Mario

Mario (, ) is a character from the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario is an Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom with his younger twin brother, Luigi. Their adventures generally involve rescuing Princess Peach from the villain Bowser while using power-ups that give them different abilities.

Mario first appeared as the player character of the 1981 platformer game ''Donkey Kong''. Originally Miyamoto wanted to use Popeye as the protagonist, but was unable to acquire the licensing rights, leading him to create Mario. Many elements of Mario's design were due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware, such as a large nose, a mustache to accentuate his nose, and overalls to make his arms more identifiable. Originally called "Mr. Video" and "Jumpman", he was renamed Mario after Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segale. Following his appearance in ''Donkey Kong'', he would make cameo appearances in other video games before making his appearance in ''Super Mario Bros.'' (1985), a Nintendo Entertainment System game that started the ''Super Mario'' series. Charles Martinet voiced Mario from 1991 to 2023, before being succeeded by Kevin Afghani.

After ''Super Mario Bros.'', Mario began to branch off into different genres and has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. These include puzzle games such as ''Dr. Mario'', role-playing games such as ''Paper Mario'' and ''Mario & Luigi'', and sports games such as ''Mario Kart'' and ''Mario Tennis''. He has appeared in other Nintendo properties, such as in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series of crossover fighting games. Mario has also appeared in animated media, including three series produced by DIC Entertainment (voiced by Lou Albano and later Walker Boone). He was portrayed by Bob Hoskins in the live-action ''Super Mario Bros.'' film in 1993 and voiced by Chris Pratt in ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' in 2023.

An established pop culture icon, Mario holds multiple Guinness World Records titles, such as "Most Prolific Video Game Character", "Longest-running Computer Game Character", and "Godfather of gaming". He has appeared in a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectible items, and people and places have been nicknamed after him. He has inspired a considerable amount of unofficial media.

Provided by Wikipedia