Super Mario (franchise)

The Super Mario franchise is Nintendo's flagship franchise. It stars Mario, an Italian plumber who first appeared in the arcade game Donkey Kong, but it was not until Mario Bros. for Game & Watch that Mario's name appeared in a game. This begs the question: which came first, the chicken or the egg, or rather Mario or Donkey Kong?

Originally, people called it the Mario franchise (still called that by some folks in the West). However, in recent times, it has been called Super Mario franchise. The reasoning behind this change is unknown.

Trivia

• The Super Mario franchise is an existential crisis to the Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Wario franchises. Some people think that Mario is canonically the bad guy after all, just like in Donkey Kong Jr..
• The Super Mario franchise is named after the Super Mario series, which began with Super Mario Bros., despite it not being Mario's debut appearance.