Nintendo Says Mario Is Not Currently A Plumber, Apparently

Iconic Italian gaming character Mario is not in fact a plumber, at least not currently. While he might have worked on pipes and drainage solutions at one point in time, he has since moved on to focus more on "everything cool," according to Nintendo.

The newly updated Mario profile page on Nintendo's Japanese website says Mario is no longer doing professional plumbing work. The page explains Mario thusly (via Kotaku):

"All around sporty, whether it's tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, [Mario] does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago..."

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto previously referred to Mario in a 2010 USA Today interview as "basically a carpenter" in 1981's Donkey Kong. In 1983's Super Mario Bros., a lot of the action took place underground and among pipes, so "we decided he could be a plumber," Miyamoto said.

So there you have it. Lest we forget that Mario also played a doctor, while he was a professional baseball player and golfer as well. It's all the more impressive when you consider Mario is a man in his mid-twenties.

The next big Mario game is October's Super Mario Odyssey, which is looking really good.