mario

Mario (, ) is a character from the Mario franchise. Created by the Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, he is the mascot of the video game company Nintendo. Mario is an Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom with his younger twin brother, Luigi. Their adventures generally center on rescuing Princess Peach from the villain Bowser while using power-ups that give them different abilities.
Mario first appeared as the player character of Donkey Kong (1981), a platformer game. Miyamoto wanted to use Popeye as the protagonist, but he created Mario instead when he could not gain the licensing rights. The graphical limitations of arcade hardware influenced Mario's design, such as his large nose, mustache, and overalls. Miyamoto expected the character to be unpopular and planned to use him for cameo appearances. Originally called "Mr. Video" and "Jumpman", he was renamed Mario after Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segale. Following his appearance in Donkey Kong, he was added in other video games before making his appearance in Super Mario Bros. (1985), a Nintendo Entertainment System game that started the Super Mario series. Charles Martinet voiced Mario from 1991 to 2023, before being succeeded by Kevin Afghani.
After Super Mario Bros., Mario began to branch off into different genres and has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. These include puzzle games such as Dr. Mario, role-playing games such as Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, and sports games such as Mario Kart and Mario Tennis. He has appeared in other Nintendo properties, such as in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games. Mario has also appeared in animated media, including three series produced by DIC Entertainment (voiced by Lou Albano and later Walker Boone). He was portrayed by Bob Hoskins in the live-action Super Mario Bros. film in 1993 and voiced by Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.
An established pop culture icon, Mario holds multiple Guinness World Records titles, such as "Most Prolific Video Game Character", "Longest-running Computer Game Character", and "Godfather of gaming". He has appeared in a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectible items, and people and places have been nicknamed after him. He has inspired a considerable amount of unofficial media.

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