Super mario is da best, but I had no idea he was called mario mario.

Super Mario is classic. I personally liked all of the games, but out of all of them I like Super Mario 2 he least.

Gets a 4 for having such awesome games, but as a character, he could certainly be more interesting. I guess that's not unlikely for main characters, but still. Ah, well. He's pretty funny in the Mario rpgs, and whatnot, though.

But Bowser (and the Koopalings) > Mario anyday. But then again, Bowser and the Koopalings are pretty much some of the best video game characters in general, so what can I say? ^_^ (no I didn't try to rhyme that. XD)

He is indeed an italian stereotype but as long as africans or hispanics aren't being stereotyped then no one tends to care.

Debuting in the 1982 Arcade uber-hit, Donkey Kong, Mario Mario (as he was called in the 1993 motion picture) is a classic video game character, to be sure. With his trademark red-M hat, and red-and-blue overalls, he's always ready to rescue Princess Peach Toadstool from the clutches of the evil bowser. Mario has appeared in several of the greatest video games ever such as Super Mario Brothers 3, Super Mario 64, the Mario Kart series and more to come...

Actually Mario was based around an angry landlord at a hotel Shigeru Miyamato was staying at (he was originally called Jumpman {wow, I can really see the Jumpman franchise being a multi billion dollar success}). This at first would seem like a bad stereotype of Italians but lets examine Mario more closely. Whenever he falls down a huge chasm/ gets slammed by a spikey backed tortoise creature/ gets squashed by a disgruntled lump of stone he loses a life, takes it on the chin and tries again. He continually rescues the princess and asks for nothing in return (except maybe the occasional slice of cake and a kiss on the nose). When he goes to sleep he dreams of ravioli and his mama-mia. Not only this but he wears dungarees (since he is a plumber this saves his clientele from seeing his arsecrack whilst mending pipes). A thoroughly decent chap unlike that young rascal Sonic the hedgehog *shakes his fist*