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Canary Mary
| CanaryMary.jpg | |||
| Game(s) | Banjo-Tooie Banjo-Tooie (Xbox Live Arcade) | ||
| World(s) | Glitter Gulch Mine Cloud Cuckooland | ||
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"Remember Canary Mary? Did you have fun racing her? How I laughed when I was setting up those levels. I'm still laughing!" - L.O.G.
Canary Mary, as her name suggests, is a canary, and a minor character in Banjo-Tooie. She is first encountered in Glitter Gulch Mine, where she is released from a toxic cave by Banjo and Kazooie. The player can race against her in a mine cart game to earn a Jiggy, and then another time for a Cheato Page. She reappears in Cloud Cuckooland, where she can once again be raced, but this time in a flying clockwork mouse rather than a mine cart. Winning this race a first time will, like the prior race, will earn the duo a Jiggy, and winning twice will earn them another Cheato Page.
Her races are considered infamously difficult and frustrating, and are also mentioned at the Glitter Gulch Mine exhibit in Banjoland.
Physical characteristics
Canary Mary is an elderly canary with pale skin and a raspy voice. She has frazzled, spiky blond hair and a few sparse feathers on her arms to reflect her old age. Although her wings are in bad shape, she still proves to be an adapt flier. She has a somewhat low-cut yellow dress and yellow shoes to match the color of her feathers. Unlike other birds, Canary Mary's beak is actually separate from her mouth.
History
Canary Mary states she was used by miners to check the mines for poisonous gas. If she died, it was deemed unsafe. After discovering that she was slowly dying from the gas inside one of the caves, her masters abandoned her, and left her there to die.
Games
Banjo-Tooie
After being freed by Banjo and Kazooie, Canary Mary states her wings need a stretch. She fixes the mine cart challenges the pair to a quick race for a bit of practice. By beating her a first time, Banjo and Kazooie win a Jiggy. She awards the player a Cheato Page if they manage to beat her again, although the second time around she flies faster having regained her composure during the first race. Upon beating her a second time in Glitter Gulch Mine, She flies off, claiming that she'll soon fly high above the clouds.
She meets the player later on when they reach Cloud Cuckooland (given the player has beaten her in the first two races). Once again she can be raced for a Jiggy and a Cheato Page. These races are noticeably harder than the first two races, and are regarded by many fans to be amongst the hardest challenges in the game.
After her last defeat in Cloud Cuckooland, she flies home for her dinner: a worm sandwich.
A recurring joke with Canary Mary is that the location of her prizes are wedged in less-than-desirable places. This often disgusts Kazooie and leads to some funny conversation.
Canary Mary has a glitch where she matches your top speed and passes you. The best way to beat her is to slow down rather than speed up. You could also use an auto or turbo-controller.
Trivia
- Canary Mary may also a rather skilled technician, seeing as how she effortlessly repairs a mine cart and a robotic mouse for her races.
- Canary Mary may be a reference to the Police song "Canary in a Coalmine", considering her species and the fact that you first meet her in Glitter Gulch Mine. Canaries were often used to check for gases in mines, however, and therefore the link may be a coincidence.
