Mario

MarioFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search This article is about the video game character. For the platform game series, see Super Mario (series). For the franchise, see Mario (franchise). For other uses, see Mario (disambiguation).
Mario

Mario, in promotional artwork for New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009)
Series Mario franchise
First game Donkey Kong (1981)Created by Shigeru Miyamoto
Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong)
Yōichi Kotabe (Super Mario Bros. series)
Shigefumi Hino (Super Mario World)
Voiced by (English) Video games:
Ronald B. Ruben (Mario Teaches Typing)
Marc Graue (Hotel Mario)
Charles Martinet (video games, 1995-present)


Television:
Peter Cullen (Saturday Supercade)
"Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. SuperShow!)
Walker Boone (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World TV series)
Voiced by (Japanese) Tōru Furuya (Original video animations and Satellaview games)
Takeshi Aono (Mario Paint commercial)
Kōsei Tomita (Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. film)
Portrayed by "Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)
Bob Hoskins (Super Mario Bros. film)
Gorō Inagaki(2003 "Hot Mario" commercial)
Takashi Okamura (2005-2006 "Hot Mario Bros." commercials)

Mario (マリオ, Mario?) is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise by Nintendo, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originallyonly appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in varied video game genres such as racing, puzzle, party, role-playing, fighting, and sports.

Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He repeatedly rescues Princess Peach from the turtle-like villain Bowser and stops his numerous plans to destroy him and take overthe kingdom. Mario also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Since 1995, he has been voiced by Charles Martinet.[1]

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is said to be the most famous character in video game history.[2] Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units,[3] making the Mario franchise the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Outside of theSuper Mario platform series, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing video games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, and educational games, such as Mario is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. He has inspired television shows, film, comics, and a line of licensedmerchandise.

Contents [hide]
1 Concept and creation
2 Appearances
2.1 1981–1990
2.2 1989–1995
2.3 1996–2002
2.4 2006–present
2.5 Other Mario games
2.6 In other media
3 Characteristics
3.1 Occupation and hobbies
3.2 Relationships
4 Abilities
4.1 Power-ups
5 Reception and legacy
6 References
7 External links


Concept and creation
Seen on his hat, Mario's emblem represents himin the interfaces of many of the games in which he has appeared.Shigeru Miyamoto created Mario while developing Donkey Kong in an attempt to produce a best-selling video game for Nintendo; previous titles like Sheriff had not achieved the same success as titles like Pac-Man. Originally, Miyamoto wanted to create a video game that used the characters Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl.[4] At the time,however, Miyamoto was unable to acquire a license to use the characters (and would not until 1982), so he ended up making Jumpman (later known as Mario), Donkey Kong, and Pauline.[4] In the early stages of Donkey Kong, Mario was unable to jump, and the focus was to escape a maze. However, Miyamoto enabled Mario to jump, saying "If you had a barrel rolling towards you, what would you do?"[5][6]...