In Mario 64, the classic platformer from 1996, Mario and Bowser battle it out, and the Italian plumber swings Bowser around and sends him spinning through the air. Fans have spent 23 years wondering what Mario says as he throws Bowser across the map, and now, thanks to the series' voice actor, they have the answer.

Some fans theories suggested that Mario says "so long, gay Bowser" as he flings the shelled character in the air, while others had theorized that the protagonist says "so long aye Bowser." The truth is that Mario says neither of these things in Mario 64.

On April 28, a fan tweeted Charles Martinet, the voice actor of Mario in Mario 64. Martinet just replied with "So long Kinga Bowser." Because of Mario's accent and the way he adds "-a" to the end of words (such as "It's-a me, Mario!), the word "king" sounds like "king-ay," "aye," or "gay," as some have heard it.

In less than 24 hours, Martinet's Mario 64 tweet has earned more than 600 retweets and over 2,000 likes. Many of the replies to the Mario voice actor's tweet also thank Martinet for answering the question that has plagued fans for so long. One (joking) reply maintains that Martinet did say "so long, gay Bowser" and that Bowser should be counted as LGBTQ representation in games, next to characters like Overwatch's Soldier: 76. Another fan says that they can "finally" move on after all this time, while one fan says that "the question of the century has finally been answered."

To most, Mario 64's misheard line may not seem like much. However, it does highlight how big the fan community is for the decades-old game. Fans really have spent all this time wondering what was said, although it may seem like nothing too most.

As well as settling major debates on Twitter, players of the game have also set new Mario 64 speedrun records. Some have also released mods that allow people to play it first person and have created fan games to restore features left out of the final release.

The replies to Martinet's voice line tweet implies that the Mario 64 community is still going strong, and is in no risk of going away any time soon. So, expect more interesting finds and new Mario 64 hacks as fans come up with more ways to enjoy (and explore) the classic game.

Source: Twitter (1), (2), (3), (4), YouTube - GameXplain