PETA's New Target: Nintendo's Mario

PETA's latest target isn't exactly a celeb with a penchant for hitting the red carpet in fur. It's Mario. From the Nintendo game. No, seriously. PETA explains that in the game Super Mario 3D Land, the graphic character will do anything it takes to conquer his enemy and save the princess—"even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers. Tanooki may be just a suit in the game, but in real life tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur." Ergo, every time he dons his Tanooki suit, Mario sends a pro-fur message.

The Los Angeles Times points out that while the suit does give Mario the ability to sail through the air and attack villains with his tail, it appears to him from magic squares—no horrific animal slaughter involved. PETA, however, doesn't shy away from such slaughter: Its site features an awful video of a tanuki being bludgeoned and skinned; there, you'll also find PETA's Super Tanooki Skin 2D videogame, in which a skinned Tanooki goes after Mario in a bid to get his fur back. GeekSugar notes that the Tanooki tail is nothing new; click to read when Mario first donned it. (More PETA stories.)