Celebrate #Mar10Day By Looking Back at ‘Super Mario’ History (Complete With Sexy Cosplay)
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Today is March 10, and that means it’s Mario Day — or in the preferred nomenclature of Twitter, #Mar10Day. It’s the de facto birthday of the Nintendo mascot, and we couldn’t be happier. So let’s take a look back at the character that reinvented gaming in his own image. (And, speaking of images, we’ve helpfully illustrated this history with some sexy Mario cosplay! Why? Because we love you!)
While most people know Mario first appeared in Shigeru Miyamoto’s classic game Donkey Kong, not everyone knows that Mario originally didn’t have a name. In the Japanese release, the little man jumping over the evil ape’s barrels was unnamed. But in the United States, he was named “Jumpman.”
The iconic nature of Mario is no accident. Miyamoto, Mario’s creator, wanted to use him in every one of his games. He even gave him a name that was appropriate for that goal — “Mr. Video.” Instead, however, Mr. Video was renamed Mario after Nintendo’s American warehouse landlord, Mario Segale.
Miyamoto later realized how important Mario’s name was to his success. He even said that, had he stayed Mr. Video, he probably would have “disappeared off the face of the Earth.”
But even as important as the name was, Mario’s last name has been controversial. The name Super Mario Bros. would imply that Mario and Luigi’s full names would have been “Mario Mario” and “Luigi Mario.”
In 1989, Nintendo insisted that wasn’t the case — though the Mario Mario name showed up in the oft-derided 1993 live-action film Super Mario Bros.
While in 2012, Charles Martinet, the official voice of Mario, declared “Mario Mario” to be the true name, both Satoru Iwata (Nintendo’s then-CEO) and Miyamoto both stated Mario had no last name.
The question finally was answered in 2015, when Miyamoto changed his mind — Mario Mario is indeed the character’s full name.
Though Mario didn’t appear in every one of Miyamoto’s games, he’s made a number of appearances. In addition to the standard Mario series, he’s also had cartoons, comic books and more. He’s also shown up in non-Mario games, like Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, The Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid.
Mario’s been the face of Nintendo for over 35 years, and may he reign for many more.
