Mario

Mario is the main protagonist in the Mario franchise, the mascot for Nintendo. Nintendo's flagship character was created by Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto, who joined the company at the age of 24 after graduating from college in Japan. Mario first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong (first named as Jumpman), and became an instant celebrity during the period when more than 60,000 arcade machines were sold. In the 1982 arcade sequel, Donkey Kong Jr., he was renamed Mario by Mr. Minoru Arakawa, the president of Nintendo of America, who named Mario after the owner of Nintendo's first warehouse, Mario Segali. The 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. was the first game to feature Mario as the title character; (plus, the game as also the first game to introduce Mario's brother, Luigi). First was Super Mario Bros.