Mario

Mario is the main protagonist of the Mario series and the legendary mascot of Nintendo. Mario is normally a plumber, but in games, he uses his legendary jump and combat abilities to defend the inhabitants of the usually peaceful Mushroom World from power-hungry villains such as Bowser. When not adventuring, Mario participates in a variety of sporting events and even works as one of his alter-egos, Dr. Mario.

Mario was created out of necessity by Shigeru Miyamoto after Nintendo lost the license to create a video game based on the Popeye universe. The designers kept the gameplay, but created a new cast of characters. Mario assumed Popeye's role, and the game was released as the arcade version of Donkey Kong. In this game, he was originally referred to as "Jumpman." Jumpman was renamed "Mario" when an employee at Nintendo of America's office in New York City pointed out the similar physical appearances of Jumpman and Nintendo's Italian landlord, Mario Segale.

Since then, Mario has appeared in nearly every title in the Super Mario series. In addition, he has appeared in multiple television programs, comic books, and even a feature film. He is currently one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world, having appeared in hundreds of video games.

History
Donkey Kong Mario has first been seen in the classic Donkey Kong Game. The whole Plot of the game was for Donkey Kong to shoot barrels at the player and the player to dodge them and get to the top and save Mario's girlfriend, Pauline through three levels.

Each time Mario reaches Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong then slings Pauline across his shoulders once more and climbs higher. After three Levels, Donkey Kong is trapped at the top of the structure, cornered. Donkey Kong falls off of the structure, and Pauline seems to be safe. Rather than continue DK and his circus act, Mario instead only wished to ensure that Donkey Kong would not return to kidnap Pauline. Mario took him to a deep and dangerous jungle and imprisoned him in a cage, as seen in Donkey Kong Jr.. Seeing his chance to rescue his father, Donkey Kong Jr. challenged Mario and unlocked the cage. Each time this happened, Mario fled with Donkey Kong to a new location, locking the ape up once again. Eventually, in Donkey Kong II, Mario began using chains to lock up the ape. Eventually, Jr. was able to free his father and Mario fled from the angry Donkey Kong, leaving him in the jungle. Donkey Kong Jr. Donkey Kong Jr. served as a sequel to Donkey Kong, and was also released on arcade the same year, 1983. In this game, Mario is the antagonist, and capture Donkey Kong and encloses him inside a cage. Donkey's son, Donkey Kong Jr., is then given the task to save his father from Mario. The Game was similar in essence to Donkey Kong, as Jr. has to also reach the top of the Stage in each Level. Each time he does, however, Mario then flees to a different level and locks up the ape once more. To date, Donkey Kong Jr. is the only game in which Mario takes on the role of antagonist, and the objective of the game is to defeat him.

Super Mario Series
Mario Bros. Mario Bros. was also released as an arcade game in 1983. It first introduced Mario's brother, Luigi. The brother was very similar in appearance to Mario himself, the only visible difference being his clothes; Luigi wore green where Mario wore red. The game takes place underground inside a sewage system in New York, and Mario and Luigi are plumbers. In the sewers, various enemies start crawling out of the pipes at the top of the screen, and work their way down until they enter one of the pipes at the bottom. Some enemies include Shellcreepers, Spinies, Sidesteppers, Fighter Flies, and Freezies. The objective is to knock out each enemy by punching the ground below them, which can be done by jumping up when directly below the platform the enemy is on. Mario or Luigi must then kick the enemy while they are down, or else they revive and start walking again. Each phase increases in difficulty, with occasional Bonus Rounds in which Mario and Luigi can retrieve coins for bonus points. Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. was the first Mario Game for the NES. It was released in 1985. It was Mario's first Adventure game for an acutal video gaming system. The whole plot in the game is for Mario to go around many levels in hurry to save Princess Peach from the evil clutches of Bowser. While going through many levels Mario is not alone. Super Mario Bros. comes with 2-Player. Luigi is also, a playable character. Super Mario Bros. 2 One evening, during the events of Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario dreamed that he was ascending a staircase leading to a door. The door opened and he looked out upon the land of dreams, Subcon. A faint voice informed him that the tyrant Wart had taken control of the land. Wart had achieved this with the help of the 8 bits and by casting a spell upon the majority of those who lived in Subcon that placed them under Warts control. Additionally, he created the Nightmare Machine, a device that created additional monsters. Just after the voice mentioned that Wart hated Vegetables, a bolt of lightning flashed in front of Mario, and he lost his footing. As Mario fell, he woke up in his bed. The hero could not clear his head of the dream, so he decided to talk to Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad about it. They decided to go on a picnic together on a nearby mountain. Once there, they discovered a cave and went exploring. Inside the cave was a staircase resembling the one in Mario's dream. The four climbed up to find a door resembling the one in Mario's dream. Fearful, they opened the door and entered Subcon. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad set out to free the captive world. Mario was the most balanced of his friends in terms of abilities: he is second most powerful, second fastest, and second highest jumper. Together, the team traversed the seven worlds of Subcon, toppling Wart's generals as they went. Their enemies could not be defeated using their traditional jump. Instead, they had to pick up Vegetables, pieces of the environment, or other enemies and throw them at enemies to defeat them. They encountered Birdo the most of all the generals, as she held the Crystal Balls that could open each of the Hawkmouths, doorways to the next part of each world. The doorway to each new world was protected by one of Warts generals. Mouser, Tryclyde, and Fryguy, members of Bowser's Koopa Pack in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, now worked for Wart. Finally, the four heroes reached the sky, where Wart had built his massive castle. They fought their way to the Nightmare Machine chamber and cornered Wart. There, he fought the heroes. Remembering the faint voice's last words, they tossed Vegetables into Warts mouth, defeating him. The heroes opened a vase which was being used as a prison for the Subcon and freed Wart's captives. With Wart's reign ended, the spell was broken and peace was restored. A celebration was held in the four heroes honor, and suddenly, Mario woke up. This time, he was not disturbed by his dream and soon went peacefully back to sleep. Super Mario Bros. 3 With the Mushroom Kingdom now completely free of Bowser's tyranny, the land had now finally returned to peace. However, during the events of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario All Stars, and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, the seven lands in the Mushroom World were being attacked by Bowser's Koopalings. The Koopa king had commanded them to make mischief in the Mushroom World. The seven Koopalings each went to one of the seven lands of the Mushroom Kingdom and attacked their kings. Stealing the kings' royal Magic Wands, they transformed each of the kings into an animal. The king of Grass Land's Toad assistant quickly reported Larry Koopa's attack to Princess Peach. Hearing of the Mushroom World's dire situation, Mario and Luigi took it upon themselves to recover the magic wands and restore the kings to their original forms. Princess Peach and Toad wished them good luck as the brothers left for their next adventure. Mario and Luigi fought their way through countless enemies in Bowser's army blocking their way to the castles in each country. Each time they reached a castle, the Koopaling controlling it would flee into his or her airship. Mario and Luigi were forced to chase the Koopaling around the world until finally raiding the Airship and defeating Bowser's minions within. After recovering each magic wand and restoring each of the seven kings, Mario and Luigi received a letter from Bowser: while the Mario Bros. were away, Bowser had kidnapped the princess and taken her to Bowser's Castle deep within the Dark Land. Mario and Luigi met with their toughest challenges yet. Bowser had prepared an expansive, modern military, complete with tanks, airships, and ships capable of withstanding the lava that flowed throughout the world. The brothers were never safe: three Hand Traps were prepared to pull them into dangerous areas where they faced multitudes of enemies and hazards. Finally, they reached Bowser's Castle and cornered Bowser. The king attacked by creating holes in the floor and sending out fireballs. The brothers could defeat him by using Hammers or fireballs if they had the appropriate power-ups. However, Bowser eventually defeated himself by falling into one of his own pits. Mario and Luigi rescued Princess Peach, who joshed them, saying, "Thank you. But our princess is in another castle!... Just kidding. Ha ha ha! Bye bye!" Super Mario World Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach took a vacation to the strange Dinosaur Land during the events of Super Mario World. As soon as they arrived, they realized nobody was there. Luigi noticed a mysterious feather. After he and Mario touched it, he donned a cape and was able to fly. The brothers experimented with this new ability, but once they returned, Peach was missing. Mario and Luigi went to Yoshi's house and read a letter saying that he and his friends had been kidnapped by Bowser, who also made off with the Princess. The heroic plumbers immediately set out to save them, faced many strange new enemies along with their old foes, including the Koopalings (each of them were guarding a captured Yoshi Egg). Using the help of the Yoshis and their long enemy-swallowing tongues, Mario finally liberates Dinosaur Land and all those who had been taken captive by Bowser. Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Yoshi celebrated the rest of the vacation at Yoshi's House, watching the seven Yoshi Eggs hatch.