For more than three decades, Shigeru Miyamoto has brought countless fans of real-world video games to the Mushroom Kingdom through the Super Mario Bros. saga and, in the process, has given young, old and old a huge smile. But there is one very, very special exception: none other than Takashi Tezuka’s wife. She is literally in the game. Well, and maybe she laughs too, but if she does, it’s for very different reasons. Let’s say there’s a story behind it.
Tezuka shouldn’t need any kind of introduction: he’s a legend inside and outside of Nintendo. We may consider Miyamoto the father of Mario and Link, but without Tezuka there would be no Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda sagas as we know them. And despite the fact that his personalities are somewhat different, it is unquestionable that there is a very special chemistry between the two that is reflected wonderfully in all Nintendo games.
Above all, when both geniuses agree to make Tezuka’s wife a recurring enemy of Mario, Luigi, Peach and the rest of Nintendo’s superstars: nothing less than boo the ghost. Or, as it is known in Japan, テレサ, which is pronounced as Teresa. What is this all about?
The clue behind Miyamoto and Tezuka’s picturesque tribute to the latter’s wife has nothing to do with Yokai, spirits, or anything like that. What happens is that by losing its original name in the West, the fun is also lost: if we break down the word we find that the first part [Tere-Ya] comes to mean something like an extremely shy person. Which is reflected in Boo’s predisposition when we are looking at him and, at the same time, the character of the honoree.
If she’s so shy, how did she end up being a recurring villain in the Mario universe? Well, because Tezuka’s wife sometimes has her own temper too. They must have done something for this to happen.
“His wife is normally very calm, but one day she broke out…”
The debut of Boo (or Teresa) took place in Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES. If we stare at it, she is an extremely timid foe. But when we turn around, she is a beast that pounces on us without mercy. Being that same duality of personalities what Miyamoto borrowed from Mrs. Tezuka when creating a new character, according to what he detailed to Nintendo Power magazine in January 1996 on the occasion of the launch of Super Mario 64.
In Super Mario 64, I wanted to include more details. The ideas we use in the game come from real life, but it may not look like it. In the process of putting an idea into a game, we often change it many times before we get to the final version.
For example, during the development of Super Mario 64, Mr. Tezuka had the idea to include his wife in the game. His wife is normally very calm, but one day she exploded, driven crazy by all the time she spent at work. In the game, there is now a character that shrinks when Mario looks at him, but when Mario walks away, he becomes large and menacing. This is the image he received from his wife and we thought it would be great in the game.
Miyamoto has a very special gift: he knows how to capture the elements of the real world in video games and make them incredibly fascinating and entertaining. The Legend of Zelda was born from memories of her exploring the mountains during her childhood, and the miracle of offering 3D sensation in Star Fox is due to her walks through the temple near the Nintendo offices. Although, of course, it’s not every day that you get the opportunity to turn your friend’s wife into such an iconic enemy.
From here the question asks itself: Did the honoree get that direct hint? Well, in the same conversation with the magazine Tezuka himself gives the answer.
She knows it (laughing and shrugging).
Of course, it goes without saying that Takashi Tezuka loves his wife very much. So much so that, while Miyamoto usually dresses in fun t-shirts inspired by his characters, he has been seen wearing some Boo detail when he talks about his games throughout the world. And, without going any further, in the previous video he has her in his heart.
Is it a coincidence that he looks like that? Absolutely. When Miyamoto and Tezuka agree, there is always a hilarious reason behind it. Their faces of naughty children, no matter how many years have passed, have always given them away.