Mario
- For fighter info, see Mario (SSB), Mario (SSBM), and Mario (SSBB).
| Mario | |
|---|---|
 Official artwork of Mario. | |
| Universe | Mario |
| Debut | Donkey Kong (1981) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | SSB Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate |
| Console/platform of origin | Arcade (Donkey Kong) Nintendo Entertainment System (Mario Bros.) |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Place of origin | Mushroom Kingdom |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
| Designed by | Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong) Yoichi Kotabe (Super Mario Bros. series) Shigefumi Hino (Super Mario World) |
| Voice actor | Video games Ronald B. Ruben (1991-1997) Mark Graue (1994) Charles Martinet (1995-present) Television Peter Cullen (1983-1985) "Captain" Lou Albano (1989-1990) Walker Boone (1990-1991) |
| Japanese voice actor | Video games Charles Martinet (1995-present) Anime Toru Furuya (1986) |
Mario (マリオ) is a prominent character in Nintendo games and is the long-running eponymous hero in the extensive Mario series of video games. Ubiquitously viewed as the mascot of Nintendo, Mario is the most well-known video game character in the world, having been appeared in over 200 video games, and he appears as a main playable fighter in all three Super Smash Bros. games. Mario was also the rival to Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog in the 1990s. His voice actor in all three Super Smash Bros. games is Charles Martinet.
Character description
Years before video gaming exploded into mainstream popularity, prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto designed the original arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981, debuting Mario as the main playable character and Donkey Kong as his in-game nemesis. Mario's character design was heavily influenced by the extreme technical limitations of digital games at the time; as a small batch of pixels, Mario was given a mustache under his big nose to show he had a face, and suspenders with his shirt to show a distinction between his arms and body. In this game Mario was originally known as "Jumpman" in the initial Japanese release, and he was portrayed as a carpenter whose girlfriend Pauline (originally "Lady" in Japan) was held captive by the colossal ape Donkey Kong, and must jump his way over the barrels and flames DK throws at him to rescue Pauline.
After his initial appearance in this pioneering game, the sequel Donkey Kong Junior introduced Mario (under his proper name for the first time in Japan) and was identified as of Italian ethnicity by Nintendo's president Hiroshi Yamauchi; Mario was named as such because of his comical resemblance to Nintendo of America's landlord Mario Segale. Then Mario and his newly introduced brother Luigi starred in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as plumbers.
Miyamoto's next game was the world-famous Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom/NES, the game that singlehandedly brought video gaming into the mainstream and made Nintendo a major company in a now major industry. Many iconic aspects of Mario and his franchise were established: Mario and Luigi now live in the Mushroom Kingdom ruled under Princess "Peach" Toadstool and her mushroom-retaining Toad servants, and the turtle king Bowser kidnaps the princess for Mario to rescue, and Mario must bound across side-scrolling platform stages to rescue her, jumping on the heads of common enemies like Goombas and Koopa Troopas to defeat them. He starts out tiny but can grow to double his size if he grabs a Super Mushroom powerup, gain the ability to shoot out fireballs by grabbing a Fire Flower, and can turn invincible for a short period of time by grabbing a Starman. Super Mario Bros. became a franchise with these elements, lasered into video game iconography, consistent in future games in the Mario series.
For over twenty years afterward, Mario would star in many, many games for Nintendo systems. Mario and his accompanying franchise can be viewed as Nintendo's thematic tileset with which to create games of a whimsical, colorful, and light-hearted nature. Mario himself is meant to be a character anyone can enjoy playing as, and can fit well as a protagonist figure and/or main balanced character in many genres of games; to this end he is not portrayed as a character that undergoes development like what you would see with a character in an epic RPG's story. He in fact is rarely depicted speaking coherent English sentences. In contemporary Mario games, his high-pitched Italian voice, provided by Charles Martinet, is used mainly for grunts and yells, and the occasional catchphrase ("Mama-mia!", "It's-a-me, Mario!", "Let's-a-go!"). As a semi-silent, optimistic protagonist, Mario is inherently easy for players of his various games to appreciate, and he is ideally the most balanced selectable character in any game he appears in.
Genres of games in which Mario appears in a playable role include the traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer, including various sequels to Super Mario Bros., the seminal Super NES launch platformer Super Mario World which introduced Yoshi as a mount of sorts for Mario, and the DS homage to these games in the form of New Super Mario Bros.; 3D platforming adventures such as the especially seminal Super Mario 64 3D platforming adventure game launching for the Nintendo 64, which is one of the most influential and best-reviewed games ever, followed up by Super Mario Sunshine for GameCube and Super Mario Galaxy for Wii; the Mario Kart series of power-up and obstacle course-based racing games, whose best-reviewed entry is Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for GameCube; a long-running series of multiplayer-based party games named Mario Party; various series of Mario-themed Sports titles such as Mario Golf and Mario Tennis; hands-on RPGs such as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for GameCube and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS; and a puzzle game named Dr. Mario, where Mario in the garb of a medicine man throws pills into a bottle to combat viruses (his persona in this game is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, see Dr. Mario). Throughout a lot of these games have been appearances by a baby version of himself as well, named Baby Mario, who's often treated as a separate character. Mario made his first appearance in a fighting game in 1999's Super Smash Bros., and has appeared traditionally in all subsequent installments of that series.
owned
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
As a Playable Character
- Main article: Mario (SSBB)
In a maneuver both traditional and expected, Mario is a confirmed playable character in the Wii fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is ostensibly meant to be the most balanced character like before. He has undergone a visual redesign, but he is apparently essentially the same fighter as he appeared in Melee, retaining all of his moves (although his former Down B attack, the Mario Tornado, has become an aerial attack, unexpectedly replaced by F.L.U.D.D.). His Fireball looks more realistic. Like all of the games other returning characters, he comes equipped with a high-end new Final Smash attack which can be used once he collects a Smash Ball. His Final Smash is the Mario Finale, where he projects a colossal, intertwining fireball to engulf all opponents in his direction. The Mario Finale extends to both well above and well below Mario's position, so Smash Bros. DOJO!! recommends that he is standing on a moderately elevated platform for maximum effect.
Trophies
Mario has a trophy that is awarded each time the Classic mode is completed with Mario on any difficulty. See Mario Finale for the trophy description of Mario's Final Smash:
Mario
A familiar overall-clad figure who is Nintendo's flagship character. His courage and jumping ability have seen him through countless adventures. He's a multi-talented plumber with the knowledge of a physician, a top-notch golfer, and a veteran tennis umpire. Is his jumping prowess a boon from his girder-climbing days?
- Donkey Kong (1981)
- Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Baby Mario
Mario as a baby...a crybaby at that. Although he lacks overalls, we can see the trademark red hat even at this young age. Everyone's favorite hero was riding Yoshi and adventuring from his youngest days, and even as a baby, it's clear that Mario had quite the nose.
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Super Nintendo)
- Yoshi's Island DS (Nintendo DS)
- Mario and Luigi: Partners in time (Nintendo DS)
