L is real//Eternal star

The illegible plaque on the Star statue in Peach’s castle in SM64 stirred up quite a fewmany fans on what it could possibly say.

Those who see “L is real” also say that the L stands for Luigi.  The fact that he’s “real” gave fans the idea that Luigi was playable in the game.  Countless hacks have been made, but no one has ever found Luigi to be actually in the game.  The hype hasn’t died down, however, as pre-release images showed Luigi in the game.  What needs to be taken into consideration is that,

1. Pre-release images are just that:  pre-release images.  Things change from the pre-release time to the actual release.  Just because Luigi was in the pre-release doesn’t mean he is in the final version.
2. SM64 is an old game (it was released in ’96, so it is 13 years old at the time of this writing).  Recent games can be easily hacked and have all of its secrets revealed quickly.  SM64 has been hacked countless times and Luigi has still not been found.  The chances that he is that well-hidden in the game are slim to none.

The 2401/2041 that seems to be on the plaque also caught interest.  Many thought that “L is real 2401” meant “Luigi is real in Paper Mario 2/4/01.”  The release date of PM was indeed February 4, 2001 in North America, and Luigi was indeed in the game, BUT Luigi was not playable.  PM was in the works during the making of SM64, and there is a good chance that the development team could have had a release date for PM at that time, but why would they mention Luigi in a plaque in the game when he plays such a small role?

The “L is real 2041” message doesn’t have many deciphered messages, as the number doesn’t make too much sense as of now.

“Eternal star” makes sense for a lot of fans, especially the ones who think there is no meaning behind the plaque.  The statue is of a star, and the plaque is naming it the “Eternal star,” possibly because it will be there forever (since Mario can’t win it in any way).

The bottom text is far too blurry to make out.  Few think it says “Let’s hope so” or “Let’s hope for.”

Lots of fans think that the plaque is just senseless nonsense, put in there to make the statue look more detailed.  Check the “Ocarina of Time” page to see another reasoning as to why the plaque is just nonsense.

To complete this page, I need:  pre-release images of SM64 with Luigi.  If anyone can contribute these, or anything else. please leave a comment here!