Mario

**Mario** (マリオ) is a video game character, Nintendo's primary mascot, and the main protagonist of the Crossover Con series. He has appeared in many games of all genres and he is one of the most recognized characters in the video games industry. He is the main protagonist of the *Mario* series. With the help of his younger brother Luigi, and friend, Toad, he protects the Mushroom Kingdom from evil forces, such as Bowser, and primarily rescues Princess Peach in the series.

## Origin

Mario is a short stubby plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom. He wear blue overalls with a red shirt underneath, has a red hat with an emblem on it that depicts the letter M, sports white gloves and brown boots with tan soles on the bottom, and has brown hair, though oddly his mustache is black.

Although unnamed in the Japanese release of *Donkey Kong*, the character was named **Jumpman** in the game's English instructions. However, during the localization of *Donkey Kong* for American audiences, Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord at the time⁠—the late Mario Segale⁠—confronted then-president Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent.

For over 30 years afterward, Mario would star in many games for various Nintendo systems. Mario and his accompanying franchise can be viewed as Nintendo's thematic tileset with which to create games of a whimsical, colorful, and light-hearted nature. Mario himself is meant to be a character anyone can enjoy playing as and can fit well as a protagonist figure and/or main balanced character in many genres of games. To this end, he is not portrayed as a character that undergoes development like what players would see from a character within an expansive story, but rather a character defined by the player's actions with a few defining traits of his own, such as his cheerfulness, whimsy, desire to help others, and humorous high-pitched Italian accent provided by Charles Martinet.

Mario is a semi-silent protagonist, who is sporadically depicted speaking coherent English sentences. In contemporary *Mario* games, most of his vocalizations are grunts, yells, and the occasional catchphrase, such as "Mama Mia!", "It's-a me, Mario!" and "Let's-a-go!", although he is shown to speak at length in some spin-off games and official interviews. Likewise, while Mario largely serves as a "everyman" protagonist to fufill any role as needed to be, he has shown plenty of characterization; for instance, the ending of *Super Mario Odyssey* has Mario comfort his longtime nemesis, Bowser, after Peach rejects both of their marriage proposals, showing him to be a selfless person who sees the best qualities in others.

As an everyman character, the optimistic protagonist and the flagship character for both his series and company, Mario is inherently easy for players of his various games to appreciate, and he is usually the most balanced playable character in any game he appears in. While Mario's definitive, Martinet-voiced depiction was codified by *Super Mario 64*, most auxiliary media prior to that game (such as the live-action film and various cartoons produced by DIC Entertainment) provided different portrayals of the iconic plumber, typically as a mild caricature of a working-class Italian-American with a gruff Brooklyn accent.

Mario has the ability to jump onto his enemies and crush them beneath his weight. This is a signature move he can perform and is the most used move when in combat. He has also made several variants, including the Long Jump, backflip, Spin Jump, and Wall Jump. Mario can also use a variety of basic martial arts attacks, including punching and kicking. Mario's main weapon is the hammer and he often uses this utensil to flatten enemies. Mario is heavily associated with fire and he can manipulate the element without the need of a power up. Mario is also extremely strong. For example, he can lift an entire fortress and kick it away with his mere foot. He also has superhuman endurance, being capable of falling from high places such as a skyscraper without being hurt or just taking moderate damage, and superhuman speed. He is also resistant to both heat and cold, as in some games, he can fall in lava without dying. Mario can also take various powers via power ups, such as the Fire Flower giving him access to fireballs.

## History

### *A Super Mario World*

Mario appears as the titular character of the McLeodGaming Cartoon, *A Super Mario World*, which is a crossover parody between the *Mario* series, the *The Legend of Zelda* series, the *Sonic* series, and the *KINGDOM HEARTS* series. In the first episode, Mario is first seen running toward Peach's Castle to get to see his favorite show "You got Schooled". After it ends, Luigi comes and tells Mario he found Link's Master Sword in front of the castle, both oblivious of this at first, and gives it to him. Mario goes out to get some fight and suddenly feels the sword enchanted effect that allows him to levitate in the air. He then proceeds to slaught many of the regular *Super Mario World* enemies, including a gigantic Morton Koopa Jr.. To Mario's dismay, Link is looking for his sword so he can save Princess Zelda from Bowser and he accuses Mario from stealing it when he finds he has it. Link snatches the Master Sword from Mario's hand and proceeds to punish him; Mario gets up and clarifies he did not stole the sword but that his brother found it and gave it to him. Clearing the misunderstanding, Link explains his situation to Mario, both then, decide to infiltrate Bowser's Castle and rescue Zelda.

In the second episode, now inside Bowser's Castle, Mario point how the castle look more high tech than ever. There they are confronted by a Bowser's hologram who tells them that he did not left the castle unguarded, then Sonic and Knuckles are revealed to be his guardians. Mario and Link then ensue a fight against them. Link points Mario a ? Block that may be useful, but when he tries to get, he is stopped by Knuckles. So Mario could get the ? Block, Link fights alone Sonic and Knuckles to distract them. Mario gets the ? Block and finds a Cape Feather inside it, thus turning into Cape Mario. Mario quickly saves Link in time and pushes Knuckles into the lava, Sonic flees into another room, but Mario and Link go in his pursue. In the other room, Sonic turns into Super Sonic and nearly kills Mario and Link, but are saved at the last moment by Cloud who is looking for the "real" enemy (he initially believes it to be Sephiroth) who turns out not to be Bowser. Everything is revealed, including that Dr. Eggman helped Bowser construct their "Bowser-Eggman Cruiser" and that Zelda was just a bait to get the three heroes together so they can be take down all together by Riku. Link kills Bowser in rage. Cloud request Mario to take Link and Zelda to a safety place while he fights Riku. As the credits roll, Mario is seen taking Link and Zelda to the border of Hyrule, they all bid farewell and Zelda gives Mario a small kiss in thanks. She and Link enter Hyrule and Mario goes the other way.

In the third episode, Mario makes a minor appearance, last seen about to be crushed by the falling Bowser's Castle but leaving his fate uncertain.

### *Super Smash Flash*

Mario is a playable starter character in *Super Smash Flash*. Due the physics this game has, Mario balanced traits can be hardly noticed, as all characters have almost the same weight and have a limited moveset. Most of his attacks are based, or seem to be inspired, on his moveset from the *Super Smash Bros.* series, including the fireball or the Mario Tornado. His sprites are completely custom.

### *Super Smash Flash 2*

Mario reappears in the *SSF* reboot, *Super Smash Flash 2*. He was one of the first characters confirmed in the trailer and made playable in demo, the others being Kirby, Ichigo and Lloyd. His moveset was widely updated to match how it is in the *Super Smash Bros.* games. His sprites are completely custom-made, and they are based on his appearance in *Super Smash Bros. Brawl* with more vibrant colors which are based on his *Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS* and *Wii U* appearance. He is ranked 21st of B- tier on the current tier list.

### *Brutal Mario*

**Mario** is the main character and anti-hero of Brutal Mario.

#### Story

Because of Mario saving the Mushroom Kingdom a countless amount of times, Mario was declared the king of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, being in a king's position, was hungry for power and went insane. This resulted in Mario becoming an evil tyrant that turned the Mushroom Kingdom into a ruined land.

Desiring more riches, he aimed to take over Bowser's kingdom, and thus he departed. Little did he know, the Mushroom Kingdom's citizens had something planned for him.

He had travelled far and wide, conquering Bowser and his Koopalings' kingdoms with the assistance of the Yoshies. While conquering the Star Road and Special Zone, he was suddenly ambushed. A Toad from the Mushroom Kingdom army came to punish Mario on the Princess' behalf.

After defeating him, Mario rushed to Yoshi's House. It was now in ruins, thanks to the Toads. After thrashing the Mushroom Kingdom's latest invention, Mario went to his old homeland to exact revenge.

Gazing upon the ruined kingdom, he saw Luigi and Peach's castle looming over the horizon...

#### Gameplay

Mario plays the same as he does in *Super Mario World*. He can jump onto enemies to defeat, can perform a spin jump, can ride Yoshi, and can grab and kick various items.

### *Mushroom Kingdom Fusion*

Mario is a playable character in Mushroom Kingdom Fusion and member of the Mushroom Kingdom Coalition. His home world is The Mushroom Kingdom. An icon of games, he is the most well-rounded and recognizable of the Coalition.

Mario is the only character who can spin jump, allowing him to destroy/jump on enemies other characters cannot, as well as automatically attacking to both sides with some power-ups. Mario is the most flexible character. His fireballs and hammers are useful projectiles, the raccoon and tanooki suit give him flight, the Sci-Fi suit is short-ranged but effective, and the Mega Man suit is similar to a fire flower. His speed and jumping ability are average. Mario is a character that can be used in all situations.

Mario has the advantage of having more powerups available to him than the other characters save Luigi, giving him a wider range of flexibility in play style.

### *Super Smash Adventures*

Mario is the main protagonist of this storyline. Here, he doesn't speak but he communicates via an unintelligible language. Mario is mostly neutral in both facial expressions and personality, but he is known for being serious when necessary. He is also shown to be a very caring brother to Luigi. Mario is also father in this storyline and is very protective of her daughter, Mabel.

### *Mario and Kirby: Super Star Legacy*

Mario is one of the two main protagonists of the series. Unlike in Super Smash Adventures, Mario can talk fluent English. Here, he is portrayed as more serious and expressive, as well as more powerful.