Surprising Facts About Everyone's Favorite Nintendo Character

<div><p>We all remember getting home from school or work and picking up our Nintendo controller to take another crack at getting our red hat character over the scalding lava bits or flying high in the clouds. With Goombas, Thwomps and Koopa Troopas around every corner, it didn't make it easy to get to the top of the flag pole at the end of the level. </p><p>While the days of the NES and the N64 are long gone, it doesn't mean that these games still don't bring joy to our hearts.</p><p>Here are some fun facts about Mario that you may have not known all these years.</p><p><strong>Mario is only 24 years old</strong><a href="https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2016/09/mario-24-years-old/"> according to his creator Shigeru Miyamoto</a>. We may have assumed that he was older because of his thick mustache and his generous gut. </p><p><strong>Luigi</strong> is actually <a href="https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2016/09/mario-24-years-old/">Mario's twin</a>, but Luigi is the younger of the 2. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_750px.jpg 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_850px.jpg 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_950px.jpg 950w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1050px.jpg 1050w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1150px.jpg 1150w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1250px.jpg 1250w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1350px.jpg 1350w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1450px.jpg 1450w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1550px.jpg 1550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/The_Mario_Bros-_GH_content_1630px.jpg 1630w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Nintendo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><strong>Chain Chomps</strong> are based on a <a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario/">traumatic childhood event</a>. Inspired by a time when a neighbor's dog chased Shigeru Miyamoto before being yanked back by a chain attached to its collar.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/ChainChompMP8s.png" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/ChainChompMP8s_GH_content_550px.png 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>Nintendo</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p><a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario-15-6/">Mario's original profession wasn't plumber. </a>In his first appearance in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong, he was the carpenter working construction on the building that DK escaped to the top of. <strong>His profession later changed to plumber</strong> when pipes and sewers became the focus of the original Mario Bros. arcade game. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/mario-sad.png" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/mario-sad_GH_content_550px.png 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p></p><p><strong>Mario was named after a Nintendo office landlord</strong>. Originally known as Jumpman, Mario was renamed as the namesake of Mario Segale, <a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario-15-6/">the landlord of Nintendo's first American office</a>. Nintendo was supposedly late on rent and their landlord apparently looked the other way, trusting them to pay him when they could. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p><strong>Nintendo always wanted Mario to ride a dinosaur. </strong>When Super Mario Bros. was first released ,technical limitations prevented creater Shigeru Miyamoto's dream from becoming a reality. When the SNES came out, <a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario-15-6/">Yoshi was finally introduced</a>. </p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi.png" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_550px.png 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_650px.png 650w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_750px.png 750w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_850px.png 850w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_950px.png 950w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1050px.png 1050w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1150px.png 1150w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1250px.png 1250w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1350px.png 1350w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1450px.png 1450w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1550px.png 1550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/Ground_Pound_Yoshi_GH_content_1630px.png 1630w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p></p><p><strong>Mario's mustache, hat and overalls were not fashion choices</strong>, they were to<a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario-5-1/"> deal with graphic limitations</a>. Since it was hard to draw a mouth because of the limited number of pixels in early games, Mario was given a mustache. He was given a hat because it was difficult to draw realistic hair. Overalls, were put in place so the player could tell he was swinging his hands back and forth as he was walking or running. </p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p><strong>Mario's ability to grow and shrink </strong>by using mushrooms is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. In a <a href="http://arcadesushi.com/facts-you-didnt-know-about-mario-5-1/">2005 interview Miyamoto had with Business Week</a>, this inspiration was confirmed. </p><p></p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/mario-on-kart.png" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/mario-on-kart_GH_content_550px.png 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></figure></div><p>Excuse me, while I go play some Super Mario Bros. and relive all the nostalgia. </p></div>