The Ugly Mermaid

"The Ugly Mermaid" is the eighteenth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.
==Plot==
King Koopa sets off to take over the underwater kingdom of Mertropolis in his new submersible, the Doom Sub, but Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad, somehow aware of his plot, give chase after him, wearing Frog Suits. In their attempt to subdue the Doom Sub, Mario gets hit by one of its lasers, which encases him in a block of cement and causes him to sink into the abyss as well as preventing him from breathing. Luckily, he is rescued by Holly Mackerel, the Princess of Mertropolis, who brings him to her kingdom, which for some reason is protected by an air dome despite its population of anthropomorphic fish. Luigi and the others follow her.
After Luigi and the others manage to free and resuscitate Mario, Holly starts hitting on him, mistakenly believing him to be a she was told would come to her. Although Mario appreciates her having saved his life, he finds her grotesque, as she is in fact a fish with human legs rather than a beautiful woman with a fish tail as mermaids are usually depicted. But instead of just taking off his Frog Suit and telling Holly he isn't a frog, he avoids her, and tells the others that they have to get moving. But after jumping into the opening to the water, Mario jumps back out and cries he's scared of the water, indicating he's developed aquaphobia (possibly because he almost drowned when the cement encased him).
Bowser begins to lay siege to Mertropolis, first sending out a batch of Boomerang Bros. whom the Mario Bros. easily take care of. But with Mario still afraid of the water, Luigi, Peach, and Toad go to combat Bowser on their own, only to end up being captured by Bowser's Nasty Nets. Holly, somehow unaware of Bowser's attack, boasts about her upcoming wedding to Mario. Bowser then proceeds to flood Mertropolis, which somehow frightens the citizens into fleeing in terror. Mario, realizing his friends are in danger, conquers his aquaphobia and rescues his friends, then uses Bowser's nets against him. In the end, Holly decides not to marry Mario because he looks ugly with a fish bowl on his head.
==Trivia/Goofs==
* When Mario is covered in cement, he screams "I can't breathe!", funny thing is that this is an underwater episode. However, the cement may have prevented his lungs from being able to expand.
* The episode's title and the concept of a sea creature falling in love with a human come from the children's story , which had been adapted into a the previous year. The episode's plot, however, completely recycles those of two The Super Mario Bros. Super Show episodes, "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" and "Mario of the Deep".
* The featured song, "Never Kiss a Mermaid", is perhaps a parody of the song "Never Smile at a Crocodile" written for but only heard as an instrumental in .
* When Bowser is speaking at the beginning, the rims around the spikes of his shell have turned yellow except when he says "Kooptropolis!"
== Availability ==
File:The Adventures of SMB 3 - The Complete Series (DVD, 2007) Shout Factory.jpg|The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 - The Complete Series (DVD, 2007)
File:The Adventures of SMB 3 - What a Wonderful Warp (DVD, 2009).jpg|The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3: What a Wonderful Warp (DVD, 2009)
File:The Adventures of SMB 3 - The Complete Series (DVD, 2013) NCircle re-release.jpg|The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 - The Complete Series (DVD, 2013) (NCircle Re-release)
Category:Episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3