Love him or loathe him, you can't get away from him! Super Mario really is a super power in the videogame industry, and Nintendo's biggest cannon by far. The whole Mario universe is filled with wonderfully unique characters which made it my favourite franchise growing up. And as a result of my love for the characters and series I've done more digging into the character's origins and his many strange moments than any rational person should! Now, I pass some of the more obscure facts in my knowledge to you in this article! From his horrifyingly dark side to how he got his name, here's ten things you probably didn't know about Super Mario!
10. He Was Named After Nintendo's Warehouse Manager
In 1981 when Mario first took over arcades in Japan in the game Donkey Kong, he was simply known as Jumpman and the lady Donkey Kong kidnapped? Well, she was called The Lady. Pretty simple and not exactly iconic names. So when it was time for the game to arrive in the United States, Nintendo of America decided they should rename the characters to give the game a bit more personality. So who got to decide on the name of this soon-to be icon? Surely Shigeru Miyamoto would have a say as the game was his creation? Well, surprisingly no. Nintendo of America made the decision themselves and looked towards none other than their warehouse manager, Mario Segali, for name ideas. Additionally, The Lady was also renamed Pauline after Mario's wife Polly. On that day, history was made. Not only was that warehouse manager the idea behind Mario's name but when you think about it further it was probably his name and its association to Italy that gave the generic Jumpman a nationality. How crazy would it have been if the manager's name was Fred? We would have a completely different character jumping across our screens today! Anyway, that my friends is the story behind Mario's name - read on for more facts!