Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! Here is my first entry in the Creative Christmas project, a thoroughly festive community project, run by Kim from Later Levels! For each of the 12 days of Christmas, we have been tasked with writing our answers for particular christmas-themed scenarios. The topic for the 21st December 2017 is:

You receive a call from Santa, as the elves desperately need a hand in the workshop getting all the toys ready. Which video game character would you recruit to help out?

So today I have to come up with a video game character who would be particularly adept at preparing toys in a rush for Santa. Here I’m picturing that scene in Elf where Buddy is in the workshop making toys very, very slowly because he lacks elf-skills, and wondering to myself what the opposite of Will Ferrell would be.

Putting that to one side, this being about video games, I thought I’d just pick an actual elf, but I couldn’t think of any (some people say Link is an elf but I’m not certain, I think he’s a bit too uppity), so I’ve gone with someone who is reliable, swift and has the practical skills required:

Maaaario!

Ok, so what makes Mario a good candidate? Well firstly, he seems to like helping people. Santa’s plight is a little different from the ‘kidnapped-princess’ challenges he normally faces, but you have to say he is handy to have around in a crisis!

Secondly, he can get around the place pretty quickly. If any materials need fetching, he has a huge range of physical skills that will help out. If Santa asks him to take a break from toy-making to load the sleigh, then his wall-jump will mean he can quickly get to the top of the stack of presents to add new ones as they are finished. Not only that, but as long as he has a supply of fire flowers, he’ll be able to ensure that the fire in the grotto keeps burning all night long, thus ensuring tea and coffee are available throughout the night for tired elves.

But, I may have digressed here. The job he is here to do is to make sure all the toys are ready to be shipped to well-behaved Toads everywhere. So why is Mario a good fit for this? Well, although apparently he has retired, he used to have a day job working as a plumber. From the very little experience I have of dealing with plumbing issues, I discovered that it’s really difficult. You have to get into awkward places, use all kinds of strange devices and be sure to not accidentally flood someone’s kitchen when you turn the water supply back on. This is fiddly work. It requires high levels of concentration, much like toy crafting. I’m not sure if he has much of a creative streak, but I don’t think that matters here, as the elves will have had the construction manuals sorted long ago.

If this wasn’t enough, it is also worth noting that as he has recently retired,  he has both the skills AND the time to commit to this (provided of course Bowser stays well away from proceedings).

So what do you think? Is Mario a good choice to help out in a pickle or would that damned hat just get in the way? Perhaps you have another suggestion for the role? If so, do let me know below, and make sure you check out all other fantastic bloggers who are taking part!

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!

Pix1001 x