Super Mario Bros. Trivia

Super Mario Bros. Trivia

This high-jumping overall-wearing Italian is the world’s most beloved video game mascot. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be exploring ten pieces of trivia about The Super Mario Bros!

#1 – Debut Appearance

Kicking off our trivia list is the character’s 1981 debut in “Donkey Kong.” Did you know that he was originally known by the overly descriptive moniker “Jumpman”?

Not only that, but he was a carpenter… which pretty much explains why he used a Hammer and scaled a construction site.

#2 – More Than Just A Simple Jumpman

With the character getting his own pipe-based arcade spinoff, Jumpan changed professions to become a plumber. The now frontman was renamed after Nintendo of America’s pushy landlord who continuously barged in on company meetings to collect the rent, who was named Mario Segale. All that coin collecting makes sense now right?!...

#3- Design Limitations

Mario was created by industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto, and many of the iconic aspects of his design reflect the technical limitations of the time. Specifically, what he was wearing. Mario sported a hat to avoid having to have hair, a mustache to better define his face and mouth, and overalls to make his arm movements more noticeable and help separate him from the environments.

His legendary hard headedness is actually an unintended side effect of these limitations as well, as Mario never actually broken bricks with his head: do you notice that pixilated hand punching upwards? We’ll give you a second or two to collect the pieces of your blown mind…

#4- Doing A Lot With Very Little

It may shock you to learn that a modern day word document actually takes more storage space than the original Mario Arcade game. 40 kilobytes may not sound like a lot, cause it isn’t, but the tiny title managed to pack in a staggering 80 levels! Technically, this was only pulled off by swapping colors and making minor layout changes, but still come on, 80 levels…

#5- Family Ties

Mario and his younger brother Luigi are known as the "Mario Brothers." This means that Mario's last name is also Mario, so his full name is Mario Mario, as showcased in the 90s film. Luigi’s name in Japanese is “Ruiji” which translates as “Similar.” This fits nicely since their Italian names are complimentary, and since in his earliest appearances he’s essentially an identical character with a color palate swap.

#6- Mario’s Evil Twin

Mario's evil counterpart is Wario, a combination of the Japanese word for bad ("warui"), and Mario. Much like how Luigi as an English name fits nicely with it’s Japanese variant, the W for Wario clearly resembles an upside down M and helps to push the implication that Wario is Mario’s moral opposite.

#7- The Voice of Mario

He may not speak that much, but everyone recognizes his voice! Mario is voice-acted by Charles Martinet, an actor who crashed the original audition for the character that was seeking someone to voice "an Italian plumber from Brooklyn.” He won the part by avoiding the typical gruff Italian accent, providing a clean-cut joyful version.

He has been the official voice of Mario since the release of Super Mario 64 way back in 1996. As for the Mascot being from Brooklyn, this had only previously been mentioned in the 1993 live-action movie and in the game “Mario’s Time Machine” also released that year.

#8- King of Sales

Mario’s original NES game was such a hit that it remained the best selling video game for two entire decades, selling more than 40 million copies! This record was only surpassed by Wii Sports in 2009. Coincidentally, both games had been in box titles for their respective console launches in North America.

#9- Movie Adaptation

1993’s Super Mario Bros. was the first ever-video game to have a Hollywood movie adaptation. Oddly, Actor Bob Hoskins didn't know that the film he was making was based on a game until his son asked him what he was working on. He later regretted ever having accepted the job, citing it as the worst thing he has ever done!

#10- The Super Mario’s Super Show

Rounding out our list is the popular 1989 Saturday morning cartoon with live action segments that starred pro wrestler “Captain” Lou Albano as Mario. Having shaved his trademark goatee for the part, he rejected wearing a fake handlebar moustache for the part, choosing instead to grow his own. Now that’s the class Mario deserves. Do the Mario!

What’s your favorite Mario Bros. factoid? For more entertaining trivia videos, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com