Topic on Talk:Designated Hero
Meggy is The Lancer to Mario, The Spock of the team, and a Heroic Comedic Sociopath like Mario himself. But one must say that everyone in this plot is somewhere on the Jerkass scale.
Every character except Mario and Bowser is seen carrying some heavy weapon, including those who apparently don't like using them (Luigi, Boopkins, Lemmy, Wendy). In a gun fight in Real Life, every opponent with a weapon would be considered dangerous and worthy of getting eliminated, even those who are in fact docile and only consider using them when it's about their own lives. Worse still, most real-life mobsters wouldn't even consider getting into Stand-Offs with their enemies, and instead would just sneak-attack and snipe them in a suitable moment. One the other hand, they usually don't kill more people than they need to in order to continue their business. That's at least how professional mobsters typically operate today. However, I think this video leans on the italo-american clan wars in the USA in the 1920s and 1930s, which indeed weren't so much different from what we get to see, only their motives were not so ridiculous.
After all, this is a video of a clan war Played for Laughs. A lot of tragi-comedic tropes are worked into this, and while Mario and his gang are indeed big Jerkasses when you think about it, they still find solutions that are kinda funny and entertaining. Think about Steve's Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy moment.
Or Meggy's zig-zagged Honor Before Reason (first averted - she chases after a panicking Wendy, then played straight - she openly confronts her into a stand-off, then downplayed - when Wendy is unarmed, she doesn't shoot her but instead taunts her into a last desperation attack to subsequently trip her up, and finally sharply averted - sadistically grins at a surrendering Wendy and then kicks her outta window). As our article on Shoot the Dog already says:" Expect the shooter to go for the most Jerkass solution even when Fridge Logic indicates much less morally compromising ones are possible, because Murder Is the Best Solution. ". In that case it's probably the most Jerkass solution that is still funny. Although letting her live wouldn't have made things much better, but Meggy couldn't know that the rest is dead at that point.
BTW when talking about "killing", one never gets to know whether Po, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings are really dead. They just no longer appear after getting injured, and this gives the impression that they are no longer alive. Also Boopkins suddenly disappears after the Koopalings are shot, while just before he was seen in a Wimp Fight with Lemmy. While there seems to be no reason to assume him dead, it may indicate that he stays in the lounge, mourning the dead Koopalings. Anyway, this adds darkness to the ending, as the clowns - Bob and Boopkins - have been shooed out of the plot. (Bob disappears earlier and for a different reason, and whether or not he survives is subject to speculation.)
So far, all the "heroic" characters in this video are best described as varying degrees of Heroic Comedic Sociopaths, or even Adaptational Villainy in action. My emotional response was probably the result of Youtube comments which praised the "heroes" for their badassness while completely ignoring their jerkassness.
Finally, there is a hint at the very last moment which indicates that Meggy may not be as devoid of feelings as she appears through the rest of the video: When Mario and Bowser finally make piece, she is disgusted at first but then looks rather unsettled, as if she realizes that she has basically just murdered a kid without a reason. (Of course, this is just speculation.) BTW there is an earlier moment where she also isn't smart ... How could he [Bowser] know where we are? Right before, you saw a very obvious hint...
End of my personal discussion (I hope so).