Mario, A Character Design Analysis

So, I just posed an entry this afternoon about Super Mario Bros. the game and how it hasn't changed that much over time. Now I'm going to look at Mario as a character and how he has evolved over time. When Mario was first created for Donkey Kong, he was a construction worker named Jumpman. I don't why they didn't give him a real name until later but Jumpman kinda makes sense because he jumps around. And, given the setting of the game, it makes sense that he would be climbing scaffolding because he is a construction worker.

As far as his looks go, the reason that he was initially given a had and mustache was because those were easy to read in such a low resolution. With an 8-bit machine, you cant render much detail. But the detail of a hat and mustache really worked and that's how Mario was "born."

This picture clearly depicts Mario's character design progression throughout the years. Not much has changed in his costume, he still has his signature hat, mustache, and overalls. Really the only changes are the color schemes and the amount of detail rendered. And to better suit his creators love of exploration, Mario became a plumber. The idea of going down one pipe and coming out another, having no idea where you might end up, is actually something that would really happen to Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. As a kid, Miyamoto would wonder and daydream and get lost because he wasnt paying attention to where he was going. This translated well into Mario.