Erika Menvrillo March 10th is MAR10 DAY, in honor of Nintendo's iconic and beloved mustachioed hero. Discover the surprising story of the man who inspired Super Mario's name. Spoiler: No, he wasn't a plumber
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Mario Segale was the man who lent his name to Super Mario. But he wasn’t a plumber, didn’t wear a mustache, and didn’t have a pet dinosaur. It wasn’t his physical appearance that set him apart, but the key role that he filled in being available for Nintendo during a time of need, to be the recipient of the honor of having the most iconic video game character bear his name.
The rise of a pop icon
Nintendo decided in 1981 to enter the United States by opening a subsidiary, Nintendo of America, with Minoru Arakawa as the head. The company rented a warehouse in Tukwila, Washington, for its headquarters. Mario Segale was the owner of the property and was a successful entrepreneur and the son of Italian immigrants.
Although Nintendo is now one of the largest players in the entertainment industry, it went through a series of financial struggles in its early years. The company was still working on its new game, Donkey Kong, when Segale came to the warehouse to demand payment for overdue rent. Nintendo was unable to pay the debt then, and eviction was looming.
But Minoru Arakawa managed to convince Segale to give the company a little more time to settle the payment and avoid a crisis that would have jeopardized the survival of the company. This gesture of patience and understanding left a lasting impression on Nintendo’s executives. To pay homage to the businessman indirectly responsible for the salvation of the company, they decided to rename the hero of Donkey Kong, who was initially named Jumpman, to Mario.
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And so the name Super Mario was coined, Nintendo’s core character and one of the most recognized characters in global pop culture. From his humble origins as a character in an arcade video game, Mario came to represent the entire gaming universe, a buddy to successive generations of gamers, and a factor in Japanese company’s global success.
Although Mario Segale never tried to bring attention to himself, never profiting from his connection with Nintendo or capitalizing on the fame of such, his story is a key part of Super Mario legend and video game history.
