Mario

**Mario** (*マリオ ,**Mario***), (Formerly and originally (under extraofficial terms) is the titular main protagonist of the *Mario* series and the mascot for Nintendo.

He was created by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, and has appeared in over 200 games. Originally, he only appeared in platform games. However, he now also features 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 is known to many as "The Face of Video Games," having 6 games out of the top 10 on the list of best-selling video-games of all time.

Mario is a short Italian plumber 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 Luigi, has had other friends such as Yoshi and Toad.

Along with Bowser, he has had other enemies such as Fawful, Wario, and Donkey Kong. In the cartoons Mario was voiced by Peter Cullen *Saturday Supercade*, WWF/E Hall of Fame wrestler-turned manager the late "Captain" Lou Albano in *The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!*, Walker Boone in *The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3* and *Super Mario World*.

In the live-action movie *Super Mario Bros.*, he was played by the late Bob Hoskins. In the video games, Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet.

## History

Mario first appeared in 1981, in the *Donkey Kong* arcade video game, as a carpenter named "Jumpman." 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 the resolution was brought between the two, fellow Nintendo employees chose to name the character in the game Mario, after him.

There was a family-owned restaurant nearby Nintendo of America called Mario and Luigi's.

Due to hardware limitations at the time, Miyamoto dressed Mario in red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against the background. He also gave him white gloves, so that the player could see the arms moving on the screen.

A cap was added so that Miyamoto would not have to animate the character's hair when he jumped up and down. However, Jumpman did not originally have a mustache.

The black pixels mistaken for a mustache were actually the space between Jumpman's nose and mouth; The black was just the black background. However, fans of the game mistook it for a mustache, so in all later games and artwork, Mario was given a mustache.

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.

## Biography

### *Donkey Kong* arcade games

Donkey Kong captured Mario's girlfriend Pauline due to the fact that Donkey kong loved Pauline same goes for Mario, and took her to a construction site.This motivation is also likely due to donkey kong being a wild animal alongside his instinct. 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.

Mario went on to imprison Donkey Kong in a cage in *Donkey Kong Jr.* Donkey Kong Jr. 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. This was the only time that Mario was assigned as a villain.

Forgetting about Donkey Kong, he meets up with his little brother Luigi, the two would be called to repair a badly damaged Brooklyn sewer line. Alone in the sewers, they would find the line to be damaged by strange creatures. The brothers would be forced to fight off the creatures in a tough battle. The brothers would, albeit briefly, see Bowser for the first time to be in charge of the creatures, but would not fight the reptile king. After defeating the creatures, Mario and Luigi would hear the voice of Princess Peach and would follow it into the Mushroom Kingdom.

### The Donkey Kong Show

Mario, Pauline, and Donkey Kong all stared in an animated TV show based on Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong 3.

1. ↑ "The History of Mario". Retrieved on 2009-05-10
2. ↑ "The History of Super Mario Bros."
3. ↑ "Charles Martinet Down Under". Retrieved on 2009-05-10.
4. ↑ "Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming". Retrieved on 2009-05-10
5. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/14/miyamoto.script/index.html