Ever wonder why Mario and Luigi, the world’s most famous video game characters, are plumbers? It all started with a little problem: pipes.
When Nintendo introduced Mario in Donkey Kong (1981), he was a carpenter, not a plumber. But when Mario Bros. (1983) came out, the game took place underground, filled with pipes and sewer creatures. Suddenly, a carpenter didn’t make sense — so Mario (and his newly introduced brother, Luigi) became plumbers.
The choice stuck. Over the years, the Mario franchise kept its pipe-centric themes, and the brothers’ plumbing background became an iconic part of their identity. From warping through green pipes to unclogging Bowser’s plans, Mario and Luigi have done more for plumbing than most mascots.
