Relax, Mario Is a Plumber Again

Back in September, we ran a story suggesting that the legendary Nintendo hero Mario was abandoning his key occupation in favor of something a little more exciting. No, not doctor. He was giving up his life as a plumber.

"All around sporty, whether it's tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, he [Mario] does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago..." the report noted.

That actually threw more people into a frenzy than you might expect, but, alas, all that hubbub was for nothing, as Mario appears to be a plumber again – with some work on the side for good measure. (We assume that still includes doctor.

Nintendo's Japanese page has confirmed that, with his updated bio, Mario is in fact a plumber again. Not that we really doubted it, but it wasn't the end of the world if he didn't return to that occupation. After all, has he been working with pipes much, aside from the ones in Super Mario Odyssey?

The bio update reads the same, only with the added text: "his occupation is plumber. However, his activity is not confined to that area".

So that's a safe way of saying, "Well, he's still a plumber," but it also leaves plenty of room for the other gaming activities he partakes in, from working out strategies with newfound allies in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle to racing with his friends (and enemies) in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

We're not sure why Nintendo made the change, but more than likely, it wanted to stick with tradition that Mario is still considered an "everyman" kind of hero, even with the power-ups that give him strength in so many areas. Super Mario Odyssey clearly proves this, as he can dress up in a number of costumes that show off how "normal" he is.

Whatever the case, we expect Mario to keep up his status quo with some form of new adventures for Nintendo Switch (and maybe the 3DS) this year, but it's nice to see he didn't forget his humble beginnings.

Our Take: So now that Mario is a plumber again…can he fix the clog in our sink? I'm sure a fireball will do the trick.