Over the years, Mario is a character that has worn many hats. The Super Mario Odyssey star has been a monkey-fighting carpenter, a kart racer, a doctor, a sports star, and more, but outside of his princess saving exploits, he is perhaps best known as a plumber, and has been referred to as such for decades. In a shocking turn of events, however, it turns out Mario is no longer a plumber at all.
This is according to Mario's new character profile on Nintendo's Japanese website, which says that Mario was a plumber "a long time ago." It doesn't clarify when Mario stopped working as a plumber in the Mushroom Kingdom, but one has to imagine it was well before his Super Mario Odyssey days. In fact, it doesn't seem Mario has had a lot of time to do plumbing work since he's been busy saving Princess Peach, which began with the original Super Mario Bros. back in 1985.
For those in disbelief, read Mario's new character bio right here:
"All around sporty, whether it’s tennis or baseball, soccer or car racing, he does everything cool. As a matter of fact, he also seems to have worked as a plumber a long time ago..."
Mario's identity has been closely associated with his status as a plumber for decades, so some fans may be surprised by this revelation. However, in the grand scheme of things, Mario's plumbing work never really played a factor in the games, outside of his ability to travel through pipes.
Plus, in the upcoming Super Mario Odyssey, Mario will be emulating a number of other professions anyway, thanks to the alternate costumes players can purchase in the game. So far we've seen footage of Mario dressed as a chef, a golfer, an explorer in a safari getup, and more, with other costumes presumably in the game as well.
Between these costumes and the many other professions Mario has pursued in other games, it's safe to say this new information about his life as an ex-plumber shouldn't have much of an impact on the games or character at all.
Super Mario Odyssey will launch on October 27th, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.