Practically anyone who has been exposed to video games knows about Mario. He’s one of Nintendo’s most iconic characters, and one of their most well-known mascots. For many of us gamers, Mario was the first hero we played, and the first character we used to go on an adventure with. Mario was the one who started our love for gaming. His games are often still considered classics, and are still enjoyable to go back to. To us, Mario represents video games at their core.
At first glance, Mario seems like a great hero. He fearlessly travels throughout the Mushroom Kingdom to fight off the villains taking over it and to rescue the captured Princess Peach. Mario has braved dangerous areas, faced down threatening villains, and saved the Mushroom Kingdom from the clutches of Bowser multiple times. He seems untouchable.
And yet, there are some not so heroic things about Mario that Nintendo would like to forget (or have us forget). Mario has quite a few skeletons hiding in his closet, and he’s got a few less than desirable personality traits that we tend to look over. So here are 15 horrible things you didn’t know about Mario.
Keep in mind that while these facts may force you to look at Mario in a different light, they aren’t necessarily meant to make him seem evil. It’s more to show that there are many facets to Mario that we may not realize and show that no hero is perfect, not even a very popular one.
Do you think I missed any facts? Let me know!
15 He Wasn't Always A Hero
Most gamers think of Mario as one of the good guys. He’s the hero who fights off the bad guys. But did you know that there’s a game where Mario was the villain? Yep, Mario was the antagonist in the game Donkey Kong Jr. The premise of the game was that Mario had kidnapped Donkey Kong and it was up to his son to rescue him from Mario.
Granted, this was in the early days where Mario and Donkey Kong were duking it out, so having them switch roles wasn’t all that unusual. That being said, it’s a little creepy to think that Mario actually took Donkey Kong and threatened him. He also fought his son, sending bear traps and dangerous birds after a young gorilla. That’s a little messed up, Mario. This kind of gives a few implications to Mario’s character, or it could just be his payback to Donkey Kong for kidnapping Paulina.
14 His Foray Into Live-Action Was Less Than Great
I don’t know if we can pin this one on Mario himself, but it is a pretty terrible fact. The movie Super Mario Bros. came out in the late nineties. And to be honest... it’s pretty bad. It’s cheesy and the design of the various characters like the Goombas are very creepy and terrible. Additionally, the movie doesn’t really make much sense, and the plot is just bad.
In later years, the movie has gained a cult following, but Nintendo generally likes to pretend that this movie never existed. It would be interesting if they tried to make another live-action movie based off of Mario; at the very least, the designs of the Mushroom Kingdom denizens would likely be better. We’ll have to see what the future brings.
13 These Costumes Are A Bit Clumsy And Stereotypical...
Did you know that Mario made appearances in the classic arcade game Qix? The objective of this game was to claim a supermajority of the playing field, using a “qix,” a stick-like entity that moved unpredictably. Since Nintendo handled the conversion of the game to Game Boy, they featured Mario in the game’s cutscenes. They had the idea that each level took place in a different part of the world, and so Mario would dress in an outfit that reflected that particular region.
Unfortunately, these outfits often reflected less-than-favorable stereotypes of different ethnic groups. As such, they were a bit offensive (the ones set in the African region were particularly bad). It’s a case of Nintendo meaning well, but having their plans backfire rather spectacularly.
12 A Strange Tribute To A Landlord
This one is a bit more funny than horrible, but the origin of Mario’s name came from Nintendo having conflicts with their landlord over unpaid rent. In 1981, Nintendo’s US operations was having difficulty paying rent for their warehouse. Their landlord, Mario Segale had decided to confront Minoru Arakawa, the president of Nintendo America about it.
Arakawa smoothed things over with the landlord and soon after, they decided his first name was perfect for the character. The rest is history. Segale has actually tried to distance himself from the fame of being the inspiration for the name of one of the most famous video game heroes in history. I don’t know, I think I’d have fun with it. It’s pretty amusing to realize that Mario’s name was essentially inspired by an angry landlord.
11 Maybe He's Had Hair Transplants?
This little fact is not so much horrible as just really weird. It’s hard for many of us gamers to imagine Mario as anything else than a short, slightly chubby man with a full head of hair and a mustache. This design has become iconic as Mario quickly became Nintendo’s unofficial mascot.
But he didn’t always look that way. In the early days, Mario was known as Jumpman and was a carpenter. Previous designs had him as a taller and thinner man with a bald head. By the time Super Mario Bros had come along, his design had been solidified as more in line with what we are familiar with today. It makes me wonder though what would’ve happened if they had kept Mario’s first design.
10 These Enemies Aren't Even Really Trying To Hurt Him
To many of us, Mario is the daring plumber who fights of countless enemies and braves dangerous areas to rescue the Princess. He’s the hero we love to play. We often don’t think about the enemies they fight and assume they’re out to get Mario, because that’s what the bad guys do, right?
But if you think about it, Mario is kind of a violent person, and many of the enemies he fights aren’t actually trying to do him any harm. Take, for example, the Goomba. The only way you can get hurt by the Goomba is to run into it. Goombas rarely actually attack Mario; they’re just plodding along minding their own business. Think about how Mario often takes them out, even though they aren’t doing any harm. A little disturbing, right?
9 He Keeps Killing Innocent Civilians
If you look up the story of Mario in the Super Mario Bros guide, you’ll get a look into the background. It says that Bowser took over the Mushroom Kingdom, turning many of its denizens into blocks and mushrooms. Sounds interesting, right? Just a fun little story about why it’s important for Mario to go and fight Bowser.
But here’s where the messed-up part comes in. If you think about it, Mario is often constantly destroying the blocks that he encounters in the different stages. Whether it’s to help him get across the stage easier, or if it’s just for fun, many blocks have been destroyed. If those blocks were previously people, then Mario has (unintentionally or not) murdered countless innocent people. It’s a bit of a disturbing revelation and puts Mario’s “heroic” efforts into a whole new light.
8 Bros Before... Or Not, I Guess
Those not familiar with Luigi may not know that he does in fact have a girlfriend, another princess named Daisy. And we all know that Mario and Princess Peach have been a thing for a long time.
But did you know that Mario and Daisy hooked up? Yep, Mario cheated on Peach with Luigi’s girlfriend. Well, it’s implied that he did. In Super Mario Land, Mario travels to Sarasaland, where he helps rescue Daisy. In the end Mario and Daisy hop into Mario’s plane and enjoy a romantic cruise. It even shows in the ending cutscene that the two hug and a single heart floats above their heads. That’s pretty incriminating.
Granted, this all happens before Daisy was really solidified as Luigi’s girlfriend, but this doesn’t change the fact that Mario pretty much cheated on Peach.
7 He Doesn't Really Seem To Care About Yoshi
Yoshi is Mario’s trusted steed and has helped him out numerous times in games. He even helped Baby Mario defeat Baby Bowser in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Having Yoshi on his team always made it easier for Mario to fight off enemies and go through the stages much quicker.
That being said, Mario doesn’t really treat Yoshi all that well. But the worst part is that Mario has often left Yoshi to die. Do you realize how many times Mario leaves Yoshi behind? And the worst thing is there are times when Mario jumps with Yoshi and then jumps of Yoshi to get to a higher platform. Yoshi is then left behind to die, often by falling down the hole that Mario would have fallen down. That’s just cruel, Mario.
6 He's Kind Of A Jerk To Luigi For No Reason
It’s no secret that Mario and Luigi have a bit of a sibling rivalry, and it’s also no secret that Mario often overshadows Luigi. Even though Luigi usually does as much work as Mario to help save the Mushroom Kingdom, it’s Mario who gets all the credit, and he rarely shares it with Luigi.
But the biggest moment where Mario is a huge jerk to Luigi is in Mario Power Tennis. In this game, when Luigi wins, Mario ends up crashing the celebration. He comes on stage, half-heartedly clapping. Then he smacks Luigi rather hard on the shoulder and then grinds his heel into Luigi’s foot. I think it was meant to be funny but it kind of just shows Mario’s petty side. In this case, he comes across as the jerk brother who can’t stand to have his brother in the spotlight instead of him.
5 He Literally Stole From Poor Wario
In Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario goes to find his own fortune after getting kicked out of Mario’s castle. This results in a pretty epic treasure hunt where Wario sets out to find the lost golden statue of Princess Peach. His initial plan was to ransom the statue back to the Mushroom Kingdom once he found it. And he does find it.
But before he can do anything else, Mario swoops down in a helicopter, grabs the statue with a magnet and takes it back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Now, even though Wario is technically a villain in most of the Mario games, this is still kind of a jerk move on Mario’s part. Wario did all the work in finding the statue and all Mario does is steal it from him. He likely took credit for finding the statue too.
4 You Think He'd Be Better At Saving His Lady
What Mario is most famous for is that he constantly goes up against all kinds of foes in order to rescue his beloved: Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. No matter what, Mario will do what it takes to make sure he will find and save his princess from the evil Bowser.
But here’s the problem: shouldn’t Mario spend some more time in protecting Princess Peach and preventing her from getting kidnapped in the first place? You’d think that just by upping the security at her castle, we wouldn’t have all these kidnapping problems. With how many times Peach has been captured by Bowser, it makes you wonder if the whole rescue scenarios are more for Mario’s benefit instead of Peach’s. Perhaps he likes the glory too much to really care about Peach’s well-being.
3 He Destroys The Kingdom He’s Supposed To Be Saving
We know that Mario is a tough guy, and he’s often painted as the hero. And in many ways, he is. He fights the evil that has taken over the Mushroom Kingdom, and he never gives up no matter the odds. He fights off all types of enemies often with just his fists.
But have you stopped to think about all the damage he’s done? There’s the blocks that were previously Mushroom Kingdom citizens, so Mario has essentially killed innocents. There’s also the fact that he often trashes many of the castles he goes to. No matter where Mario goes, he often leaves a trail of destruction in his wake. Not to mention the fact that he takes all of the money of the kingdom. It puts his efforts into a new perspective.
2 He's Nothing More Than A Childhood Bully
Did you know that Mario and Wario were friends as kids? Well, sort of. According to a nine-page comic that Nintendo released, Mario and Wario played together a lot as children. Unfortunately, while Mario has fond memories of their time together, Wario has less then enjoyable memories. According to Wario, Mario often teased Wario as kids, essentially bullying him.
When confronted by Wario, Mario essentially brushes it off, telling Wario to let bygones be bygones. He then rubs it in further by bringing up an old game they played that Wario hated. Now this could be a case of Mario not actually understand what Wario was going through and being oblivious to his feelings. That being said, he still wasn’t all that nice about it when Wario confronted him. You could’ve handled that better, Mario.
1 He's A Walking, Talking Stereotype
We’ve all come to know and love the design of Mario as a short, slightly chubby plumber with a head of thick brown hair, a large mustache, and a fun accent. Most notably, his voice involved him saying the famous phrase, “It’s-a me! Mario!” Since he’s become one of Nintendo’s most popular characters, it makes sense that we’ve all become familiar with all things Mario. While all these details are familiar to us gamers, we may forget that they are based on a stereotype.
The design of Mario and especially his accent are all stereotypes of Italians. While these details aren’t harmful, they don't really help either. For example, many Italians can speak English without having to say “a” in between every syllable. While this fact isn’t necessarily horrible since Nintendo likely didn’t mean anything offensive by it, it still gives a slightly unfavorable view on Italians.