Mario

Mario (マリオ, Mario?) is a video game character created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and is the official mascot of Nintendo.[1] Mario was originally portrayed with two-dimensional sprites, but in later games he is a three-dimensional, polygonal model. Because of the common reference to him and his brother Luigi as the "Mario Brothers," it has been speculated his full name is "Mario Mario," and in certain non-game sources (comic books and the Super Mario Bros. film), as well as Nintendo of Europe's Mario Megasite[2], this is the case. However, Nintendo of America stated in the 1980s that Mario and Luigi do not have last names.[3]
Mario is depicted as a 155 cm[4] (a little over five feet tall) portly Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He is well known for constantly thwarting the plans of the evil King Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom, his plucky personality, enthusiasm and spirit in the face of enemies, unexpected physical agility, cooperation with his brother, and close relationship with Princess Peach whom he has repeatedly saved. He has a greedy doppelganger by the name of Wario.
As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be one of the most famous characters in video game history.[5] The Mario series of video games has sold more than 193 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time.[6] Outside of the platformers with which he is traditionally associated, Mario has appeared in video games in different genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, Nintendo's arcade sports games (such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series), and Nintendo's series of Mario role-playing games (including Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Paper Mario series, and the Mario & Luigi series).
Mario was featured in a show entitled The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, live-action movie called Super Mario Bros., the Nintendo Comics System (a series of comics featuring Nintendo characters), and the Nintendo Adventure Books. The show starred Captain Lou Albano as Mario, and the movie starred Bob Hoskins. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and made appearances in popular culture. Also, Mario was one of the only three video game characters to be honored with a star in Walk of Game, alongside Link and Sonic.