Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong on 9 July 1981. He is shown to be a carpenter and has a pet ape called Donkey Kong. The carpenter mistreats the ape and Donkey Kong escapes to kidnap Jumpman's girlfriend, originally known as the Lady, but later named Pauline. The player must take the role of Jumpman and rescue the girl.
Jumpman was later renamed "Mario" in the 1982 arcade game Donkey Kong Junior, the only game in which he has been portrayed as an antagonist. In the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros., Mario and his younger brother Luigi are portrayed as Italian-American plumbers who have to defeat creatures that have been coming from the sewers below New York City.
The first appearance of Mario in other media than games was Saturday Supercade, an animated television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions in 1983. Each episode was composed of several shorter segments featuring video game characters from the golden age of video arcade games. Mario (voiced by Peter Cullen) appeared in Donkey Kong segments where he and Pauline would try to recapture Donkey Kong.
Mario has been established as a pop culture icon, and has starred in numerous television shows, comic books, and in a feature film. He has appeared on lunch boxes, T-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, board games, and as a plush toy. Nintendo produced a 60-minute anime film based on the original Super Mario Bros. titled Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! in 1986, although this film has not been released outside Japan and has not been released on any home video format except VHS. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured a live-action series of skits which starred former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. Mario appeared in a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. Mario has inspired unlicensed paintings, performances on talent shows such as India's Got Talent, and short films, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. The character has been present in a number of works created by third parties other than Nintendo, such as in the iOS and Android video game Platform Panic, in which one of the purchasable skins is a reference to him.
Nintendo did not initially reveal Mario's full name. In a 1989 interview it was stated not to be "Mario Mario" despite the implication of the Mario Bros. series' title. The first notable use of "Mario Mario" was in the 1993 live-action film adaptation. This was again used in two of Prima's official strategy guides, in 2000 for Mario Party 2 and in 2003 for Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. In 2012 after Charles Martinet voiced Mario declaring himself "Mario Mario" at the San Diego Comic-Con the next month Satoru Iwata said he had no last name, which Shigeru Miyamoto agreed with the month after. Two months after Iwata's death in July 2015, Miyamoto changed his stance September 2015 at the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival, confirming that his name was indeed Mario Mario.
Mario's occupation is plumbing, though in the original Donkey Kong games he is a carpenter. Mario has had several other occupations: in the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games, which debuted in 1990, Mario is portrayed as a medical physician named "Dr. Mario"; in the Game Boy game Mario's Picross, Mario is an archaeologist; and in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Mario is the President of a profitable toy-making company. Mario is an athlete in various Mario Sports titles including Mario Sports Mix, Mario Strikers Charged, and Mario Golf: World Tour; as well as a kart racer in the Mario Kart series. Mario usually saves Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom and purges antagonists, such as Bowser, from various areas. Mario has gained fame in the Mushroom Kingdom due to his heroic deeds, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where the brothers are referred to as "superstars". In September 2017, Nintendo confirmed on their official Japanese profile for the character that Mario was no longer considered a plumber, most likely due to his various occupations and hobbies. However as of March 2018, the Japanese profile has since been changed to state that Mario's occupation is still a plumber.
Several other sub-series of Mario video games, especially those inspired from Sports, have been released. The Mario Kart franchise, which began with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, is the most successful and longest-running kart racing franchise. Other Mario Sports games include the Camelot-developed series Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and, respectively, the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, Hudson Soft developed the Mario Party series, which began on the Nintendo 64. The games revolve around a set of minigames and are playable with up to four players. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, released for both Nintendo DS and Wii, is a collection of 24 events based on the 2008 Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, in which characters from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series compete with Mario characters. This was followed in 2009 by Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on both systems, based on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Two more Sports games for the Wii were released in 2011, Mario Sports Mix and the third Mario & Sonic game, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games while the latter was released for the Nintendo 3DS in February 2012, which is based on the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The fourth edition of the Mario & Sonic series for the Wii U is called Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, which is based on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. A fifth title, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which is based on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, was released in 2016 for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Arcade.
Since his first game, Mario has usually had the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong. Pauline was soon replaced by a new damsel in distress, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros., but returned in the Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong in 1994, and in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in 2006, although the character is now described as "Mario's friend". Mario has rescued Princess Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros. In a role Reversal, Peach rescues Mario in Super Princess Peach. Mario rescued Princess Daisy of Sarasaraland in Super Mario Land, but Luigi seems to be more linked to her. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach".
Mario is depicted as a portly plumber who lives in the fictional land of the Mushroom Kingdom with Luigi, his younger, taller brother. In the television series and film, Mario and Luigi are originally from Brooklyn, New York. Little is known of Mario's childhood, though the infant version of Mario, Baby Mario, first appeared in 1995 in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and has often appeared in Nintendo Sports games since then. Baby Mario has a major role along with Baby Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and appears in Yoshi's Island DS. He, along with the adult Mario, is voiced by Charles Martinet. He wears a longsleeved red shirt, a pair of blue overalls with yellow buttons, brown shoes, white gloves and a red cap with a red "M" printed on a white circle. In Donkey Kong, he wore a pair of red overalls, and a blue shirt. In Super Mario Bros., he wore a brown shirt with red overalls. He has blue eyes, and, like Luigi, has brown hair, and a dark brown or black mustache. This consistent difference in color is attributed to being a relic from designing the characters for their original platforms, wherein certain features were actively distinguished while others had to be curtailed due to technical limitations.
Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite out of all characters that he has created. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave Mario their "Coolest Mascot" award for 1996, calling him "an age-old friend." Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favorite hero, citing his defining characteristics as his mustache, red cap, plumbing prowess, and his mushrooms. In a poll conducted in 2008 by Oricon, Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan. GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Mario as an Example of this. It stated that in spite of the fact that he should have run out of Energy through the first level, he kept going. Mario ranked fourth on GameDaily's top ten Smash Bros. characters list. Mario was fourth on UGO's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time". They also listed Mario's hat twenty-first on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", stating "there's always somebody at your Halloween party wearing one." CNET listed him first on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters". He was voted 100th in IGN's Top 100 Villains for his appearance in Donkey Kong Junior, adding "This Mario is a total jerk, holding Donkey Kong Jr.'s dad hostage", and he has also been elected by GamesRadar as the 90th "most dastardly ne'er-do-wells" villain in video games in their "top 100".
As Nintendo's primary mascot, Mario is widely considered to be the most famous video game character in history, and has been called an icon of the Gaming industry. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 510 million copies, making it the best-selling video game franchise. Mario was one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Link and Sonic the Hedgehog. Mario was the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In the 1990s, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. Mario has also been called the "most recognisable" figure in the Gaming industry.
Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, seven world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).
Mario went to 2.5D in New Super Mario Bros. While Mario and Peach take a walk together through the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser Jr. kidnaps Peach and flees. Mario gives chase, venturing through eight worlds. Mario eventually catches up, defeating both Bowser and Bowser Jr. and rescuing Peach. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario is invited by Princess Peach to the centennial Star Festival in the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon arrival, Bowser invades the kingdom and rips Peach's castle from its foundations and lifts it into outer space. After failing to prevent the Princess from being kidnapped, Mario meets star-like creatures called Lumas and their companion, Rosalina. Rosalina tells Mario that Bowser has stolen the Power Stars, the source of power for Rosalina's mobile observatory, and has taken Peach to the center of the universe. Mario then travels to various galaxies to reclaim the Power Stars to restore power to the observatory and reclaim Princess Peach. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, another 2.5D game, Mario, Luigi, and two Toads are attending Princess Peach's birthday party when Bowser Jr. and the other seven Koopalings ambush the Princess and kidnap her. Mario, Luigi, and the two Toads chase after them across eight worlds, defeating each Koopaling as they progress. The quartet eventually confronts Bowser, defeating him and saving the Princess. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser, who has transformed himself into a giant using the Power Stars, attacks the Mushroom Kingdom and abducts Peach, taking her to the center of the universe. With the help of the Lumas, Mario pilots Starship Mario, a mobile planet in the shape of his head, in order to travel to various galaxies and gather the Power Stars, used to fuel the ship. After multiple battles against both Bowser and Bowser Jr., Mario eventually arrives at Bowser's lair at the center of the universe, where he defeats him and rescues the Princess. In 2012, Mario returned in New Super Mario Bros. 2 where he collects several coins scattered across the Mushroom Kingdom in addition to saving Princess Peach from the evil clutches of Bowser and the Koopalings. Mario returns to defeat Bowser and his minions in New Super Mario Bros. U. Mario is one of the playable characters in Super Mario 3D World, where he has average running speed and jump height compared to other characters. Mario will be the protagonist of the Nintendo Switch game Super Mario Odyssey, where his hat is now sentient and Mario can throw it like a long-range weapon.
Super Mario Bros. introduced the basic three power-ups that have become staples for the series, especially the 2D games — the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger; the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs; and the Starman, which gives Mario temporary invincibility. These powers have appeared regularly throughout the series. Throughout the series' history, there have been several kinds of Mushroom power-ups, including the 1-up Mushroom, which gives Mario an extra life; the Poison Mushroom, which causes Mario to either shrink or die; the Mega Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very large; and the Mini Mushroom, which causes Mario to shrink.
Mario Day (previously known as National Mario Day) is celebrated on 10 March, as when that date is presented as 10 Mar it resembles the name MARIO. Since 2016, the day was officially observed by Nintendo, and celebrates this day annually by promoting Mario games and holding Mario-related events.
