Mario. You say the name and almost anyone will instantly associate it with what is arguably the most recognizable character to ever hit the videogame world. The theme song is iconic, his features are undeniable, and slap the name on any product almost guarantees instant success. But how much do we know about the man besides his love for a variety of colourful mushrooms and blondes in dresses (hey, sounds like a great Friday night, yaaaamean?? *wink wink*)?

Well, lets start at the beginning of the hugely successful plumber with the Italian accent (and we all love a man with an accent, don’t we?). Mario is 27 years old. He first made his appearance in the industry in 1981 with the instantly successful arcade classic, Donkey Kong, appearing as a character called “Jumpman” who was trying to save his girl, Pauline, from a large, barrel throwing ape. In 1985 Jumpman became known as Mario in the launch title for the NES, Super Mario Bros. The character was named for Mario Segali, The landlord of the first offices for Nintendo of America, who reportedly busted a meeting once just to demand the rent. After finding Mario Segali and Jumpman shared strikingly similar features, they changed the name of the character to Mario.

Since 1995, the voice of our beloved icon has been provided by a man named Charles Martinet, who showed up to the audition at the last minute as the recruiters were gathering their stuff to leave. They gave him a shot, and the Italian Brooklyn accent, softened for the sake of children, is what’s remained since. Martinet also provides the voice acting for other notable characters, such as Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth in most games where these characters have speaking roles. His voice is also used in both English and Japanese versions of Mario titles. However, we all know by now Mario is a man of very few words, tending to lend himself only to a few very well known catch phrases such as “here we go!” and “yahoooo!” and leaving the talking bits up to the other characters involved. Even in games where all dialog is written, we find Mario still doesn’t have much to say… as can be seen in Super Mario RPG. We have learned over what is almost 3 decades this man is all action, little talk.

Mario’s never had a confirmed girlfriend since Pauline back in 1981. Like most Nintendo characters, relationships besides those of friendship remain ambiguous, most likely for the kids. Oftentimes, the payout for rescuing a damsel in distress is a simple kiss on the cheek as seen countless times involving Princess Toadstool, and once in 1989 with Daisy. Despite what is quite obviously mutual affection, we have never and probably will never receive any confirmation Princess Toadstool and Mario are anything but friends. But this ambiguity doesn’t stop at loving relationships between characters. Even the history Mario and Bowser share is, at times, blurred. Even though Bowser is always running off with Mario’s supposed love interest, they have at times joined forces as a means of combating a common enemy, Super Mario RPG comes to mind for this. Yoshi is Mario’s most notable friend.

Mario’s only real rival in the industry was Sonic the Hedgehog, who emerged as the posterboy for Sega in 1991. Up until Sega became a third party company in 2001, these two mascots battled a bitter rivalry, but now appear in games together, such as the newly released Super Smash Brothers: Brawl.

So there you have it, the ins and outs of one of the most loved characters in gaming of all time. The sweet, gentle plumber, who accepts just a single kiss for risking life and limb to save the girl, who says very little but represents so very much, who has captured the hearts of millions, is likely to remain around for still decades to come. One thing is for sure: they don’t make ‘em like they used to.