Support NeoGAF

[Ryu_Joestar]

Shockingly, Super Mario ISN'T Italian - He's Japanese

As one of Nintendo's most iconic characters, Super Mario has undergone many evolutions over the decades, including changes to his background.

www.cbr.com

''Super Mario Bros. isn't set in Japan, but the character's Japanese. The name Mario sounds Italian, but he isn't Italian.''

-Masayuki Uemura, NES/Famicom designer

 

[Birdo]

He has an Italian accent......

And blue eyes.

 

[Ar¢tos]

He has an Italian accent......

And blue eyes.

It's a very regional Japanese accent and the eyes are a genetic mutation that also allow him to jump higher than normal humans.

 

[SCB3]

I thought he was from New York

 

[Mr Hyde]

I always thought he was based on Ron Jeremy. The plumber was a stereotypical role in old school pornos where the plumber came home to women to fix the "plumbing". And Mario is always rescuing Peach, fixing her "plumbing" so to speak, so it kinda went hand in hand.

 

[Yoshi]

1. I do not think Uemura has authority over Mario's nationality
2. Maybe he is of Italian descent or immigrated to Japan?

 

[MudoSkills]

I mean the clues have always been there. In Mario 64 he was using those stock Japanese phrases 'hwa', 'yahoo' and 'that's a spicy meatball'.

 

[Matt_Fox]

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.

 

[Madflavor]

Mama Mia!

 

[supernova8]

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.

 

[JimiNutz]

I thought he was an Italian living in New York.

Maybe he took so many mushrooms he started to think he was Japanese. That's happened to me before so it's definitely a possibility.

 

[N0S]

What about Luigi

 

[Matt_Fox]

What about Luigi

He's Welsh.

 

[Kdad]

It's a very regional Japanese accent and the eyes are a genetic mutation that also allow him to jump higher than normal humans.

There is a heavily Russian influenced area in Northern Japan....so why not a Little Italy too.

That's a spicy takoyaki!

 

[ExpandKong]

Uhhhh he was determined to be Mexican actually

 

[Optimistic Gamer]

He's right, I binged it.

I just learned Wario is supposed to be german...

 

[ZehDon]

 

[Kdad]

Princess Peach is actually a Geisha

 

[Kdad]

Well...you sure as fuck wouldn't get this casting now....

 

[Ryu_Joestar]

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

 

[killatopak]

Nope.

He doesn’t even have the authority for that.

sometime there are even cases where the direction of a character isn’t in the hands of its creator anymore.

 

[SCB3]

Well...you sure as fuck wouldn't get this casting now....

Well considering Bob Hoskins is dead...

 

[Vawn]

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.

 

[Kuranghi]

Nah, bollocks to this, he's clearly Italian in this clip, how can they ignore this?:

 

[Nankatsu]

Super Mariu-kun? Nani?

 

[Kuranghi]

Well considering Bob Hoskins is dead...

Hollywood is big on inclusion now though, so only so long before they start casting decaying corpses in the roles.

Progress!

 

[Kdad]

Well considering Bob Hoskins is dead...

Not in my heart

 

[iconmaster]

Nintendo is as confused about Mario as anyone else.

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

Mario’s not a plumber anymore, Nintendo finally admits

Thank you, Mario, but our plumber is in another castle

www.polygon.com

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.

 

[lock2k]

Hollywood is big on inclusion now though, so only so long before they start casting decaying corpses in the roles.

Progress!

 

[Vawn]

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.

Italians won't be offended, but young white Americans will be offended on their behalf and will go as far as demanding Italians start becoming offended.

 

[ThatGamingDude]

I mean
Everyone is wrong

He's from the Mushroom Kingdom
He....he's a Mushroomian...?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Ah, so Mario is either Italian-Japanese or a Japanese-Italian.

 

[Stiflers Mom]

I just learned Wario is supposed to be german...

Off course the evil motherfucker is german...

 

[Grinchy]

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?

 

[Dontero]

Donkey Kong is actually Macac and also is Japanese.

 

[Tangerine]

What about Luigi

Who?

 

[mortal]

''Super Mario Bros. isn't set in Japan, but the character's Japanese. The name Mario sounds Italian, but he isn't Italian.''

-Masayuki Uemura, NES/Famicom designer

 

[hemo memo]

And here I thought he was a middle-eastern with an accent.

 

[hemo memo]

It looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck but it’s a dog.

 

[Inuteu]

how much before hes gay and Luigi is his boyfriend?

 

[UnNamed]

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?

 

[Kamina]

He is Japanese, having grown up in Italy he had to flee from the mafia to Mushroom kingdom.

 

[llien]

Cultural appropriation in its finest, brutto figlio di puttana!

 

[Optimistic Gamer]

Off course the evil motherfucker is german...

 

[Kdad]

how much before hes gay and Luigi is his boyfriend?

Jason's post was the thin edge

 

[lifa-cobex]

Ah, so Mario is either Italian-Japanese or a Japanese-Italian.

He's Mario Mario.
Not to be confused with Luigi Mario

 

[Goro Majima]

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.

 

[TheContact]

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.”

 

[Frito_Pendejo]

I’m Italian American. That motherfucker is Italian as it gets. Sounds just like my grandparents who spoke broken English lol

 

[Macapala]

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....