Mario

Mario is a fictional character in the Mario game franchise owned by Nintendo and created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as the company's mascot and the emponymous protagonist of the series.

Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom. His adventures generally centers upon resucing Princess Peach from the koopa villian Bowser. 

With more than 500 million units sold worldwide, the overall Mario franchise is the best video game franchise of all time. Outside of the Super Mario platform series, other Mario genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Mario & Luigi, Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, and educational games such as Mario Is Missing!, Mario's Time Machine and Mario Teaches Typing. The franchise has branched into several media, including television shows, film, comics, and licensed merchandise. Since 1990, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.

Mario appears in the Live Action film Super Mario Bros. as played by Bob Hoskins Mario finds himself in an alternate universe in which dinosaurs rule where he must save the Earth from invasion. The film was a commercial failure at the box office.

Outside the original games, television shows, and film, Mario has influenced the creation of a line of licensed merchandise and has appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adevnture Books, were created due to Mario as well.

Mario will appear at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka in the upcoming section of Super Nintendo World, which is scheduled to open in 2020 in time of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. One of the rides will be themed to Mario Kart. Universal Studios and Resorts also has plans to import Super Nintendo World to Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California and Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida.