Assignment 1-4-4

Super Mario is my Hero

            Heroes or heroines come in all different types and sizes in videogames. It can be in human form, animal or even made up with a man or woman’s voice in the game. An example of a hero in a videogame is Mario, a Nintendo icon that came out in the early 1980’s. Mario’s first appearance was in Donkey Kong, a 1981 arcade game where Mario (a carpenter) had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline from Donkey Kong. He later starred in his own games like Super Mario Brothers and Mario Kart. I think Mario played different heroic roles, in Super Mario brothers he has to save Princess Peach from Bowser, the King of Koopas and in another game he fights against his friends to be the ultimate smash brother in Super Smash Brothers.

            The reason why I chose Mario is because of how legendary he is to videogame players in general. A poll that was held in Japan shows that Mario is the most popular character for a video game. (Spencer, 2010) In the videogames, Mario is usually portrayed as the super hero that battles all the bad guys in order to save a princess or a girl in distress. I think it is very interesting that they took a carpenter and turned him into a super hero, you don’t see that very often in other videogame or movie.

Super Mario a Celebrity?

              One of the reasons that Mario can be considered a celebrity is how he evolved from videogames. He not only starred in many videogames but movies and cartons were made because of how popular he was. So, is he a hero or celebrity or both? In my opinion Mario can be classified as a hero in some of the videogames he is in and a celebrity to the general public. He is more famous from videogames but that is what got him started into becoming a celebrity. The word celebrity defined by Merriam-webster.com is “a famous or celebrated person”. (2012) Even though he was in movies, his fame came from videogames.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, a question that I wanted to answer is how Mario compares to a real hero. Since Mario is a made up character that provides fun for kids (and adults) he is a hero in a different way than a real life hero. People that risk their lives and save other people doing heroic actions count as a real hero in my book. Reality sets in and life is not a videogame or movie, specific people in the military is a good example of how a true life hero can be represented. Since the military is not full of good soldiers that is why I said specific people, but the military itself has heroic core values, like duty, respect, integrity and honor.

 

References

celebrity. (n.d.). m-w.com Unabridged. Retrieved August 8, 2012, from m-w.com website: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celebrity

nintendo's shinning star. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-nintendo_shining_star.htm

Spencer. (2010, December 21). With 9,862 votes, japan’s most popular video game character is…. Retrieved from http://www.siliconera.com/2010/12/21/with-9862-votes-japans-most-popular-video-game-character-is/