Mario's Iconic Voice Actor Is Stepping Away From The Role

For nearly three decades now, the voice of Nintendo's longtime mascot, the plumber and adventurer Mario, has been veteran voice actor Charles Martinet. From the mid-90s until now, every video game appearance of the plucky plumber has been accompanied by Martinet's trademark hooting, hollering, and "yahoo" -ing. To say he's one of the most recognizable voices in gaming history would be a massive understatement, which is why the latest news from Nintendo is so shocking.

Today, on the official Nintendo of America Twitter account, the company announced that Martinet would be ending his longtime tenure as Mario's voice, and begin working instead as a brand ambassador for the character.

We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023

"Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64," the post reads. "Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he'll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!"

Martinet started voicing Mario for Nintendo trade shows in the early 90s, where he would hide behind a curtain "Wizard of Oz"-style and provide response voices for a 3D Mario head interacting with visitors. The first in-game appearance of Martinet as Mario's voice was 1994's "Mario Teaches Typing," though the most well-known instance of Martinet's plumber voice was, of course, 1996's "Super Mario 64."

Barring television and film appearances of the Mario character, which have been portrayed by actors like "Captain" Lou Albano, Bob Hoskins, and Chris Pratt, every Mario appearance has been played by Martinet. Martinet has always brought a distinct energy to his Mario portrayals, not to mention adjacent characters like Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi.

At the time of writing, it is not known who will be taking the reins of Mario's voice from Martinet. It's also not known how many games going forward will still feature his voice, though, at the least, he is believed to be voicing in the upcoming "Super Mario Bros. Wonder."

"It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him," Nintendo's Twitter post adds. "Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date."