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For other uses, see [[:the Nintendo mascot]].
Mario
Mario series character
File:Mario2small.jpg
For over 25 years, Mario has been
Nintendo's official mascot.
First gameDonkey Kong (1981)
Created byShigeru Miyamoto

Mario (マリオ) is a video game character created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and is the official mascot of Nintendo.[1] Mario was originally portrayed with two-dimensional sprites, but in later games he is a three-dimensional, polygonal model. Because of the common reference to him and his brother Luigi as the "Mario Brothers," it has been speculated his full name is "Mario Mario," and in certain non-game sources (comic books and the Super Mario Bros. film), this is the case. However, Nintendo of America stated in the 1980s that Mario and Luigi do not have last names.[2]

Mario is depicted as a somewhat short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He is well known for constantly thwarting the plans of the evil King Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom, his plucky personality, enthusiasm and spirit in the face of enemies, unexpected physical agility, cooperation with his brother, and close relationship with Princess Peach whom he has repeatedly saved. He has a greedy doppelgänger by the name of Wario.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be one of the most famous characters in video game history.[3] The Mario series of video games has sold more than 193 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time.[4] Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in video games in different genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, Nintendo's arcade sports games (such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series), and Nintendo's series of Mario role-playing games (including Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Paper Mario series, and the Mario & Luigi series).

Mario was featured in a show entitled The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, live-action movie called Super Mario Bros., the Nintendo Comics System (a series of comics featuring Nintendo characters), and the Nintendo Adventure Books. The show starred Captain Lou Albano as Mario, and the movie starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and made appearances in pop culture.

Conception and creation

Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong. The game was surprisingly successful,[5] and when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros..

Mario's name in Donkey Kong, "Jumpman", was changed to "Mario" in the arcade game Mario Bros. His namesake was Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America, who barged in on a meeting in the company's Redmond, WA facility to demand an overdue rent payment. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario is given the stage name of "Great Gonzales" during his battles in Glitzville. Before a battle, one of the audience members refers to Mario as "Jumpman," poking fun at Mario's past identity. Mario's nickname in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is "The Jumpman", again making reference to his original name. Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, both their baby counterparts, Wario, Waluigi, and other characters such as Donkey Kong.[6]

Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-1980s; with limited pixels and colors, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear". Making his shirt a solid color fixed this. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears, and they could not animate hair, so Mario got overalls, a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, has stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.[7]

The surname "Mario" (which would make his full name Mario Mario) was first used in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then in the 1993 feature film Super Mario Bros. This was meant to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could be known as the "Mario brothers". This surname theory has never been employed in official Nintendo games or media, however, and it is broadly accepted that Mario and Luigi are collectively called the Mario Bros. simply because Mario is the headliner of the pair.

Mario has taken on the role of mascot of Nintendo and has since been extensively merchandised. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in the early 1990s; the two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterward, until around 2001 when a Sonic game showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry.[8]

Appearances

Mario has made appearances on all Nintendo consoles besides Wii, which has Mario games in development, including Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario. He has also made appearances on non-Nintendo platforms, though many less than on Nintendo platforms since the company owns the copyright to Mario. Due to his popularity, he has been parodied numerous times, and has made cameos and allusions in other media.

In Nintendo video games

Main article: List of Mario games
Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64

Mario made his debut in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981 under the name "Jumpman". In Donkey Kong Junior, made in 1982, he was the villain, and in the ending cinematic, he is knocked out. The games were so successful that he carried over into an arcade spin-off in 1983, Mario Bros., which boasted a simultaneous two-player mode and introduced his taller yet younger brother Luigi. His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game sold over 40 million copies[9] (pack-in copies included) making it the best-selling video game ever, and the game has been ported to numerous Nintendo consoles since.

File:Mario Bros..png
The arcade version of Mario Bros.

Overall, Mario games have sold approximately 285 million copies worldwide,[10] with Super Mario Bros. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, selling well over 18 million copies.[11] Mario and his friends also appeared in the later Game & Watch games. Mario has also appeared in both Super Smash Bros. and its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and will appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Both Melee and Brawl give Mario a far more realistic look than any of his other games, depicting such details as the stitches in his denim overalls.

Mario has explored almost every genre of video games. Aside from action platformers, he has starred in puzzle games, racing games, sports games, fighting games, role-playing games, and even educational games. The only genre in which he has not appeared is strategy.

On non-Nintendo platforms

Nintendo holds the copyright to Mario in many nations and retains these rights for its own use with few exceptions. However, Mario appeared in educational PC titles in the United States such as Mario Teaches Typing and in very early games for non-Nintendo systems such as the Atari 2600 and the Mattel Intellivision. Philips made games, such as Hotel Mario, featuring Nintendo characters for its ill-fated CD-i console which was the result of a compromise with Nintendo over failing to release a joint CD-ROM product. Mario Is Missing!, another PC game, was later ported to the NES and SNES, along with its sequel, Mario's Time Machine. Super Mario Bros. Special, the first sequel to Super Mario Bros., was also on a non-Nintendo platform.

Cameos and allusions

Main article: List of cameos of the Mario series

In the days of the NES and Game Boy, Mario made cameos. In sports titles, he was often depicted as the referee (e.g. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Tennis); sometimes, however, he was a playable character (e.g. Nintendo's early Golf title). Some of his other cameos were more bizarre, such as in the Breakout clone Alleyway, which featured Mario on the game's box-art and as the "pilot" of the paddle. He was also featured on the Game Over screen for the Game Boy version of Qix. Allusions to or parodies of Mario feature in a number of other video games, including World of Warcraft. Mario's voice appears in the Simpsons Episode "Marge Be Not Proud", Convincing Bart to steal a Video-Game. The GameCube versions of NBA Street V3 and SSX On Tour contained the popular Nintendo characters Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

When Mario was first designed, he looked, essentially similar to his appearance in later games; a short, stubby man with a hat, brown hair, black mustache, and overalls. He normally wears blue overalls on top of a red shirt, but, he originally wore red overalls on top of a blue shirt. The American Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first appearance of his modern outfit. In future games, he also appeared like this.

Mario's standard outfit rarely changes, though he changes it on occasion if the situation calls for it. For example, in Super Mario Strikers, Mario wears an Association Football outfit as opposed to overalls. In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario wore a red T-shirt with his hat and overalls rather than a long-sleeved shirt, and it was also possible to for him to put on sunglasses and a Hawaiian-style Shine Sprite shirt. In some games, Mario can transform into different forms, each with a different costume.

Abilities and techniques

During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was known simply as "Jumpman", named for his keen ability to jump exceptional heights. Jumping—both to access different areas of a level and as an offensive move—remains a core element of gameplay in most Mario games, especially in the platform games. Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies. Beyond stomping, games have elaborated on Mario's jumping-related abilities.

File:Lakitu (smb1).png
Mario with his Fire Flower ability in Super Mario Bros.

Mario makes use of a wide array of items in most games in which he appears. The most prominent of these is the Super Mushroom, which allows Mario to grow to twice his size. In this form he is usually labeled "Super Mario", and receives an additional hit point. Other examples include a Fire Flower, which transforms Mario into Fire Mario and allows him to throw fireballs at enemies (pyrokinesis), Starman, which render Mario temporarily impervious to harm, and the Raccoon Leaf, which allows him to fly for short distances. Super Mario World introduced Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi to the game series, whom Mario can ride.

In Super Mario 64, Mario will take an extra point of damage if he is attacked without his hat, and in Super Mario Sunshine, Mario will automatically take damage after a few seconds when his hat is stolen. In addition to this, Super Mario 64 features different boxes with hats inside that, when donned by Mario, offer him different abilities; the Wing Cap, for example, allows him to fly for a limited amount of time, the Metal Cap transforms him into Metal Mario, and the Vanish Cap into Vanish Mario.

File:Mariohammer.jpg
Mario in the Paper Mario games, using his trademark weapon, a hammer

Metal Mario first appeared in Super Mario 64. He is completely impervious, and can harm enemies by simply running into them. Along with this, he does not have to breathe, which allows him to walk in noxious gas and water. His heavy weight allows him to be able to sink in water, helping in some missions. He loses the ability to speak (which, while not having significant impact on overall story or gameplay, only serves to show that Mario became composed entirely of metal). In the enhanced remake, Super Mario 64 DS, the ability to turn into a metal being is granted to Wario instead. Metal Mario appeared as a secret unlockable character in Dr. Mario 64 and Mario Golf. In Mario Golf he is very strong, having an even longer drive than Bowser. He is also one of the last enemies in Super Smash Bros.

Although Mario is not usually portrayed using weapons in games, one exception is the use of hammers as weapons in games. In Super Mario RPG, the Mario & Luigi series, and the Paper Mario series, Mario uses his hammer to hit switches and solve puzzles as well as to hit enemies. In the Wrecking Crew series, Mario wields a hammer to break bricks. The hammer was first introduced in Donkey Kong.

Personality

Mario is portrayed in games and other media as being a kind-hearted and brave hero. He helps those in need without hesitation. Despite his status as a great hero, Mario is very humble. He has a love of pasta and pizza, as the stereotypical Italian does. This idea was started in the American cartoons, but soon afterward, Nintendo supported the idea by having Mario dream of pasta. He also loves tropical seafood as can be seen in the intro video of Super Mario Sunshine. Mario's cheerful personality is reflected in his voice, which, since Super Mario 64, has been provided by Charles Martinet.[12] Although he largely speaks in English (with a thick Italian accent), he has been known to sporadically break into Italian.

Occupation and hobbies

Despite Mario's occupation as a plumber, he is almost never seen doing plumbing in his games. Pipes have, however, remained a mode of transportation in most Mario games. Mario was most often seen plumbing during the animated series. He was very knowledgeable about tools and fixing pipes in the movie.

Beginning with the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games, which first debuted in 1990, Mario has been occasionally depicted as a medical physician as well. In 2001, Mario appeared in Dr. Mario 64, an updated version of the original puzzle game. Mario was in doctor form as a secret character in the Nintendo GameCube game, Super Smash Bros. Melee.

His most time-consuming activity seems to be saving Princess Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom, and surrounding kingdoms from villains such as Bowser. As seen through character interactions in his role-playing games, Mario has achieved a level of fame among the kingdoms' populations due to his heroic deeds, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they are referred to as "superstars", or celebrities.[13]

File:Mariovsdonkeykong4.PNG
Mini Mario, one of the figures produced by Mario's Mario Toy Company.

Mario earns most of his money through the profits from his Mario Toy Company, which produces Mini Mario figures. As of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, the company has expanded to include similar versions of other characters.[14]

The Mario franchise has spun off into games involving go-kart racing, soccer, baseball, tennis, golf, basketball and dancing. In most of these games where different characters may have varying levels of skill, Mario is typically the most balanced character in classes such as weight, speed, power, or other abilities.

Due to his many different roles (a plumber, physician, referee, racecar driver, golfer, and brick demolitions) in addition to his years of gold coin-collecting, Mario was named #15 on Forbes Fictional 15 with a net worth of 1 billion dollars. [15]

Baby Mario

Main article: Baby Mario

Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario. Although originally kept separate, Baby Mario has been in games paradoxically along with Mario, such as in Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

The only game where Mario, Luigi, and their baby selves have appeared in the same time period (besides non-canon games) was in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, where the older Mario brothers meet their younger counterparts in Mushroom Kingdom of the past and combine their efforts to defeat their enemies.

Relations

Ever since his first game, Mario usually has the role of saving the damsel-in-distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from the clutches of DK. Pauline did not last long as a character and was soon replaced by new damsel-in-distress, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros. (She was initially referred to as Princess Toadstool in North America until 1996, when Super Mario 64 debuted.)[1] Pauline returned in the Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, although their relationship is merely that of friends.[16]

Mario has rescued Princess Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros., often receiving a kiss as a reward. Although the true nature of their relationship is never revealed (as is typical of most characters in the Mario series), there is evidently a mutual affection between the two characters.[17][18] It has been revealed that Mario's nemesis, Bowser, is in love with Peach, which is why he constantly steals her away from Mario.[18]

Mario rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. In sports titles, however, Daisy frequents with Luigi more often. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Princess Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach.[19]

In the Nintendo GameCube game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario is quite popular with the female characters. All of his female partners in the game kiss him at some point. Even Beldam of the Shadow Sirens expresses that she finds Mario attractive as well when she and her two sisters are glancing at the sketch of him that was given to them to find Mario and his friends.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's demented and greedy alter ego. Though there is no tangible relationship between the two, Wario was once referred to as Mario's cousin in Nintendo Power. Wario is designed to act, in a way, as an anti-Mario.[20]

Mario in Kungsbacka, Sweden

Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon having starred in three television shows, comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins. Nintendo of Japan produced a 60-minute anime feature starring Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released outside of Japan. He has appeared on lunchboxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials, in candy form, on Shampoo bottles, and as a plush toy. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show featured a live-action series of skits starring former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to children in the world than Mickey Mouse.[21] In addition, Mario made history in 2003 by becoming the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts.

Croatian tennis player Mario Ančić is referred to as "Super Mario" by commentators and journalists. Former NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux was given the nickname "Super Mario" by the media during his illustrious career. Mario Williams, the #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, was also given the nickname "Super Mario", as was pro-cyclist, Mario Cipollini. Another sportsman who received this nickname was the Brazilian soccer player Mário Jardel, famous for his jumps and headers.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b "Super Mario 64". IGN. Retrieved 2006-11-12. Cite error: The named reference "Super Mario 64" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Nintendo 1988 Inside Edition TV news report with Super Mario". Retrieved 2006-11-10.
  3. ^ "The History of Mario". Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  4. ^ "Mario Series Sales Information". Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  5. ^ Nintendo Power, Issue 61, June 1994
  6. ^ "Charles Martinet Down Under". Nintendo. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  7. ^ "Nintendo's Shining Star: The History of Mario". Gamecubicle. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  8. ^ "A Rivalry Ends: Nintendo and Sega, Mario and Sonic". Gamecubicle. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  9. ^ "Super Mario Bros., Best Selling Video Game Of All Time". Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  10. ^ David Low (2005). "Nintendo reveal sales figures". Australia's PAL Gaming Network. Retrieved February 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3". Nintendo. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  12. ^ "Charles Martinet". N-Sider. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  13. ^ "Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga". Nintendo. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  14. ^ "Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis". Nintendo. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  15. ^ "Forbes Fictional #15". Forbes. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  16. ^ "Mario vs. DK 2: March of the Minis". Yahoo! Games. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
  17. ^ "Mariopedia—Mario". The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  18. ^ a b "Mariopedia—Bowser". The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  19. ^ HAL Laboratory (2001-12-03). Super Smash Bros. Melee (Nintendo GameCube). Nintendo.
  20. ^ "Mariopedia—Wario". The Mushroom Kingdom. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  21. ^ "Mickey Mouse". Retrieved 2006-11-12.
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