The character of Mario appeared in 1981 in the game Donkey Kong created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi. When developing the game, this character's first name was Ossan.
Then Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to give him the name of Mr. Video, but the name Jumpman was retained. In this Donkey Kong, Jumpman must jump over barrels while climbing on scaffolding to deliver the character Pauline captured by the gorilla.
Screenshot from the Donkey Kong's game
In this game, Mario was still a carpenter, and became a plumber in the next games. Donkey Kong was a fairly significant success and therefore a sequel that enjoyed the same honor... released the following year, in 1982, his name: Donkey Kong Jr.
But it is in Mario Bros that Mario is accompanied for the first time by his brother Luigi and that he officially changes his name from Jumpman to Mario (in reference to Mario SEGALI owner of the premises of the Nintendo of America company).
On September 13th, 1985, Super Mario Bros was released and this time on console ! Success was there ; it was the second best selling game in the world ! It was also in this new game that Mario met famous characters like Bowser, Princess Peach, Toad, ... In addition, the game is accompanied by the music of Koji Kondo, soundtracks that will stick to the character of Mario until today.
Mario’s design was done this way considering the technologies of the time. Making a well-drawn mouth was far too complicated to achieve at the time, although players might not have recognized it. So, instead a mustache was drawn. It’s the same reason that prompted the game’s designers to make the hero wear a cap instead of drawing his hair.
As for the famous voice of the plumber, it is the American actor and voice actor Charles Martinet who embodies it.
Charles Martinet
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