Mario

**Mario** (Japanese マリオ) is the main protagonist of the Mario series and the mascot of Nintendo. The older twin

brother of Luigi and older cousin of Stanley the Bugman was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, and has 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.

Mario is a super hero who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the*Mario*series, he uses his well-known jump and combat abilities to stop Bowser from kidnapping Princess Peach and taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. Along with Bowser, he has had other enemies such as Wario and Donkey 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 theories have suggested that the original Jumpman may actually be the father of Mario (however it's confirmed that Jumpman and Mario are the same person), since Cranky Kong is also the grandfather of the current DK. 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 in the game Mario, after him as they physically had a striking resemblance. 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 brother Named Luigi. He 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 24-25 years old if also counting the events of the 1980's *Donkey Kong* arcade game unless the original Jumpman is an entirely different character than Mario.

## Donkey Kong series

Donkey Kong Circus Prequel

*Note: This is the 2nd game released in the Donkey Kong series but takes place before the first game.*
Mario was a carpenter who had come in possession of a Kong and his son, Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.. Mario, unwittingly, mistreated the ape by putting him in a circus. In the circus, Donkey 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 captured his girlfriend Pauline and took her onto a construction site. Mario went on to rescue his girlfriend avoiding Barrels thrown at him by Donkey Kong and a fire started by the ape. After going through four different areas on the construction site Mario rescued Pauline and Donkey Kong was recaptured.

### Donkey Kong Jr. (game)

Mario went on to imprison Donkey 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 made a shot at Stanley the Bugman's greenhouse (*Donkey Kong 3*).

### Other gamesSzerkesztés

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 1st place with Yoshi in second and Link in third. Also seen were Earthworm Jim's laser gun and Sonic the Hedgehog's shoes.

### 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 enemy from the beginning, in which DK's grandfather kidnapped Pauline. But unlike DK's grandfather, DK appears on good terms with Mario and his friends and will often help Mario. For most of the time, they help each other:

1. DK helped Mario save the Baseball Kingdom.

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

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

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

### Pauline

Mario's ex-girlfriend Pauline first appeared in the 1980's 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 abused him. 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'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 to rescue Pauline. It's seems Pauline still has feelings for Mario (that she keeps to herself and never acting on them) as she calls him her hero. In*Super Mario Odyssey* when Mario possesses a Goomba (it's also wearing Mario's hat) 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

## Trivia

* Real-life Gorillas age faster than humans and reach their elderly years at ages 35-40, and 50 would be the maximum age of a gorilla's life, meaning Cranky would be around those ages, making him much older than Mario explaining the "missing generation" and huge age difference between Cranky and current Donkey Kong. Mario would also be younger than Jr.. It's likely eating the magical Banana Hoard is keeping Cranky alive and healthy.
	+ *Yoshi's Island DS* reveals Mario and current Donkey Kong are around the same age group.
		- Mario is Age: 24 while Donkey Kong is around Age: 11-20, in *Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze*he is celebrating his 20th birthday as *Donkey Kong Country* came out in 1994.