Ever since he stormed onto the scene in the early 1980s, Mario has been Nintendoโs primary mascot. Heโs appeared in hundreds of games, starred in a massive blockbuster animated film (and a terrible live-action one), and so much more. While Mario has his place in the annals of video game history as the biggest mascot of all time, heโs not Nintendoโs first choice. Initially, Nintendo placed a lot of effort into making Diskun the companyโs mascot, and the adorable floppy disk did entertain the masses for a little while, though he was limited to Japanese players.
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Diskun never became Nintendo of America’s mascot. Still, in Japan, he was the one and only mascot for the Nintendo Family Computer Disk System, better known as the Famicom. Diskun was emblazoned in the top-left corner of every Famicom Disk System manual, and his color matched the disks themselves. He was the mascot of choice for Nintendo, but when Nintendo of America launched Donkey Kong in the United States, the player character, initially known as โJumpman,โ evolved to become the dominating force that is Mario. This left Diskun largely out of Nintendo products ever since.
Diskun Never Made It Out of Japan
While the Famicom was a popular gaming platform in Japan, Diskun didnโt make many in-game appearances, as he was primarily used as identifying artwork in manuals. Still, the character did make an occasional appearance in several games. In Smash Ping Pong, Diskun appears on the title (pictured below) and on the game’s win screen. He also appears on the scoreboard in Famicom Golf: Japan Course and U.S. Course, as well as on the uniforms in Ice Hockey. He got a little play on these titles, but didnโt become a playable character for some time.
Diskun is the main character in Janken Disk Jล, which was based on the Diskun manga that appeared in Famimaga magazines at the time. The game was released in 1992, so it came long after Mario had established himself as Nintendoโs worldwide mascot, but Diskun managed to stick around nonetheless. Across the pond and long after the Famicomโs retirement, Diskun appeared as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Nintendo GameCube. A player could only receive the trophy by achieving every bonus in the game, resulting in the following description:
“This little guy is the adorable mascot for a Nintendo Entertainment System peripheral device released in 1985. Using the disk system, you could rewrite games for ยฅ500, an epochal and economical feature. Funnily enough, the instruction booklet was sold separately for ยฅ100. The disk system’s first game was The Legend of Zelda.” Eventually, Diskun appeared in more Western video game releases, including Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, WarioWare: Touched!, Super Mario Maker, and others. Additionally, in the final battle scene of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a sign advertises a Disk-kun hardware store, a reference to the old mascot.
Diskun Remains a Nostalgic Icon in Japan
While he never properly landed with audiences in the United States โฆ or anywhere outside of Japan, Diskun remains tied to the nostalgia of the Family Computer Disk System. For those who grew up playing the console in Japan, they saw him every time they checked out a manual or fired up one of the few games to feature the character. The fact that he was referenced in 2023โs The Super Mario Bros. Movie shows his enduring place in gaming history despite being relatively unknown outside of his home country, making him an example of a somewhat popular mascot few know much about.
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