Nintendo posted a message about the original voice actor of Mario, Charles Martinet, transitioning to a new role in the company.
In a surprising turn of events, Nintendo tugged on many fans’ heartstrings this morning. The company announced that the voice actor of Mario from their famous Mario games will be taking their leave from recording character voices from their games. He has taken on the new role of Mario Ambassador. A special video message from Nintendo’s CEO Shigeru Miyamoto and Martinet himself will be shown in the near future.
Martinet already posted on Twitter/X his response to the announcement: “My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!” He reposted this comment with the original post made by Nintendo that read: “We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look.”
Martinet has been known as the original voice actor of Mario since Super Mario 64 and has continued to voice the character since. In 1994, he also voiced several roles in the SNES game Super Punch-Out!! Then, he recorded one of his first few lines in Mario Teaches Typing.
Of course, for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario was voiced by Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt, who did not do too badly. Martinet was given the voice roles of Mario’s dad in the film, as well as Giuseppe. Martinet also voiced Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, Baby Luigi and Baby Mario in the games.
He also holds the Guinness World Record for most video game voice-over performances as the same character, which he currently holds at 104. He revealed in a video on Mar10 Day that he was not even a voice actor at the time he auditioned for the voice of Mario. He explained how the casting director did not even expect much from him but got a call back from Miyamoto after hearing Martinet talk so effortlessly as the character. He mentioned how he had a friend who “conned him” into taking acting classes after getting the role.
The new Super Mario Bros. Wonder game was teased with a promo already, due out October 20 this year. Fans speculated whether Mario’s voice sounded a little different. Nintendo has yet to confirm whether this game will be Martinet’s last time voicing the character or if someone already took over.
What this all means for Martinet is not all clear for now. My best guess will be he will be attending gaming events and signings around the world to visit all of his fans. After 30 years of being the English voice actor to one of the gaming industry’s longest and most recognizable characters, it only makes sense that he can give his voice a rest and enjoy some time to travel.
