Mama Mario

"When I tell you to run, I want you to run!"

- Mama Mario

Mama Mario (called Mama by her children), the fictional mother of Mario and Luigi, is a recurring minor character throughout the Super Mario series and its spin-offs, particularly in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, where she was both referenced throughout the television series' run and made two appearances in the live-action segments.

Though her first appearance was in "Super Mario Issunboshi," The Super Mario Bros. Super Show is responsible for the expansion of the character; to date it is the only source that has provided an official name, shown her face, or explored her personality, developing her as a comically strict parental figure who ultimately cared very much for her boys. Though Mario and Luigi fear her temper and punishments on the show, both boys return their mother's love. Mama Mario's connection to Mario and Luigi's father is unclear. The two are shown to live with each other in all of the father's appearances, but their relationship and backstory remain unexplored.

Mama Mario's appearance is relatively inconsistent across the series: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! portrayed her as a portly, masculine woman, while the Nintendo Comics System artists drew her as a dainty, blonde-haired, young woman. However, one consistency across all appearances save "Mama Mia Mario" is the concealing of her face by objects and camera angles.

Super Mario Issunboshi
Super Mario Issunboshi, a retelling of the Japanese fairy tale Issunboshi featuring characters from the Super Mario series, marked the first appearance of Mama Mario, simply called "Mama." Since then, Mario and Luigi have always referred to their mother as "Mama." Though she did not speak, her slippers and feet were visible in a scene where Mario attempted to convince her that he was old enough to travel alone. Mama Mario's face was not shown, a tradition that has continued to this day with only one exception.

"All Steamed Up"
"All Steamed Up" marked the first reference to Mama Mario outside of Japan. When Luigi first saw Mario shrunken down to a very small size, he lamented over what he would tell their mother.

"Mama Mia Mario"
Six live-action segments later, the character made her first live-action appearance in "Mama Mia Mario," where she and Mario were both played by Captain Lou Albano. The episode's plot was written in such a way that the two characters never appear together on screen, allowing Albano to play both characters without the aid of editing. For Mama, the actor spoke in a high, raspy voice, wore a scowl, hunched forward, and when he walked, took small steps and leaned left and right in time with his steps. Near the end of the episode, Mama appears behind a door, talking to the visible Mario. Her arms and hands are briefly shown. During this scene, another, unidentified person played Mama, although Lou still provided the voice.

When Mama Mario called Mario Bros. Plumbing, Luigi picked up the telephone. He attempted to protest and explain Mama's complains as she her voice grew higher and higher. Listening into the call, Mario first suspected that the caller was complaining about the water heater that blew up the week before. After agreeing to let Mama come over, Luigi hung up and told Mario that it was worse: Mama was coming to visit. The two decided to clean up the apartment and lay out leafy vegetables in an attempt to hide their bachelor lifestyle.

Upon arrival, Mama rang the doorbell and ordered her boys to open the door, lest she "break [their] heads!" Quickly, Mario finished the cleaning by taking a garbage can full of pizza boxes into the next room as Luigi went to answer the door. Immediately, Mama hit Luigi upside his head with her purse and lectured him on answering the door timely and listening to her. The scene ended for a commercial break as Mama continued her tirade.

After the cartoon segment, Mama stood over Luigi as he scrubbed the apartment floor and instructed him to tell Mario to see her after he finished washing the street, because she had more work for him to do. Luigi responded with a gentle, "Yes, Mama." His mother interjected, ordering him to shut up and not talk back. Mario rang the doorbell and, through the door, told Mama that he had washed all the steps on Flatbush Avenue. She refused to let him come back in until he had washed the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan, and then commanded that Luigi, still scrubbing the floor, to stop being lazy and help his brother.

When Mama stepped out of the room, Mario walked back in and confided in Luigi that, though he loved Mama, he could not take any more of her and wished that she would leave. Luigi agreed, but asserted that their mother was much better than Aunt Luigeena. Overhearing their conversation, or at least the sound of their voices, Mama, from the other room, yelled at them to keep working.

As the prelude to scenes from The Legend of Zelda, Mario and Luigi discussed how Mama had instructed them to show the scenes and they would be right back afterward provided Mama allowed it. They also noted that The Legend of Zelda was her favorite television show.

Secretly, Luigi called Mama over the phone and told her to win the lottery. She fell for the trick and prepared to leave, saying goodbye and hitting Mario over the head with her purse, knocking his hat off. When Mario asked why she hit him, she responded, "Just in case." Shortly after, Aunt Luigeena arrived and rang the doorbell. The brothers hesitated in answering, fearing that Mama had realized the truth.

"Little Marios"
"Little Marios" features a flashback to when Mario and Luigi were still young children. Again, she is voiced by Lou Albano, but because Mama is only on-screen in scenes where Mario also is, another person played Mama, carefully keeping his/her face off camera and making exaggerated hand gestures. Mama, overhearing them arguing over the outcome of their race through the house, scolded them and grounded Mario because as the oldest, she argued, he should know better. Shaking, Mario whined that she had already grounded him five times that week. Mama decided to punish him instead by peeling the garlic for the next five days, a punishment that Mario complained would make him smell so bad that no one, not even himself, would want to play with him.

Mario was so upset that he decided to run away. Mama and Luigi enjoyed their time without Mario, eating popcorn. She noted that, without Mario to share with, she and Luigi could eat much more popcorn. When Mario returned, he asked Mama if she missed him. She replied, “No!” and went on to say that she did not miss the yelling, the fights with Luigi, and his room being a mess, but that, ultimately, she did miss him. Upon this, Mario's face lit up. Mama hit him across the face with her purse “just in case” he deserved it, and then the two moved in to embrace.

"Fake Bro"
During the events of "Fake Bro," a conman attempted to trick Mario and Luigi into selling Mario Bros. Plumbing by telling them that he was their long-lost brother, Pietro. When the brothers questioned why they had never heard of him before, he claimed that he had brought such shame to Mama Mario that he ran away from home before they were old enough to remember him. Even the sound of his name would bring grief to Mama. Luigi quizzed Pietro with some family trivia, including Mama's maiden name and television show. The latter answered all the questions correctly, answering that Mama's maiden name was Rigassi and her favorite television show was The Legend of Zelda. Still suspicious of Pietro's identity, Luigi claimed that would call Mama Mario, but in reality he was about to test the conman's intentions. As a result of the test, Pietro admitted that he had simply researched the brothers and made up the story about Mama.

"Two Bums from Brooklyn"
Tommy Lasagna, coach of the Brooklyn Dodgers, visited Mario Bros. Plumbing in "Two Bums from Brooklyn" in search of Mama Mario's favorite meatball recipe. However, tasting the meatballs, he was disgusted, declaring that they tasted like horsehide and string. Mario confided to Luigi that Lasagna had tasted the secret ingredient. However, the coach decided to use the meatballs by covering them with leather and using them as baseballs. This episode was the first to give Mama Mario an official name, as she had only previously been referred to as, "Mama" by Mario, Luigi, and Pietro.