Mario, the official mascot of Nintendo is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. After 36 years appearing in various games, Nintendo announced today that Mario is no longer a plumber. The company updated Mario’s Japanese-language profile (as translated by Kotaku), which described him as: 

“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…”

In an interview by Mario’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto on USA Today, Mario hasn’t always been a plumber. When he first appeared in Donkey Kong, Mario was named Jumpman and was even a carpenter rather than a plumber since the setting of the game is on a construction site. 

“With (1983's)  Mario Bros., we brought in Luigi and a lot of the game was played underground so we made him to fit that setting and, we decided he could be a plumber,” Miyamoto says. “The scenario dictates his role.” 

Come to think of it, besides jumping up and down on pipes every once in a while, Mario doesn’t do anything specific that indicates he is a plumber. He appeared as a doctor in two games, Dr. Mario back in 1990 for the NES, and Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure for the 3DS in 2015, but never has he played a plumber in particular.

SOURCE: IGN