Eebs' Video Games Themed Common Bond Quiz

Answer: Toad

Toads actually have paratoidal glands in their skin that are used to secrete poison. While the toxin from the glands successfully wards off predators, the glands give toads their "bumpy" appearance and may be responsible for the legend that touching a toad will cause warts.

Answer: Mushrooms

While Chanterelles, Criminis and Portabello mushrooms are all edible, there are plenty of poisonous mushrooms, like the Amanita, that you wouldn't want to come into contact with! Interestingly, tomato leaves and wild potatoes contain toxic glycoalkaloids, but many farmed potatoes are monitored for their glycoalkaloid levels. Rhubarb leaves also contain poisonous oxalic acid.

Answer: Princess

"The Princess Bride" did well in the theaters at the time of its release but ended up becoming a bigger success as a cult film. The excellent cast includes Fred Savage, Billy Crystal, and Christopher Guest of "mockumentary" fame. "The Princess Diaries" is a film based on the novel by Meg Cabot.

The movie stars Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews and tells the story of a girl who discovers she is the heiress to the throne of the fictional country, Genovia. "Xena: Warrior Princess" is a television program that ran from 1995-2001 and starred Lucy Lawless. Lawless donated her "Xena" outfit to the Museum of American History in 2006.

Answer: Plumber

The word "plumber" is a shortened version of the Latin word "plumbumber." The Latin word for lead is "plumbum," hence the Pb symbol for lead on the Periodic Table of Elements. The lead pipe in "Clue" (or lead piping in "Cluedo") is one of the possible murder weapons. Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne and Gabriel Byrne have all worked in the plumbing industry in the past!

Answer: Fireball

The Atomic Fireball is made by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company, based in Chicago. They are also known for their other candies: Lemonheads, Red Hots and Cherryheads, to name a few. The Atomic Fireball also comes in a chewy variety, but the original was created in 1954.

The Chinese Fireball is one of the famous breeds of dragons from the "Harry Potter" books. In the movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", character Viktor Krum faces a Chinese Fireball in the Triwizard Tournament. While Viktor does successfully retrieve the Golden Egg he seeks, the Fireball crushes some of its eggs while under the Conjunctivitis Curse and Viktor loses points for employing this tactic.

Answer: Beanstalk

Several video games feature beanstalk references (besides the title we're looking for in Question #10). "Harvest Moon" for the Super Nintendo allows you to climb a beanstalk after you've fulfilled certain conditions, and you'll find a golden egg at the top valued at 60,000 gold. "Spyro: Year of the Dragon" for the PlayStation features a beanstalk-themed area where the goal is to locate a golden goose. "The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk" for the Nintendo Game Boy combines characters from "The Simpsons" with the legend of "Jack and the Beanstalk" to create a platforming game!

Answer: Castle

Rooks look somewhat like castles, hence why they're occasionally referred to as such. There is also a move in chess called castling, where the king and rook work together to place the rook in a more central position on the board and the king away from the center of the board. There are a number of conditions that must be met for castling to be allowable!

Answer: Starman

This is a tricky one, because only one of the choices is common to all of the items mentioned, but a few of the choices apply to more than one of the items listed! David Bowie has songs called "Starman" and "Ziggy Stardust," both found on the 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." Jeff Bridges played an alien in 1984's "Starman," and also appeared in the 2008 movie "Iron Man." "Iron Man" and "Stardust" are also Marvel Comics characters, "Starman" is a DC Comics character and "Ziggy" is a comic strip that was created by Tom Wilson.

The only choice that also applies to "EarthBound" is "Starman." The Starmen are the evil henchmen of the antagonist, Giygas.

Answer: Hammer

The hammer and sickle appeared on the flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until the USSR's dissolution in 1991. The American company Church and Dwight trademarked the "Arm & Hammer" brand that is best known for its cleaning products, specifically baking soda. MC Hammer, whose real name is Stanley Burrell, sampled Rick James' song "Super Freak" in his popular 1990 song "U Can't Touch This." Burrell decided to go with the more serious-sounding name "Hammer" for his 1994 album, "The Funky Headhunter," but returned to using MC Hammer for his 1995 album, "Inside Out."

Answer: Super Mario Bros

One of the most well-known games in existence, 1985's "Super Mario Bros." for the Nintendo Entertainment System is the glue that binds all of these answers together!

#1 - TOAD is a human-like mushroom found in many of the "Super Mario" games.

#2 - MUSHROOMS make Mario increase in size, allowing him to become Super Mario. There are also poison mushrooms in "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" that will actually kill Mario if he touches one while he's regular size.

#3 - PRINCESS Toadstool was the original name for the character we now know as Princess Peach, who first appeared in "Super Mario Bros." as the damsel-in-distress who was kidnapped by Bowser.

#4 - PLUMBER is the occupation both Mario and Luigi share.

#5 - FIREBALLs are what Mario can shoot when he obtains a Fire Flower and becomes Fiery Mario.

#6 - BEANSTALKs appear at several different places in "Super Mario Bros." The most notable is the beanstalk you can climb in World 4-2 that leads you to a warp zone!

#7 - CASTLEs build up in the background each time you complete a level, and you visit Bowser's castle in the fourth level of each world.

#8 - STARMAN is a power-up that makes Mario invincible for a short period of time.

#9 - HAMMERs are what the Hammer Bros. throw at you in the game.

I hope you enjoyed the quiz!