Mario

Mario is a fictional character in video games, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in many video game genres, such as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting and sports games, and others.

Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. In the Mario series, he repeatedly stops the plans of Bowser to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom. He also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Mario is currently voiced by Charles Martinet.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is one of the most famous characters in video game history, and his image has become synonymous with video games. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 201 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside platform games, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, and role-playing games. Outside the original games, television shows, film and comics, he spawned a line of licensed merchandise.