Line #14 Creator/CharlesMartinet


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10	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cmartinet.png]]
11	[[caption-width-right:325:''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros It's-a me!]]'']]
12
13	->''"Ah, that Charles Martinet. Nice Italian boy."''
14	-->-- '''Mario''', ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong''
15
16	Charles Andre Martinet (born September 17, 1955 in San Jose, California) is an American actor and voice actor.
17
18	He's best known as the voices of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, having debuted with the relatively obscure CD-ROM release of ''VideoGame/MarioTeachesTyping'' in 1994, but his real rise in popularity began with the much more famous ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' released in 1996.
19
20	His distinct and iconic ChildLikeVoice for Mario is in stark contrast with the performance of previous voice actor Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano in the [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow cartoon series]]. Martinet claims he never heard of Mario prior to auditioning for the role and thus, went with his own interpretation of what a kid-friendly stereotypical italian plumber should be, allowing him to stand out among the sea of Captain Lou's imitators.
21
22	Coming from a French-American background, Charles Martinet is fluent in English, French and Spanish and also performed voice acting in German, Dutch, Catalan and Italian.
23
24	On August 21, 2023, Nintendo announced that Martinet will be [[https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1693624002982314108 retiring from the role as Mario's full-time voice actor]]. He isn't done with the franchise for good, however, as he has moved into the role of a ''Mario'' brand ambassador for Nintendo, passing the torch to Kevin Afghani as his successor in the roles of Mario, Luigi and Wario.
25
26	[[https://www.mariowiki.com/Charles_Martinet Super Mario Wiki]] has more information about him. [[LineToGod He also has an]] [[https://instagram.com/charlesmartinetitsame Instagram]] and [[https://vine.co/u/1114052811714400256 Vine Account]], as well as a [[http://www.charlesmartinet.com personal website]].
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28	!!Charles Martinet has provided these voiceovers of:
29	* ''Anastasia (Creator/GoldenFilms)'' - The Yellow Bird, Pierre, the General, and Rasputin's Dog
30	* ''VideoGame/BitTrip Presents: [=Runner2=]: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien'' and ''[=Runner3=]'' - The {{Narrator}} and [[CreatorCameo himself]]
31	* ''VideoGame/CelDamage'' - Fowl Mouth, Flemming, and Brian the Brain
32	* ''VideoGame/TheClueFinders'' - Sir Alistair Loveless III, Jacques Ramone, and Pericles Lear
33	* ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'' - Magenta
34	* ''Creator/DrSeuss Kindergarten'' - The Cat in the Hat and Yertle the Turtle
35	* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' - Paarthurnax
36	* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead III'' - Dr. Curien
37	* ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'' - Gouji Rokaku
38	* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders OVA'' - Senator Wilson Phillips
39	* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsTheThirdAge'' - Eaoden
40	* ''VideoGame/MadDashRacing'' - Ash the Dragon and Spanx
41	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}} Classroom Companion'' - Lord Cucuface
42	* ''VideoGame/MagicPengel'' - Marshal
43	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest4OpenSeason'' - Male Prostitute
44	* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime'' - Orvus
45	* ''VideoGame/ReaderRabbit'' - Irvin the Inventor, Captain Ratbeard, Monstrous Mirror, and Sir Drayson Dragon
46	* ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate'' - Lagerfeld
47	* ''VideoGame/RisingZanTheSamuraiGunman'' - Master Suzuki
48	* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfDestiny'' - Homunculus
49	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' - Vigoro
50	* ''VideoGame/SlaveZero'' - Sanguinar and the Old One
51	* ''VideoGame/SolarEclipse'' - Spinner
52	* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier'' - Pa and P'Tooie
53	* ''VideoGame/SpawnInTheDemonsHand'' - The Curse and Clown
54	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
55	** ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'' - Admiral Holtz
56	** ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalacticBattlegrounds'' - OOM-9
57	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
58	** [[TheHero Mario]], [[TheLancer Luigi]], [[EvilCounterpart Wario, Waluigi]], and [[SpinoffBabies their baby counterparts]] from 1990 to 2023 (as well as Franchise/DonkeyKong in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcdkFsVFzMI this Real Time animation from VSDA Expo '94]] and both Bowser and the Boos in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'') and the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series. The former two roles were taken up by Kevin Afghani starting with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'', and the third starting with ''VideoGame/{{WarioWare}}: Move It!''.
59	** While he does '''not''' lend his voice to Mario or Luigi in ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' (those characters instead respectively being voiced by Creator/ChrisPratt and Creator/CharlieDay this time around), [[RemakeCameo he appears as the Mario brothers' dad and Giuseppe]] in the English version, as well as the Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, and French dubs.
60	* ''[[VideoGame/PunchOut Super Punch Out!]]'' - ''[[ManOfAThousandVoices Everyone]]'' (the announcer, player character, and all the opponents)
61	* ''[[VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997 Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'' - Creator/WilliamShakespeare and Music/LudwigVanBeethoven
62
63	!!Tropes associated with Charles Martinet's roles
64	* CreatorBacklash:
65	** He asked to remain uncredited in ''Mad Dash Racing'' and tends to avoid mentioning it at all. Fans believe the likely reasons for this was the game's crude humor and the similarities of Ash's voice to Luigi's, as Nintendo likely wouldn't appreciate hearing crass dialogue and humour coming from a character from a child-friendly game in a non family-friendly Xbox game.
66	** Before he became the regular voice for Mario, Martinet briefly worked at Creator/GoldenFilms, doing some voices and even co-writing a screenplay for one of their films. According to one fan who met him at a convention, when asked about this, he didn't seem all too thrilled about his time there.
67	** ''[[Pinball/SuperMarioBros Super Mario Bros. Pinball]]'' was the very first game featuring his Mario's voice. However, Gottlieb took his voice using the clips from trade shows without paying him for the game or giving him any credit. He isn't too thrilled talking about it.
68	* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: In [[https://www.gamesradar.com/legendary-mario-voice-actor-charles-martinet-on-his-favorite-characters-and-why-he-now-dreams-in-2d/ a 2022 interview]], Martinet listed off four ''Mario'' games as his favorites in rapid succession: ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey''. Outside the main entries, he also adores the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series.
69	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Martinet's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QyqOxsrnUo initial version]] of the Mario voice (first publicly heard in a pair of pinball machines from 1992, which used audio of Martinet without his knowledge), while still fairly high-pitched, was noticeably deeper and more subdued than what we're familiar with today, among other things lacking most of the paragoges that'd become more common in later renditions (e.g. "that's-'''a''' so nice," "thank you so much-'''a''' for-'''to''' playing my game").
70	* FakeNationality: He is so well-known for voicing Mario the Italian plumber that many people believe Charles Martinet to actually be an Italian-American. In reality, he is of French descent and is French-American, with a French father and an American mother.
71	* IAmNotSpock: As far as the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] fans are concerned, Charles and Mario are the same person. Regardless, Charles doesn't mind since he loves doing his Mario (or any other Mario character requested) voice for fans, as when he does, the fans smile, and that makes him feel like it's the very first time he ever did it.
72	* ManOfAThousandVoices: His voices for Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi are all very distinct and unique from one another. On the other end of the pitch spectrum, he can also drop his voice down very low, as demonstrated with [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Paarthurnax]], and though it was pitched down by a couple semitones in editing, pitching it back up to his real voice still shows that it's nothing like what most people associate him with.
73	* PlayingAgainstType: As [[VideoGame/JetSetRadio Gouji Rokkaku]], [[VideoGame/CelDamage Fowl Mouth]], [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Paarthurnax]] and [[VideoGame/SlaveZero Sanguinar]].
74	* StarMakingRole: Charles had acting experience prior to his role as the voice actor of Mario; however, it wasn't until after his stint as Nintendo's famous mascot for ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' that his name ''really'' took off. While other Nintendo characters had their voice actors [[TheOtherDarrin changed]] every so often, Charles is the only one who has been in the same role for more than two decades. In this time, Martinet has voiced Mario in ''over 100 games'', more than any other voice actor in a single role according to ''Literature/GuinnessWorldRecords'', reaching this record by the time he voiced him in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' in 2018. By the time he retired from voicing the characters five years later, he had been playing Mario for '''31 years''' (1992 - 2023), and he had been playing Luigi and Wario for over 25 years.
75	* StockSoundEffects: In an email, Charles Martinet [[https://www.mariowiki.com/images/2/28/Charles_Martinet_and_the_Comical_Laugh_Pt_2.png confirmed]] that he had recorded audio for the General Series 6000 sound effects pack by Sound Ideas. Coincidentally, one of those sound effects is "Comical Laugh: Male", which would be used years later as the EvilLaugh for Bowser and Boo in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', the same game that gave Martinet his StarMakingRole as Mario.
76	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Martinet's first plan for his rendition of Mario was to provide a gruff Brooklynite voice in the vein of Walker Boone's portrayal of the character in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld1991''. However, he very quickly shifted to the now-iconic high-pitched Italian voice upon realizing that it would be more appealing to the young children that comprised the majority of the ''Mario'' series's audience, and he was worried that this stereotypical and gruff Brooklyn accent would be too intimidating for the target audience, who were kids. This choice ended up being what got Martinet the role; he was the only person who ''didn't'' try to imitate Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano's portrayal from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow''.
77	* WordOfGod: He's frequently asked about his thoughts on the [[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 live-action Mario movie]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow animated TV series]] by fans due to their SoBadItsGood reputations. He's largely expressed impartialness towards them at best and usually leaves it at that.
78	* WrittenByCastMember: On top of voicing several characters in the Golden Films version of ''Anastasia'', he also served as the film's co-writer in his first and only attempt at screenwriting.
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Context Creator / CharlesMartinet