Whether you’re a Nintendo fan or not, you likely know about Mario, or at the very least can recognize him. Mario is one of Nintendo’s most iconic characters. Even non-gamers know who he is, what he looks like, and how he talks. It makes sense, since he was part of some of the first games Nintendo did, and these games are what brought Nintendo into the limelight. Mario paved the way for other Nintendo games, and now, thanks to him, we have tons of great Nintendo characters.
Mario has been the star of several games over the past few decades since his first appearance in the game Donkey Kong in 1981. And he’s done everything: fight a wide array of enemies, explore different worlds, save kingdoms, and win the hearts of many girls. This guy has pretty much done it all, and we’ve enjoyed being a part of the journey.
Since Mario has been around for quite some time, there are a lot of interesting facts that we’ve learned about him and the games he stars in. We know a bit about his family, his world, his abilities, and his enemies. But along with those facts, there have been several “facts” that have been proven to be not quite true. These false facts have often been so widespread that many gamers accepted them as truth.
So here are 15 false facts about Mario that everybody thought were true. Some you may recognize, while others will surprise you. Think we missed some? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
15 He Wasn’t Always The Hero
Mario has become one of Nintendo’s most iconic heroes, and it seems difficult to imagine him as anything else. To many, he’s always been the brave plumber, willing to go through anything to save his kingdom. And yet, Mario wasn’t always such a good guy. In fact, there’s a game where Mario was a villain.
In the game Donkey Kong Jr., Mario has captured Donkey Kong and is keeping him caged up. The protagonist, Donkey Kong’s son, must go up against Mario in order to save his father. The game was kind of a reverse of the Donkey Kong game that preceded it. Instead of Mario trying to save his girlfriend, it’s Donkey Kong’s son trying to save his father. But it does show that Mario wasn’t as good as we believed him to be.
14 These Two Are Closer In Age Than You Think
For some reason, many people thought that Mario was the older one of the two brothers, despite the fact that Luigi is quite a bit taller. It does make sense since their personalities kind of have that dynamic. Mario is much more confident and takes charge more often, while Luigi is a bit of a scaredy-cat and more willing to follow Mario. It also didn’t help that Luigi was the 2nd player in Super Mario Bros., and that many younger siblings ended up playing him.
But the truth is the two brothers are actually fraternal twins, which does explain their differences in appearance and body shape. Mario is technically the older one, since he was born first, so people are technically right. But the age difference is quite a bit smaller than many players thought.
13 How Smashing!
One of the thing you can do as Mario is break the blocks above you, which can help you out in different stages. Now I bet that most of us thought that Mario broke those blocks with his head. It definitely appears that way, and we all probably just assumed that Mario had a crazy hard head or something.
But in fact, Mario uses his fist to break the blocks. If you zoom up on Mario when he’s breaking them in Super Mario Bros., you’ll notice that his hand is raised up in a fist, and that’s what comes in contact with the block. So, Mario’s head isn’t as hard as we thought. He seems to have a pretty tough fist though; can you imagine how strong he must be to break down these blocks of bricks? Go Mario!
12 It’s Getting Curiouser And Curiouser
Remember in Alice in Wonderland where she eats mushrooms in order to grow taller or shorter? Yeah, many people that was where the concept of the Super Mushroom came from in Mario. And it’s a valid theory since they’re both similar concepts. And for both of them to have those specific abilities couldn’t just be coincidence. It became such a popular theory that many people thought it was true.
But the creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself has denied the connection. He said that the use of mushrooms was simply inspired by enchanted food in myths in folklore in general. He specifically mentioned that Caroll wasn’t an inspiration, but that he just looked at how mushrooms were generally connected to magical realms often in folklore. So, they are rather magical in a way.
11 What’s My Name?
For as long as we’ve known Mario and played his games, I think many of us just assumed that Mario didn’t have a last name. After all, we never heard it, and in a video game, things like last names weren’t really all that important. It became a fact that we all just accepted. Mario was just Mario and Luigi was just Luigi.
But the truth is Mario and Luigi do in fact have a last name. This came about in the Super Mario Bros. film. The film actually said their last names are Mario. So, Mario is Mario Mario. In 2015, Miyamoto decided to make this canon, and so now Mario and Luigi are Mario Mario and Luigi Mario. It’s interesting how this came about through a movie that many people often forget happened.
10 It’s A Very Sweet Secret
This “fact” came about due to what was likely a prank that got a little out of control. Jeff Rovin, who wrote several How to Win at Nintendo Games books, suggested the existence of a secret chocolate factory level in Super Mario Bros.
After thanking a fan for explaining the existence of the game’s glitched Minus World, Rovin claimed that he also heard that there was a chocolate factory level hidden somewhere in the game, though he said he had no idea where. This sparked a frenzy among gamers as they tried to find this elusive factory. But they were never successful and most gamers have given up. It’s highly likely that the factory never existed in the first place. But one could always hope.
9 Didn’t Expect To See This Guy
Super Mario Sunshine pits you against all kinds of enemies, such as sludge monsters, Petey Piranha, and even Bowser Jr. himself. But many fans believed that there was a way that you could fight Waluigi himself in the game.
Waluigi has only shown up in games like Mario Kart and Mario Tennis. The idea of possibly fighting him in one of Mario’s adventure games would be pretty fun. The idea goes that if you collect all 120 Star Sprites, Waluigi appears, carrying Luigi in a cage. If you defeat Waluigi, you can unlock Luigi as a playable character. But this turns out to not be true. Waluigi and Luigi weren’t even present in the game’s code. That would’ve been a pretty epic bonus stage, though.
8 It’s Mario Vs. Mike Tyson
You might be wondering what the game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! has to do with Mario. At first glance, the game doesn’t seem to have much in common with our favorite plumber. But players believed Mario would make an appearance in this game and even help you out.
Apparently, there was a rumor that Mario could appear in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!! and would lay the smack-down on the famous boxer. All you had to do was hit the start button exactly 1:30 into the second round with Mike Tyson. This became a widely believed rumor, with many players wishing Mario would jump in and save the day for them. But this has proven to be false. Sorry gamers, guess you’ll have to fight Mike Tyson on your own.
7 What’s Mario Doing Here?
Luigi really can’t catch a break, can he? He finally gets his own game, and gamers try to figure out how to play as Mario instead. There was a rumor that Mario was an unlockable player in Luigi’s Mansion. (Never mind the fact that Luigi is trying to rescue Mario, but whatever.)
There is actually very little to back up this rumor since there isn’t even a mention of what you have to do to get Mario. There’s no mention of star collecting, specific areas, or what Mario is even capable. There isn’t even a mention of why you should unlock Mario. The rumor just consists of that it may be possible and you should do it. But it seems this is just another rumor that’s not true.
6 I Don't Think He's Supposed To Be Here
Looks like people really wanted to play as Luigi in Super Mario 64. Seems like whenever a game stars one Mario brother, there’s rumors that the other brother is there too. There was a rumor that unlocking Luigi as a playable character was possible. This came to be quite the conspiracy theory and it all started with a statue.
The Eternal Star Statue, found in the courtyard of Peach’s Castle, has an inscription on it that’s pretty illegible. But some players claim it states “L IS REAL 2401,” which lead people to think it meant Luigi is real, proving that he was an unlockable character. Yeah, it’s a bit of a stretch and proved to be completely false. But this conspiracy gained so much traction that Nintendo made a spot for Luigi in the game’s DS remake.
5 Appearances Can Be Deceiving
While fighting Bowser in Super Mario Bros., there’s a moment where Mario seems to jump on a glowing sprite thing, which freezes the game and then shows that the bridge has disappeared. Bowser then falls into the lava, defeated. For many years, gamers believed that Mario flipped the switch to defeat Bowser. But this is not true.
What actually happened was that Mario used an axe to cute the ropes to the bridge, and that’s what made it fall. Why the confusion? Well Nintendo didn’t animate Mario swinging an axe at all, so it looked like the weird-looking glowing thing was a type of switch. This is a case where being mistaken is totally valid, since we didn’t actually see Mario use the axe. Later versions that use this gameplay do show Mario wielding an axe, so I guess Nintendo learned their lesson.
4 A True Ladies' Man
It’s a tale as old as time: Peach is in trouble, and it’s up to Mario to go rescue his love. Many people thought that Peach was Mario’s first and only girlfriend. But that is actually not the case. Mario has dated around a bit before and even after Peach came along.
In fact, Mario’s first girlfriend was Pauline, who shows up in the game Donkey Kong. It’s a similar set-up where Mario has to go rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong, but it’s not Peach he’s saving. There’s also implications that Mario has fooled around with other women such as Daisy and possibly even Rosalina. Apparently, Mario gets around, though I don’t know why so many women find him attractive. Maybe it’s the mustache. . .
3 Mario And Yoshi Forever
If you complete 100% of the game in Super Mario 64, you’re rewarded a cannon that shoots you onto the roof where you meet Yoshi. Yoshi congratulates you on completing all of the game and gives you 100 lives. But some gamers weren’t content with that and were convinced that you could actually ride Yoshi.
There were lots of rumors that if you interacted with Yoshi a certain way, you could ride him and use him in your adventures. There was also the idea that you could use those 100 lives to hunt Yoshi down. But this has been proven to be false. The only way you could possibly ride the dinosaur is through some GameShark cheats. Sorry Yoshi fans, you’ll have to play a different game to join up with Yoshi.
2 Honestly, Why Didn't They Just Make An Even 100?
There was a popular rumor circulating that there was a 97th level in Super Mario World, though the details on what it was were often fuzzy, and no one could agree on what would be found there. Some thought there would be a bunch of coins spelling out “TEST,” or a gathering of the game’s main characters.
But the method of how to get there was pretty complicated. According to this rumor, you had to go to the Sunken Ship Area, collect all 5 Yoshi coins while in freefall, and then fall through the floor. This rumor turned out to be false since according to official channels, no 97th level exists in this game. It’s probably just wishful thinking, or the result of some gamer trolls.
1 That's Really Not My Name
When Mario first debuted in the game Donkey Kong, he was originally called Jumpman, since his main ability was jumping. This became thought of as solid fact, and most gamers thought Mario’s original and first name was Jumpman. But this isn’t quite true, though we’re close.
According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who created Mario, he originally called Jumpman “Mr Video.” He did this as an idea of wanting to use the same character for every video game that he made, hence the rather generic name. But he soon decided against that idea and changed the name to Jumpman. So, before Jumpman became Mario, he was actually Mr. Video. It would’ve been interesting if Miyamoto had kept the name, though Mr. Video isn’t quite as catchy as Mario.