Mack K. Claymorton
Image from Super Mario RPG (video game, 2023; remake of the 1996 game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)
Bouncing Knife Rider
Impact/Flame Type
Original Media: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (video game, 1996)
Story
A robot formerly affiliated with the “Smithy Gang”, a team of machines who wanted to rule the world with weapons. Mack represented swords, which is reflected in his rather unusual body: While the caped “imp” is the most visibly expressive feature, the bladed “pogo stick” is just as much a part of him, even if between the two there’s only one mind.
When the Smithy Gang’s plans fell through, Mack cut ties with them, and laid low for a couple of decades. Even when he came back out of hiding, he wasn’t much more than a trouble-making runaway, fighting for little reason other than…well, just because.
After being kicked around too much in his hasty scuffles, he reached out to someone for training. While he learned quite a bit about anticipating what an opponent will do next and tricking them into doing something that leaves them open, at the end of it all he finally realized how clueless he was as to why he was fighting. He was then offered a chance at a vigilantist adventure, which he accepted in hopes of figuring himself out (and having some fun while he was at it).
Such a personal goal sounds like a hero’s beginning, and while he’s still far from an ideal example of such (he can often be hasty or snappy), his learning of the needs of others and the actions of those who mistreat them gave him an idea of why to fight: So he can help those whose needs are being silenced.
Abilities
Drain (AKA Hot Shot)
Mack shoots a weak fireball at the target. The damage from the attack cannot be blocked.
Flame Type
Flame Ball
Mack summons a floating fireball and aims it at the target for moderate damage.
Flame Type
Sword Rain
Mack summons a flurry of swords from the sky, which crash down on any opponents.
Cutter Type
Flame Wall
Mack summons a giant wave of fire that envelops opponents in front of him.
Flame Type
Flame Stone
Mack summons a flaming meteor that crashes down on an opponent.
Flame/Earth Type
Mega Drain
Mack fires a beam of searing energy at the target. Cannot be blocked.
Flame/Laser Type
All images for the above abilities are from Super Mario RPG (1996).
Mack also has a notable attack that isn’t considered an Ability, where he can jump on the opponent.
Voice
General Description
Young Adult; energetic, cocky, and sometimes immature
Example Voice
Source: Soulcalibur V (video game, 2012)
Original Context: The voice of the character “Xiba”.
Behind the Scenes
Minor note to begin: Mack’s full name is actually something I invented for the roleplay after the release of the 2023 Super Mario RPG remake. The original 1996 game (which I based my writing off of) calls him “Mack”, while the 2023 remake calls him “Claymorton”; having grown accustomed to the name “Mack”, I decided to make the compromise of making “Claymorton” the character’s surname. The middle initial “K” is based on his original Japanese name (“ケンゾール”, romanized as “Kenzōru”), and to a lesser extent his German and Korean names (“Klingklong” and “클레이모튼”; the latter can literally be romanized as “Keulleimoteun”, though it’s based on his 2023 English name “Claymorton”).
I don’t really have much to say about why I introduced Mack to The Chaos Zone; I just thought his design was interesting, and I was a little more interested in him than his contemporaries in Super Mario RPG; this was somewhat exemplified by the work of 3D modeler Peardian, who gave Mack a detailed 3D model (click here to view it) at a time before the 2023 remake provided a clean visual of his design behind the pre-rendered 3D graphics of the 1996 game. While some of my ideas of how Chaos Zone Mack works are different, I was interested in Peardian’s idea of giving the imp creature on the top of his body a spring head, and the idea that the “imp” and the “pogo stick” were a single entity.
When I introduced Mack to in 2020, I didn’t have any real plans for him, and the impact of his debut was about as shallow and brief as his stint in Super Mario RPG itself, if not more. I gave him his own storyline to develop him in 2021, though eventually I realized I was developing his fighting skills without developing his character (most obviously why he fought), so when I reached what otherwise would’ve been the end of the plotline in 2022, I decided to extend his story further, giving him a “quest” of sorts. This “quest” did so much more for his character, giving him gradual character development by keeping him a focal character and letting him bounce off other characters he met (no pun intended). It’s one of my favorite things I’ve written in The Chaos Zone, and it’s taken a character who I introduced as a one-note troublemaker and turned him into someone I see as one of my “main” characters as much as Dyna Man and Dark Elf.
Images
Brash Buster 