The Great Gladiator Gig

"The Great Gladiator Gig" is the sixth animated episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. The entire episode has a theme based on the ancient . "The Great Gladiator Gig" has "Bonkers From Yonkers" as its paired live-action episode.
==Plot==
Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad have been invited to the Linguini Empire to attend a benefit spaghetti dinner to raise money for the Mushroom Kingdom Orphanage project. Unbeknownst to the group, this was a trap set up by King Koopa. Upon arriving at the empire's colosseum, the good guys meet the guardian, Brutius Maximus Grouchimus, who informs them that the benefit dinner may be cancelled due to plumbing problems in the catacombs. Mario offers that he and Luigi fix the plumbing ("We can fix anything if there's spaghetti involved!"), and with that in mind, Brutius takes Peach and Toad on a tour of the colosseum, accompanied by some assistant guards (actually Koopa Troopas, but the good guys somehow fail to recognize them).
Eventually, Brutius brings Peach and Toad to meet "the Emperor," whom turns out to be Emperor Augustus Septembres Octobres Koopa (King Koopa's alias during the episode). Augustus promptly seizes the Princess and Toad. Meanwhile (or maybe it's supposed to be later), Brutius brings the Mario Bros. to the catacombs and then declares that "this is the place where we capture you", at which point several Koopa Troopas come out to seize the Bros. The Marios, however, manage to escape with some help from a horse who will only work for oats (he comes to a stop when Mario uses the oats against Brutius and the Troopas), but when they go through a door nearby, they end up in the stadium area with Augustus watching them.
Augustus sends out his gladiator, Tryclyde, claiming that he will set the Marios free if they can defeat him in battle. At first, Tryclyde seems to have the upper hand, but the Mario Bros. soon manage to take him down by performing a strange dance that confuses the snake and eventually causes him to collapse. Augustus, however, goes back on his word and says, "One of the nice things about being evil is, you get to lie a lot!". Augustus then sends out a pair of lions to eat the Marios. Mario, however, manages to convince them that Augustus, being an emperor, would be a more fitting meal for the king of the beasts, so the lions take his advice and give chase after Augustus ("Hey Koopa, slow down! We're hungry!"). Afterwards, the colosseum holds its spaghetti dinner as planned, and the good guys make enough money to build the Mushroom Orphanage.
== Trivia ==
* This is Tryclyde's first appearance in an animated episode.
* The use of the Roman calendar month names in Bowser's alter-ego name this episode possibly refers to , whom the month July is named after.
* Mario tells Brutius to "!", referencing the song of the same name. Not coincidentally, the song can be heard straight after in the original version of the episode.
== Availability ==
File:TSMBSS - Volume 1 (DVD, 2006) Shout Factory.png|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume 1 (DVD, 2006)
File:Mario Bros. Mix (DVD, 2009).jpg|Mario Bros. Mix: Limited Edition (DVD, 2009)
File:TSMBSS - Volume 1 (DVD, 2012) NCircle re-release.jpg|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume 1 (DVD, 2012) (NCircle Re-release)
File:Mario Mega Mix! (DVD, 2015).jpg|Mario Mega Mix! (DVD, 2015)
Category:Episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!