Mario

Mario "Jumpman"
Super Mario
Full Name	Super Mario "Jumpman"
Alias(es)	Jumpman Super Mario Star Child Mr. Video Ossan (Middle-Aged Man) Pauline's Hero Pauline's 1-Up Boy
Residence(s)	Metro Kingdom Mushroom Kingdom
Family	Luigi (younger twin brother), Stanley the Bugman (younger cousin) Pauline (ex-girlfriend) Donkey Kong III (son figure)
Species	Human/Homo Nintendous
Gender	Male
Affiliation(s)	Metro Kingdom Mushroom Kingdom
Occupation(s)	Various (most notably a Carpenter and a Plumber)
Powers/Abilities	Great jumping skill, Super Strength, Control over fire and some other elements, Great skill with hammers releasing caged animals
Enemies	Cranky Kong (Formerly) Donkey Kong Jr. (Formerly), Donkey Kong III (Formerly), Bowser
Game(s)	Mario Kart Series
First Appearance	Donkey Kong (game)

Mario (Japanese マリオ) (also known by his nickname Jumpman) is the main protagonist of the Mario series and the mascot for Nintendo. The older twin brother of Luigi, older cousin of Stanley the Bugman, and the ex-boyfriend of Pauline was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, and has appeared in over 200 games. Originally, he only appeared in platform games, however, he now is also featured in sporting games, racing games, and fighting games and others.

He is considered by many to be the most famous character in video game history and has a bottomless love for journeying and adventures.

Mario is a super hero who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Mario series, he usually uses his well-known jump and combat abilities, is assisted by his brother and close friends like Yoshi and the various Toads in stopping Bowser from kidnapping Princess Peach and taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. Along with Bowser, he has had other enemies such as Wario and Cranky Kong. In the video games, Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet.

History

Mario first appeared in 1981, in the Donkey Kong arcade video game, as a carpenter named "Jumpman", however fan theories have suggested that Jumpman may actually be the father of Mario, however it's confirmed that Jumpman and Mario are the same person and Cranky Kong is also the grandfather of the current DK as Kongs grow up drastically faster than humans.

There are two possible theories why Mario was named such: a heated argument ensued between Nintendo's warehouse landlord Mario Segale, and the president of Nintendo at the time, Minoru Arakawa. After a resolution was brought between the two, fellow Nintendo employees chose to name the character Mario after him as they physically had a striking resemblance to each other. Theory 2: There was a family-owned restaurant nearby Nintendo of America called Mario and Luigi's, however this is only true for Luigi.

Due to hardware limitations at the time, Miyamoto dressed Mario in bright red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against the background. He was also given white gloves, so that the player could see his arms moving on screen. A cap was added so that Miyamoto would not have to animate the character's hair when he jumped up and down. A mustache was added for the same reasons, as it was difficult to animate facial expressions at the time. Mario has a younger twin brother named Luigi, who first Appeared in the Classic Arcade Game Mario Bros..

Over time, His appearance has become more defined, for example he wears green, an L and a White circle has been added to his hat, and Gold buttons have been added to his overalls. Mario was developed as a "go to" character for games that could be put in any title as needed. At the time, Miyamoto did not expect Mario to become popular. Over time, his appearance has become more defined, for example a red "M" in a white circle has been added to his hat, and gold buttons have been added to his overalls. He has appeared in many television programs, video releases, comic books, and a feature-length film. He has also spawned a series of branded merchandise. He is currently 24 years old if also counting the events of the 1980s Donkey Kong arcade game.

Donkey Kong series

Donkey Kong Circus prequel

Donkey Kong Circus.

Note: This is the game released 3 years after the original Donkey Kong game but takes place before the first game.

Mario was a carpenter and audience member who was watching the circus act, with the star of the show being Donkey Kong Senior. Mario, unintentionally laughed at the Kong when he made a mistake during the act. In the circus, Cranky Kong had to use his legs to balance the barrel he was on, juggle pineapples, and avoid deadly flames.

Donkey Kong (game)

One day Donkey Kong Senior captured Mario's girlfriend Pauline and took her onto a construction site. Mario went on to rescue his girlfriend avoiding Barrels thrown at him by Donkey Kong Sr. and a fire started by the ape. After going through four different areas on the construction site Mario rescued Pauline and Cranky Kong was recaptured.

Donkey Kong Jr. (game)

Mario went on to imprison Cranky Kong in a cage. DK Junior went on to try and rescue his father. Mario attempted to stop the young ape and released various types of traps mainly consisting of animals. Junior eventually did make it to his father and the two returned to Donkey Kong Island just after Donkey Kong Sr. made a shot at Stanley the Bugman's greenhouse (Donkey Kong 3).

Other games

In lighter meetings, Mario and DK have competed or teamed up in many spin-off games, including sports games, racing etc.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Mario was seen at the end of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest alongside Yoshi and Link when Cranky Kong was showing Diddy his current Hero Ranking which shows how many DK Coins each character had collected. Mario was seen in first place with Yoshi in second and Link in third (Yoshi and Link switched places in the GBA version). Also seen were Earthworm Jim's laser gun and Sonic the Hedgehog's shoes next to a trash can with the sign saying "NO HOPERS".

Super Smash Bros. series

Mario appears as a playable character in all entries of the Super Smash Bros. series. He is a default character in all the games as well. Other characters from the Mario series appear as playable characters too. Such as: Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Dr. Mario, Rosalina & Luma, and Bowser Jr. (featuring the Koopalings as his alternative swaps), who are all playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario doesn't have any interaction with Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong in the Subspace Emissary until the three groups of fighters team up to face the final boss, Tabuu.

Mario and Sonic : Olympic Games Series

He Appeared As A Playable Character Along With His Rival: Sonic The Hedgehog

Relationships

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is the grandson of Mario's old arch-enemy from the beginning, in which DK's grandfather kidnapped Pauline for revenge. But unlike DK's grandfather, the Kong appears to be on good terms with Mario and his friends and will often help Mario.

However the new spin is that they also have a friendly rivalry as shown in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series and in the sports and kart-racing games. But in some games Donkey Kong and Mario have been good friends and are on great terms, as evident in the Mario Party series and Mario Super Sluggers.

Though Donkey Kong is large in size, he is still much younger than Mario (it was the opposite with Cranky who is drastically older than Mario by at least one generation), as Donkey appears to act like a child with Mario being the parental/paternal/father figure.

For most of the time, they help each other:

- DK helped Mario save the Baseball Kingdom.

- Mario defeated Dry Bones to restore DK after being turned to stone.

- DK and Diddy destroyed Bowser's Minimizer and returned Mario and his pals back to normal size.

- Whenever you land on a DK space good things happen.

Pauline

Mario's first love interest and ex-girlfriend Pauline first appeared in the 1980s arcade game Donkey Kong. She was the damsel in distress in this classic arcade game. She had been kidnapped by the first known Donkey Kong (Cranky Kong) a mighty ape who wanted revenge against the carpenter who laughed at him in Donkey Kong Circus.

She also appears in Mario Vs Donkey Kong: March of the Minis. She is given the choice between taking Mario's mini toy version of himself, or DK the Third's mini toy version of himself. When she chooses Mario's, DK is not happy by this and thus he drags Pauline to an elevator, Mario tries to rescue the damsel, but DK is too quick. The gorilla had already pressed the buttons and taunted Mario by waving goodbye at him with a large grin. In the end, Mario and his army of Mini-Mario toys go to rescue Pauline.

It seems Pauline still has feelings for Mario as she calls him her hero. In Super Mario Odyssey when Mario possesses a Goomba (it has Mario's mustache and is also wearing Mario's cap) and interacts with another Goomba wearing Pauline's hat they are clearly attracted to each other. Pauline at a point in the game wears Mario's hat and during her dancing does a move resembling Mario's jump. The entirety of the Japanese versions of "Jump Up, Super Star!"/"Let's Do the Odyssey"/"I'll Be Your 1-Up Girl" and "Break Free (Lead the Way)"/"Honeylune Ridge: Escape" appear to be love songs about Mario that Pauline sings directly to her hero.

Trivia

• Real-life Gorillas age much faster than humans and reach their elderly years at ages 35–45, and 50 would be the maximum age of a gorilla's life, they also reach the age to desire a child at 6–10 years old, and mature at 11-15 since they age 2-3 times faster than humans, meaning Cranky would be around those elderly ages, making him significantly older than Mario and is likely even older than Mario's parents, explaining the "missing generation" and huge age difference between Cranky and current Donkey Kong. Mario would also be younger than DK JR.. It's likely eating the magical Banana Hoard is keeping Cranky alive and healthy.
  • Yoshi's Island DS shows Mario and current Donkey Kong appear to be around the same age group, but current DK is actually younger than Mario and appears the way he does due to the time travel events of the game.
    • Mario is Age: 24 and regularly eats 1-Up Mushrooms that make him physically age slowly, while Donkey Kong is (in human years) around Age: 1-6 and (in Kong years) around Age: 11-20, in Tropical Freeze since he is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country which came out in 1994.