If you grew up in the 1990s, you've almost certainly played Mario, Nintendo's most famous and well-known character.
Everyone's favorite plumber is easily recognizable around the world, but few people are aware of his humble beginnings or history.
Without further ado, here are five incredible facts about Mario.
Mario Was Born in 1981, Not 1985
According to Medium, Mario first appeared in 1981, even though Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985. His first appearance was as "Jumpman," a protagonist in Donkey Kong. Mario must avoid traps, climb ladders, and jump across gaps to reach the top of a building site in Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong is perched atop the structure, imprisoning Mario's girlfriend Pauline in a cage. The "damsel in distress" cliche first appeared in video games with this game.
Mario played the antagonist in Donkey Kong Jr. (1982). Players took control of Donkey Kong Junior as he attempted to rescue his father from Mario.
Mario Was Named After a Real Estate Developer
As per Game Developer, Nintendo's iconic character is named after Mario Segale, a Washington-based real estate developer.
In terms of how he met Nintendo, the Japanese video game company rented a warehouse from Segale in the 1970s, about the same time that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was looking for an appropriate name for the character, which was originally known as Jumpman.
Nintendo was overdue on its rent, which led to a fight between Segale and then-president Minoru Arakawa. The company chose to rename Jumpman in his honor after the dispute was resolved, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Segale died in 2018, but his legacy lives on in the form of Nintendo's mascot.
Mario Segale, the namesake of Nintendo’s Mario character, dies at age 85https://t.co/vgFVwlfMYp
— Benj Edwards (@benjedwards) November 1, 2018
This is the first labeled photo of him as an adult on the Internet pic.twitter.com/fm4Do6tikY
Mario Has Held 12 Occupations
Mario has played a variety of roles over the course of his 35 years. Before being featured in his famed role as a plumber, he began out as a carpenter in the original Donkey Kong game. Of course, we've seen him dole out prescriptions as a doctor and wear a construction worker's hat in Super Mario Maker 2.
iMore has compiled a list of his occupations to date:
- Carpenter
- Plumber
- Doctor
- Racer
- Martial Artist
- Baseball Player
- Soccer Player
- Basketball Player
- Pro Golfer
- Tennis Player
- Construction Worker
- Olympic Athlete
Mario Is Without a Surname
Medium reported that It has been believed that the famous Italian siblings' surname is Mario since they are known as the Super Mario Brothers. This idea first appeared in the Super Mario Bros. movie script. This would imply that their names are Mario Mario and Luigi Mario.
However, Shigeru Miyamoto has long claimed that the Miyamoto brothers do not have surnames.
Mario Has Several Guinness World Records to His Name
Mario has set or perhaps broken some records during the course of his 35-year career.
iMore has compiled a few of his most notable accomplishments:
- The Super Mario Bros. film was the very first video game adaptation.
- Mario holds the record for the most prolific video game character of all time.
- Mario's voice actor, Charles Martinet, holds the record for the most performances as the same character in video games.
- Mario holds the record for the longest-running video game character.
- Mario's most recent big record is for the best-selling videogame series of all time.
