Mario

Mario
Mario character
Mario as seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
First appearance	Donkey Kong (1981)
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Designed by	Shigeru Miyamoto Yōichi Kotabe Shigefumi Hino
Voiced by (English)	Ronald B. Ruben (Mario Teaches Typing) Marc Graue (Hotel Mario) Charles Martinet (1995–present) Peter Cullen (Saturday Supercade) Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!) Walker Boone (The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Tōru Furuya (1986–1988; Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! and Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.) Takeshi Aono (1992–1993; Mario Paint and Super Mario All-Stars) Nozomu Sasaki (Super Mario Bros. Special Drama CD) Kōsei Tomita (Japanese dub of Super Mario Bros film)
Portrayed by	Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!) Bob Hoskins (Super Mario Bros.) John Lenahan (The Super Mario Challenge)
Fictional profile
Birthplace	Yoshi's Island
Nationality	Italian
Weapon	Varies
Occupation	Plumber

Mario (Japanese: マリオ, Hepburn: Mario^?, [ma.ɽi.o]) (English /ˈmɑːrioʊ/; Italian: [ˈmaːrjo]) is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise, owned by Nintendo and created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as the company's mascot and the eponymous protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom, his adventures generally center upon rescuing Princess Peach from the Koopa villain Bowser. His younger brother and sidekick is Luigi.

The Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Over 210 million units of the overall Mario series of games have been sold. Outside of the Super Mario platform series, other Mario genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, and educational games such as Mario Is Missing! and Mario's Time Machine. The franchise has branched into several mediums, including television shows, film, comics, and licensed merchandise. Since 1995, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.