Mario was supposed to be a gunslinger

Space-age weaponry seems entirely out of place in the Mushroom Kingdom, but early Super Mario Bros. planning documents reveal that Mario was initially designed to have access to rocket packs and beam gun power-ups.

The idea for a beam gun was scrapped because it would’ve made the game too easy–Mario could just run and mow down everything in his path.

Instead, game designers swapped out the gun with the now-iconic fire flower.

(Image credit: Andrew Winning/Reuters/Corbis)

Mario exists solely because Popeye was unavailable

When Shigeru Miyamoto was creating Donkey Kong, he originally wanted the game to star well-known cartoon characters Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto.

Nintendo couldn’t get the licensing rights, however, so Miyamoto had to create a slate of new characters.

And thus, Mario was born.

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Birdo is Yoshi’s transgender lover

Birdo, the pink whatever-it-is from Super Mario Bros. 2, was originally introduced as transgender.

“He thinks he is a girl and spits eggs from his mouth,” the Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction booklet reads. “He’d rather be called Birdetta.”

Nintendo scrapped Birdo’s transgender identity in many later American releases, choosing to use the female pronoun instead. Super Smash Bros. Brawl recently called Birdo “gender indeterminate.”

That’s a stark contrast to how Birdo is treated in Japan. There, the character is known as Catherine (she prefers Cathy, thanks) and was romantically linked to Yoshi in Mario Kart: Double Dash.

(Image credit: Shout Factory)

Mario wasn’t always named Mario

Mario made his debut in the game Donkey Kong, but his character didn’t always have the name “Mario.” His original name was Jumpman—a nod to the fact that he could jump over barrels in the game.

Shigeru Miyamoto also considered naming Mario “Mr. Video” at the time, because he envisioned the character as a regular in Nintendo games.

Thankfully, neither of those woefully generic names stuck.

(Image credit: Toru Hanai/Reuters/Corbis)

Mario doesn’t have a last name, either

The Super Mario Bros. movie would have you believe that Mario’s full name is “Mario Mario.” But it’s just not true.

According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the famous plumber doesn’t have a last name.

“Just like Mickey Mouse doesn’t really have a last name,” Miyamoto told Game Informer, “Mario is really just Mario and Luigi is really just Luigi.”

(Image credit: Buena Vista Pictures)

Mario has a mustache because tech used to suck

Mario owes much of his iconic look to the limitations of 8-bit video gaming. His character sprite was too small to draw a pixelated face and mouth, so Miyamoto gave Mario an easier-to-see mustache, instead.

It was further decided that Mario should wear a hat to keep programmers from having to animate his hair during jumps.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Mario Ice Capades was a glorious televised mess

Here’s an absolute oddity: At the height of Mario-mania, ABC aired “Mario Ice Capades,” starring Jason Bateman, Alyssa Milano, and a rapping Christopher Hewitt (beloved TV butler Mr. Belvedere) as King Koopa.

The whole bizarre, terrible affair is available for your watching pleasure (?) on YouTube.

(Image credit: Ice Capades/ABC)

Chain Chomp was inspired by childhood trauma

There’s a reason why Chain Chomps make a weird barking sound while attacking–they owe their existence to a real-life canine.

When Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was a child, he had a run in with a vicious dog. He was saved only by the fact that the dog was on a chain—it reached the end of its leash and was yanked back.

Years later, that trauma became a game mechanic.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario’s name is a tribute to Nintendo’s landlord

As the legend goes, Nintendo of America fell behind in its warehouse rent payments while working on the U.S. release of Donkey Kong. But rather than evict the struggling game company, Nintendo’s landlord Mario Segale agreed–after a heated argument–to give them more time to come up with the cash.

Nintendo was so glad to get the reprieve that they renamed the game’s protagonist Mario in tribute.

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Nintendo of America nixed the first SMB sequel

Japan and the United States got very different sequels to the original Super Mario Bros. game.

The game that Japan knows as Super Mario Bros. 2 has gameplay and graphics that are incredibly faithful to its series predecessor. It was a much harder game, however, leading Nintendo to believe that it would do poorly with American audiences. (It was eventually released in the U.S. as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.)

So, instead, Nintendo took an existing, unrelated Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic and rebranded it as a Mario game. The game’s Arabian protagonists were swapped out for Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, though the game’s antagonists were left as-is.

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has said that he prefers the American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 to the Japanese version.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Hudson made a terrible sequel to Super Mario Bros.

In Japan, sometime between the release of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2, game developer Hudson made an officially licensed game for computers called “Super Mario Bros. Special.”

It features all-new levels, new enemies, and new power-ups (such as the Donkey Kong-inspired hammer shown in the GIF).

It’s lack of side scrolling, however, made it a frustrating nightmare to play.

(Image credit: Hudson)

Mario was the inspiration for Sonic the Hedgehog

Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, explained during a 2010 interview with Nintendo Power that the inspiration for his speedy blue character came directly from playing Super Mario Bros.

“You could use the Warp Zones to skip many of the other levels, but you always had to play through World 1-1,” Naka explained. “Doing so eventually became kind of tedious, so I always tried to get through the level as fast as I could. And that inspired the initial concept for Sonic The Hedgehog.”

(Image credit: Sega)

The Koopa Kids aren’t related to Bowser anymore

When the Koopalings were introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3, it was widely accepted that the troublesome tykes were directly related to Bowser. And indeed, in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cartoon, they often referred to Bowser as “King Dad.”

But confusion arose when Nintendo introduced the character Bowser Jr. in 2002.

These days, Nintendo’s official line is that the Koopa Kids are entirely unrelated to Bowser. He’s definitely father to Bowser Jr., but Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says “we do not know who the mother is.”

Unless, of course, you count Miyamoto’s suggestion that he, himself, is Bowser Jr.’s mother.

And thus, Nintendo has set up the strangest episode of Maury, like, ever.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario was first played by wrestler Captain Lou Albano

Kids love Nintendo. And kids love professional wrestling. So why not combine the two, right?

That’s exactly what DIC did when creating the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cartoon in the late ’80s–wrestler Captain Lou Albano was hired to play Mario in both live-action and voiceover.

Fellow wrestlers Rowdy Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter, meanwhile, made guest appearances on the show.

(Image credit: Shout Factory)

Danny DeVito was almost cast as Mario in the SMB movie

The role of Mario in the movie “Super Mario Bros.” (1993) was played by actor Bob Hoskins of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” fame. But he wasn’t the only Hollywood celeb in the running for the role.

Tom Hanks was seriously considered for the role of Mario, but the movie’s backers thought him to be too expensive an actor to use. Danny DeVito was offered the part, but he turned the role down to work on “Hoffa” instead.

(Image credit: Phil McCarten/Reuters/Corbis)

…and Michael Keaton was almost cast as King Koopa

Dennis Hopper played King Koopa in the Super Mario Bros. movie, but he wasn’t the producers’ first choice.

Batman‘s Michael Keaton was offered the role first, but he wisely declined.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis)

Yoshi was supposed to be in the original Super Mario Bros.

Plans for the original Super Mario Bros. called for Mario to ride a friendly dinosaur. Due to the technological limitations of the NES console, however, those plans had to be scrapped.

Yoshi was again considered for inclusion in Super Mario Bros. 3, but programmers ran into similar tech hurdles.

It wasn’t until the 1990 release of Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo console that Nintendo was finally able to bring the iconic Yoshi to life.

(Image credit: John W. Adkisson/The Orange County Register/Zumapress.com)

Yoshi is not Yoshi’s real name

You may know Mario’s dino pal simply as Yoshi, but according to a 1993 Nintendo character licensing guide, that’s just his nickname.

His full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario Party 8 was recalled over a bad word

Mario Party 8 was a legit best seller for Nintendo, shipping nearly 9 million copies. But a significant number of these copies had to be recalled in the U.K. because it included the word “spastic”–a word many British English speakers consider to be a nasty insult toward those with cerebral palsy.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario was cut from Wreck-it Ralph

The hit movie Wreck-it Ralph had plenty of cameos from famous video game characters, but Mario is noticeably absent from the film.

“The hard thing was, we were trying to work out the right way to use a character like Mario,” explains Wreck-it Ralph producer Clark Spencer. “It had to be organic to the film, we didn’t want to just paste him in there.”

Ultimately, Bowser made the film while our favorite plumber did not. Mario will be included in Wreck-it Ralph 2, however.

(Image credit: Phil McCarten/Reuters/Corbis)

Mario likes to listen to “high-techno Euro pop”

Have you ever given a lot of thought to Mario’s musical tastes? No? That’s OK–we haven’t either. But Nintendo has.

So what does Mario listen to when he’s not stomping goombas? A 1993 character guide from Nintendo says the plumber likes listening to opera, new-wave, and “high-techno Euro pop”—whatever that is.

(Image credit: Felix Ordonez/Reuters/Corbis)

Mario made his TV premiere before Super Mario Bros.

Many of you might remember the “Super Mario Bros. Super Show” and “The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3” cartoons. But Mario’s first regular TV appearance was in a CBS Saturday morning cartoon called “Saturday Supercade.”

Donkey Kong was the real star of the show. Mario spends most of his time on the show unsuccessfully trying to catch the ape.

(Image credit: Ruby-Spears)

Bowser was supposed to be an ox

Hardcore Mario fans already know that Bowser isn’t exactly a dragon–he’s more like a turtle instead. But did you know that he wasn’t initially designed as either a dragon or a turtle?

It’s true: Miyamoto originally envisioned the Koopa King as an ox, inspired by the classic anime film “Alakazam the Great.” Eventually, though, it was decided that Bowser should be a member of the Koopa Troopa turtle family, resulting in his familiar, modern-day appearance.

Mario was originally a carpenter, not a plumber

Mario is arguably the world’s most famous plumber, but he didn’t always have that profession.

In Donkey Kong, Mario’s profession is stated to be a carpenter. Given the fact that the game’s action takes place on a construction site, it made a lot of sense. He also played a carpenter in Wrecking Crew–an early NES game that takes place at a demolition site.

Mario switched to the plumbing field with the release of the arcade game Mario Bros., set in the pipe-filled underground of New York City.

Mario Party caused too many injuries for it to be re-released

Ever wonder why the original Mario Party game for the N64 hasn’t seen re-release on the virtual console? It likely has to do with the game’s legal controversy: Hundreds of children reported suffering hand injuries while playing Mario Party’s frantically paced mini-games.

In 2000, Nintendo settled with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over the issue, agreeing to make $80 million worth of special N64 gaming gloves available upon request to those who had purchased the title.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario hasn’t always been a good guy

Mario may be the hero of the original Donkey Kong, but in the sequel Donkey Kong Jr., he’s an ape-napping villain.

It just goes to show you: Even Mario has his dark side.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Super Mario Bros. theme has lyrics

In 1985, a Japanese radio station encouraged its listeners to write lyrics for the Super Mario Bros. theme song. One submission, “Go Go Mario,” was so well liked by Nintendo that the company embraced it, recorded a performance of it, and released it on vinyl.

The chorus of Go Go Mario roughly translates as:

“Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running

Go save Princess Peach! Go!

Today, full of energy, Mario runs

Today, full of energy, jumping!

Today, full of energy, searching for coins

Today, keep going, Mario!”

You can listen to the full song on YouTube, but be forewarned: It’s all in Japanese.

(Image credit: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters/Corbi)

Multiple coin blocks were initially a glitch

Sometimes inspiration can come in the form of glitches: The 10-coin blocks found throughout the Mushroom Kingdom were originally the result of a programming error.

After much consideration, Nintendo thought the idea of multi-coin blocks to be fun enough to include in the final release of the game.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Super Mario Bros. 3 was just a play

Did the events in Super Mario Bros. 3 actually happen? According to a recent video from Mario’s creator, no–the entire game was just an elaborate stage show.

The game opens with the raising of a curtain; the black-and-white ending to each stage is the video game equivalent of Mario walking off, stage right.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario attended Milli Vanilli’s final TV performance

Old school R&B group Milli Vanilli became a huge punchline in the early 1990s when the duo was exposed as a pair of lip-syncers.

Two weeks before the scandal broke, the Super Mario Bros. cartoon show aired an episode where King Koopa kidnaps Milli Vanilli and turns the pair into accountants. The episode features a performance of “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl You Know it’s True” (both of which had to be edited out for re-broadcast) along with jokes that referenced the group’s fraudulent hit.

Thankfully, YouTube rescued Milli Vanilli’s historic performance from history’s trash can.

(Image credit: Shout Factory)

Tanooki are real animals!

The tanuki, often known as the Japanese raccoon dog, is a popular animal in Japanese folklore. They are regarded as supernatural, shape-shifting tricksters–which may help explain why Mario’s Tanooki Suit power-up from Super Mario Bros. 3 allows him to transform into a statue.

(Image credit: Radius Images/Corbis)

The SMB theme is one of the most popular ringtones of all time

Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. theme song is absolutely iconic—and ridiculously popular. So popular, in fact, that it spent 125 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot Ringtones chart in the 2000s.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario almost became a featured attraction at Disneyland

In his book Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, David Sheff writes that Nintendo was working with Disney to create theme park rides based on the Super Mario Bros. movie in 1993. Sadly, because the movie was a flop, no ride was built.

In May 2015, Nintendo announced a partnership with Disneyland rival Universal Parks & Resorts to build “spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters, and worlds.”

(Image credit: Blaine Harrington III/Corbis)

Wario isn’t evil; he’s just super jealous

According to official Nintendo lore, Wario was a childhood friend of Mario’s who got overly jealous of the famous plumber’s success and “dashing good looks.”

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario used to be more popular than Mickey Mouse

When it comes to fictional characters, Mickey Mouse traditionally sits at the top of the heap in the eyes of young kids. But for a brief, glorious time in 1990, a Q Score marketing survey revealed that Mario was more widely recognized among kids than even Mickey Mouse–a historic feat for video game characters everywhere.

(Image credit: Pascal Della Zuana/Sygma/Corbis)