Mario, the mustachioed superhero plumber, has been entertaining us for decades. Almost anyone alive can recognise the bright and cheerful hero, thanks to his blue overalls, red cap, and trademark moustache. While millions of players have guided Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom, few really know that the trusted friend of Princess Peach owes his name to a real person from Seattle.
The man behind the legend
Super Mario Bros. celebrated its 40th anniversary last year (2025), but did you know that Nintendo named its superhero plumber after the company’s landlord? Yes, that’s right. The character is named after Mario Arnold Segale, an Italian-American businessman and real estate developer. He was involved in various development projects in the Seattle area from the 1950s onwards. The connection goes back to the early 1980s, when the video game company rented one of Segale’s Tukwila warehouses for use as their American headquarters.Nintendo’s designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, was creating characters for the arcade game; however, he had yet to settle on the names. Initially, the lead character in the Donkey Kong arcade game was called Jumpman, and the girlfriend was named Lady. Of course, the characters had to be named.In his book Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, David Sheff revealed how the company was struggling to come up with American names for the characters in the arcade game. One day, they gathered and were discussing names when they suddenly heard a knock on the door. It was Segale, who had come to berate Minoru Arakawa, then the president of Nintendo of America, for being past due on the rent. They finally knew they had the name.Segale’s short, stocky build and dark hair also perfectly matched the image Nintendo had in mind for the character. Later, in a 1993 interview, Segale jokingly remarked, “You might say I’m still waiting for my royalty cheques.”The real Mario passed away in 2018 at his home in Tukwila, Washington, at the age of 84. Segale, however, always kept a low profile, according to his obituary. He wanted to be remembered for his achievements. “While he was the inspiration for the name of Nintendo’s ‘Super Mario’ from when they were tenants in his business park in the 1970s, he always ducked the notoriety and wanted to be known instead for what he accomplished in his life,” it reads.Whenever someone plays Super Mario, they are unknowingly honouring an Italian-American businessman who became the inspiration for Nintendo’s future. The Mario series is considered one of the most successful video game franchises of all time.
