10 Things Nintendo Wants You To Forget About Mario

3. Mario Has Been Known To Abuse Animals

At first glance, you might think the story behind Donkey Kong is that DK kidnapped Mario's girlfriend, with Mario coming to her rescue - a fairly straightforward story. The actual plot behind the Donkey Kong games detail that Donkey Kong and his son were pets of Mario in his care when Mario decided to put DK in the circus. They mistreated him, forcing him to perform tricks such as balancing on barrels, juggling and dancing through fire. In retaliation, DK escapes and kidnaps Mario's girlfriend, forcing him to embrace danger and come to her rescue. So, Mario stumbles into the care of two apes and his first instinct is to put them in the circus. That's indefensible behavior that most people would interpret as animal abuse. Mario and Donkey Kong are depicted as friends in modern Mario games such as Mario Party or Mario Kart, but it's obvious to see why Nintendo would want to ignore the events between these two, a serial animal abuser doesn't exactly make the best of child friendly mascots. Regardless of the severity of this back story, Nintendo would still go on to make bigger blunders regarding Mario's questionable past.