Nintendo’s iconic mascot Mario is no longer a plumber according to his official Japanese-language profile. In fact, despite maintaining the public image of a plumber– even using pipes on his many adventures– he hasn’t actually worked as one since the mid-80s. So how has Mario been making a living these past three decades? Let’s break it down.
Carpenter (1981-1983)
Believe it or not, Mario’s first occupation was not as a plumber. Back in 1981, when Mario made his first appearance in “Donkey Kong,” and its subsequent sequels, he was actually a carpenter. Mario was on the job at a construction site when the eponymous Donkey Kong crashed the scene, kidnapping Pauline and leading Mario to take it on himself to rescue her.
Demolitionist (1984-1985)
Mario didn’t stick just to building things, of course. After his foray into carpentry, he decided to go down the other route, destroying buildings in “Wrecking Crew” for a year or two. Always looking for new opportunities, this did not last long, but he’s made use of the skills he gained through it every time he runs into a bob-omb.
Boxing Referee (1984-1985)
No one will know what led Mario to try refereeing boxing matches– or who offered him the job for that matter. In either case, he quickly rose up the ranks, working his way up to the World Circuit within a single year and calling the legendary upset of Little Mac over Mike Tyson.
Professional Golfer (1985-present)
1985 was also the year Mario first tried taking up a sport– and he excelled at it! After starting out casually in ’85, Mario took on the international scene in ’91 as documented by “NES Open Tournament Golf.” Of all his endeavors, golfing is the one that stuck best, and has led to an extensive multi-sport athletic career.
Tennis Chair Umpire (1989) / Professional Tennis Player (1995-present)
Perhaps observers might have witnessed Mario’s meteoric rise to the top of the Boxing Referee world and thought, “Why not other sports?” Like Boxing, Mario only took to refereeing a single year, but may have been what made the sport catch his eye, as six years later, he took it up and hasn’t looked back since.
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Other Athletic Careers
Baseball (2005-present)
Soccer (2005-present)
Basketball (2006-2011)
Horse Jockey (2017)
General Practitioner (1990-2015)
In a shocking twist, Mario turned away from sports and blue-collar labor at the start of the ‘90s to begin an on-and-off career in professional medicine. For over three decades, Mario has prescribed and administered pills, saving one if not tens of lives from dangerous viruses. He’s even donned doctor costumes in his Professional Wrestling career. As an unrelated question: do we still not know if he has a degree? Where did he even go to medical school?
Race Car Driver (1992-present)
Outside of volunteer princess saving and plumbing, racing might be Mario’s most well-known career. His races are well known to be entertaining, unpredictable, and in some cases, spiritually challenging.
Professional Wrestler (1999-2016)
Nintendo’s mascots shocked the world when they all came together at the turn of the century to start their own professional wrestling organization, the “Super Smash Bros.” Ever since they began, they’ve been one of the most popular organizations in the world, with an ever expanding roster of talent from their own cast and the video game industry at large. And, of course, Mario headlines every event.
Community Service via Prison Sentencing (2002)
Mario disappeared from public life for a year in 2002 due to a run in with the law on the island nation of Delfino. After cleaning up the island of unnatural sludge that he had been charged with creating, Mario was vindicated when it was revealed that Bowser and his son had framed him for their crimes.
Olympic Athlete (2007-2016)
Pulling together all the knowledge from his lengthy multi-sport career, Mario finally answered the call in 2008 to represent… some country… in the Beijing Olympics. He, Sonic the Hedgehog, and both of their crews have entered every Olympic Games since, and Mario himself has been named the official mascot of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Professional Celebrity (1986-present)
While keeping the plumber image alive since he last cleared koopas out of pipes back in “Mario Bros.,” the short-lived career has mainly been used to provide a layer of mystique to his public
image that has led to more paid appearances and endorsement deals than any other celebrity in the past thirty years. These deals, alongside his other endeavors, have made Mario so rich that Forbes no longer includes him on the list of the wealthiest people in the world.
Construction Foreman (2015-present)
Everything has come full circle. Over 30 years after his last construction job, Mario returned as a construction foreman in “Super Mario Maker.” Here, he guides players on how to construct their very own Super Mario level. He’s not very good at following building codes. While he’s still likely to be playing and adventuring around the world for years to come, it’s nice to see Mario remembering where he came from and getting back to his roots.