
*Evil Poplin made a remix of the jingle that plays when the P-Meter is full in Super Mario Bros. 3. This led to his inauguration in the DJ Hall of Fame.
*The reason that he is called Evil Poplin, is that he collects bread clips.
**He will be the last Mario character whose name will start with an E, until the remake of Paper Mario: Sticker Star for Nintendo Switch.
**He shares the first letter of his name with Elvis.
***This is because Elvis is an anagram of "Evils", or "Evil S.".
***The S stands for Sokoban.
**Evil Poplin has 50 subscribers on YouTube.
*Evil Poplin is based on the render of Poplin from Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
*Evil Poplin owns an air fryer.
**A reference to the meme.
*Evil Poplin has never felt the touch of a woman, man, or other person, until the beginning of his backstory where he is shown petting a sleeping Goomba.
*Evil Poplin's favorite color is , but only a little bit.
*An official coloring page of Evil Poplin was made available, but not on Play Nintendo; it was leaked.
*Evil Poplin has visited every continent on Earth, in real life.
*Evil Poplin was the inspiration behind the Elephant Fruit stress ball, in real life. This is a reference to his stress, which is explored in the game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
*Evil Poplin does not have a favorite letter of the alphabet. Confirmed on Twitter.
**He does not have a favorite letter in any alphabet.
**However, he has favorites in other writing systems, such as syllabaries, logographies, and abjads.
**According to Shigeru Miyamoto at E3 2024, "He just really doesn't care about alphabets."
*Evil Poplin went on trial for leaking his own coloring page artwork.
**He was found innocent as Nintendo had not actually secured the rights to the line art.
**In retaliation, Nintendo canceled the Elephant Fruit stress ball.
***On Twitter, Evil Poplin joked that they dropped the ball on this one.
*Evil Poplin was named Time Person of the Year, every year.