The Beginning

When on the topic of video game mascots, there's no better starting point than the face of Nintendo since 1981. The red-hatted plumber, Mario.

If you don't know who this is, you are a liar.

Like most characters of his time, Mario's origins are a bit contrived and nonsensical. Shigeru Miyamoto sought out to create a best-selling title for Nintendo, trying to match the success had by titles such as Pac-man.

Miyamoto's development of Mario was as a sort of personal signature on every title he would later work on, similar to manga artists or filmmakers who would use the same characters/actors in their work. This aspect would go on to be one of Mario's defining characteristics as a mascot.

At first, Mario's role was to be done by Popeye, going up against Bluto to save Olive Oyl. Unable to obtain the licenses for the characters, Miyamoto dubbed the character Jumpman. His name would later be changed to Mr. Video, before finally being called Mario, named after an irate warehouse landlord for Nintendo of America. At first, his profession was a carpenter. However, the look of his sprite design was remarked to more resemble a plumber, and it was made so. This was reflected in his second game, "Mario Bros.", which also introduced his younger brother Luigi.

More recently known as "the gay one"

The brothers' true claim to fame, however, was their second game, forever branding the two of them as the Super Mario Bros.

How many of you know this level by heart?

The platformer style game established gameplay for generations to come, both in and out of Nintendo's own realm. It wasn't long before Mario became a well known and recognized character.

It can be said that Mario's supporting cast are even more integral to his success than the character himself. Bowser Koopa, his eternal rival, Princess Peach Toadstool, the penultimate Damsel in Distress, Yoshi, the...sticky tongued saddled dinosaur. But what makes him particularly distinct?

Counterparts.

Luigi's existence is an essential part of what makes Mario such a popular character. In later years, he has become quite distinct from Mario, but is still clearly the younger brother in the pair. In nuclear households the world over, a universal rule was soon established.

I was the second oldest in my family. You can guess how that went.

It was one thing to simply have a character on his own that punted shells and stomped goombas, but having another character, doing the same, with a bit of a different personality, it gave fans another icon to latch onto. Which only follows to have an "evil" Mario.

OH GOD ITS TEETH ARE HUGE

Wario's personality distended from Mario's even more than Luigi's, to the point where Wario now has his own game series that has absolutely nothing to do with Mario, or any other characters from the original franchise, for that matter.

But surely just a character concept isn't enough to make a lasting mascot. What else did Mario have going for him? His games had to have been good.

Well, they were. And are, for that matter.

Mario has always cast a broad net, even from his early days moonlighting as a boxing referee.

Princess Peach never approved of the rigged fights.

True to his intent, Shigeru Miyamoto plugged Mario into game after game, even when the idea of an Italian-American plumber being the protagonist didn't make the least bit of sense. Because, frankly, the concept of "sense" went out the window in Super Mario Bros., or even before then with Donkey Kong Jr., the first game to address Mario by name and his only game to show him as an antagonist.

He appeared in more than a few "Game & Watch" games, individual LCD units with one to a handful of games playable. Mario Bombs Away, Mario's Cement Factory, right up to Mario the Juggler, the last of the Game & Watch games. Even more baffling than these was his appearance as Dr. Mario. How a plumber could go from the sewers of New York to the mystical Mushroom Kingdom and still find the time to go to medical school is a topic that has baffled fans for years.

He got his degree by watching House, Scrubs, and E.R.

But the list does not stop there. Mario has quite the track record of professions.

• Plumber
• Doctor
• Demolitionist
• Cement....er
• Juggler
• Referee
• Turtle Exterminator
• Kart Racer
• Time Machinist
• Vegetable Gardener
• Barrel Jumper
• Zookeeper
• Dinosaur herder
• Pyrokinetic
• Superhero
• Raccoon
• Tanuki
• Frog
• Hammer thrower
• Invincible God-like Being
• Hotel Patron
• Typing teacher
• Tennis Player
• Golf Player
• Basketball Player
• Baseball Player
• Soccer Player
• Party Animal
• Damsel(?) in Distress
• Public Janitor
• Micro internal Surgeon
• Hip Hop Dancer
• Rock
• Trans-Galaxial Astronaut
• Warp Engine Repairman
• Bee

And all this is to say nothing of his main series of titles, where he plays the hero off to rescue (usually) Princess Peach Toadstool from (usually) King Bowser Koopa.

Because even with this gigantic list of games and roles, there is one defining characteristic.

By and large, the games are usually pretty good.

From the whimsical and expansive Super Mario World, to his 3D groundbreaker Super Mario 64, to his recent masterpiece of Super Mario Galaxy, the games Mario appears in tend to be well made, and just plain fun. Most are critically acclaimed, and even the games that repeat the Platformer formula manage to remain fresh in concept and gameplay. 

But why is Mario a central factor in all this? Why is a red plumber doing all these weird things not turning off gamers?

That can probably be attributed to nothing but pure nostalgia.

I think I just exploded a little from joy.

Mario established himself early, and has cemented his legacy in history and in the minds of gamers forever. It's unavoidable to hear certain bits of a tune and not recant back to some dot in time where a red-hatted plumber leapt about willy nilly while flinging fireballs at turtles. Being consistently full of wonder and quality, it can hardly be a mystery why Mario remains the epitome of the Video Game Mascot.