name | Mario |
---|---|
series | Mario |
firstgame | Donkey Kong (1981) |
years active | 1981 - present |
creator | Shigeru Miyamoto |
artist | Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong)Yōichi Kotabe (Super Mario Bros. series)Shigefumi Hino (Super Mario World) |
voiceactor | Video games:Ronald B. Ruben (Mario Teaches Typing)Marc Graue (Hotel Mario)Charles Martinet (video games, 1995-present) Television:Peter Cullen (Saturday Supercade)"Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)Walker Boone (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World TV series) |
japanactor | Tōru Furuya (Original video animations and Satellaview games)Takeshi Aono (Mario Paint commercial)Kōsei Tomita (Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. film) Charles Martinet (video games, 1995-present) |
liveactor | "Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)Bob Hoskins (Super Mario Bros. film)Gorō Inagaki (2003 "Hot Mario" commercial)Takashi Okamura (2005-2006 "Hot Mario Bros." commercials) }} |
Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian-American plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He repeatedly stops the turtle-like villain Bowser's numerous plans to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the kingdom. Mario also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Since 1995, he has been voiced by Charles Martinet.
As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is said to be the most famous character in video game history. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside of platform games, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, and educational games, such as Mario is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. He has inspired television shows, film, comics, and a line of licensed merchandise.
Miyamoto originally named the character "Mr. Video", and he was to be used in every video game Miyamoto developed. According to a widely circulated story, during localization of Donkey Kong for North American audiences, Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord Mario Segale confronted its then-president Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent. Following a heated argument in which the Nintendo employees eventually convinced Segale he would be paid, they opted to name the character in the game Mario after him.
Miyamoto commented that if he had named Mario "Mr. Video", Mario likely would have "disappeared off the face of the Earth." By Miyamoto's own account, Mario's profession was chosen to fit with the game design. Since Donkey Kong was set on a construction site, Mario was made into a carpenter. When he appeared again in Mario Bros., it was decided he should be a plumber, since a lot of the game is played in underground settings. Mario's character design, particularly his large nose, draws on western influences; once he became a plumber, Miyamoto decided to "put him in New York" and make him Italian, lightheartedly attributing Mario's nationality to his mustache. Other sources have Mario's profession chosen to be carpenter in an effort to depict the character as an ordinary hard worker, and make it easier for players to identify with him. After a colleague suggested that Mario more closely resembled a plumber, Miyamoto changed Mario's profession accordingly and developed Mario Bros., featuring the character in the sewers of New York City.
Due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware at the time, Miyamoto clothed the character in red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against each other and the background. A cap was added to let Miyamoto avoid drawing the character's hairstyle, forehead, and eyebrows, as well as to circumvent the issue of animating his hair as he jumped. To make him appear human onscreen despite his small size, Mario was given distinct features, prominently a large nose and a mustache, which avoided the need to draw a mouth and facial expressions on the small onscreen character.
Miyamoto developed Mario with the idea of using him as a "go to" character that could be put into any title as needed, albeit in cameo appearances, as at the time Miyamoto was not expecting Mario to become popular. To this end, he originally called the character "Mr. Video", comparing his intent to have Mario appear in later games to the cameos done by Alfred Hitchcock within Hitchcock's films. Over time, Mario's appearance has become more defined; both a red "M" in a white circle on the front of his hat and gold buttons on his overalls have been added. Miyamoto attributed this process to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology as time has gone on. Nintendo has never revealed Mario's full name, stating only that it was not "Mario Mario" despite the implication of the Mario Bros. series' title, its use in the film, and information given in the Prima official Guidebook to Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.
In Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mario saves Princess Toadstool (later known as Princess Peach) of the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa. To save Princess Toadstool, Mario conquers the eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom by going to the castle in each to defeat a minion of King Koopa. To reach each castle, Mario battles through three sub-worlds by defeating King Koopa's henchmen. If Mario successfully fights his way through the castle and defeats the minion, he frees a Mushroom Retainer. Inside the eighth castle, Mario has a final fight with King Koopa and frees Princess Toadstool. In Super Mario Bros. 2, the player could choose between Mario, Luigi, Toad, or Princess Peach. Each character possesses unique abilities (Luigi has stronger jumping ability, Toad can dig the fastest, and Peach can float), with Mario being the most well-rounded. In Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario quests to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser and his children, the Koopalings, and Mario travels across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World and to rescue Princess Peach. Mario is introduced to new power-ups that augment his abilities.
In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Toadsworth, and Princess Peach take a vacation to Isle Delfino, a tropical island. A person resembling Mario, known as "Shadow Mario", vandalizes and pollutes the entire island using a magic paintbrush. The vandalism has also caused the Shine Sprites to flee from the island's main city, Delfino Plaza, and blanket the island in darkness. Blamed for the mess, Mario is arrested by the island authorities and ordered to clean up Isle Delfino. Mario is equipped with FLUDD, a robotic hosing device invented by Professor E. Gadd, which he uses to clean up the pollution and collect the Shine Sprites. Meanwhile, Peach is kidnapped by Shadow Mario, who reveals himself to be Bowser Jr., one of Bowser's children. Mario eventually confronts Bowser and Bowser Jr. and rescues the princess. With the island cleaned up, Mario and Peach begin their vacation.
Several other sub-series of Mario video games, especially those inspired from sports, have been released. The Mario Kart franchise, which began with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, is currently the most successful and longest-running kart racing franchise. Other Mario sports games include the Camelot-developed series Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and, respectively, the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, the Hudson-developed Mario Party series began on the Nintendo 64. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and are playable with up to four players. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, released for both Nintendo DS and Wii, is a collection of twenty-four events based on the Olympic Games, in which characters from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series compete with Mario characters. This was followed in 2009 by Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on both systems, based on the 2010 Winter Olympics. Mario Sports Mix was released on Wii in 2011.
Mario has appeared in every game of the Super Smash Bros. series and has retained his balanced abilities even when fighting characters from other series. The game also includes other Mario characters, items, and stages. Mario's alter egos Dr. Mario and Metal Mario have made series appearances as well.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! television series and the live-action film Super Mario Bros., both based on the video game series, brought Mario into the TV and film entertainment realms. The television show starred "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario, and the film starred Bob Hoskins as Mario Mario, a plumber who finds himself in an alternate universe (in which dinosaurs rule) where he must save the Earth from invasion. Outside the original games, television shows, and film, Mario has influenced the creation of a line of licensed merchandise and has appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were created due to Mario as well.
Luigi is Mario's younger brother. He is a companion in the Mario games, and the character whom the second player controls in two-player sessions of many of the video games, though he occasionally rescues Mario, as seen in Mario is Missing! and Luigi's Mansion. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's greedy counterpart, who is often Mario's antagonist or an antihero. Yoshi is presumed to be a dinosaur, though his species is named Yoshi. They vary in color, but the original Yoshi is green. Yoshi serves as Mario's mount in games such as Super Mario World, and is depicted as a more sentient creature in games like Super Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island.
Mario uses items, which give him various powers. The first power-up Mario uses is the Hammer in Donkey Kong.
Super Mario Bros. introduced the basic three power-ups that have become staples for the series, especially the 2D games —- the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger; the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs; and the Starman, which gives Mario temporary invincibility. These powers have appeared regularly throughout the series. Throughout the series' history, there have been several kinds of Mushroom power-ups, including the 1-Up Mushroom, which gives Mario an extra life; the Poison Mushroom, which causes Mario to either shrink or die; the Mega Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very large; and the Mini Mushroom, which causes Mario to shrink.
A reoccurring power-up throughout the series is an item that gives Mario the ability of flight. The first of this type was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3: One power-up, which gives Mario a raccoon suit, is called the Super Leaf, while another is called the Tanooki Suit (a translation of Tanuki) and grants Mario the ability to fly or turn into a statue. In Super Mario World, an item called the Cape Feather was introduced that gave Mario a cape. In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, a carrot was available that gave Mario rabbit ears that allowed him to fly, and in Super Mario 64, Mario could acquire an item called the Wing Cap, which temporarily gave him the ability of flight. Super Mario Sunshine introduces a pump-water spraying device named "F.L.U.D.D.", which abilities included spraying water and hovering.
Super Mario Galaxy introduced new power-ups, including the Bee Mushroom, which turned Mario into a bee and allowed him to fly temporarily; the Ghost Mushroom, which turned Mario into a ghost, allowing him to float and pass through walls; the Spring Mushroom, which encased Mario in a spring, allowing him to jump higher; and the Ice Flower, which allowed the player to temporarily walk on water and lava without sinking or taking damage. Super Mario Galaxy 2 introduced even more power ups alongside those introduced in Super Mario Galaxy, including the Cloud Flower which allows Mario to create platforms in midair and Rock Mario, which transforms Mario into a boulder that could be used to break through barriers.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii updated the Ice Flower, which then allowed Mario to shoot ice balls that temporally froze enemies; and also introduced the Propeller Suit, which allows him to fly; as well as the Penguin Suit, which allows Mario to easily traverse ice and swim through water in addition to shooting ice balls.
Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon, and has starred in numerous television shows, comic books, and in a feature film. He has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy. Nintendo of Japan produced a 60-minute anime feature which starred Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released outside of Japan. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured a live-action series of skits which starred the late former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. Mario appeared in a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. Mario has inspired unlicensed paintings, and short films, which have themselves been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
People and places have been named (or nicknamed) after Mario. Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in Kungsbacka, Sweden, named after Mario. Many sports stars, including Bundesliga football players Mario Götze and Mario Gómez, NHL hockey player Mario Lemieux, and Italian cycling star Mario Cipollini have been given the nickname "Super Mario". In the Spanish suburb of Zaragoza, in commemoration of Mario a street was named "Avenida de Super Mario Bros".
Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, seven world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).
Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite character out of all that he has created. Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favourite hero, citing his defining characteristics as his mustache, red cap, plumbing prowess, and his mushrooms. In a poll conducted in 2008 by Oricon, Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan, outranking characters such as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII and Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series. Gaming site GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Mario as an example of this. It stated that in spite of the fact that he should have run out of energy through the first level, he kept going. Mario ranked fourth on GameDaily's top ten Smash Bros. characters list. Mario was fourth on UGO's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time", ahead of fellow video game characters Samus Aran (Metroid), Link (Legend of Zelda), Gordon Freeman (Half-Life), and Master Chief (Halo). CNET listed him first on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters". He was voted 100th in IGN's Top 100 Villains for his appearance in Donkey Kong Junior. UGO.com listed Mario's Hat twenty-first on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", stating "there’s always somebody at your Halloween party wearing one."
Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1981 Category:Corporate mascots Category:Fictional construction workers Category:Fictional doctors Category:Fictional American people of Italian descent Category:Fictional plumbers Category:Fictional sportspeople Category:Fictional twins Category:Film characters Category:Male video game characters Category:Mario characters Category:Nintendo protagonists Category:Punch-Out!! characters Category:Super Smash Bros. fighters Category:Video game bosses Category:Video game mascots
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