by Ruth Jones
Hold onto your (fire engine red) hats, folks: Mario — the warm average Joe we have all come to love over the past 36 years since his debut in “Donkey Kong” — is apparently no longer a plumber.
At the beginning of this month Nintendo released an updated version of character Mario’s profile confirming that he is a sporty guy who spends his time doing “everything cool.”
The profile, as translated from the Japanese of Kotaku’s original text, states:
“With sports utility, I will do everything cool, tennis, baseball, soccer and car racing. Actually, there seems to have been work on ‘plumber’ long ago …”
Though Mario’s plumber lifestyle has allowed him to pop in and out of pipes in every iteration of “Super Mario Brothers,” game writers have decided to switch him to a more universal job.
Nintendo has yet to release a real reason for switching the beloved character’s specific job status, but this wouldn’t be the first time.
Originally, Mario was known as the “Jumpman,” and he was a carpenter. Recognizing that most of his missions where underground and through tunneling and pipe systems they turned him into a plumber that does everything but.
Mario is an ever-evolving character and you should always expect him to be right on the cusp of the next big thing. Which in 2017 is, apparently, sports.
