Mario

Mario is the main and titular protagonist of Nintendo's long-running and flagship Mario franchise. Mario made his debut in the arcade game Donkey Kong, and has appeared in over 200 video games to date. Some of them also feature Kirby, mainly in the Super Smash Bros. series, in which both Mario and Kirby are starter playable characters in every installment. Mario has made a few cameos within the Kirby franchise, but his first shared appearance with Kirby is in the Mario Kirby Meisaku Video short film.

Kirby franchise
In Kirby Super Star and its remake Kirby Super Star Ultra, Mario makes a few cameos. A gold statue of Mario is one of the transformations Stone Kirby can turn into when using the Stone Change move, although there is a very small chance of this occurring. In Spring Breeze, Mario is one of the characters in the crowd during Kirby's fight against King Dedede. He is also shown in the crowd during the Megaton Punch Sub-Game. In Milky Way Wishes's ending, Mario is shown doing a peace sign in front of the Nintendo logo.

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Mario makes another cameo in the end credits for Revenge of the King, in the form of a golden statue. s Stone Change transformation grants.

In Kirby: Planet Robobot, Mario returns as a golden statue transformation of the Stone ability.

Super Smash Bros. series
Mario has been playable in every Super Smash Bros. game to date. Mario is usually portrayed as a "main" character alongside Link, Kirby, and Pikachu, roughly depicted as the most prominent character and face of the games until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he and Link share mascot status and Kirby is the closest thing to a main character in World of Light. Mario has retained his balanced abilities even when fighting characters from other series. Due to his balanced playstyle, Mario's skill is reflected by the player, as mentioned by the Adventure mode Mario trophy. Also, as a result of his balanced design, Mario is also typically chosen for the "template" character; in Super Smash Bros., as well as all subsequent Super Smash Bros. installments, he is shown in the "How to Play" video; in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, players use him when testing changes in Stage Creator; and in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, his silhouette is an opponent character for special move demonstrations. He is also used for controller mapping testing and is part of the gauge when players select the level of intensity in Classic Mode. Mario's moveset consists of quick short-ranged attacks, such as punches, kicks, and even head attacks. Mario's weight in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee is 100 units; starting from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, his weight is decreased to 98 units. Mario's victory theme throughout the series, which is shared with the rest of the Mario characters (except Rosalina), is an arrangement of the level clear theme from Super Mario Bros.

Most of Mario's moveset remains the same throughout the games, though his forward smash has been altered from a fist-inflating punch to an explosive palm blast (used from Super Smash Bros. Melee onward). Additionally, his spinning kick forward aerial is replaced with a downward from Melee onward, while the Mario Tornado has been used as his down aerial since Brawl.

Mario's alter-egos Dr. Mario and Metal Mario have also made appearances, with Dr. Mario being playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Mario also makes additional trophy, sticker, and spirit appearances such as his Mario Strikers incarnation, his Raccoon form, and him driving a vehicle.

Super Smash Bros.
In Super Smash Bros., Mario's standard moveset is inspired from Super Mario 64; his standard attack is the Punch + Punch + Kick combo, his dash attack is the Slide Kick, his down smash is the Sweep Kick (until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), and lastly, his back throw is the same throw he uses against Bowser. His special moves are Fireball, a bouncing fireball; Super Jump Punch, which has him jump, causing coins to fly out when in contact with enemies; and Mario Tornado, which has him spinning rapidly. Luigi serves as a clone of Mario, having the same moveset but with different properties, although in later games, he would be replaced by Dr. Mario.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario gains a side special move: Cape, a cape swipe that reflects projectiles. In contrast to his appearances in most games, he has a very serious and stern look on his face, despite the fact that he is normally portrayed as a cheerful person. Dr. Mario is introduced as a playable character, having near-identical moves.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
"Oh yeah! HIYAHHHHHHH...!!!"

- Mario

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, like every other character, Mario is given a Final Smash, which is named Mario Finale. For this move, launches a slow-moving two-streamed blast of fire that hits multiple times. Opponents that come in contact with the blast are knocked slightly to the side, and are thus forced to be traveled with it. His down special move Mario Tornado was replaced by F.L.U.D.D., which sprays water that can push opponents. Mario's counterpart, Dr. Mario, does not return in the game.

Role in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary
At the very start of Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into an arena called the Midair Stadium. The two come to life and fight. The player chooses the one to play with. If Mario is chosen, the opponent is Kirby. After the battle between the two, Mario resurrects Kirby. This scenario happens the other way around if the player chooses Kirby instead. The Subspace Army then ambushes the two. Peach and Zelda come to help, and they are all confronted by the Ancient Minister. After seeing the two R.O.B.s setting up a Subspace Bomb, Mario runs to try to stop it, only to be blasted away by Petey Piranha. Afterwards, he meets Pit after the latter has descended from Skyworld. They team up, reach land, and give chase to the Ancient Minister, but they lose him.

Eventually, Mario sees Peach's trophy form apparently dissolving. Thinking Link and Yoshi have done this, Mario and Pit attack them, only to be defeated and stolen by King Dedede. Kirby, however, saves them both, and Pit shoots an arrow at the Cargo that Dedede was driving, blowing its engine out. Keep note that this happens only if Peach was rescued from Petey Piranha.

If Zelda is rescued, Mario and Pit end up facing a False Zelda, with Pit destroying her Dark Cannon that she was about to fire at Link and Yoshi. Link sees the Zelda trophy dissolve, and he and Yoshi attack Mario and Pit. Mario and Pit defeat them, but Mario sees the Peach trophy in the Cargo before Dedede takes Yoshi and Link. When Kirby saves them, Link is the one that blows out the engine.

Regardless, Mario and his team chase Dedede through a cave and into his castle, only to find his throne room a mess and himself and the trophies he had nowhere to be found. They go through a secret passage and see Bowser trying to get away. Mario attacks, only to find that he has the princess not rescued from Petey Piranha. Pit fires an arrow, but Bowser dodges and the badge that the princess was wearing falls. Bowser gets away and Kirby eats the badge.

Mario and his team encounter the Ancient Minister again later and chase him through the Wilds, but the R.O.B.s stop them and detonate the Subspace Bomb that the Ancient Minister was carrying. Mario and his team escape and end up fighting the Subspace Army at the Canyon, where they meet the Ice Climbers, Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike. For the rest of the adventure, Mario fights with his increasing group until he and his allies defeat Tabuu and restore the world to normal.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Mario, as any character, can use equipment to boost his stats at the cost of others. In addition to generic badges, Mario can wear certain additional equipment, including shoes (speed), overalls (defense), and gloves (attack). Finally, Mario can use alternate special moves, provided that these moves are found during normal gameplay. One exception, in the Nintendo 3DS version, is the Explosive Punch, which is unlocked only if the player has a combined score of 200,000 points in Target Blast and the third Challenge Panel has been revealed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Like every other character previously playable in the series, Mario returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable character. Mario appeared in the game's reveal teaser trailer, alongside Link (in his design from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) and new fighter Inkling. Mario's fire-based attacks, such as his sweet-spotted forward smash, called Fireball, and Mario Finale, have brighter, flashier effects, including the appearance of smoke. Mario also has Cappy right alongside him, though he seems to be limited to aesthetic. Most of his moves are unaltered, though his Super Jump Punch now has a random chance of producing regional coins found in the Metro Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey. In addition, Mario's Fire Mario and Wario-based costumes were replaced with the Wedding and Builder outfits from Super Mario Odyssey. One of these two costumes, the Builder Outfit, was first used for Mario's artworks for Super Mario Maker. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, three more of Mario's standard attacks receive names: His up smash is the Lead Headbutt, his forward air is the Meteor Knuckle, and his back throw is the Airplane Swing. As with several other returning characters, the Mario-series victory theme has been slightly shortened and sped up compared to in the previous installments.

In World of Light, Mario is seen when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. Although Mario is not shown to be hit by Galeem's beams directly, he, like every fighter except Kirby, is imprisoned in the World of Light, where a Galeem-serving Puppet Fighter (copy) of him is created. Mario is the first imprisoned fighter saved (being rescued following Kirby's defeat of the Mario puppet fighter), and once rescued, he joins Kirby against Galeem and later Dharkon. In Mario's Classic Mode route, it is possible to unlock Sonic, Bayonetta, Little Mac, Ike, Luigi, Roy, Dr. Mario, or Olimar.

There are a few different spirits of Mario, one of them showing his Mario Tennis Aces artwork.

Classic Mode route
Mario's Classic Mode route has him fight many characters across different franchises and having no specific theme, similar to Classic Mode's previous iterations. However, Mario has a penultimate battle with Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, while his final battle is against Bowser/Giga Bowser.