Mario

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Mario in New Super Mario Bros..
Mario
Species	Human
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Luigi (brother)
Voiced by	Charles Martinet
Debut	Donkey Kong

Mario is the main star of the Mario series and the mascot of Nintendo. The older of two twin siblings, he is more forward and often is usually the first to approach things. Because of this, he is the more famous of the brothers and mixed into adventures more often. Famous for his jumping, though his brother is better at it. Brave and fearless, he rarely thinks twice about any adventure. Mario is acknowledged as a great warrior, defeating Jinx of Monstro Town, the Master of Toad Town, and winning the championship as the Great Gonzales in Glitzville.

Background

Baby Mario

Mario's first adventure took place before he was officially born, in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He and his brother Luigi were being delivered to their parents by the stork. But Kamek, having prophesied that the babies would grow up to cause trouble for the Koopa clan, intercepted the stork and attempted to kidnap the babies. Luigi was captured, but Kamek accidentally dropped Mario. Baby Mario fell down to Yoshi's Island and landed on the back of a Yoshi. The Yoshis clan helped to escort Baby Mario across the island in search of his brother, before Kamek's men kidnapped Mario as well. Baby Mario was able to lead the Yoshis towards Luigi's location through some kind of strange intuition. Mario was mostly a backseat rider for the adventure, but he had some brief moments of glory whenever he grabbed a Super Star- which temporarily made him invincible and able to run around with Yoshi's aid. In the end, Yoshi defeated Baby Bowser. The Baby Mario Brothers were reunited and taken to their parents by the Stork.

Mario as a baby.

In Yoshi's Island DS, a future version of Kamek tried kidnapping all the world's babies to see which of them contained the seven fallen stars. Mario was among the babies kidnapped, but the Stork was able to save him. Baby Mario was reunited with the Yoshi clan, and this time he wasn't the only baby on board. Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario and Bowser (the latter two didn't stay for very long) also rode the backs of the Yoshis to free the rest of the kidnapped babies, which included Luigi. This adventure was also successful, and the Baby Mario Brothers were returned home again. The ending revealed Mario to be one of the babies born with one of the seven stars.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time showed Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, looking more toddler-aged, having become playmates with the baby Peach. They also defended her from Baby Bowser's attempts to kidnap her, starting a pattern that would repeat itself for years. Baby Mario and Luigi also went on a time-traveling adventure with their adult selves. It is possible that Baby Mario made several more trips to the future with the adult Mario, as that would explain his presence in Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Tennis GBC (in the minigame mode), Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Kart Wii as a playable character.

Not much is known about Mario's upbringing. Unofficial sources indicate that he was raised in Italy and later moved to Brooklyn, but this is discouraged by Yoshi's Island and its sequels, which show Mario residing in the Mushroom Kingdom even in his infancy.

The Arcade/NES Adventures

One of Mario's first known noble acts in his adult years was when he chased and battled the angry ape Donkey Kong to save his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong. Mario defeated Donkey Kong after a long chase over several locales. At the end, Mario and Pauline traveled through a Warp Pipe to what seemed to be the Mushroom Kingdom, and Pauline tossed him what may have been his first Super Mushroom.

However, Mario later played the villain for the first and only time in his career in Donkey Kong Jr., when he held Donkey Kong captive in the jungle. However, Donkey Kong's son defeated Mario and saved his father. Despite this rocky first meeting, Mario and Donkey Kong Jr. later became friends.

Initially described as a carpenter, it seems that Mario later made the switch to plumbing and began including Luigi in his work. Mario and Luigi worked together to battle some monsters in the sewers in Mario Bros.. They also worked together in demolition work in Wrecking Crew. In the Mushroom Kingdom, the brothers later embark on an adventure to save Princess Peach from Bowser, whom had taken over the Mushroom kingdom in Super Mario Bros.. They proceeded on a similar mission in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and they succeeded in both quests.

In his early days, Mario's overalls were red instead of blue.

Mario even began to go on adventures in his sleep. In Super Mario Bros. 2 he saved the dream world of Subcon from Wart with the aid of Luigi, Peach and Toad, or at least dream versions of them. Mario and Luigi embarked on another quest to defeat Bowser in Super Mario Bros. 3. But this time, in addition to saving the princess from him, Mario also had to liberate the seven countries of the Mushroom World from Bowser's children. Apparently his deeds were good enough that he received his own island, known as Mario Land, which had Mario's own castle. Despite this, Mario and Luigi lived in a small pad known as the Pipe House.

Mario also saved the foreign land of Sarasaland and its Princess Daisy from the alien warlord Tatanga in Super Mario Land, with the aid of new power-ups and special vehicles. However, while he was away, Wario took over Mario Land and occupied Mario's castle. Mario then ventured throughout his own land, infested with Wario's minions, to gain the six golden coins in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Mario eventually accessed the castle with the six golden coins and defeated Wario.

The SNES/N64 Adventures

In Super Mario World, Mario, Luigi and Peach went on vacation to Dinosaur Land. But the vacation had to go on hold when Peach was captured by Bowser. Mario and Luigi were joined in this adventure by Yoshi, who needed Mario's help in freeing his friends from Bowser's children. Even in this strange new land, Mario trounced Bowser and his Koopa Kids. This was Mario's last adventure with Luigi for years, as Luigi became more comfortable guarding the Pipe House while Mario fought evil. Mario and Yoshi later teamed up again to save Jewelry Land and its rulers from the clutches of Bowser and his children in Yoshi's Safari.

Mario in Super Mario Kart, a prominent forerunner for several spinoff series

Wario returned to pester Mario in Mario & Wario, by dropping buckets and other objects over the heads of Mario and his friends so that they would blindly wander into unfriendly obstacles. Luckily, a friendly fairy named Wanda guided them to Luigi, who removed the items. Mario also made a cameo appearance at the end of Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land, when he arrived at the last minute to retrieve the stolen statue of Princess Peach - and in the process he completely ruined Wario's plans, as Wario planned to hold it for ransom.

One of Mario's biggest adventures ensued in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. What started out as a routine rescue of Peach from Bowser mutated into an adventure to save the entire world. Mario found that he had to find the seven shards of the broken Star Road, or no wishes would ever come true in the world. He also had to find it before the Smithy Gang, who planned to use the stars for their own nefarious purposes. In this adventure Mario was joined by two new partners, Mallow and Geno. Peach and even Bowser joined up with him in this quest as well. After a lengthy battle, Mario and his group of adventurers succeeded in destroying Smithy and restoring peace to the world.

In Super Mario 64, Mario (as well as Luigi and Wario in the DS version) was invited to Princess Peach's Castle for cake. But upon his arrival, he found that Peach and her retainers had been sealed within the walls of the castle by Bowser. Only the power of the 150 Power Stars, hidden throughout the castle and the worlds hidden in the castle's portraits, could restore the castle. However, Mario was captured early in the adventure and held captive by the Goomba King until Yoshi saved him. Mario and the others continued on their adventure and defeated Bowser again.

Bowser once more kidnapped Peach in Paper Mario, but this time there was a twist. Bowser had stolen the magical Star Rod and used it to make himself invincible. Mario was defeated by Bowser and left for dead near Goomba Village. He was nursed back to health by the family of a young Goomba named Goombario. Goombario and six others became Mario's partners in his latest quest. He was contacted by the seven Star Spirits and instructed to find and save them. Their combined powers could nullify the effects of Bowser's Star Rod. Mario succeeded in saving the Star Spirits, but it was only when Peach contributed her own power to Mario and the Star Spirits that Mario was able to finish Bowser off.

The Gamecube Adventures

Despite always being the rescuer, Mario was the one who needed rescuing in Luigi's Mansion. Mario had been captured by King Boo and trapped in a painting. Luckily, Luigi was able to face his fears and eventually rescue Mario. In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario and Peach tried going on a vacation again to Isle Delfino, but it once again turned rotten due to Koopa intervention. Upon arriving on the island, Mario was arrested as he was suspected of being the man responsible for polluting and vandalizing the island. Mario was sentenced to clean up the mess, which he worked on with the aid of a talking water-pump named FLUDD, collecting the island's Shine Sprites at the same time. He also had several confrontations with the true vandal, Shadow Mario, who later revealed himself to be a disguised Bowser Jr. and kidnapped Princess Peach for his father. The adventure concluded with a showdown against both Bowser and Bowser Jr. FLUDD nearly died out afterwards, almost bringing Mario to tears, but Peach's Toads were able to repair it. Afterwards, Mario's true vacation began.

The original plumbing duo was reunited in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga when Mario and Luigi traveled to the Beanbean Kingdom, initially to retrieve Princess Peach's voice from the evil Cackletta. The brothers found themselves lost in a land they were not familiar with, one where not everyone saw them as the superstars they were in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi had to learn several new cooperative Bros. Moves and Attacks in order to survive. They eventually destroyed the evil Cackletta and whipped her minion Fawful into submission.

Mario's popularity led to the creation of a line of Mini-Mario toys. But this caused trouble in Mario vs. Donkey Kong, when Donkey Kong became infatuated with the toys and stole a giant bag of them. Mario went on a long quest, similar to his pursuit of the original Donkey Kong, until Donkey Kong was defeated. But Mario was generous enough to let the Kong keep one of the toys, rekindling their friendship.

The paper-version of Mario in the second Paper Mario game.

Mario embarked on another grand-scale adventure in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. This time Peach had been captured by the X-Nauts, who were seeking the seven Crystal Stars that were needed to open the Thousand-Year Door. Mario went on a journey to find the Crystal Stars before the X-Nauts did and attempt to save Peach. Mario had many great experiences along the way, gaining another seven partners. He became the champion of the Glitz Pit in Glitzville under the fighting name of the Great Gonzalez. But at one point, Doopliss assumed Mario's form, turning Mario into a pale shadow. Even Mario's partners believed that Doopliss was the real Mario. Despite being shunned by his friends, Vivian sympathized with Mario and helped him to defeat Doopliss and gain his form back.

Mario and his partners continued their adventure and gathered the seven Crystal Stars, but they were tricked by the X-Nauts into using it to open the Thousand-Year Door. Within, the X-Nauts performed a ritual that freed the spirit of the Shadow Queen, who possessed Princess Peach's body. With the help of the Crystal Stars and all the people he had helped throughout his adventure, Mario was able to separate the Shadow Queen from Peach's body and destroy her.

In Mario Pinball Land, another quest to save Peach from Bowser forced Mario to utilize a machine that turned him into a living pinball. Mario was able to master this handicap and defeat Bowser. In another weird adventure, Mario and Luigi mastered their dancing abilities in order to save the Music Keys from Wario and Waluigi in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

The DS/Wii Adventures

Mario in his upcoming game, Super Mario Galaxy

Mario and Luigi were later captured by the Koopa Troop in Super Princess Peach, after they had used the Vibe Rod to render them overly emotional and incapable of clear action. Ultimately it was the princess who saved them, repaying them for all the times they saved her from the Koopa King.

The Mario Bros. embarked on a time-traveling adventure in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time in order to defeat the evil alien race known as the Shroobs. This adventure teamed the brothers up with their infant selves. Together, this quartet of Marios was able to repel the alien invasion. Mario and Luigi also went on an old-fashioned adventure in New Super Mario Bros., in order to save Princess Peach from Bowser Jr. (and they had several encounters with the original Bowser along the way).

In Super Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi went out to save Princess Peach from Bowser, only to see that Count Bleck had captured them both. Bleck then tossed Mario into another dimension, Flipside. There Mario met with Merlon and the Pixl Tippy. Mario joined with Tippy and a group of other Pixls in order to gather the eight Pure Hearts, which would prevent the Void created by Count Bleck from destroying all worlds. Mario was also accompanied by Peach, Bowser and Luigi. Together they were the four warriors foretold in the prophecies of the Light Prognosticus. They were able to defeat Count Bleck and afterwards his mutinous follower, Dimentio, and thus save all worlds from destruction.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario was invited to the castle by Princess Peach for the star festival. However, as he arrived Bowser began an attack on the castle with his fleet of airships as well as several spacecrafts. To Mario's dismay, Bowser towed Peach's castle away into space with Peach still aboard. Mario himself was teleported safely to the Gateway Galaxy by a Luma. He met the "mother" of the Lumas, Rosalina, who entrusted Mario with Lumas to aid him by granting him the ability to travel through space. At Rosalina's request, Mario traveled to many galaxies from the Comet Observatory to find the Power Stars and Grand Stars needed to power the Comet Observatory (with help from Luigi and a group of Toads). After he collected enough, Rosalina was able to pilot the observatory to Bowser's hideout in the center of the universe, where he was building his own galaxy. Mario was able to best Bowser once again in combat, and the Lumas were able to save Mario and all the others from the explosion, and safely returned them to the planet along with Peach's castle.

Abilities

Mario is most well-known for his jumping abilities, although most games feature Luigi as being the better jumper of the duo. The Hammer is also shown as Mario's best weapon in various games, especially the RPGs. He has also been known to use Koopa shells as weapons. In the platforming games, Mario can often gain a variety of power-ups that he uses to take on new forms.

Mario also has a keen control over fire. Originally, Mario could only shoot fireballs when powered-up by a Fire Flower. However, Mario could shoot fireballs as a special move in Super Mario RPG and a special item in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario also learned the Firehand technique, which allowed him to produce fireballs in the palm of his hand. These different fire powers may be seen as contradictory to each other.

Alternate Forms

Some games seem to feature Mario in other roles that seem to contradict his role in other games. The most notable example is Dr. Mario, who appeared in Dr. Mario and Dr. Mario 64. In these games, Dr. Mario was shown as the inventor of the Megavitamins. Such an occupation would be hard to fit into Mario's adventuring (and sports) schedule. One lesser-known example was his role as Chef Mario in Yoshi's Cookie.

Dr. Mario

In Dr. Mario, Dr. Mario worked at the virus research lab in the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital with Peach as his nurse. However, an experiment went wrong and caused the outbreak of a virus. Dr. Mario used his newly-invented vitamin (presumably the Megavitamin) to stop the viruses.

Dr. Mario later used his Megavitamins to go around curing people in Dr. Mario 64. But both Wario and Rudy sought the Megavitamins, and eventually Mad Scienstein stole it for Rudy. Dr. Mario and Wario chased the Scienstein until they reached Rudy's lair. After defeating Rudy, he found that Rudy only wanted the Megavitamins to cure his flu, so he treated him. It is possible for him to transform into Metal Mario in this game.

Dr. Mario is also notable for appearing as a separate playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. See Other Appearances for details.

Sports

Aside from all this, Mario is known for his love of sports. He and other inhabitants of the Mushroom World have participated in various sports in the past. These include:

• Golf: This started when Mario was available as a playable character in NES Open Tournament Golf. He was later playable in Mario Golf 64, Mario Golf GBC, Mobile Golf, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Golf: Advance Tour. Mario was also the final opponent of Mario Golf GBC, in which he is overthrown as the Mushroom Kingdom's golfing champion by Kid.
• Kart Racing: The most well-known example, Mario had embarked in many kart racing games starting with Super Mario Kart and continuing in Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, and Mario Kart Wii.
• Tennis: Mario's first tennis game was Mario's Tennis on the Virtual Boy, and he continued this sport as a playable character in Mario Tennis 64 and Mario Power Tennis. Mario is unlockable in Mario Tennis GBC and Mario Tennis: Power Tour. In both handheld games he is the final opponent of Singles Mode and is unlocked as a playable character after being defeated. He is also paired up with Peach in the Doubles Modes of both games.
• Baseball: Mario is a playable captain in Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Stadium Baseball .
• Soccer: Mario was also a playable captain in Super Mario Strikers and in Mario Strikers Charged.
• Basketball: Mario is playable in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Itadaki Street DS.
• Olympics: Mario is playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

In addition to all these, Mario has starred in the long-running series of Mario Party games. These feature Mario and friends adventuring across giant board games and competing in minigames. The individual stories for each game vary, but most involve Mario and the others competing for some sort of title. Mario is playable in all of the games - Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party Advance, Mario Party 7, Mario Party 8, Mario Party-e, Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party and Mario Party DS. He will also return in Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2.

Other Major Roles

Video Games

• Mario is a playable character in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.Matio has three unlockable trophies in Melee, and trophies of Baby Mario, Metal Mario, Raccoon Mario and Paper Mario can also be obtained. In Japan, it was also possible to obtain an extra trophy of Mario with Yoshi. In Brawl, Mario has two main trophies - his normal trophy and one of his final smash - as well as additional trophies of Paper Mario and Baby Mario.
  • Dr. Mario also appeared as an unlockable playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he was a slower clone of Mario. He was unlocked by playing 100 Vs. Mode matches or by completing Classic Mode with Mario on any difficulty without continuing. Dr. Mario has since been removed from Super Smash Bros. Brawl along with Roy, Pichu, and Mewtwo, though a text dump of the game lists him as a fighter, implying that he may have been intended to return. Dr. Mario does appear as a sticker in Brawl.
  • In "The Subspace Emissary", Mario first appears in the opening, where he engages Kirby in an exhibition match in a floating stadium while the princesses Peach and Zelda watch. Afterwards, the stadium was attacked by the Subspace Army, and Mario was hit by a cannonball that sent him flying to Skyworld and reverted him to trophy form. He was discovered and revived by Pit, and the two were together to fight through various Subspace minions. After returning to land and failing in their pursuit of The Ancinet Minister, a misunderstanding arose after Mario witnessed Link and Yoshi's defeat of a possessed Peach, or Link witnessed Mario and Pit's defeat of a possessed Zelda, which led Mario and Link to battle each other due to thinking the other had killed his princess. After the battle, they realized the misunderstanding and teamed up to pursue King Dedede, who had one of the princesses as well as several other trophies. They were joined by Kirby, and the five continued their chase but ultimately Bowser escaped with the princess. They then tried to capture the Ancient Minister again, but they were forced to retreat after another Subspace Bomb activated. The five heroes then arrived to help Marth and several others fight off Subspace minions at the base of the Glacial Mountain, and there the main party united then traveled into Subspace for the final battles against Tabuu.
• Mario was included as a Gamecube exclusive character in the Electronic Arts games NBA Streets V3 and SSX On Tour.

Other Media

• Mario's first appearance outside of the video games was in the Donkey Kong segment of the Saturday Supercade cartoon. Mario endlessly pursued Donkey Kong with Pauline, who was actually his niece in the series. Mario was shown as the aggressor, like the Ranger Smith to Donkey Kong's Yogi Bear, and he often wound up humiliated in classic cartoon fashion. Mario was voiced by Peter Cullen.
• Mario also starred in a Japan-only anime movie based on Super Mario Bros. In this version, Mario and Luigi were pulled into a video game, and they then went on a mission to save the princess from King Koopa (Bowser). He was voiced by Furuya Toya, who voiced several other popular anime characters such as Amuro Rei from the original Gundam series and Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon.
• Mario also appeared in a three-part anime OVA based on Super Mario Bros. 3. This OVA featured Mario and other Mario characters in classic fairy tales.
• Mario starred in three cartoons in the late 80's and early 90's - the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. In all three shows he was portrayed, both in animation and the first series' live action skits, by the wrestler Captain Lou Albano. This series introduced the concept that Mario and Luigi lived in Brooklyn before being pulled into the Mushroom Kingdom, which was located in another world. Mario and Luigi's occupations as plumbers and their love for Italian food was also emphasized.
• In 1990, Mario starred in a series of comic books published by Valient Comics under their Nintendo Comics System line. Mario also starred in a series of Choose Your Own Adventure Books set in the continuity of the Super Mario Bros. comics as well.
• In the 1993 major motion picture, Mario is played by Bob Hoskins. Mario is shown as the older brother in this version, and he raised Luigi himself. Also, Luigi winds up being involved with the princess (Daisy instead of Peach) in the movie, although Mario has a girlfriend named Daniella.

Trivia

• Mario was originally called Jumpman before receiving his name 'Mario' in Mario Bros..
• Like Luigi, his original outfit was different. He used to wear red overalls with a blue shirt.
• Mario apparently received his name from Nintendo of America's Italian landlord 'Mario Segali'.
• Mario 'joined' the Koopa Troop when Bowser joined his party in Super Mario RPG. His brother Luigi would inadvertently share the same fate in the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
• According to Belome, Mario tastes sour.