20 Gaming Facts That Will RUIN Your Favourite Franchise

9. The Bricks - Super Mario Bros.

After making his debut appearance in the Donkey Kong arcade game as Jumpman, the mustachioed plumber would go on to define the foundation for 2D platformers when Super Mario Bros. arrived on the NES in 1985. Even if players haven't experienced this classic for themselves, the game has become so iconic that they'll likely already be familiar with its gameplay and infectiously catchy theme song.

Alongside the warp pipes and mushrooms, the floating blocks that populate each level are one of the most distinctive parts of this game's design. What players might not realise, though, is that the bricks they've been jumping on for decades were once people.

According to the game's official manual, the Koopa used black magic to turn the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom into "mere stones, bricks and even horsehair plants". Although fan theories have speculated that Mario is killing innocent bystanders every time he destroys a brick, the manual later points out that the civilians are the indestructible blocks that drop power-ups as rewards for Mario.

While this legendary hero technically isn't killing anyone, knowing that these colourful levels are filled with cursed citizens makes these games much creepier.