Mario: Difference between revisions

'''Mario''' is the main character and titular protagonist of the long-running and highly successful [[Super Mario (franchise)|''Super Mario'' franchise]]. He was created by Japanese video game designer [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] and serves as the main mascot of [[Nintendo]]. Mario made his first appearance as the protagonist of the arcade game ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'', released in [[List of games by date#1981|1981]] (in which he took the alias "'''Jumpman'''"). Since ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', his trademark abilities have been his [[jump]]ing and [[stomp]]ing powers, with which he defeats most of his enemies, and his ability to gain even more powers with a plethora of items, such as the [[Super Mushroom]], the [[Fire Flower]], and the [[Super Star]]. Games have usually portrayed Mario as a silent, straightforward character. According to Nintendo's philosophy, this allows Mario to fit in many different genres and roles. In most games, he is the hero that goes on an adventure to save [[Princess Peach]] from his arch-nemesis, [[Bowser]], but he has been shown doing many other activities besides adventuring, such as [[Mario Kart (series)|racing]] and sporting with his younger but taller twin brother, [[Luigi]]; his friends such as [[Yoshi]] and [[Toad]]; and others.

Due to being a recurring major protagonist of a long-running video game series, Mario has extensive history spanning decades and across various media from video games to TV shows to comics and even full-length featured films. Although his history does not follow a clear established canon, some of Mario's earliest games chronologically are in the [[Yoshi's Island (series)|''Yoshi's Island'' series]], depicting Mario's birth as part of a twin delivery, with Luigi, by a [[stork]]. Sometimes, Mario has even interacted with [[Baby Mario|his baby self]], especially in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]''. While most of Mario's adventures are told in straightforward narratives that involve rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser, various RPGs, comics, and animated films, including some ''[[Paper Mario (series)|Paper Mario]]'' and ''[[Mario & Luigi (series)|Mario & Luigi]]'' games, involve a more extensive plot, sometimes with Mario even allying with Bowser to defeat a greater villain. Mario has also been involved in some crossovers, including with other Nintendo properties in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]],  ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' in the ''[[Mario & Sonic (series)|Mario & Sonic]]'' series, ''Dragon Quest'' in ''[[Itadaki Street DS]]'' and ''[[Fortune Street]]'', and [[Rabbid]]s in the ''[[Mario + Rabbids (series)|Mario + Rabbids]]'' series. Mario's history also includes some appearances outside his own series, usually cameos.

The ''Super Mario'' franchise is the best-selling video game franchise in history; the sales include 528.534 million, whereas the second-best-selling franchise, ''{{wp|Pokémon}}'', totals 300 million.<ref>http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/data/</ref> Even with spinoff series excluded, the main ''Super Mario'' franchise has sold 311.46 million games (as of September 2015).<ref>https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/vy8mvC_LJPHnlpBFTR5w-BYV1FP_m7hN. Nintendo Official</ref> Furthermore, ''Super Mario'' is the flagship franchise of Nintendo, and Mario is the company's mascot, furthering his publicity even more. According to ''[[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Records 2008: Gamer's Edition]]'', Mario has appeared in a total of 116 separate games, which is more than any other video game character,<ref>http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/groundbreaking-hit-super-mario-bros-celebrates-25th-birthday/1410955</ref> and more recent sources such as the Game On 2.0 traveling exhibit place the number at over 200.<ref>Game On 2.0 travelling exhibition. [[Media:Mario history Game On exhibit.jpg|The history of ''Super Mario'' feature]] discusses the origins of Mario's design, name and occupation as a plumber. Photo taken July 21, 2013.</ref>

Mario has undergone major changes since his initial appearance in ''Donkey Kong'' up until ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' In ''Donkey Kong'', Mario initially appears lankier with a more realistic-looking red nose and a cleft chin. In some portrayals in ''Donkey Kong Jr.'', however, he appears stouter with a round nose, which resembles more closely to Mario's current design, although some promotional art retains his original ''Donkey Kong'' design. The stubbier design is retained in ''Mario Bros.'', with a few changes. It is not until ''Super Mario Bros.'' where he resembles as he is today, with the familiar blue eyes, full hair, a red cap with an insignia, a distinct mustache, a large round nose, large hands, and other features. However, due to color limitations at the time, his in-game design did not fully match the artwork, such as having black hair like his mustache instead of brown, white overall buttons instead of yellow ones in ''[[Super Mario World]]'', and hair that had a more reddish-brown color and was not very defined in shape below his hat in ''[[Super Mario 64]]''. Before ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', the colors of his shirt and overalls were reversed until ''Super Mario World'' and the remade sprites of ''[[Super Mario All-Stars]]'', and he also did not wear his gloves. His neck is very short and rarely visible due to his round and slightly disproportionate head compared to the rest of his body and the position of his chin.

Mario's most prolific early 3D iteration is from ''Super Mario 64'', where he and other characters were created from {{wp|Silicon Graphics}} workstations. Mario is depicted with darker blue overalls and bigger eyes than in his current appearance based on the one in ''[[Luigi's Mansion]]''. He has a slightly darker skin, his ears are also rounder, his overall straps are longer, and his cap is less round. Ever since ''Luigi's Mansion'', however, Mario has received only minor proportion changes to his general appearance, becoming taller and slimmer, though still chubby and with brighter colors on his clothes, skin, and hair; pockets on his overalls; and added detail in his shoes, eyes, hat, and clothes in 3D artwork since ''[[Super Mario 3D World]]''. While he always has a fair complexion, the tone of his skin has become inconsistent over the course of the more recent games, sometimes taking on a peach tone like in the more recent artwork, including the updated versions of the existing ones, and at times not.

Mario has a few stylistic variations across some games, sometimes within series. One variation is Mario's overall appearance in the ''Paper Mario'' games: It is generally the same, with black dots for eyes and no eyebrows, although he has a shorter stature. Since ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', however, Mario's body is more simplistic, with legless feet, a rounder face, and a full outline around the arms, while his mustache became brown like his hair. In addition, starting with ''[[Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam]]'', all of Mario's paper appearances have depicted him with a white outline around his entire body. Another variation is Mario's depiction in the ''Mario & Luigi'' games, although it is more subtle, where Mario is given black eyes rather than blue, and in artwork for all games in the series except for ''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]'', Mario is shown with a brown mustache instead of black. The artwork for the series also shows Mario with a serious or neutral expression that never leaves his mouth visible, unlike Luigi, who is shown with a larger variety of expressions.

The ''Super Smash Bros.'' series also has Mario's appearance change between games. In the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', Mario's appearance is derived from ''Super Mario 64'' but with minor alterations, such as a slimmer appearance. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', Mario's design incorporates elements from ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' and ''Super Mario World'', as well as official artwork from the [[Nintendo 64]] era. Mario's hair and clothing are darker and have more detail in them, with his overalls particularly sporting back pockets and having denim textures, similar to his sprite in ''Super Mario World'', and his skin having a more original tan complexion. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'', Mario's back pockets return, but his overall design is updated to resemble his appearances in ''Super Mario Sunshine'' and later games. However, Mario's color scheme is darker than before, while his hair and clothing have more-realistic detailing. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' / ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U|Wii U]]'', Mario's design is slimmer and more vibrant, matching his appearances in games such as ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'', ''[[Mario Kart 7]]'', ''Super Mario 3D World'', and ''[[Mario Kart 8]]''. As an accompaniment, Mario's hair and clothing have much less detailing. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', Mario's design is mostly the same, aside from a more subdued color scheme and simple detailing in his hair and clothing, but not to the same extent as ''Melee'' and ''Brawl''. ''Super Mario Odyssey'' has realistic details on his hair and overalls, and some other games also retain the realistic details to an extent.

Mario did not speak in any games from the 1980s to the early 1990s due to each system not having the required storage to fit voice clips without compromising graphical fidelity. Despite the increase of storage, Mario was still not given voice acting on the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]]. The MS-DOS version of ''[[Mario Teaches Typing]]'' was the first game to introduce voice acting for Mario, while the CD-ROM version was the first to feature voice acting by [[Charles Martinet]].

Most non-game media, such as the comics, manga, anime films, and cartoons, also show Mario speaking. In the cartoons and ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'', Mario is usually associated with a Brooklyn accent, the former with a gruff voice. Mario speaks in the various anime films and shorts such as in ''Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!'', though his voice is not as gruff as in the cartoons.  

*Various games also allow Mario to grow to enormous sizes, sometimes with help of the [[Mega Mushroom]] or a [[Super Mushroom]]. Mario's taunt in ''Super Smash Bros.'' has him posing and temporarily growing and shrinking. Growing large is sometimes Mario's special trait such as in ''[[Mario Super Sluggers]]'' ([[Enlarge]]) and ''[[Mario Strikers Charged]]'' ([[Super Mario!]] [[Super Ability]]).

Mario and Princess Peach have been friends since infancy. As adults, Mario often saves Peach, and she usually rewards him with a kiss on the cheek or nose, a [[cake]], or even both. The German ''[[Club Nintendo (magazine)|Club Nintendo]]'' comic "[[Warios Weihnachtsmärchen]]" even reveals that they spent their graduation ball in school together, and in the official guide of ''[[Yoshi's Island DS]]'', the description for the level [[Baby Mario and Baby Peach: Dynamic Duo]] states they have teamed up as babies to stop evil before the "romantic entanglements" of their adult lives. Contrariwise, in a video published on the [[Play Nintendo]] channel on {{wp|YouTube}}, Mario and Peach are described simply as friends.<ref>Play Nintendo (February 11, 2023). [https://youtu.be/KD2GUHxME5c?t=102 DIY Nintendo Cards! 🤭 <nowiki>|</nowiki> Craft with Mario, Peach & Bowser <nowiki>|</nowiki> @PlayNintendo]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved February 16, 2023.</ref> In ''Super Paper Mario'', while both Mario and Luigi deny a relationship when [[Luvbi]] asks if Peach was Mario's "lady friend," Luvbi also comments that the princess "looms large in his regard" and then wonders if Mario had a "one-sided crush." Many other sources, however, do portray Mario and Peach as having an ongoing romantic relationship as well as a friendship, such as the official European ''Super Mario'' website listing Peach as Mario's girlfriend and ''[[Mario Party 5]]'' calling Peach and Mario's team "Cutest Couple." When Mario gets kissed by Peach, he often blushes heavily and becomes embarrassed and/or infatuated before celebrating. In ''[[Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]'', Peach calls Mario her "knight in shining armor," and in the first ''Paper Mario'', one of the [[Toad (species)|Toad]]s tells Mario to take Peach on a date to [[Star Hill|Shooting Star Summit]]. In ''[[Super Princess Peach]]'', after Peach rescues Mario, she enthusiastically calls and runs towards him, and they happily dance together in celebration, with Mario revealing flowers in his hat and another one in between his hair as he holds her in his arms. [[Rosalina]] refers to Peach as Mario's "special one" in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', with the two seen holding hands toward the ending of the game. [[Lubba]] refers to Peach as Mario's "special someone" in ''[[Super Mario Galaxy 2]]''. ''Mario Power Tennis'' even goes as far as showing Mario himself telling Peach of his love for her in her victory scene, which she responds to by smiling and blowing a kiss to him and Luigi, causing them to become lovestruck. Also, in Mario's victory scene in ''Mario Power Tennis'', Peach gives him a small kiss on the cheek. In ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', after kidnapping her, Bowser declares his intention to make Peach marry him, and Mario's main motivation is to stop Bowser from taking Peach's hand in a forced marriage, separating her from him. In ''Luigi's Mansion 3'', after Luigi rescues him, Mario refuses to escape and leads Luigi to rescue Peach, and when he finds her imprisoned in a [[painting]], he is devastated, crying in despair for her. When Luigi catches up to him, Mario pleads with him to free her if he is talked to.

In ''[[Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]'', Mario has also shown to be a caring parental figure over Baby Mario, but he also steps in if any of his teammates misbehave. Mario appears to enjoy the babies' company. Before Baby Mario returns to his own time period, he gives Mario his hammer as a parting gift, showing his pleasure to be with his adult self.

Mario appears to be friendly rivals with [[Sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog]], extremely competitive in sports and events. Though rivals, they have a good friendship and partnership as the two have teamed up several times to stop their respective archenemies, Bowser and [[Dr. Eggman]]. According to an informal conversation with Mario, he [[List of Mario quotes#Miscellaneous|stated in response]] that he likes Sonic and views him as a friendly archrival than an enemy. This is further supported in recent installments of the ''[[Mario & Sonic (series)|Mario & Sonic]]'' series, where they often share a high-five.

Bowser is Mario's arch-nemesis. Bowser constantly tries to take over the [[Mushroom Kingdom]], harm Mario's brother and his friends, and/or kidnap Peach, while Mario usually defeats him. While Bowser resents Mario, he is often more than happy to forgive Bowser, such as in ''[[Mario Party DS]]'', where they enjoy playing [[Triangle Twisters]] together. Even so, the resentment appears mutual, given their victory animations in ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games]]'' and ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]''. Bowser often calls Mario a variety of disparaging nicknames, especially in the cartoons. Mario sometimes returns the insults, but such retorts are usually restricted to the cartoons and other non-game media. When Mario does lose to Bowser, generally in spinoffs, he acknowledges it in good nature, such as in ''[[Fortune Street]]'', although he expects himself to be a competent adversary for Bowser. Occasionally the two team up to defeat greater evils, such as in ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'', ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', ''Super Paper Mario'', and ''[[Paper Mario: The Origami King]]''.

Mario's first enemy, however, was [[Donkey Kong]] (later known as [[Cranky Kong]]), who kidnapped Mario's girlfriend and whom Mario had to defeat. The current Donkey Kong and Mario are on much better terms and often participate in sports and spinoffs together. Although they do maintain a friendly and somewhat competitive rivalry, Mario must defeat Donkey Kong a couple times in the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' series because Donkey Kong went into mischief, stemming from his passion and frustration for [[Mini Mario (toy)|Mini Mario]]s and Pauline. Even after his victory, after noticing Donkey Kong upset, Mario reconciles by offering his toys.

*"''Let's-a play!''" – ''[[Mario Power Tennis]]'' / ''[[Mario Tennis: Power Tour]]'' / ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'' / ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'' / ''[[Mario Tennis Open]]''