Born on the Game Boy: The Nintendo Characters That Made Their Debut on the DMG
The Game Boy is usually remembered as a shrinking machine. It took the worlds Nintendo had already built on the living-room television, Mario, Zelda and the rest, and squeezed them down until they fit in a coat pocket. That is a fair part of the story, and for many players it was the whole appeal: the big games, made portable. But it quietly overlooks something more remarkable.
Because the little grey handheld was not only a home for characters that already existed. It was a birthplace. Several of the figures, and entire series, that would go on to become pillars of Nintendo history took their very first steps on the Game Boy rather than on a console. This series is about them: the characters born on the DMG. Here is the whole set.
Part 1: Super Mario Land, Daisy and Tatanga
Super Mario Land did not just miniaturise Mario. It sent him somewhere new entirely, the strange kingdom of Sarasaland, and in doing so introduced a princess named Daisy and an alien warlord named Tatanga, both making their debut in a Game Boy launch title.
Part 2: Kirby's Dream Land
One of Nintendo's most beloved characters began life here, and not inside Nintendo itself but at HAL Laboratory. Kirby's Dream Land introduced the pink hero, his blustering rival King Dedede, and a cast, from Whispy Woods to Waddle Dee, that has recurred for decades.
Part 3: The Birth of Wario
It is almost unheard of for a handheld villain to graduate into a franchise of his own. Yet that is exactly what happened when Super Mario Land 2 introduced Wario, the greedy anti-Mario, who would soon headline Wario Land and cross paths with the pirate Captain Syrup.
Part 4: Link's Awakening, Marin and the Wind Fish
The Game Boy Zelda was not a smaller Hyrule. It was a wholly original dream, set on Koholint Island, with characters found nowhere else: the girl Marin, her father Tarin, and the mysterious slumbering Wind Fish at the heart of it all.
Part 5: Pokemon Changes Everything
Pokemon, where 151 creatures and Pikachu first appeared. Pokemon, where 151 creatures and Pikachu first appeared.
The biggest example of all. An entire generation of 151 creatures, Pikachu among them, plus Professor Oak, Team Rocket and the legendary Mewtwo, all debuted on the Game Boy in 1996. One of the largest franchises on earth began as a handheld experiment.
Put together, these five stories tell a different history of the Game Boy. It did not merely shrink Nintendo's worlds to fit a pocket. It grew new ones. Daisy, Kirby, Wario and Pikachu all became far larger than the small grey machine that first gave them life. To see the cartridges where it all began, come and explore the Game Boy Museum.
The Full Series
Part 1: Super Mario Land, Daisy and Tatanga · Part 2: Kirby's Dream Land · Part 3: The Birth of Wario · Part 4: Link's Awakening, Marin and the Wind Fish · Part 5: Pokemon Changes Everything
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