Mario first appeared as the player character of the 1981 platformer game Donkey Kong. Originally Miyamoto wanted to use Popeye as the protagonist, but was unable to acquire the licensing rights, leading him to create Mario.[25] Many elements of Mario's design were due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware, such as a large nose, a mustache to accentuate his nose, and overalls to make his arms more identifiable.[26] 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 would make cameo appearances 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.
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.
^"Donkey Kong Cereal". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ abcdefg"Mario Voices (Super Mario Bros.)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Super Mario Bros Ice Capades". YouTube. Game Informer. Retrieved February 21, 2021. Mario's voiced by Henry Corden, who took over voicing Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed passed away.
^"Hotel Mario". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^"『マリオゴルフ64』(第6回の4)". 1101.com (in Japanese). July 27, 1999. Retrieved June 21, 2024. マリオがパーであがると口笛を吹く。じつは、この口笛、タカハシ・ブラザーズ兄の宏之さんのものであることが判明。じっさいのコースでも吹いているらしいよ。" "When Mario goes up on par, he whistles. It turns out that this whistle belongs to Hiroyuki, the older brother of the Takahashi brothers. He also whistles on the actual course.
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