Should you give the star away in Seaside Town in Super Mario RPG?

In Super Mario RPG, once you’ve defeated Jonathan Jones and his mighty crew, you return to Seaside Town and find that the Toads there are done playing around. They demand you give up the star you just acquired. But should you actually give the star away?

Yes. But also maybe no. You’re going to have to, regardless of how you answer, but whether you give it up immediately or not will dictate what kind of reward you get.

First, let’s say you want to say no to giving up the star. The fake elder will send his Toads to torture the town’s real mayor – by tickling him. If you again refuse to give up the star, he’ll once again send his Toads to subject the real elder to even more brutal tickle torture. Every time you refuse, they’ll just do it again and again until the real elder starts repeating himself. Even after that, they’ll keep doing it. They have no mercy.

This goes on indefinitely until you eventually agree to hand over the star. I would like to note that these screenshots of the horrific torture are brought to us by Destructoid’s own Timothy “Tickle Torture” Monbleau. It wasn’t enough that he facilitated the torture; he had to take pictures.

There is a reason not to subject the real elder to such torture. If you give up the star immediately, you’ll be rewarded with a Flower Box from the real elder. If you let him get tortured just once, it’s a Flower Jar. Twice, and it’s a flower tab. If you just keep refusing past that, all you’re getting is a lousy coin. Plus, the knowledge that you allowed for the torture of an innocent NPC.

So, it’s up to how malicious you’re feeling, but eventually, you will have to give the star away in Seaside town. Don’t worry, though; you will get it back.

Super Mario RPG is available now for Switch.