• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mario isn't Italian anymore

Matt_Fox

Member
Back in 1980 the character was originally called "Jump Man" he was rechristened Mario for 1981's Donkey Kong by staff at Nintendo's New York Office, named after the Italian landlord Mr Mario Segali.

I suspect something has been misinterpreted in this new interview, or perhaps Uemura is just talking about his own head canon. Who knows.
 

supernova8

Banned
Back in 1980 the character was originally called "Jump Man" he was rechristened Mario for 1981's Donkey Kong by staff at Nintendo's New York Office, named after the Italian landlord Mr Mario Segali.

I suspect something has been misinterpreted in this new interview, or perhaps Uemura is just talking about his own head canon. Who knows.

Wish I had a head cannon.
 

ExpandKong

Banned
Uhhhh he was determined to be Mexican actually

Mario_en_Acapulco.jpg
 

Ryu_Joestar

Member
Mariosuke and Ryuiji are two japanese guys with a schizophernic reality disorder which makes to pretend they are italian plumbers in a magical kingdom where a giant turtle kidnaps a princess every time
 
Last edited:

Vawn

Banned
When it comes to the lore of his own character's Miyamoto has no relevance. He can't keep their stories straight, because he really doesn't care about that stuff.

Mario is an Italian plumber who lived in Brooklyn before going to the Mushroom Kingdom.
 

iconmaster

Banned
Nintendo is as confused about Mario as anyone else.

September 2017, Nintendo updates Mario’s page to say he’s not a plumber:


6 months later, Nintendo updates his page again and reverts his vocation:

https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/5/17081416/is-mario-still-a-plumber

Nintendo wants Mario to be generic enough to serve as the company mascot he’s become, but unique enough to be interesting, all without offending anyone. I don’t think anyone was offended by Mario’s nationality (yet; all bets are off in 2020), so they’ll probably walk this back too.
 

UnNamed

Banned
He never was just Italian, he's Italian/American since his parents are Italian but he was born in Brookline.

... Or it was just the Super Mario movie?
 
Last edited:

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
This is some JK Rowling style 30+ years later retcon bullshit.

You can't parade around an obviously Italian icon, give him an Italian accent and name, do it for 30+ years, and then try to tell people he's Japanese like we're stupid.
 
Last edited:

TheContact

Member
From the legend himself:

“As a kid, I was a big comic fan and I liked foreign comics as well. So I drew some characters that had more western type features with a little bigger noses and what not. Now with Mario, I think with Mario Bros. we had a setting of course that was underground, so I just decided Mario is a plumber. Let’s put him in New York and he can be Italian. There was really no other deep thought other than that.
 
Last edited:
M

Macapala

Unconfirmed Member
Is this some kind of weird move to get ahead of the curve for when Twittiots start going after Mario for being a racist caricature?
I am genuinely shocked they haven't already....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top Bottom