Lovebunny, DinoGraveyard are cosplaying a sexier Mario movie on TikTok

In April this year, Super Mario Bros. Movie Bullet Billed broke box office records, and had the largest opening weekend ever for an animated movie. No one was too surprised that the studio behind Minions successfully shepherded one of the biggest, decades-spanning video game franchises to that bar, but considering the past, it was an achievement: It marks the first time Nintendo had successfully tapped the IP’s potential for TV or film since 1993’s Super Mario Bros.Bob-ombed the Box Office

It was the 20-year Mario story drought that opened up opportunities for creators who were not afraid to be different. Ken and Kade (also known as DinoGraveyard, Lovebunny, and DinoGraveyard respectively on TikTok) walked in through this door. DinoBunny has been running channels for the past few years. The couple has created their own space within the Super Mario fandom. Their niche started out as cosplay, but has evolved over the last several years into a theatre rewiring the Mario canon.

“I’d say it’s like Bridgerton in the Mario universe,” says Kade. “We’re making these characters where they’re not necessarily a good guy or a bad guy, but just people making mistakes.”

Kade, Ken and their video chat partner sit together in an anime-themed office decorated with trinkets and posters in pastel pinks with electric blue accents. Ken’s gaming chair is straight from Princess Peach’s color palette and has a pair of rosy rabbit ears nestled on its headrest. They’re living and breathing the Mushroom Kingdom — but that wasn’t necessarily the dream.

“We didn’t start off thinking, Oh, I’m going to be a professional YouTuber or TikToker,” adds Ken. “We just thought it might be something fun on the side.”

Ken and Kade began their platforms individually on TikTok to simply experiment with cosplay, as they are avid fans of this art form. Ken and Kade now have over 3.7 millions followers across their TikTok account and YouTube channel. Like others in the hobby, the duo dons ornate costumes to embody their favorite franchise’s characters, including but not limited to the aforementioned pink-laden damsel in distress and the anthropomorphic fire-breathing turtle Bowser.

Ken explains that Mario is a more blank canvas, so the duo has been able transform it into something more provocative. First-time visitors on Ken and Kade’s profiles are initially intrigued by the attention-grabbing Waluigi thirst traps, leather-clad Chain Chomp drag, and a highly sought-after bisexual King Boo. The former, having accrued over 3 millions plays on TikTok, is what initially bolstered Ken’s follower count. Ironically, this sexy version of Luigi’s purple nemesis was inspired by Waluigi memes.

“There are a lot of people that joke, Waluigi looks so adorable,” Ken explains. “But I was like, What if that was the case? That blew up really really big.”

Despite the goofiness that comes with sexualizing the lanky villain, the pair’s penchant for ascribing humanistic traits to these otherwise sterile characters in the Super Mario universe — in this case, sexuality — implores viewers to imagine what they would act and look like IRL. Sultry memes aside, bringing these characters from their games to the real world in an entertaining and thought-provoking way is the crux of Ken and Kade’s craft.

Beyond the dazzling costumes the oft-overlooked second half of the “cosplay” portmanteau is largely responsible for why fans come back to Ken and Kade’s channels after being drawn to the sexy reimaginings. The couple have built their character studies and stories on their YouTube accounts, as well as both their individual profiles. They are based around their Super Mario costumes. Dubbed “#MarioLore,” the plots expand beyond the usual “Let’s-a go!” and “Wahoo!” dialogue that certain Nintendo characters famously exclaim.

One of the #MarioLore storylines, backed by audio of “Wait for It” from HamiltonRosalina is seen corresponding with the King Boo following a terrible plague. One plotline explores Toadette’s and Toads’ relationship as well their tendency to gossip. These scenes are all acted in regalia, and they are often accompanied with TikTok music that suits the mood of the shorts. Super Mario Bros. MovieNever.

The Disney movies of the origins of Disney’s villains, such as The Maleficent, Descendants” CruellaKen says they want to treat the Mario universe as “very human and very morally gray”. They live for the drama, not the so-called canon. Ken says they aim to treat the Mario universe as “very human and very morally gray.” They live for the drama, and don’t stress about the so-called canon.

However, like all other TikTok users, they are also reliant on the application’s various algorithms to keep followers engaged and attract new ones. They are constantly taking notes after the launch of each individual video, factoring in metrics that help the videos hit “on a very large scale,” says Ken. They always take into account the TikTok sound popularity and their ability to influence the algorithm in order to increase the overall impression. Melding themes from their ideas with trending audios is a particular skill of Ken’s, according to Kade, that helps the videos gain traction without sacrificing the characters’ pre-planned arcs.

“[Ken] is really great at seeing the trending audios on TikTok and then thinking of how she could take that and then apply it to her story,” adds Kade.

Although the couple hyper-analyzes ways to enhance viewership of their output, the community they’ve fostered makes their attachment to certain characters and storylines very clear. It’s not uncommon for viewers to question why characters behave, in their minds, antithetically to what they envisioned. In April, fans were particularly averse to a development in Peach and Bowser’s relationship storyline. “I feel so bad for Bowser, Peach is one more person he can’t trust anymore,” commented one follower. “The fact Peach seems barely sorry… The shock in her eyes when he rejects her says it all,” added another user.

The backlash was enough that Ken felt influenced to post a video reemphasizing that “the series isn’t a wholesome love story. […] It’s a sad cycle of wrongdoings and trauma with no black-and-white definitions of right and wrong.”

“Sometimes I’m like, Oh, they’re going to hate this one,” laughs Ken. “We have some videos where people were getting very confused over Princess Peach’s character and it has a lot to do with misogyny and media.”

“[Fans are] allowed to have fan theories and they’re allowed to think their own thing, but we want to kind of nudge them in the right direction when it comes to how these characters are personified,” says Ken. “We really want to make sure that people aren’t being super misunderstood.”

DinoBunny Cosplay: Photos

Ken and Kade, despite occasionally disappointing followers looking for an element of solution, are more interested in staying true to the vision they have.

“Getting the big numbers from people who see the trending-type videos that increase the follower count, that’s cool,” says Kade. “But we do both. I always hope that those viewers become viewers that care about the story and care about the characters.”

It’s difficult to imagine a world 20 or 30 years ago where this type of content could have such a devoted following, considering the lack of online platforms as well as the social stigma that sometimes comes with the hobby. Kade credits a portion of cosplay’s foray into the pop culture zeitgeist with the “rise of the nerds” similar to the emergence of the Marvel and DC cinematic universes. Ken believes that cosplay’s rise to popularity could have a negative impact.

“There’s pros and cons to it, because on one hand, especially with social media and short-form video, you have the opportunity to explore your art in a way that you can reach a mass audience,” explains Ken, referring back to the popularity of superheroes. “The problem with that is all of the people who are very popular for it are gorgeous. They’re conventionally attractive, they’re very straight-size and they’re oftentimes not neurodivergent. When you have people who don’t fall into those categories, it can make it harder for them to exist in those spaces safely.”

Despite this, Ken and Kade aren’t particularly worried about being deemed cool versus cringey. It’s just that they want the cosplay world to remain a space where fans are free to express themselves through creative and fandom outlets.

“It’s such a fascinating thing — that idea of cringe. That word is being thrown around a lot,” says Kade. “You need to be able to put that idea of being cool on the shelf. If you ever want to create anything unique or do anything you’re passionate about, being overly self-conscious about seeming cool is so destructive to creativity.”

“We’re very passionate about bullying being cringe. […] We just want to use our art form and our platform to do what we think is fulfilling for us,” Ken concludes. “We want to use it to create and continue a very engaging story. Then, after that, we want to make another story.”

Ken and Kade think that now that Super Mario Cinematic Universe is filling the void of written Super Mario content, DinoBunny Cosplay’s niche may have been compromised. However, they feel the movie arrived just in time.

“It was super inspiring,” says Ken. “People also started searching for Mario-related content a little more.”

DinoBunny Cosplay will keep you entertained until Nintendo decides to send Mario and Luigi out into the world of the mature themes shown in the green pipe. Waluigi as a hot babe is not the end.