Lesser Known Facts about Mario

You know him. And if you don’t, what are you doing on this website anyway?

Today, we are going to talk a bit about how Nintendo’s mascot, and probably the most recognizable video game character of all time, Mario, came to be. With a movie coming out very soon, we decided to go a bit deeper into some details regarding his design.

We all know that he made his debut in 1981, in the hit arcade game Donkey Kong (we have it at the Arcade Hotel too!). Originally, the game was supposed to be based on Popeye, but Nintendo could not secure the rights, so it was a big gorilla going against a mustached man instead.

The character did not have a name at first, despite the designer’s, Shigeru Miyamoto, thought to name him “Mr. Video.” In the English instructions of the game, he was first named “Jumpman,” and later he was named “Mario” for the American localization, as we know him to this day.

Rumour has it that the name “Mario” came from Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America’s warehouse. And also, while he denied it at first, Shigeru Miyamoto, finally confirmed that his full name is “Mario Mario.” So, that means that his brother is Luigi Mario, hence the title “Mario Bros.”

It sucks a little bit if your surname is the name of your sibling, and everyone knows you just by the name of your brother, doesn’t it? Oh, poor Luigi. But his story is something for another time. And don’t get us started on Mario’s dating life: it’s complicated.