Mario (character)

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“Here we go! Just remember, little die: Mario's your best friend!”

—Mario, Fortune Street

Mario
Fortune Street artwork
First appearance	Donkey Kong (1981, overall) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, Square Enix-related)
Latest appearance	Mario Strikers: Battle League (2022, overall) Fortune Street (2011, Square Enix-related)
Portrayed by	Charles Martinet (1992–present)
Full name	Mario Mario
Species	Human

Mario is the main protagonist and titular character of the Nintendo franchise of the same name. He is often recognized by his trademark red cap bearing an "M" (short for Mario) and his variety of moves, such as the ability to jump high. Mario has a younger brother named Luigi. Mario made his first overall appearance in the Donkey Kong arcade game, while Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars would become his first Square Enix-related appearance and within the role-playing genre. Since then, Mario's only other appearances in Square Enix-developed titles are in two Mario sports titles featuring some Final Fantasy characters and settings and in two Itadaki Street titles with Dragon Quest characters.

History

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars artwork

In the story for Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario first arrives to confront Bowser, who has again captured Princess Toadstool. Mario battles Bowser atop a Kinklink and rescues Toadstool. Then a huge sword, Exor, strikes the castle from atop and knocks them all to various spots in Mario's world. Mario falls through the pipe on top of his house and lands on his bed.

Mario discovers that the Star Pieces of the wish-granting Star Road are being sought by a group called the Smithy Gang, run by Smithy, who are causing havoc throughout the world. On this adventure, Mario recruits Mallow, Geno, Princess Toadstool, and even Bowser. They travel through much of the world, finding Star Pieces, which are protected by the Smithy Gang's strongest members. After all Star Pieces are collected, Mario fights Smithy. Mario reaches it through Bowser's Keep, which is inaccessible because Exor destroyed the bridge. With the help of Mallow's parents, King and Queen Nimbus, Mario has passage through a special cloud bus. When they finally arrive, Mario defeats Exor and goes to Smithy's dimension via Exor's mouth.

Mario's journey is not over since Smithy has even more minions at his disposal. After many battles, Mario faces and defeats Smithy, saving the Star Road.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3

In Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario is among the default playable characters. His Special Shot is the Fire Shot, which involves Mario dribbling the ball around him in the shape of an M and then either alley-ooping or dunking a flaming red basketball into the hoop. To execute this move, the player must tap the touchscreen in the shape of the letter M. Mario is classified as a balanced character.

Itadaki Street series

Itadaki Street DS

In Itadaki Street DS, Mario is a Rank A playable character, and is playable from the start. The game cover shows him with Slime.

Fortune Street

In Fortune Street, like the other Mario and Dragon Quest characters, Mario is only playable in multiplayer mode. As an opponent, he is Rank A, shared with Bowser and Bowser Jr., putting him at second-highest difficulty level. Unlike a majority of his other appearances, Mario can speak in full sentences.

Mario Sports Mix

Mario Sports Mix artwork of Mario and Luigi playing basketball

In Mario Sports Mix, Mario is an All-Rounder type character, and all of his stats are average, like in several of his other spinoff appearances. Mario has his own sports stadium Mario Stadium. Most of his attacks involve spinning. In Basketball, Mario spins into his opponent if he is blocking them for too long. In Hockey, Mario's hits involve a two-hit combo followed by a spin. In Dodgeball, Mario rolls forward to avoid any incoming hit. In Volleyball, Mario spins when he spikes. In every sport, Mario special move is a powerful fire blast that opponents can only stop from scoring by resisting it while sliding backwards.

Super Smash Bros. series

Mario
Game appearances
Super Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros. Melee Super Smash Bros. Brawl Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Special moves
Standard:  Fireball Side:  Cape Up:  Super Jump Punch Down:  Mario Tornado (64, Melee); F.L.U.D.D. (Brawl onward) Final Smash:  Mario Finale
Battle entrance
Mario jumps out of a Warp Pipe and exclaims, "Let's-a go!"

Mario is playable in every Super Smash Bros. title, and is generally regarded as the most prominent character and face of the games. Mario has a balanced playstyle as well as a balanced design, so he is typically made the "template" character. Such examples include him being shown in the "How to Play" video in every Super Smash Bros. title. Mario is also used for controller mapping testing and is part of the gauge when players select the level of intensity in Classic Mode.

Mario's moveset consists of quick short-ranged attacks, such as punches, kicks, and even head attacks. Mario has a weight of 98 in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Mario's victory theme throughout the series, which is shared with the rest of the Mario characters (except Rosalina), is an arrangement of the level clear theme from Super Mario Bros..

Most of Mario's moveset remains the same throughout the games, though his forward smash has been altered from a fist-inflating punch to an explosive palm blast (used from Super Smash Bros. Melee onward). Additionally, his spinning kick forward aerial is replaced with a downward hook from Melee onward, while the Mario Tornado has been used as his down aerial since Brawl.

Mario's alter-ego Dr. Mario is also a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There are various trophies and spirits of Mario, such his Super Mario Strikers incarnation, his Raccoon form, and him driving a vehicle.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario, as any character, can use equipment to boost his stats, but with the others lowered. In addition to generic badges, Mario can wear certain additional equipment, including shoes (speed), overalls (defense), and gloves (attack). Finally, Mario can use alternate special moves, provided that these moves are found during normal gameplay. One exception, in the Nintendo 3DS version, is the Explosive Punch, which is unlocked only if the player has a combined score of 200,000 points in Target Blast and the third Challenge Panel has been revealed.

In both super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Mario's silhouette is an opponent character for special move demonstrations.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Mario's victory photo in Classic Mode

Like every other character previously playable in the series, Mario returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character. Mario appeared in the game's reveal teaser trailer, alongside Link (using his The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild design) and new fighter Inkling. Mario's fire-based attacks, such as his sweet-spotted forward smash, called Fireball, and Mario Finale, have brighter, flashier effects, including the appearance of smoke. Mario also has Cappy right alongside him, though he seems to be limited to aesthetic. Most of his moves are unaltered, though his Super Jump Punch now has a random chance of producing regional coins found in the Metro Kingdom of Super Mario Odyssey. In addition, Mario's Fire Mario and Wario-based costumes were replaced with the Wedding and Builder outfits from Super Mario Odyssey. One of these two costumes, the Builder Outfit, was first used for Mario's artworks for Super Mario Maker. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, three more of Mario's standard attacks receive names: His up smash is the Lead Headbutt, his forward air is the Meteor Knuckle, and his back throw is the Airplane Swing. As with several other returning characters, the Mario-series victory theme has been slightly shortened and sped up compared to in the previous installments.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Adventure mode, Mario is seen when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. Although Mario is not shown to be hit by Galeem's beams directly, he, like every fighter except Kirby, is imprisoned in the World of Light, where a Galeem-serving Puppet Fighter (copy) of him is created. Mario is the first imprisoned fighter saved (being rescued following Kirby's defeat of the Mario puppet fighter), and once rescued, he joins Kirby against Galeem and later Dharkon. In Mario's Classic Mode route, it is possible to unlock Sonic, Bayonetta, Little Mac, Ike, Luigi, Roy, Dr. Mario, or Olimar.

Mario as he appears in Mario Tennis Aces is a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Classic Mode route

Mario's Classic Mode route has him fight many characters across different franchises and having no specific theme, similar to Classic Mode's previous iterations. However, Mario has a penultimate battle with Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, while his final battle is against Bowser/Giga Bowser.

Let's-a Go!
Round	Opponents	Rule	Stage	Song
1	Link, Zelda		Great Plateau Tower	Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda (Brawl)
2	Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede	Free-for-All	Green Greens	Green Greens (Melee)
3	Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong		Kongo Falls	Jungle Level (Melee)
4	Squirtle, Ivysaur, Charizard, Pikachu	Horde Battle	Pokémon Stadium	Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (Brawl)
5	Marth, Chrom, Ike		Coliseum	Story 5 Meeting
6	Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, Ludwig, Bowser Jr.	Horde Battle	Princess Peach's Castle	Fortress Boss - Super Mario Bros. 3
Final	Bowser Giga Bowser		Final Destination	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3 Giga Bowser

General information

Physical appearance

Aside from wearing a cap bearing his red "M" insignia, Mario usually wears a long-sleeved red shirt, which is tucked under a pair of white gloves and has a noticeable collar at the neck; layered over the shirt is a pair of blue overalls with yellow buttons. On his feet, Mario wears a pair of light brown work shoes. Mario's facial features include a thick, brown mustache, black eyebrows, and light blue irises. Mario has brown hair, most of which is usually obscured by his cap, except for his sideburns and the bottom of his hair from the back. Aside from some games' differences in art style, this depiction of Mario has been consistent throughout Square Enix-related media.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario has a more rounded appearance, and bears some resemblance to Mario's sprites in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, which released a couple of months prior to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and showed Mario as having a similar rounded shape. The resemblance is also evident in an artworkMedia:Mario and Diddy DKC2 chest.png of Mario and Diddy opening a treasure chest as well as in artworkMedia:Mario Diddy Chief Thunder art.png of Mario, Diddy, and Killer Instinct's TJ Combo.

Personality

Mario is generally shown to kind, cheerful, playful, courageous, and headstrong. He has taken on various occupations throughout his appearances, and enjoys playing a variety of sports. Although he is competitive, Mario generally shows good sportsmanship, even complimenting his opponents, such as in some of his Fortune Street losing quotes.

Mario has occasionally shown assertive tendencies throughout his appearances, albeit in a lighthearted and comic-relief manner. For instance, in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mallow had to physically restrain Mario from charging in, such as before the battle with Bowyer, so that the heroes can figure out what is happening to their surroundings.

Speech

Since 1996, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet in most of his appearances, including the Square Enix titles, and Mario has a heavy Italian accent. Mario does not often communicate, and often expresses sounds through grunts, yells, and other onomatopoeias. Whenever he does speak, Mario often uses a limited vocabulary of words, and tends to refer to himself in the third person.

Likewise, in some cases, Mario is a true silent protagonist, or he does not speak in English. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario is completely silent, communicating solely through pantomime. On the contrary, in the Itadaki Street series and in the Mario Sports Mix Press Conference, Mario has a full set of dialogue.

Powers and abilities

Mario's primary ability is his jump, which allows him to attack and defeat enemies, avoid obstacles, and activate items, most commonly ? Blocks. Mario is usually associated with fire in the spinoffs, based on his Fire Mario form from the Super Mario series. In some titles, such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario can control fire without using a Fire Flower. In some appearances, particularly within the Donkey Kong arcade game and Mario role-playing games, one of Mario's weapons is a hammer.

Foes and rivals

Mario's arch-nemesis is Bowser, who constantly has the goal of taking over the Mushroom Kingdom and/or kidnapping Princess Peach, although Bowser's schemes usually end up failing. In some spinoff appearances, such as Fortune Street, when Mario does lose to Bowser, he acknowledges it in good nature. Mario and Bowser sometimes team up to defeat a greater evil, namely within Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and some other Mario role-playing games.

Profiles

Main article: List of Mario profiles and statistics

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario.