Super Mario Characters
In order to get the most out of any game, you should first familiarize yourself with some of its characters. Very few video game franchises have had quite the same level of immediately recognizable characters as Super Mario, thanks largely to their colorful presentations and equally colorful personalities. Who is your favorite?
It Starts with Super Mario Himself
The fascinating thing about the Mario character is that he didn't make his debut in a self-titled game at all. Instead, the first time that Mario was introduced to the world was as a character named "Jumpman" in the 1981 arcade video game Donkey Kong. This was the game where the player was tasked with taking "Jumpman" up a series of ramps while Donkey Kong (a gorilla-looking character) hurled barrels down these ramps. The hugely popular game went on to spark one of the biggest video game franchises that this world has ever seen.
But what is the origin of the name Mario in the first place? Oddly enough, the name came from Mario Segali, the landlord of the original Nintendo of America office in Seattle. From there, his appearance and personality were further refined. Mario is rarely seen without his red shirt, white gloves, blue overalls and brown shoes. The characteristic red hat is never far away either. The core design of Mario has remained largely unchanged over the years, though he has gotten much more detailed and has gained some additional abilities. For instance, ingesting a regular mushroom made Mario bigger (inspired by Alice in Wonderland). Other power-ups have included the fire flower, the flight cape, the tanooki (tanuki) suit, the ice flower, the invincibility star, and more.
Say Hello to Brother Luigi
While Mario has stayed much the same, his brother Luigi has seen some more changes to differentiate him from the original Mario character. In the first Super Mario Bros. for the NES, the second player (Luigi) was a just a green version of Mario, replacing all the red elements for green ones. In later games, Luigi came to be skinnier and taller than his brother. He also took on a different personality, usually one that was flailing and frightful. This was particularly evident in titles like Luigi's Mansion on the Nintendo GameCube.
Welcoming More Good Guys
As the franchise continued to grow and evolve, more characters were added to the world populated by Mario and Luigi. This was further expanded by games like Smash Bros., introducing characters that came from Nintendo games other than the core Mario franchise. In regards to the Mushroom Kingdom itself, some of the main supporting cast have included the following:
- Princess Peach: Mario's main love interest. She was the princess that needs to be saved in most Mario games.
- Yoshi: The green dinosaur was a companion to Mario introduced in Super Mario World on the SNES. Mario has ridden Yoshi, who then extended his tongue to eat and propel various items, including enemy characters.
- Toad: One of the mushroom capped characters that inhabit the Mushroom Kingdom. It is difficult to differentiate the "main" Toad from the others.
- Daisy: She was the counterpart to Peach, serving as the main love interest for Luigi.
And Bad Guys Too
What video game universe would be complete without adversaries! Some of the main bad guys in Super Mario games have included the following:
- Bowser: Mario's primary nemesis has appeared to be a cross between a turtle and a fearsome dinosaur. He has been known to spit fire and attack with this spiked shell.
- Wario: An evil counterpart to Mario, Wario wore a yellow color scheme and used his grossness to his advantage.
- Waluigi: The evil counterpart to Luigi, being equally skinny and tall but with the same bad guy tendencies as Wario.
- Goomba: This was the nearly mindless brown enemy character that populated just about every area of the Mushroom Kingdom.
There are so many other Super Mario characters and this list represents just the tip of the iceberg. Surely more characters will be introduced as the franchise continues to mature too.
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