Mario first appeared in the video
game Donkey Kong as a character named "Jumpman". The game was surprisingly
successful.Mario also starred in an arcade game simply called "Mario bros" and
when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the
starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros..
"Jumpman", the main character of D K, was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials
for the game's release overseas. the landlord of
Nintendo of America, who barged in on a meeting in the company's Redmond,
Washington facility to demand an overdue rent payment. In Paper Mario: The
Thousand-Year Door, Mario is given the stage name of "Great Gonzales" during his
battles in Glitzville. Before a battle, one of the audience members refers to
Mario as "Jumpman," a joke about Mario's first identity. Mario's nickname in
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is "The Jumpman", again making reference to his original
name. Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, both
their baby counterparts, Wario, Waluigi, and other characters such as Toadsworth.
The surname "Mario" was first used
in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then in the 1993 feature film Super
Mario Bros. This was meant to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could
be known as the "Mario brothers". This surname theory has never been employed
officially by Nintendo, and it is broadly accepted that Mario and Luigi are
collectively called the Mario Bros. simply because Mario is the head-liner of
the pair.
