When it comes to video game characters, no one’s more iconic than Nintendo’s poster boy Mario. The plumber has saved Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom countless times, but he’s done so much more over the decades than just playing the hero. He’s been a tournament fighter, kart racer, party animal, wild ape wrangler, doctor, referee, tennis player, baseball player, soccer player, Olympic athlete, environmentalist, intergalactic explorer, and so much more. In fact, it seems Mario has performed every job there is… except actual plumbing (going down Warp Pipes doesn’t count).
Now, it seems someone at Nintendo finally noticed. According to a recent article from Kotaku, Mario’s official Japanese-language profile has been updated to specify that he is no longer a plumber (going down Warp Pipes doesn’t count). Mario’s new official profile describes him as this:
All around sporty, whether it’s tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, he does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago…
Surprisingly enough, Mario hasn’t always been a plumber. Back when he was first introduced in 1981’s Donkey Kong, Mario–known as “Jumpman” back then–was “basically a carpenter,” according to Shigeru Miyamoto. Makes sense, given the construction site setting of the arcade classic.
This does bring up the question, though: If Mario couldn’t find any work as a plumber, how’s he been supporting himself over the years? Sure, he sometimes finds some money while saving the Mushroom Kingdom, but those are just coins. Does he just keep jumping from job to job because none of them really pay enough? Is he really just pursuing Princess Peach because he wants some of that royal treasury for himself?
If Mario’s not actually a plumber, then what do we really know about him?