If you lived through the 1980s, then you lived through the advent of Nintendo and the introduction of the Mario brothers into the budding world for gamers. But who are these brothers, anyway? And why are they plumbers? Why not some other career? Who are the Super Mario Brothers?

To answer the question, Who are the Super Mario Brothers, let’s do so line by line.

(1) Their names are Mario and Luigi

Mario and Luigi are Italian plumbers and are fraternal twins, which means they’re twins, but look different from each other. Luigi is tall and slender. Mario is short and pudgy.

(2) They are plumbers

According to the video game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, the plumbing profession was chosen for Mario and Luigi to give the characters a construction trade, similar in thinking as to why Donkey Kong was designed to take place on a construction site. Initially, Mario and Luigi were going to be carpenters, but then designers settled on making them plumbers, because much of the game occurs underground.

(3) They live in New York City

According to the Miyamoto, Mario and Luigi are New York City plumbers of Italian decent.

(4) Luigi is the younger brother

(5) Mario and Luigi’s last name is . . . Mario

Yup, it’s Mario Mario and Luigio Mario, at least according to Miyamoto.

(6) Mario’s first occupation was carpenter

Mario’s first appearance in the video game world was on Donkey Kong, where he is depicted as a carpenter.

(7) Mario and Luigi have had several girlfriends

Mario’s first girlfriend was the damsel in distress, Pauline, from Donkey Kong. He later went after Princess Peach from Super Mario Bros. He also had a fling with Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land, but Princess Daisy is more committed to Luigi.

Conclusion

Although Mario and Luigi began as simple characters in a video game, they have evolved into worldwide pop culture icons.