Mario is the titular main protagonist of the Mario & Luigi series, alongside his younger brother Luigi. He is Mario's counterpart hailing from a different world where unlike the world of the Paper Mario series, everything is in cartoonish 3D rather than paper and papercraft. Despite lacking the same abilities as his counterpart, Mario more than makes up for it by partnering up with Luigi and performing outlandish attacks, moves, and tactics to fight any antagonist who gets in their way.
History[]
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[]
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Unlike the Mario from the Paper Mario series, the Mario from Mario & Luigi is an actual human being made out of flesh and blood, rather than a literal paper cutout. He is a head taller than Paper Mario, and does not have legless feet. His mouth is hidden under his mustache, and is only visible if Mario is talking, grunting, or screaming.
Like Paper Mario, Mario's eyes are black rather than blue like in the mainstream Super Mario series. This might be because of the art style. Additionally, in the first three games of the Mario & Luigi series, the "M" insignia in his cap was also black rather than red.
Personality[]
Unlike his paper counterpart, Mario actually speaks, but because of his nature as a "silent protagonist" in the franchise, he "dialogue" is practically unintelligible italian gibberish that is impossible for the player to translate.
He's courageous, headstrong, reckless, stubborn, and willing to make friends. Despite his version of Bowser causing endless amount of issues for him and his loved ones, Mario shows no grudge towards him, and additionally only incapacitates the King of Koopas in his boss fights, rather than kill him like almost every other boss.
Due to his version of his brother Luigi being his sole partner during his adventures, Mario interacts with him a lot more than anyone else (even more so than his paper counterpart does to his Luigi). He's visibly annoyed at Luigi's cowardice in certain boss fights. For example, during the fight with Sunnycide, Mario notices Luigi trying to escape and yells out "Luigi!" in an attempt to encourage his brother to stay. Another example is Durmite, whom Luigi initially refuses to fight, forcing Mario to push him into her direction. Mario also shows concern over Luigi, either when Luigi gets in trouble (forcing his brother to help him out), or insulted, due to Luigi's self-deprecation leading to him getting moody. An example is in Bowser's Inside Story; when Starlow (the Mario Brothers' companion at the time) joked about Luigi being supposedly useless during the fight with the evil Shroobs in Partners In Time, Mario immediately told her that Luigi was the one who eradicated the entire Shroob race in the end (due to Luigi's past self's "baby tears" being the Shroobs' weakness), causing Starlow's respect for Luigi to increase. Before Superstar Saga, Mario apparently went on several adventures while not allowing Luigi to come along and instead kept him house-sitting, implying Mario is afraid of the idea of Luigi being harmed or killed and kept him away for his own safety.
He is a lot more aggressive and prone to fury than Paper Mario. In Superstar Saga, if the player makes Luigi slam Mario in the head with his hammer before unlocking the "Mini-Mario" technique, the plumber will yell angrily at his brother to stop. In Partners In Time, when Luigi accidentally makes the Mario and Luigi of the past (20 years ago) cry, Mario gets furious and scolds him for it, leading to Luigi crying as well.