By Skyler Miller Designed by Val Prusmack

If a culture is defined by the celebrities it chooses to idolize, what does it mean when our most identifiable video game mascot is a chubby Italian plumber? In an era of electronic entertainment marked by greater and greater doses of reality, what is it about Mario that keeps him famous nearly two decades after his introduction?

Maybe Mario's lasting popularity is due to his origin. He wasn't designed from the ground up as a mascot, like so many of today's characters. As with early characters like Pac-Man, his physical characteristics are more a function of hardware limitations than intentional creativity. In fact, Mario's trademark hat and mustache were introduced because they were easier to draw and animate than hair and a mouth.

There is also a certain humbleness about the man - he's not a superhero but rather a working-class Joe who rises to meet the call to adventure. A giant ape captured his girlfriend, so he did something about it. He is a character people of all ages can relate to and empathize with.

Little is known about his early life. Some accounts have him living in the Bronx until his rise to fame; others mark his birthplace as Yoshi's Island. Mario himself has remained remarkably quiet about his past and prefers to let his accomplishments do the talking. The goal of this biography is to investigate the mystique surrounding this most famous of plumbers and chronicle his ascent to stardom.