Mario is not only the protagonist of his franchise but he is also the symbol of Nintendo and, perhaps, more generally the symbol of the video game industry itself. Yet it might surprise you to find that, thanks to a recent survey done in Japan, the Italian plumber is not the most popular character in the series Super Mario.
Line Research, part of the family of companies that includes the popular messaging app Line, conducted a survey of Japanese between the ages of 10 and 59, asking them what their favorite character from the Super Mario series was.
After receiving 5,252 responses, the company compiled a ranking containing the franchise’s top 10 favorite characters, and while Mario is definitely on the podium, he’s not at the top of the list.
Japan’s favorite characters from the Super Mario franchise
Here are the results of the survey in ascending order (to leave a hint of suspense), with the percentages of preference indicated:
- 10. Donkey Kong – 2.1%
- 9. Rosalina – 2.1% (beats Donkey Kong before rounding)
- 8. King Booo – 2.6%
- 7. Koopa Troopa – 3.4%
- 6. Luigi – 4.2% (and here too we would have expected a better placement for the protagonist of Luigi Mansion)
- 5. Bowser – 4.5%
- 4. Peach – 4.9%
- 3. Toad – 11.6%
- 2. Mario – 16.4%
And in the first place, listen, listen, there is none other than Yoshi, the ride-on dinosaur and companion of Mario’s adventures who, with an 18.1% preference, snatched the gold medal from his plumber friend.
Is it time for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics to look for a new testimonial?
What do you think? What is your favorite Super Mario character? Let us know via a comment below!
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