Considering he spends most of his time leaping off skyscrapers, beating Bowser up for the umpteenth time and collecting his 999th Power Moon in Super Mario Odyssey, you wouldn't be the first person to forget Mario still has a day job. Yes, he's still a plumber. It's now official again, with Nintendo updating his bio on the official Japanese Nintendo site to include his OG occupation. The updated line, translated from Japanese, reads:
"His occupation is plumber. However, his activity is not confined to that area."
So when he's filling out forms, Mario puts down 'plumber' instead of 'man who collects balloons and possess frogs on the moon'. To be fair, one of those options would probably fit in the box a lot easier than the other.
So Mario is still a plumber, it's canon now. Share your official thoughts below and plumb the depths of the comments section below...
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments (68)
I thought sunshine remaster is announced
Fun fact. Mario was originally, in fact, a carpenter, not a plumber. Anyway, it's all a load of made up nonsense. Next week, they'll be saying he's not a plumber, again.
"So when he's filling out forms, Mario puts down 'plumber' instead of 'man who collects balloons and possess frogs on the moon'."
It should be "possesses".
Wait, what? Didn't Nintendo not long ago say he wasn't a plumber anymore? Is there an internal argument taking place between two people which has spilled out onto the internet around whether he's a plumber or not?
@FragRed My thoughts exactly
Seems like a cover-up to me...
Hey, thanks for slipping a few end-game spoilers for Odyssey into this article. Stay classy, NL.
I'm concerned about him moonlighting as a doctor. I really want to see his credentials.
The rest of it? Well obviously the pipes work in the mushroom kingdom so he just had to deal with that bowser dude. Plus Go Karting...that is serious business.
Unless I see a pic of Mario's butt crack he's never been a plumber.
Unless he has one of those Mafia enabled or government nepotism "no show" jobs, either of which is possible since he is Italian and Princess Peach certainly seems to like him well enough.
I suppose that's the riddle solved then, his occupation is plumber, he's paid to be a plumber, but he's never actually worked at that job.
It's good to be Mario.
I miss when he was a Boxing/Tennis referee.
I feel like punch out Wii missed a tick not having Mario ref.
I'm totally enjoying my Switch, but I gotta be honest...Feels like ages since we got real news from Nintendo. And I don't really count the cardboard announcement, at least for me personally. E3 is so far away.
@AndrewJ He's the editor, so he needs to proof-read his own articles. Therein lies the problem.
He's only a plumber for tax purposes.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I've seen it both ways. In the way used in the article it implies that he does it once or that he can do it, while possesses would imply that he does it frequently.
@Ryu_Niiyama As a doctor it seems Mario is more of a pharmacist than a practicing physician. Still concerning, but maybe less so than if he were a surgeon.
@rjejr I would love for a 'butt crack' outfit to come to Odyssey
@Reignmaker Exactly, even with Hyrule Warriors rerelease on Switch, I believe the Japanese date was nailed down to March 23 (this month) and yet NOA has yet to give us any such date. I don't expect any huge reveals pre-E3, but still Nintendo seems unnaturally quiet right now.
Make up your minds Nintendo!
Mario's a plumber and he loves layin' pipe, baby.
@rjejr: "It's good to be Mario." - Nice!
@Nico07: Mario, & Luigi's megavitamins seem to have various effects of curing(DrM/DrM64/DrL), or hurting(Smash Bros.). So, apparently, the Mario Bros. are practicing chemists, too, which would align with the pharmacist theory. Still, pharmacists have more body chemistry knowledge, than doctors do, so Mario, & Luigi aren't off the hook for malpractice.
@Everyone_Else: Mario, and Luigi, are just very actively involved in most everything. Primarily Mario, but Luigi too. Mario even traveled through time, too.
Unbelievable this is life and death
@Nico07 Oh geez. It'sa me your Neurosurgeon!
Marios a doctor. He loves mushrooms
@1UP_MARIO Same here! Poor choice of a picture.
As long as Luigi's job is still bustin' ghost, I'm good.
Thank God.
He was never not a plumber, he was stated to no longer be a plumber.
Some fans took that heavily out of context like it was a retcon.
He hasn't practiced plumbing in over 30 years. What exactly does Mario do when he's not on an adventure?
Mario, & Luigi are, for all intents, & purposes, "Jack(s) of all trades".
@FragRed I agree, they did say that. He is no longer a plumber.
I take it he wasn't finding as many coins in blocks as he used to, or perhaps block coins aren't worth as much as they once were. Back to plumbing then.
Make up your minds, Nintendo!
@Dom "most of his TIME."
@Phantom_R What was the spoiler, Mario beating up Bowser? OH, the final level... right... Yeah, I won't even defend NL on that one. Their argument will probably be that the game was released ages ago, even though it was only less than 5 months ago.
@Ryu_Niiyama Plumbing in Brooklyn, as he's supposedly from, and medicine are interchangeable really. I mean both involve making sure a connected series of tubes under pressure don't leak fluid.
Plus, nobody said he was moonlighting as a surgeon. He seems to mostly be a pharmacologist. And, I mean, who in Brooklyn DOESN'T get brightly colored pills from their "plumber"?
Is he still in his 20s? That was in the last updated bio as well.
If you look up Odyssey intro again, Bowser called him plumber after Mario being defeated, so I don't think that news is actually that shocking on Mushroom Kingdom.
@FinalFrog
Amen.
But they also don't brush their teeth.
@Phantom_R
That's it, I'm done.
Sayonara, Nintendo Life. It's been an unpleasant 5 years.
-1 reader.
He’s a big brother
Who cares? He's a mascot. Just make a decent Mario game or remaster Mario 64. Everything since then has been boring.
@10-zx It's sayonara...
@FinalFrog @AndrewJ Not to bandwagon, but the writing has been on the decline for the past several years. I mostly stick to forums and the one liner comments I'll make for some things.
@NEStalgia Nico cracked the joke and I jumped off from there. I've only been in Brooklyn to see a concert. The nightlife looked pretty normal but perhaps it wasn't late enough. I'm a driver but I loathe driving in NY (whole state sucks for that really). So I limit my trips. My uncle has been trying to get me to move there for years and as wonderful as NYC is (my second favorite city behind Rome) ...too many people. Plus cost of living... ugh.
surely he would earn more as a dr?
I would love to see copies of Mario and Luigi's resumes at some point.
@TenEighty
People like you are the problem.
@Tyranexx: Maybe Mario, & Luigi do their jobs under the table, because they lack legitimate credentials?
@JamesJose7 Spinning cutter!
Sorry; your comment is a battle quote from Xenoblade 2. I had to!
Mario is and will always be a plumber. Like Ash will always be a pokemon trainer.
Leave it at that Nintendo. "He used to be a plumber" was sad.
Mock Mario all you want for holding down several jobs, but at least he’s earning coins unlike Link who just pinches stuff and robs the dead.
The thumbnail had me all excited for a remaster for Super Mario Sunshine.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Is there any post you don't comment on and critique seconds after it is posted? You are almost always in the first couple comments, if not THE first.
@Capt_N: I'd be curious to see Mario's varied "resume". Luigi's would have some similarities, but the most prominent position for him that I can think of would be "Ghostbuster for a nutty old guy".
Claiming to be a plumber yet Mario never use a plunger at all in any of his games.

@Tyranexx: Exactly!
That was sure a quick turnaround.
@10-zx
What problem? I've been playing Nintendo since the release of the NES. I'm just stating that Mario was great until the Gamecube and up. Just my opinion but I stand by it.
I do wish Mario would incorporate more plumbing activities in his games besides just having pipes, lol.
They stopped mentioning his BROOKLYN roots
His career may be that of a plumber, but I maintain that he is more of a jack-of-all-trades.
Didn't Nintendo say not to long ago that he wasn't a plumber anymore? Then Odysey came out and Bowser called Mario "plumber boy".
Such confused
Much mystery
@Obitokamui64 Works as a plumber?
I guess the games are what he does when he's not unclogging toilets. That doesn't sound like a fun game idea IMO. Although it could make a good use of the motion controls
@MrGawain Link holds the prestigious job of a murder-hobo- I mean, "an adventurer"
Mario was a janitor, they changed it to plumber.
**Know this**
In Mario games, the pipes opening that leads to the sewer is a toilet, the Goombas you find there are the sh*t and cr*p in the sewer. That's the original game design ideas.
**know this**
I wonder if a real life plumber was ever close friends with a princess.
@SmaggTheSmug
"Mario, please come by the castle. I've baked a cake for you. I also took a monster s*** and clogged the royal toilet. "
Love,
Peach
It is really easy to forget while playing a Paper Mario game.
Glad too hear that
Could be a joke for sunshine coming out.....
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