Any video game enthusiast knows Nintendo’s Mario, the famous plumber in red shirt who bravely travels across kingdoms to rescue his princess. Since his debut alongside Donkey Kong in 1981, Mario has appeared in more than 200 video game titles. His career as a prolific video game protagonist has left a deep and distinctive mark on popular culture as a whole.
However, despite its ubiquity, there are many details about gaming’s best-known protagonist that many gamers simply haven’t learned. Mario has a long and storied history and certain details can be changed, abandoned or simply left unspoken during such a historic journey.
10 Mario originally had a different name
Although he has gone down in history as one of the most famous figures in the industry, Mario didn’t always have his iconic name. When he debuted in Donkey Kongthe red-shirted platform-scaling hero was called Jumpman.
After the game became popular, Nintendo renamed the character Mario, allegedly after the landlord of Nintendo’s US headquarters. The change was due to Shigeru Miyamoto’s desire to make the character recognizable worldwide, which would require a more widely understood name.
9 Mario has no last name
While some fans have attributed Mario’s original nickname Jumpman to his middle or last name, Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that the character doesn’t have that either. The confusion is rooted, at least in part, in the live-action Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993.
In the film, the brothers claim that Mario is their shared last name, as well as Mario’s first name. While many Mario fans have shunned the film adaptation for a variety of reasons, the comedic moment surrounding the characters’ last name continued in the mainstream imagination.
8 Mario was created due to licensing issues
Although it was Mario’s first appearance, the concept behind it is Donkey Kong was initially planned for a game based on the wildly popular popeye cartoons and comics. When Nintendo was unable to acquire the license rights for: popeye characters and designs, they continue the development of the game with original character concepts.
As a result, Bluto became Donkey Kong, Olive Oyl became Pauline, and Popeye himself became Jumpman, who would become Mario. Although Nintendo had hoped that the popeye branding would lead their new game to success, Donkey Kong thrived on its own merits.
7 Mario wasn’t always a plumber
Another fact about Mario that changed after that Donkey Kong was his profession. Ever since Donkey Kong took place on a construction site, Jumpman was a carpenter so his job fit the setting.
Since then, Mario has become widely known as a plumber due to the underground sections and the many pipes used in 1983 Mario Bros. and further. Sure, Mario’s full-time occupations now seem to be “princess rescuer” and “athlete,” but plumbing was the best-known of his career choices.
6 Mario’s appearance is designed with limitations in mind
Gamers have always identified Mario by his iconic hat, mustache, red shirt and overalls. What these fans may not know is that many of these aspects of his appearance were chosen due to artistic or graphical limitations.
Nintendo created its vibrant denim overalls and long red sleeves to differentiate between its arm and leg movements in a low pixel environment. His mustache served much the same purpose, helping to keep his features clear and save space. Mario’s hat also helped with the ease of his animation, as there was no need to animate her.
5 Mario has played the villain before
While Donkey Kong’Mario’s popularity led to Mario’s role as Nintendo’s main star and mascot, but it wasn’t an immediate transition. For a while he was still associated with the… donkey Kong series rather than the star of its own. In Donkey Kong Jr., Mario took on the role of the villain and locked up Donkey Kong in cages.
The gameplay followed DK’s titular son as he climbed and made his way through the levels to free his father from Mario’s captivity. Although they have come across competitively in many games since then, Donkey Kong Jr. is the only title Mario has in which he explicitly labels him as the antagonist.
4 Experienced players can see Mario without his hat
Although Mario continues to appear with his iconic cap, it is possible to see him without it in certain circumstances. He sometimes temporarily removes it in cutscenes or official art. However, there is also a way to play as hatless Mario.
In New Super Mario Bros. WiiMario’s hat disappears when the player has accumulated 99 lives, the maximum that the counter can reach. He appears in this style both on the map and in play until the player loses a life and brings the counter back to 98.
3 Mario’s first sports look was unintentional
Although the super mario franchise was packed with sports and activity titles over the years, Mario’s first presence in such games was unintentional. Although the character is only referred to as Mario in certain editions, a character with almost identical characteristics appeared in 1984 golf for the NS.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator and designer of Mario, was directly responsible for designing golfcharacter sprites. That’s why he used the same details from Mario’s design that made it easy to distinguish among the heavily pixelated images of the time.
2 Mario doesn’t break bricks with his head
A common myth among game fans is that when Mario jumps to break rocks above him, he breaks them with his head. However, as confirmed by several artists and programmers at Nintendo, that is not the case.
In older games, it was harder to see Mario’s fist as he pushed it up to crush the obstacles, but it was still there. in more recent super mario games, the plumber’s striking fist is much easier to see, and that’s how the controversy over Mario’s method of breaking bricks began.
1 Mario is a world record holder
Unsurprisingly, Mario’s fame has earned him and his series a plethora of accolades in the decades since his first appearance. As a result, Mario holds several Guinness World Records. One of the most impressive is his track record as the world’s best-selling video game character.
Mario’s record was confirmed in September 2020 by VGChartz, who recorded at the time that Mario appeared in 657.46 million units sold. Mario even has several categories of records through Guinness, including the worldwide speedrun records for various super mario spell.
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