SMBM Mario Bros / Characters

Super Mario Bros. Main Character Index
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Mario Bros. | Mushroom Kingdom | Dark Lands | Everyone Else

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The Mario Brothers

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thesupermariobrosmovieluigiplumbing.png

"At Super Mario Bros. Plumbing, we don't say, 'Let's-a wait'; we say, 'Let's-a go!'"

"Forget those expensive plumbing companies where you're just a face! With the Super Mario Bros., you're family!"

— Mario

Two brothers trying to start an up-and-coming plumbing business in Brooklyn, New York. After venturing into the sewer systems to fix a city-wide flood, the brothers come across a mysterious green pipe that drags them into a fantasy world.

Both Brothers

555: Their plumbing advertisement features Mario and Luigi's plumbing number as 929-55-Mario, which serves Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. In the film itself, the area code is 917, which encapsulates all five boroughs.
11th-Hour Superpower: In the final battle, the brothers manage to grab the Super Star and become unstoppable with the Star granting Super-Strength, Super-Speed, and most of all, invincibility. This allows them to turn the fight in their favor and take down the entirety of Bowser's army and the Koopa King himself, ending with a final attack strong enough to destroy Bowser's entire fortress.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Their mustaches and eyebrows are a dark shade of brown instead of black like in the games, finally matching them to the rest of their hair.
Adaptational Seriousness: As the games are meant for children and most of them thrive on Excuse Plots with minimal dialogue, the Mario brothers are usually depicted with childlike, or at least very exaggerated and innately-silly personalities. In the film, while of course still upbeat and kid-friendly, their characterization is much closer to normal people getting caught up in strange, cartoonish situations rather than being cartoony in and of themselves.
Airplane Arms: They assume this pose when running a few times, most notably while powered up with the Super Star, just like in the games.
All-Loving Hero: While Mario's less of a pushover about it, both are consistently shown to be incredibly kind or at least compassionate to others, even to people they have just met or have wronged them. They both save Francis the Dog from falling to his death despite him attacking them, Mario rescues DK twice despite DK giving him a hard time, and Luigi saves Spike during Bowser's rampage despite him bullying him, even giving him a friendly greeting after doing so.
Animals Hate Him
- Luigi is not good with animals — He's attacked by a cat on the way to a plumbing job, earns the ire of a dog belonging to the clients whose bathroom he and his brother are fixing for accidentally stepping on his bone, and gets caught in the crosshairs by Bowser and his army.
- It's downplayed in Mario's case, but he still has to face Francis alongside Luigi, he gets tail-slapped by a Cheep-cheep in the montage of failures running the obstacle course, a beatdown from DK (an ape) who is very antagonistic with him for most of the movie, and then there's the Maw-Ray. Oh, and Bowser has a personal beef with him too.
Basement-Dweller: They live in an apartment with their parents. They seem to be in the same bedroom at the end, but they get their own place in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bash Brothers: They manage to reach the Super Star before Bowser and, using their invincible powered up forms, proceed to beat the tar out of the Koopa King, smashing him against his own castle, and sending his minions flying like they're nothing.
Big Applesauce: Both brothers are explicitly New Yorkers here, with their plumbing services available only within Brooklyn and Queens, and appropriate working-class Brooklynite accents.
Big Brother Instinct:
- The classic variety is one of Mario's key characteristics, so much so that the primary driving force of the movie is his motivation to stop Bowser in order to save his younger brother. He's been like this since infancy, as shown in a flashback where Baby Mario beats up a kid bullying Baby Luigi.
  Mario: [to Spike] Say that again about my brother and you're gonna regret it!
- After spending most of the movie as a Distressed Dude and always having Mario defend him since they were little kids, Luigi finally starts displaying his protective instincts towards his older brother in the climax by shielding Mario from Bowser's fire breath with a manhole cover.
Big Guy, Little Guy: As always. Mario even half-jokes that their size and shape difference is basically the only way to tell them apart aside from their clothes.
Brief Accent Imitation: For their plumbing commercial, they both put on thick, Charles Martinet-esque Italian accents. When Mario asks Luigi if this choice is "too much", Giuseppe, an Italian man played by Martinet himself, overhears them and gives them his approval.
Brooklyn Rage: Obviously they're a lot nicer than most examples, but the movie still makes no bones about how tough and resourceful growing up in Brooklyn has made them. Mario is the more obvious example, shrugging off a heaping helping of cartoon violence on his unflinching warpath to save his brother, while Luigi gets to properly tag-team with him in the final battle after Taking a Level in Badass.
Butt-Monkey: A good chunk of the comedy is had at their expense, with their first onscreen job in particular being an Epic Fail, and once they're in the Mushroom Kingdom, a lot of comedic mileage is had out of how unprepared they are for their adventures.
Character Tic: They share a tendency to roll their arms at the shoulder after getting hurt.
Composite Character: They hail from New York and have Brooklyn accents like in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (as well as the 1993 live-action film and early supplementary materials that were phased out), but have an appearance, ages, and acrobatic abilities more fitting of the main series versions.
Coordinated Clothes: They wouldn't be the Mario Bros. without them. Luigi even nervously acknowledges this while being interrogated by Bowser, evidently aware that it makes their relationship obvious.
Death Glare: Both brothers sport this in their plumbing commercial as Mario demonstrates how he fixes a sink and Luigi plunges it. This is their default expression in the climax upon using the Super Star power-up as they dispatch Bowser's army and fight Bowser. Mario especially has an absolutely livid expression as he and Luigi are about to punch Bowser into his castle.
Diving Kick: This is how they both defeat Bowser in the climax after being empowered by a Super Star. They deliver a double diving kick that would make a Kamen Rider proud.
Egocentric Team Naming: Mario is the namesake of the duo. The official website reveals they didn't go with "Super Luigi Bros." because Luigi is camera shy.
Fat and Skinny: Mario makes a comment acknowledging that they'd be basically identical if not for him being more compact.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Emphasizing their dynamic from the games, Mario is bolder and more confident but impulsive, while Luigi is more cautious but practical. The impromptu trip to Brooklyn's sewer system that ends up kickstarting the whole adventure wouldn't have even happened if Luigi had gotten his way, but his loyalty to Mario trumps his better judgement.
Heroes Love Dogs: Double Subverted. When the bros first encountered their customer's dog, he was nothing but a hindrance and threat to them. After saving his life, the dog gained a begrudging respect for them, even doing the dog equivalent of saluting them during the final battle.
Heterosexual Life-Partners: A lot of emphases is placed on the fact that they're not only brothers, but also best friends - they're even referred to as such in the official summary of the film and their in-universe website. Nearly every moment they're on-screen together is punctuated with physical and/or verbal exchanges of affection and affirmation, and once the adventure separates them they're all but constantly thinking about each other, with Mario on an unwavering warpath to rescue Luigi. The "life" part is literal here - a flashback strongly suggests that, as in the games, they're twins, and shows they've had this dynamic for as long as they can remember; Mario even tells Princess Peach on the second night of the adventure that this is the longest they've ever been apart. We see that they share a room in Brooklyn and continue to do so even after they move to a much bigger house in the Mushroom Kingdom.
I Choose to Stay: By the end of the movie, they're living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Though it is heavily downplayed by the fact they live near a warp pipe that takes them home to Brooklyn, most likely to keep up their plumbing business and keep in touch with their family.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Both brothers have large blue eyes and due to being taken out of their own world, have a very babe-in-the-woods disposition.
The Juggernaut: In the finale, they get the Super Star and not only become invincible, but their speed and strength is heightened. Any soldiers who get in their way are instantly curb-stomped and it doesn’t matter how strong Bowser is: they punch, throw and stomp him around like he’s nothing. What makes this stand out is the fact that, prior to their arrival, Peach had been able to hold her own against Bowser and some of his men. Here, Bowser sicced his entire force on Mario and Luigi and still lost.
The Lancer: Both brothers take on this role, with Mario being Peach's sidekick and Luigi being Mario's.
Le Parkour: This serves as the real-world roots of the legendary platforming skills they acquire later. Early in the film, they shortcut through a construction site after their van stalls out, although only Mario can really show off due to Luigi being stuck with their heavy toolkit. He later gets the chance to show off after arriving in the Dark Lands, scaling a craggy moat of lava to get away from a horde of Dry Bones, and by the end of the film, both of them use Super Star-powered Combat Parkour to tag-team Bowser and his army with ease.
Lightning Bruiser: This is what they fully amount to when they are given power from the Super Star. Both of them are struck by a powerful kick from Bowser with the street behind them erupting with shattered concrete with no signs of reacting, and they've gotten so powerful in strength that the plumbers decide to respond with two uppercuts that send him sailing all the way back to his troops where he orders them all to destroy them at all costs. As soon as the duo start running, they gather enough speed to utterly bulldoze through a number of Bowser's henchmen and utilize many acrobatics to dodge any attack from Bowser. Their final attack on Bowser is so devastating that both of their diving stomps annihilate Bowser's fortress.
Mama's Boy: Implied with the SMB Plumbing website. A five-star review in the testimonials section comes from the user "BrosMama", who describes the plumbers as "polite, professional, adorable, and treated me like family!" Despite the clear bias bordering on Nepotism, the brothers seem to be fine with it, although Mario is visibly embarrassed when Luigi proudly shows it off to Spike. Luigi seems to be the stronger example of the two, with his character splash in the end credits featuring his phone with his ma's call notification up.
Meaningful Appearance: The more forthcoming Mario wears primary colors while the more cautious Luigi wears secondary colors.
Megaton Punch: After getting the Super Star, the first thing they do after Bowser tries (and fails) to stomp them is give him two massive punches which send him flying. As an added bonus, these two attacks are a direct reference to their Up Special moves from the Super Smash Bros. series.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Even before their adventure and the powering-up that comes with it, both of them are tremendously stronger than their appearance would have you believe - Mario is able to save Donkey Kong from drowning under a good few meters of water despite being a fraction of his size, while Luigi is able to hold up the full weight of Mario plus a large dog with his bare hands and only some difficulty and later hold his ground against Bowser's fire breath with a manhole cover to protect Mario. That said, they still represent the lower end of a very exaggerated scale - Mario still gets completely bodied when he tries to match Donkey Kong and later Bowser physically, respectively needing the agility boost from a Super Bell and teamwork plus the invincibility-granting Super Star to defeat them.
No-Sell: Towards everything once they get their hands on the Super Star during the movie's climax; they just keep moving as if nothing had happened, no matter what makes contact with their bodies, even in midair, just like in the games.
Not Afraid of You Anymore: Both brothers show fear of Bowser but lose it during the Final Battle at Brooklyn:
- Although he barely knows Bowser, Mario was scared of him and gets beatdown by him during the battle on Brooklyn. But after seeing his commercial glitching and repeating the words "Save Brooklyn", Mario loses his fear and faces Bowser despite his injuries.
- Luigi is the most scared by Bowser, especially since he was interrogated by him to get info about Mario. After hiding himself in a dumpster in Brooklyn, Luigi sees Mario ready to fight Bowser, which motives him to protect him with a manhole and join him to catch the Super Star and defeat the evil Koopa King.
Nice Guy: Naturally, both brothers are loyal to one another, and become fast friends with the people of the Mushroom Kingdom. True to their game counterparts, they are shown to be kind and friendly and willing to help those in need.
One-Man Army: When both of them are empowered by the Super Star, they completely annihilate the entirety of Bowser’s army by themselves like a stack of dominoes.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Defied — the film is one of the few Super Mario Bros. works where the brothers are shown doing plumbing work, so much so that it's the primary focus of the first act. The entire plot is kicked off when they try to address a burst pipe and accidentally get sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom.
Polar Opposite Twins: Downplayed as they still have much in common, but the contrast in their disposition and social skills are retained from the game.
Professional Voice Dissonance: They normally speak with New York accents. In their plumbing service commercial, they put on exaggerated Italian accents reminiscent of Charles Martinet's voices for the brothers. When Mario asks Luigi if the Italian accents were too much, Guiseppe (voiced by Martinet himself) thinks the accent to be perfect.*
Rough Overalls: Mario and Luigi are actively plumbers trying to make a go of it together in a new business, complete with wearing overalls to confirm they're Working Class Heroes.
Secret Handshake: We see them share one a few times, serving as one of many indications of their strong bond.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Played more subtly than in the games, but Mario is still tougher and more headstrong while Luigi is more timid and emotional. The decorum in their room even suggests something of a jock/nerd dynamic, with Mario's side of the room being covered in sports memorabilia while Luigi's suggests a thing for art and science.
Sibling Team: Obviously; their game counterparts are the trope image for a reason. The two of them start and run a plumbing business together, and they both use the power of the Super Star to decimate Bowser and his army in the movie's climax.
Spanner in the Works: They ruin Bowser's plans of marriage and conquest when nobody else can:
- Mario's arrival in the Mushroom Kingdom kickstarts a series of events which lead to Bowser's defeat. His determination to find and rescue Luigi impresses Peach enough that she allows him to accompany her on her journey to the Kong Kingdom to recruit Cranky and his army. Mario fights and beats Donkey Kong, the champion and Cranky's son, earning Peach another ally against Bowser. Even when the Kongs are captured by Bowser, and it seems that Mario and Donkey Kong have died, the pair escape the Maw-Ray which swallowed them and begin an assault on Bowser's army, disrupting his wedding and rescuing Luigi and the prisoners. Mario then proceeds to save the Mushroom Kingdom from being blown up when Bowser launches a Bomber Bill. And to add further insult to Bowser's injury, it is possible that Mario may have unknowingly garnered some romantic attention from Peach.
- Luigi may have been chased, captured and tortured the moment he arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom, but he still plays a significant part in Bowser’s downfall. In the climax, Bowser is dangerously close to winning: Donkey Kong is incapacitated and all Peach can do whilst restrained is knock the Super Star towards Mario with a Koopa shell. In a last ditch attempt to prevent Mario from getting said Star, Bowser shoots a stream of fire breath at him. It's Luigi who ruins Bowser's chances of victory by way of shielding Mario and himself with a manhole cover. This action buys the Bros enough time to grab the Super Star and save Brooklyn.
Start My Own: The two of them quit their former jobs under Spike to create their own plumbing business. Unfortunately, they were a touch too hasty and unprepared when they did this, as they don't have a single job at the beginning of the movie.
Strong Family Resemblance:
- As always, they practically look like a squashed and stretched version of the same person, though the art style's added detail makes it particularly noticeable.
- Their mustaches and round noses are traits they share with the rest of their family. Additionally, Luigi takes his skinnier appearance from his paternal uncles Tony and Arthur, while Mario more resembles his father's stouter build.
Superior Twin Teamwork: Mario makes it a point to team up with Luigi during the final battle, forming a two-man army that easily trounces Bowser's forces thanks to the Super Star.
This Loser Is You: Both brothers still live with their parents, are social outcasts, and find themselves out of their depth when it comes to the crunch, traits commonly associated with video game enthusiasts. Fittingly enough, their room is full of posters and memorabilia from other Nintendo franchises; Mario is shown playing Kid Icarus on an NES after storming off from dinner.
Took a Level in Badass: Both brothers go from regular guys struggling for approval to outright superheroes at the end of the film courtesy of the Super Star.
Trapped in Another World: They hail from Brooklyn and end up in the Mushroom Kingdom after being separated. The interdimensional warp is still open, however. Mario tries to use the pipe to his advantage to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser's Banzai Bill. After their adventure they seemingly decide to live and work there full time.
Unlucky Everydude: Though both brothers appear to have untapped strength, neither is established as being a "chosen one". They're just a pair of Brooklyn-based plumbers who found themselves sucked into a fantasy world.
Unskilled, but Strong: Applies to them both in different extremes — Mario is quite powerful, but he is at first overconfident and lacks technique since he hasn't yet gone on any of his famous adventures or learned any of his iconic moves. Over the course of his adventure, though, he picks up many skills that allow him to use his strength properly; for example, once he picks up a Super Bell to help his reflexes, he delivers blow after blow to Donkey Kong, knocking the ape out. Meanwhile, while Luigi is even more uncoordinated, he nonetheless holds off a horde of Dry Bones while stranded in the Dark Lands, pulls off a Container Cling that ends up saving his life after the bottom of his prison cell melts in lava, and even hold his ground against Bowser's fire Breath Attack with only a manhole cover and sheer force. By the end of the film, the two of them are an unstoppable force against Bowser and his entire army after powering up with the Super Star.
Vague Age: It's not entirely clear how old the brothers are supposed to be. They're grown men (though unusually short) with thick mustaches that are long out of high school (if you look at the pictures in their dining room, one pictures the brothers wearing graduation hats, so they apparently went to a university) and apprenticed and became qualified plumbers (which takes a few years) and worked for Spike (presumably as part of his wrecking crew) for a while before starting their own business, but their parents are on the tail end of middle-aged, their uncles look to be in their early forties, their cousin still seems to be a young child, and at least one of their grandfathers is still alive (although notably very old and needing help feeding himself). They also still seem to live in their childhood bedroom (and have an 80s-era game console running on a CRT television, presumably from their childhood, yet it's seemingly the present day), and their life savings combined could only get them a rather poor-quality television commercial. The best guess would be the mid-to-late-20s if their parents had them at a relatively young age and their game consoles and television were hand-me-downs.
White Gloves: Mario considers them to be their trademark when the rest of their family see it as impractical as they'll be doing dirty work.
Working-Class Hero: They blew their entire life savings starting their own plumbing business; their commercial and van are of low quality. Said investment managed to lead to a series of events where they became heroes in another world and later their own.

Mario

"All right... Let's-a go."

Voiced by: Chris Pratt^{Foreign VAs}

"We're the Super Mario Brothers, and we're gonna kick the shell outta you!"

A struggling plumber from Brooklyn, NYC, who ends up becoming the unlikely champion of the Mushroom Kingdom.

The Ace: Subverted for most of the film, as unlike the games, Mario is at first inexperienced and somewhat incompetent, though there are still hints of what's to come. After training in the Mushroom Kingdom, however, some of it regimented and some of it under dangerous pressure, Mario is the powerful, brave adventurer we all know and love from the games.
Acrofatic: In spite of his stout build, Mario is nimble enough to get around the hectic streets of Brooklyn. Once he undergoes some training, he is able to act on the same level as Peach despite their wildly differing body types.
Actor Allusion:
- The new website Illumination made for SMB Plumbing has a section that details the history of the Mario Bros. and how they quit "spiky bosses" to get into the plumbing business also brings to mind how Emmet Brickowski was a construction worker himself.
- When Mario wakes up during the ending, "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra is heard playing in the background, which is the same song used during the start of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where Chris Pratt also plays the main character.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Downplayed, but still notable. Mario in the game continuity is Fun Personified and a very happy-go-lucky man who very rarely gets truly sad or depressed unless it's a great tragedy. However, in this movie, he's a lot more grounded in his emotions, has genuine insecurity regarding his height and has some daddy issues as his father chews him out for his stubbornness on never giving up, which genuinely hurts him, and is shown many times to be genuinely hurt by others' insensitive comments towards him as well. Despite this however, he still manages to keep a relatively positive outlook on life overall and still has plenty of moments where he's genuinely happy, but said happiness is a lot more toned down compared to how it is in the games.
Adaptational Badass: Specifically in terms of durability, as he shrugs off injuries that would've lost his video game counterpart many, many lives.
Adorkable: Lampshaded by Bowser as he interrogates Luigi about Peach finding him attractive.
Affectionate Nickname: "Mustache", given by Peach. Mario is shown several times to appreciate the nickname.
Amazon Chaser: Mario develops something of a subtle spark for Peach, partly because of her Action Girl status. His slack-jawed expression after he sees Peach ace the course while still in her dress and heels says it all.
Amusing Injuries: Usually played straight. Like Luigi in the games, Mario is often either the butt of the joke or the victim of the movie's slapstick, but it's usually in a cartoony fashion. Even after all the huge blows he takes from Donkey Kong, he's relatively unharmed, though Peach gives him some ice for bruises after the match. However, during the final battle with Bowser, the trope is subverted during Bowser's merciless assault: he gets badly injured, with realistic purple bruises on his face and a black eye, and is barely able to get back on his feet right after getting blown away by a tail swipe and crashing into a window in the Punch-Out Pizzeria.
Animal-Themed Superbeing: After getting slapped around a lot while fighting Donkey Kong, Mario grabs a Super Bell to become Cat Mario as seen in Super Mario 3D World. While it doesn't seem to affect his strength much, it gives him cat-like reflexes and the ability to climb sheer surfaces, which he uses to effortlessly dodge Donkey Kong's attacks and retaliate with powerful blows of his own. Later, upon losing his Super Mushroom, Mario grabs a Tanooki Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3, which he uses to divert a giant Banzai Bill away from the Mushroom Kingdom.
Badass Adorable: Already endearing by default, he performs several of his greatest feats of strength in thick fluffy animal costumes that give him superpowers.
Beware the Nice Ones: Kind-hearted he may be, Mario does have his limits, as he will put his foot down against anyone who shows any disrespect.
Mario: [to Peach] You know what? Make fun of me all you want, but you're gonna help me find my brother ...Please?
Big Damn Heroes: As Luigi is about to fall into the pit of lava, Mario swoops in and rescues him by flying with his Tanooki Suit. Later, when Mario sees his friends being pummeled by Bowser, as well as seeing his commercial play on the TV, he regains the courage to stand up against Bowser, grab the Super Star with Luigi, and defeat him.
Birds of a Feather: Mario and Peach develop a subtle romantic spark for one another due to being humans who accidentally wound up in the Mushroom Kingdom via a warp pipe in the edge of a cliff and who chose to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. Also, both are caring individuals, and both want to stop Bowser and protect their families. Plus both are Fish out of Water to each other's respective worlds; Mario initially finds himself out of his depth in the Mushroom Kingdom, while Peach is surprised to learn that people in Mario's world don't drive on rainbows and that turtles are usually pets and not evil warlords.
Blood Knight: Downplayed, but Mario's clearly having nearly as much of a blast as Donkey Kong whilst mowing through Bowser's army with him.
Bully Hunter: Mario's spent his whole life (literally, going by the flashback to when the Bros were babies) standing up to bullies to protect his little brother. This likely informs his decision to stand up to Bowser after arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom, seeing him as another bully that's going after not only Luigi but an entire kingdom of people weaker than him.
Character Development: He starts as Unskilled, but Strong and suffers various Amusing Injuries upon arriving in the world of the Mushroom Kingdom and in obstacle course training. Eventually, he grows accustomed to the unexplainable gravity phenomena of the new world he's entered and is shown nearly completing the obstacle course by punching through a wooden cutout of Bowser. By the time he puts on a Tanooki Suit, he has a much more focused facial expression as he deftly zigzags through the air.
Chekhov's Skill: Mario has some acrobatic skills, as shown by his running through the construction site in the film's intro. It takes power-ups and a Training Montage to bring him up to where he is in the games, however.
Childish Older Sibling: Downplayed, but he's still the foolish brother to Luigi's reponsible, his impulsiveness being the indirect cause of the whole plot.
Commonality Connection:
- He bonds with Donkey Kong over their mutual daddy issues while trapped in the giant Maw Ray.
- He even bonds with Peach over their experiences accidentally going through a Warp Pipe and ending up in the Mushroom Kingdom, with Mario even speculating that she may have also come from Mario's world.
Dare to Be Badass: Mario enters the Mushroom Kingdom much like he was in the original Donkey Kong title, very unassuming with a low lateral leap to his name. Prompted to step up to save his brother, Mario gradually gains the skills and abilities to become the daring, high-flying and agile adventurer known from the series beyond.
Deadpan Snarker: Nice Guy he is, Mario can get snarky at certain points, especially when he learns where he's ended up at.
Mario: Mushrooms, really? Now that is a cruel twist of fate.
Determinator: One of his defining traits in the movie is that he will NOT give up whenever his mind is set on something. This part of his character goes through a Decon-Recon Switch: in the beginning, it's shown that because of his optimistic nature and the fact that he doesn't know when to back down, he's stubborn and lacks a full understanding of the consequences of his actions, which led to him making very risky life-choices, put a strain on his relationship with his father and inadvertently led to Luigi being kidnapped. But after Peach's influence causes him to stop thinking of this trait as a bad thing, it allows him to save his brother, defeat Bowser, become a hero and make his father proud of him.
Bowser: You just don't know when to quit!
Mario: Yeah, I've been told that before.
Does Not Like Spam: Disregarding the fact he is synonymous with them in the video games, in the film, Mario's least favorite food is, of all things, mushrooms, to the point where he'd vomit if he eats too much of them, unlike Luigi who's fine with them. The fact he ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom as well made it all the more, in his words, a "cruel twist of fate". Mario overcomes this over the course of the adventure, or at the least learns to tolerate the taste.
Dub Personality Change: In the "Super Japanese version" Mario is more uncertain of himself, and treats the Bomber Bill as a Worthy Opponent.
Dude, Not Funny!: Due to Luigi being captured, Mario gets visibly annoyed when Toad yells out to the other Toads that "This guy's brother is going to die imminently!" so he can clear a path through the crowd for them.
Fish out of Water: Initially, Mario is a stranger to the Mushroom Kingdom, having just come out of a warp pipe and being surprised by the sight of the place. Though he initially struggles to adapt to this new world, he proves himself to be a shockingly quick learner and rather capably uses the new powers he is granted by the power-ups. Eventually subverted as at the end of the film he becomes a resident of the Mushroom Kingdom.
From Zero to Hero: Mario goes from a struggling plumber who a lot of people don't respect to becoming the hero of both Brooklyn and the Mushroom Kingdom with his father's full respect, alongside his brother. Ironically, he never aimed to be the hero to begin with, he was merely going along with Princess Peach's plan to save Luigi, but he did step up to the plate after he achieved his goal, without a second thought.
Game Face: He often closes his eyes before shooting a determined glare before he does platforming or dives face-first into a challenge.
Ground Pound: The first instance he does this, he uses it to smash through some blocks on his final and near-successful attempt to finish the obstacle course. He does this again to a group of Koopa Troopas while wiping out Bowser's army with Donkey Kong.
Handy Man: As evidenced by his ability to fix a leaky pipe instantly and determine a problem with the sewer system before the city maintenance crews, Mario is a highly skilled plumber. Unfortunately, he’s also plagued by extremely bad luck which keeps him from achieving success.
Heart Is an Awesome Power: Mario is at first displeased with his cat form, with Donkey Kong laughing quite hard at it. It ends up being just what Mario needs to turn the tables in his favor, though.
Height Angst: He doesn't appreciate attention being called to how short he is, and is quite pleased when the Super Mushroom makes him taller.
The Hero: Mario is determined, proactive and an all-around Nice Guy. While he has his imperfections, Mario overcomes them due to his large heart compelling him to do the right thing.
Hypocritical Heartwarming: Very subtly - he's visibly second-hand embarrassed when Luigi is trying to stand up to Spike on his behalf and only making him an easier target, but goes dead serious the instant Spike makes fun of him for it. He also takes it in stride when their uncles are lightheartedly busting both their balls at the dinner table, cluing in the audience that they're in the circle of people "allowed" to rag on him.
Implied Love Interest: To Peach, as is par for the course. While she's initially somewhat dismissive of him, she warms up to him as his heroism shines through and even becomes curious about Mario's world, with the implication being that she wants to learn more about Mario himself and perhaps visit it someday.
In a Single Bound: At first, Mario's jumping ability is above average but nothing too special. When he first obtains a Super Mushroom, it boosts the power of his jumps quite a bit. By the end of the film, Mario has learned acrobatics that would make an olympian proud and performs an impressively high jump without the aid of the Super Mushroom to enter a pipe in the epilogue.
Iron Butt Monkey: Mario takes an absurd amount of abuse over the course of the movie. He gets battered by the Warp Pipes when just trying to get around the Mushroom Kingdom to meet Princess Peach, to the point he stumbles out of the last one with a face plant. And he also gets the tar beaten out of him when fighting Donkey Kong in single combat, but Mario manages to defeat his much larger opponent despite getting far fewer hits in. Even outside of this, he takes a lot of punishment, yet keeps on going out of sheer desire to rescue his brother.
It's Personal: Mario grows to hate Bowser on a personal level, because out of all the bullies he's faced in the past who have harassed his brother Luigi, he sees Bowser as the worst of the worst. As he and Luigi are about to punch Bowser to kingdom come with the power of the Super Star, Mario has an absolutely livid expression on his face. Considering he captured Luigi and tried to sacrifice him to a horrific, fiery death, you can't really blame him.
Life of the Party: According to his and Luigi's website at least, Mario loves to throw parties.
Lovable Jock: While probably not as omni-talented as his video game counterpart, it's clear from environmental storytelling that he's into sports, with his side of the bedroom covered in memorabilia and a photo of him playing tennis on the wall of his living room.
Made of Iron: He manages to tank a very large amount of physical damage throughout the film, not just from the Mushroom Kingdom environment in general but from Donkey Kong, Peach's obstacle course and even Peach herself, getting thrown to the ground when they first meet, and eventually Bowser. At various points, Mario is rocketed into the air several hundred feet, thrown into cars, beaten up by pipes, and sent down multi-story falls, often without any sort of rest in between, yet he still manages to just keep going. There's a reason Mario gets told "You just don't know when to quit" several times.
Naïve Newcomer: Since he is new to the Mushroom Kingdom, he's shown comically fumbling around the various platform game-style transport systems, such as when he follows Toad into one of the warp pipes at the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario is taken by surprise when the pipe sucks him in, so he crashes into all the turns as opposed to Toad, who turns seamlessly.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He prevents the Bomber Bill from destroying the Mushroom Kingdom by leading it to the Warp Pipe which he came through in the first place. The Bomber Bill gets sucked in and blows up whilst in the Warp Zone. This creates a riptide effect which not only causes Mario to lose his Tanooki Suit, but sucks himself, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Toad and Bowser's entire fortess in. They all end up back in Brooklyn, where Bowser proceeds to rampage.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Despite his inexperience, it's worth noting this incarnation of Mario draws his durability from the tougher iterations of his game counterpart, as he's left all but completely unscathed despite going through a myriad of Amusing Injuries. Even after being pummeled by Bowser at first during the final battle, Mario is only lightly bruised despite receiving blows that would have torn apart any normal human.
No-Respect Guy: Mario, who is usually a Fun Personified kind of person in the games, has to deal with his family and former boss not looking fondly on his job as a plumber, and just being treated as unimportant in general. That changes when he winds up in the Mushroom Kingdom by accident, and even then it's gradual until he defeats Donkey Kong.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's small even by human standards, to say nothing of how much he's dwarfed by many of the enemies he faces in the Mushroom Kingdom, but face them he does, and sometimes he wins.
Primary-Color Champion: His signature wardrobe is red and blue.
The Protagonist: The movie is mostly told through Mario’s perspective as it details his journey throughout the Mushroom Kingdom to save Luigi and his growth as a person.
Phrase Catcher: "You just don't know when to quit!" Mario's nature as both a Determinator and an Iron Butt Monkey is commented on several times by various characters. Mario initially sees this as a bad thing, since his family (save Luigi) mocks him for it, and their father remarks that Luigi is being dragged down with Mario. He eventually changes his mind after Peach tells him that it's a great trait to have, and during the final confrontation with Bowser, Mario responds to his rant that he's been told that quite a bit.
Reconstruction: Before it was phased out of the canon, the earliest supplementary materials for the Mario franchise said the brothers were from New York (specifically Brooklyn in American-originated media) and came to the Mushroom Kingdom. This film uses that — plus the fact Mario has a short stature and is a plumber — to expand his personality and skillset beyond the happy-go-lucky adventurer he typically is in the games. Mario grew up protecting Luigi and is regularly mocked for his height, so he doesn't back down from bullies and is willing to fight when he has to, but their barbs still get to him personally. His height coupled with the traffic and construction-heavy environs of New York means he's got parkour skills to find the quickest way to get where he's going while avoiding obstacles and navigating hazards, which translates very well to the challenges he faces in the Mushroom Kingdom. That said, when he gets to the Mushroom Kingdom he's a Fish out of Water who is confused and frightened by most of the bizarre things around him, but he's a human and is still taller and stronger than the Toads, so by their standards he's Unskilled, but Strong. Over the course of the film, he figures out how to adapt to his surroundings, makes proper use of power-ups, learns to believe in himself, and becomes the Mario players know and love — a Strong and Skilled Good Is Not Soft hero with bravery, determination, and kindness.
Red Is Heroic: Mario has been wearing his trademark red since infancy. Even his pyjamas are red.
Right Man in the Wrong Place: He drops into the Mushroom Kingdom apropos of nothing with little to offer other than amateur parkour skills and a fierce loyalty to his brother, but he ends up being exactly the hero it (and his home world) needs nonetheless.
Running Gag: Mario getting into an argument or fight with someone larger than him (Spike, Donkey Kong and Bowser).
Ship Tease: With Peach, like in the games. They are repeatedly shown to enjoy each other's company and some of their dialogue with each other borders on the flirty side. Plus, Mario gets a POV shot of Peach on her motorbike and gets teased by DK for supposedly flirting with her. It was because of this that Bowser explicitly saw Mario as a rival for her affection. Though Mario himself is mainly thinking about saving his brother and the kingdom and becomes an Unknown Rival to Bowser for Peach's affections during the wedding unlike his original game counterpart.
The Social Expert: In contrast to his brother, Mario clearly knows his way around people. He is able to successfully negotiate with several figures of authority during his adventure, wordlessly coaches Luigi through an anxious phone call, and consistently gives the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom friendly greetings even when they're strange or intimidating, as if aware of the value of a good first impression.
Sizeshifter: Downplayed, but he uses a Super Mushroom multiple times to become slightly taller than before. Played straighter when he accidentally eats a Mini Mushroom and shrinks to the size of an ant.
Stout Strength: Mario is a head shorter than his brother, but is indicated to be the stronger of the two thanks to his desire to protect him. He managed to drag an unconscious Donkey Kong to the surface of the water by his tie, even though the Kong must weigh three times as much as he does.
Super-Strength: Mario's strength is enhanced when he's under the effect of a Super Mushroom, allowing him to punch and ground pound through blocks of solid brick with no effort or discomfort. Under the effects of the Super Star, he and Luigi are capable of punching Bowser dozens of meters effortlessly.
Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Like in the games, he is significantly shorter than Peach, something she notices right away. While he does become roughly her height while using the Super Mushroom, this only occurs during a few short sequences.
The Unfavorite: Early parts of the movie seem to indicate that Mario may be this compared to Luigi who, even though he gets needled for quitting his day job working for Foreman Spike, Mario is the one who takes the brunt of the harsher critique from their father. He more than laments how he's been told that he feels like a let-down to his father. His father also specifically notes that the worst part of him starting up his plumbing business is that he's bringing his brother down with him, implying he values Luigi more than Mario.
Unknown Rival: Bowser's ire towards him is upon finding out that he is another human journeying with Peach and starts to think of him as a romantic rival for Peach's affection, something Mario never learns about. He and Peach do have their moments where they seem to flirt a bit as they bond and a few other characters (Toad and Luigi, to an extent) see them as a good couple, but even though she does count as a love interest for him, Mario is not aware of his eventual feelings for her, and even if he is, he keeps them to himself because it's not his priority, he's focused on finding Luigi and saving him.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Becomes this with DK. Despite their still ongoing bickering dynamic, they empathize with each other over their daddy issues and work especially well as a team.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: At the start of the movie, he's not bothered too much by most of his family poking fun at his decision to stop working for Foreman Spike, but it's his father's criticism that hurt the most and makes him retreat to his room, lamenting his lack of trust and support in him. After seeing Mario and Luigi save the day, he proudly refers to both of them as his boys, putting a smile on Mario's face.

Luigi

"Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together!"

Voiced by: Charlie Day^{Foreign VAs}

"Mario, we got one! The Super Mario Brothers are in business!"

Mario's timid younger (but taller) brother and fellow plumber.

Advertised Extra: Despite being part of the film's title and featuring predominantly on the poster, Luigi himself doesn’t have much screentime and spends most of the movie as a Distressed Dude in Bowser’s captivity until the climax.
Affectionate Nickname: Mario calls him "Lu" a few times.
Big Brother Worship: Towards Mario, as in the games. Even while literally being tortured, Luigi can't admit he knows Mario to Bowser without also telling him that Mario is "the greatest guy in the world" and that princesses find Mario attractive "if they have good taste".
Big Damn Heroes: As Mario makes a mad dash for the Super Star, Bowser breathes a stream of fire at him, only to have it blocked by Luigi holding up a manhole cover, who reprises Mario's original statement that everything would be okay as long as the two were together.
Big Little Brother: As always, he's taller than Mario despite being stated to be the younger of the two.
Bond One-Liner: "You just got... a-Luigi'd!" Said to a Dry Bones after apparently defeating it. Too bad for Luigi that a Dry Bones takes a little more than that, and it reforms.
Born Unlucky: Luigi's combination of clumsiness, cowardice (at least at first), and random events taking swipes at him personally leans pretty hard into this.
Casual Danger Dialogue: He still has time to greet Spike after disposing of some of Bowser's soldiers who were harassing his former boss.
Character Development: Spent most of his life being rather cowardly and needing Mario to protect him. After spending most of the movie being tormented by Bowser and locked in a cage, witnessing Mario's heroism encourages him to grow more brave.
Comically Missing the Point: When Spike sarcastically asks if they've even gotten a single call since releasing their commercial, Luigi proudly says they have; their mother calling him to tell him how happy it made her. He even drops his phone afterwards as if he'd made an amazing comeback.
Container Cling: Before Donkey Kong starts pulling up the cages, and Mario saves him when he loses his grip, this is how he avoids being incinerated by lava during the wedding.
Cowardly Lion:
- Despite being terrified of Bowser, seeing Mario keep standing up to him in the climax gave him the push to save his brother's life by blocking Bowser's flame breath with a manhole cover.
- He has one earlier when he's being interrogated by Bowser. Despite sobbing in both terror and pain from the interrogation, he still went out of his way to roast Bowser by telling him straight to his face about how Mario is the best guy in the world, and that Bowser has very good reason to fear Mario as a love rival, because whoever Princess Peach is, any princess with good taste would find Mario attractive.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: All signs point to him being just as athletic and fight-capable as his brother, he just lacks the same confidence to act without his hand being forced and coordination to look cool doing it until the end of the film where they can finally do it together.
Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When Bowser interrogates him, demanding to know the identity of his brother, Luigi hypes up Mario as being infinitely better than Bowser. Luigi essentially insults the brute by saying that princesses find Mario attractive if “they have good taste”. Turns out he was right. How does Peach react when Bowser begs her for a second chance after the climax? She rejects him with utter disgust. And how does she respond when Mario invites her over to Brooklyn after everything is done? She considers accepting the offer while giving him a flirty smile.
Distressed Dude: Due to how he and Mario were transported to the new world (unlike Mario, who was sent off to the much safer Mushroom Kingdom), Luigi ends up separated and trapped in the much more dangerous Dark Lands, gets captured by Bowser, who then presses Luigi for information on Mario.
The Dog Bites Back: Spends most of the movie imprisoned by Bowser who plots to kill him in front of everyone during his and Peach's wedding, but during the final battle in Brooklyn, when Luigi sees Bowser about to kill Mario and friends, this causes Luigi to immediately stand up to his captor and help the heroes finally defeat him.
Dub Personality Change: In the "Super Japanese version", when told that he can't be scared all the time, Luigi comments that it depends on the circumstances — a possible nod to him being as brave as Mario in the 2D games but a coward in the Luigi's Mansion games.
Fire-Forged Friends: With both Peach and Donkey Kong, after the final battle against Bowser.
Grew a Spine: He overcomes his cowardice to help Mario take on Bowser in the climax, blocking Bowser's Breath Weapon by using a manhole cover as a shield.
The Heart:
- From the get-go, Luigi is established as providing Mario with emotional support. Mario had second thoughts about using Italian accents in their commercial, but Luigi's facial expression and body language let Mario know he shouldn't worry about it, with the nearest Italian openly telling them he loved their accents. Later, Luigi comforts Mario when he's feeling down about their father's lack of support. When the two were being sucked into another dimension and both were spiralling out of control, Luigi calling out for Mario's help spurred the latter into taking control of the current and flying forward to grab his brother. And eventually Luigi saves Mario's life in the climax by using a manhole cover to protect him from Bowser's fire breath.
- Turns out it’s not just for Mario. After the bros get the Super Star, Luigi’s strategy includes protecting civilians caught in the crossfire. He saves Spike, a bully to him, from being ganged up on with no second thoughts.
Hidden Depths:
- Similar to what's been suggested of his game counterpart, Luigi might have more innate talent under his cowardly exterior compared to Mario, considering he was able to perfectly match his brother's moves after grabbing the Super Star, while Mario himself only developed those moves after spending the entire movie adapting to how the Mushroom Kingdom worked.
- Not only is he a fast learner, but is able to use his newfound skills practically in battle. When he first encountered the Dry Bones, he inadvertently discovered that they can be knocked to pieces if hit hard enough. He dispatches a Dry Bones by knocking its head into the lava moat whilst being chased by a horde of them. Come the final battle, his first plan of attack is to dissemble a Dry Bones and then use its shell as a shield and a projectile.
Improvised Weapon: This seems to be his MO by the end of the movie. He specifically uses improvised shields: the first time is when he uses a manhole cover to protect himself and Mario from being incinerated by Bowser's fire. The second time is when he uses the shell of a Dry Bones to deflect hammers thrown at him by a Hammer Bro, before knocking the minion away by throwing the shield at him.
Inconsistent Spelling: Is Mario's nickname for him spelled Lu or Lou? The international subtitles can't seem to agree.
Instant Expert: The moment that Luigi grabs the Super Star alongside Mario, he demonstrates a fighting style that is similar and complimentary to his older brother's techniques. For reference, Mario spends the whole movie learning how to fight through training and experience whereas Luigi immediately adapts to the Mushroom Kingdom fighting style in a flash.
Lovable Coward: Carrying over from the games is Luigi's scaredy-cat nature, which we see when he's introduced in the teaser running for his life from a horde of Dry Bones. Despite this, he still refuses to (willingly) tell Bowser anything when the Koopa King has him imprisoned and threatened for information, even when he's having his mustache painfully plucked.
Mic Drop: Invoked. After showing Spike the good review the Bros' mom left on their website, he whips his phone onto the floor for emphasis, which lands with a Sickening "Crunch!", to his horror and Spike's amusement. His phone is subsequently shown with a cracked screen.
Mr. Fanservice: According to the New York Post blog, fans of the Super Mario franchise (including female viewers) have been hitting the internet with their thoughts on just how sexy he is. It helps that Luigi's taller and more athletic than Mario, along with having an air of innocence.
Nervous Wreck: Luigi is more prone to panicking than Mario. Not helped by the fact he ends up in the Dark Lands, which are teeming with Dry Bones and Shy Guys.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While the situation wasn't great in the first place, Bowser's fury and paranoia over Mario getting between him and Peach are made significantly worse after Luigi, following his intuition under pressure, hypes his brother up as the best guy in the world.
No Social Skills: In contrast to his brother, he fumbles just about every non-familial social encounter he finds himself in. He sees absolutely no problem with retaliating to Spike's bullying with essentially "Well my mom thinks I'm cool," and when Bowser is interrogating him for information, he gives up said information in just about the best possible way to make his and Mario's situation a lot worse.
Out of Focus: Although he is one half of the "Bros." in the title, he doesn't do much other than be a Distressed Dude for Mario and Peach to rescue, and receives far less screentime than his brother between their separation and reunion. He does end up saving Mario from Bowser’s fire breath and joins him in using the Super Star to defeat Bowser though.
Pretty Boy: Especially without his hat sometimes.
The Pollyanna: Despite his timidity, Luigi still remains optimistic even if his family makes fun of him and his brother and not believing in them (expect their mother, who supports them all the time).
Screams Like a Little Girl: Luigi hits an impressively high note when Bowser, while interrogating him for information, painfully yanks out a chunk of his mustache.
Shipper on Deck: When Bowser interrogates him on whether princesses think Mario is attractive, Luigi blurts out "They do if they have good taste!", making this clear that whoever Peach is, he will have supported Mario and her getting together because of his Big Brother Worship.
Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Bowser questions him about Mario, Luigi proceeds to claim that he doesn't know everyone with an identical outfit with a hat with the letter of his first name on it.
Took a Level in Badass: After everything he’s been through — chased by Dry Bones, captured by Shy Guys and tortured by Bowser — Luigi overcomes his fears to stand up against the villains. How? By first directly intervening with a manhole cover to protect Mario from Bowser's fire breath, and then getting the Super Star with his brother and curb-stomping the Koopa King and every single soldier at his disposal.
Tritagonist: He is the reason Mario is helping Princess Peach fight Bowser and the plot heavily revolves around him needing to be rescued from the Koopa King. He plays an important role in the Final Battle against Bowser at Brooklyn as he rescues Mario from Bowser’s fiery breath and he uses the Super Star alongside his brother to beat up Bowser and his army.
Underestimating Badassery: Bowser sees him as nothing more than someone close to Mario whom he'll kill out of spite. Come the final battle, nothing seems to be in Bowser's way to using the Super Star to kill everyone…until Luigi ruins his chances by protecting Mario and buying the two of them enough time to grab the Star and turn the tide of the fight.
Unskilled, but Strong: Luigi is flung by a tree into a Dry Bones, knocking it out. Later, Luigi is able to fend off many Dry Bones by slapping them away, kicking them off of him, and slamming a door on an entire horde of them. Upon getting the Super Star with Mario, he’s an unstoppable force against Bowser and his entire army.
Useless Protagonist: Downplayed. While Luigi gets the short end of the stick story-wise, he's not completely without agency. When Mario has moments of doubt or even depression, Luigi is always quick to reassure him. And then Luigi saves Mario when it looks like he might get roasted by Bowser's fire breath, allowing both of them to acquire the Super Star and curb-stomp Bowser's entire army before pummeling the Koopa King himself.
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This happens after Lumalee says the only hope is the sweet relief of death. Luigi doesn't say it out loud, but the look on his face tells the story.

Characters / SMBM Mario Bros

The Mario Brothers

Mario

Voiced by: Chris Pratt^{Foreign VAs}

Luigi

Voiced by: Charlie Day^{Foreign VAs}

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The Mario Brothers

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