The well-loved video game character Mario, was created by the Japanese game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. Making his first appearance in Donkey Kong in 1981, few game-lovers know that he started off being known as Jumpman, the plumber. It was not until 1983, that due to his popularity, he made his solo debut and came to be known as Mario, named after the landlord of Minoru Arakawa, son-in-law of Nintendo's CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi.

Mario is shown as a short, stout man with a great big nose, brown hair, a moustache wearing red overalls and a cap with 'M' on it. Both in games and other media, he is shown as a kind-hearted, courageous plumber who loves Italian food, pasta and pizza. Besides breaking out into short phrases like "Okey dokey!", "Woohoo", or "Let's a-go!" Mario doesn't speak in any of his games.

The Mario-madness is not contained to video games only. The well-beloved star of Mario Bros games and the official mascot of Nintendo, he has also been depicted in a motion films, television shows and comics not to forget being the face on a range of merchandise.

Although chiefly seen as a plumber, Mario has made appearance in various games under different occupations. He has been portrayed as an archaeologist, a medical physician and an entrepreneur. He is shown as a savior of the damsel in distress portrayed by Princess Peach. Although it is not known what exact relationship the two have yet the mutual affection is obvious. On the personal front, he has a brother named Luigi. Besides many smaller enemies, Mario's arch rival is Bowser.

Mario is known for his ability to jump great heights. This ability is Mario's greatest talent. Jumping to reach different areas of a level and to kill the enemies is a main part of the action in most Mario games, especially in the Super Mario Bros. series.

Mario's most common form of attack is jumping to tramp on the heads of enemies. This results in the complete extermination of smaller enemies' considerable damage to larger ones. In addition, Mario also has substantial strength which allows him to lift, carry, and throw King Bob-Omb, who was much stronger and bigger than him.

Mario further uses many different items in several of the games that he appears in. The purpose of these is to give him special powers. For instance, the "Super Mushroom" which makes Mario grow to double his size, turning into "Super Mario.

Mario has not only managed to win millions of hearts as a gaming character, but this well-beloved character came to be one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005. Mario is the first video game character to have his wax figure placed in the famous Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. A survey conducted in 1990 showed that more children recognized Mario even as compared to Mickey Mouse, which is a feat in itself. Famous sportsmen have been known to given the nickname Super Mario in recognition of their talent. Some of these include NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux; pro-cyclist Mario Cipollini and German international footballer Mario Basler.