Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario is the persona Mario assumes in the Dr. Mario series. Under this identity, Mario dons a lab coat, a head mirror, and a stethoscope around his neck. Debuting in his eponymous game, Dr. Mario and his assistant Nurse Toadstool work at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital, where he eliminates viruses and other diseases by using capsules, a premise that has been the standard for subsequent games starring him. Dr. Mario also appears as an unlockable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he is considered a separate character from Mario. The Super Mario Kodansha manga also portrayed him as a separate character from Mario, with Nurse Toadstool being a separate character from Peach.

Dr. Mario
In Dr. Mario, Dr. Mario works in a virus research lab at the Mushroom Kingdom Hospital, alongside Nurse Toadstool. When an experiment goes wrong, the hospital is flooded with tri-color viruses. Armed with vitamin capsules–a medicine of his own invention –Dr. Mario sets out to neutralize the outbreak.

In gameplay, Dr. Mario periodically throws vitamin capsules into the bottle. Afterwards, the player can move and land them on Viruses, which spawn throughout the bottle. By connecting a line of three or more halves of vitamins to a virus of the corresponding color, the Virus disappears. As such, blue vitamins eliminate Chill Viruses (blue), red vitamins eliminate Fever Viruses (red), and yellow vitamins eliminate Weird Viruses (yellow). Removing all viruses on the screen advances the player to the next level.

Dr. Mario's design during gameplay also differs in comparison to his appearance in artworks and on the game's cover: his hair and mustache area a light shade of brown, his head mirror's headband is white, and he does not wear gloves.

Dr. Mario 64
In Dr. Mario 64, Dr. Mario receives several subtle aesthetic changes, with most of them reflecting Mario's own changes over time. In particular, some sprites feature him wearing a tie, which has since become a staple of his design. However, unlike on the cover and in artworks, his stethoscope is still directly around his neck, his tie is blue instead of red, his head mirror's headband is white instead of gray, his doctor's coat has no buttons or pockets, and he wears a tank top instead of a shirt.

Dr. Mario is one of the two playable characters in Story mode, the other being Wario. In the storyline, Dr. Mario is hard at work curing sick patients across the village with Megavitamins, getting the attention of both Wario and Mad Scienstein. When Dr. Mario leaves the house, his Megavitamins are stolen by Mad Scienstein. Dr. Mario notices Wario after finding out that his Megavitamins are gone, causing him to think that Wario is responsible. After finding out that Wario didn't steal them, both notices Mad Scienstein getting away with the medicine, and a chase ensues. The rivals Dr. Mario and Wario go after him and meet many creatures known from Wario Land 3 on their way. In Wario's storyline, Dr. Mario is his first opponent, and one of his seventh opponents in Normal difficulty or greater. In the end, it is revealed that Rudy is actually sick and Scienstein was ordered to retrieve the magical healing pills to cure him.

In Dr. Mario's storyline, when he reaches Rudy's castle, he confronts Rudy, who got a hold of the Megavitamins. After beating Rudy, he notices the cold that he is having, so Dr. Mario promptly uses his Megavitamins to cure his cold, causing him to feel better before returning back to his home. In Normal difficulty or higher, if Dr. Mario wins every match without redoing any, Wario steals the Megavitamins and ingest them to become Vampire Wario; When Wario is defeated, Dr. Mario returns to Rudy to cure his cold before returning back to his home. In Wario's storyline, after beating Hammer-bot in Easy, Dr. Mario is seen chasing after Mad Scienstein, but is never seen again after that. In Normal or higher difficulty, after Wario has beaten everyone else, Dr. Mario is left behind after defeat, and only returns to confront Wario if Wario wins every match without redoing any. This causes an accident that changes Dr. Mario into Metal Mario, and if beaten, Dr. Mario will return back to normal while being unconscious.

In Vs. modes, his AI difficulty is the second highest, which is the same as both Wario and Mad Scienstein.

Dr. Mario Online Rx
In the WiiWare game Dr. Mario Online Rx, players can control Dr. Mario or any Mii stored in their Wii. Dr. Mario serves a similar role as his debut game; he takes capsules from his bag and throws them into the bottle, using them to defeat viruses. His design is consistent, with blue eyes, a buttoned coat, a shirt, a red tie, a gray head mirror headband, fair skin and the stethoscope has an altered position, now being along his shoulders.

Dr. Mario Express
In the DSi game Dr. Mario Express, he plays the same role as he does in Dr. Mario Online Rx. Unlike the Wii version, his model is cel-shaded, giving him a more cartoonish appearance.

Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure
Dr. Mario appears in the compilation in Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, which includes his younger twin brother Luigi reprising his role as Dr. Luigi. Miracle Cure features "Dr. Mario", the standard gameplay where Dr. Mario assists players with destroying viruses, as well as two additional modes: "Operation L" from Dr. Luigi and "Virus Buster". One new clearing method Dr. Mario can use is the titular Miracle Cure, which is a gauge that, once filled, can be used to destroy all viruses and capsules of the corresponding color, drop a bomb to remove adjacent viruses and capsules, or clear an entire column.

Dr. Mario World
Dr. Mario appears in Dr. Mario World. Unlike the previous installments, he and Luigi are no longer the sole playable doctors; instead, they are joined by a plethora of their allies, such as Princess Peach and Yoshi, and even some enemies like Bowser, Bowser Jr., and the Koopalings.

In a version update, both Dr. Mario and Dr. Peach received Fire Flower-empowered variants, which gives them a lab coat and stethoscope over their normal Fire form outfits. Dr. Fire Mario improves upon Dr. Mario's skill by removing pieces that require multiple matches to clear otherwise. In a subsequent update, Luigi and Rosalina continued this theme. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dr. Mario, an 8-bit version of Dr. Mario was given to all players as a gift.

Dr. Mario's skill allows him to eliminate the lowest line of objects, and is represented by a big capsule with an "M" on it. If the lowest line of objects contain only unclearable objects such as cages and Empty Blocks, it will be ignored in favor of the next lowest line with clearable objects. In versus mode, his skill also allows him to clear the bottom-most line with objects, but starting from level 2 it will clear up to two lines, which are the bottom-most line with objects and the line above that. At higher levels, this skill fills up faster.

8-bit Dr. Mario's skill in stage mode is to eliminate three special viruses, which is represented by an 8-bit magnifying glass hovering over the play area that was temporarily changed to be the same as the screen seen in Dr. Mario (NES). Special viruses are basically any virus that is different from a normal virus, including floatie viruses and viruses encased or covered inside other objects such as barrels or clouds. If there are no more special viruses remaining, his skill will eliminate one random virus or a clearable object with the exception of capsules and coins if no viruses remain. In versus mode, his skill is to temporarily prevent the opponent from controlling half capsules, although half capsules can be pushed down by a full-sized capsule. The versus skill lasts longer and/or have a faster skill meter fill at higher levels. 8-bit Dr. Mario is the only doctor to have decreased speed in filling the attack meter and the skill meter since his introduction, though the changes happen during separate updates.

Nintendo Comics System
Dr. Mario appears in Nintendo Comics System's adaptation of Dr. Mario, entitled "The Doctor Is In... Over His Head". Mario and Princess Toadstool, expecting a plumbing emergency, enter the Mushroom Kingdom General Hospital, although they find no emergency. Dr. Waldo Bloom insists so and makes Mario his research assistant, calling him Dr. Mario. After touring through the hospital, Dr. Waldo takes them to his laboratory where he shows them the Viruses, and he explains that the Viruses have been multiplying. The original Viruses, inside the jar, soon break free and introduce themselves as Chill, Fever, and Weird. Eventually, after discovering that matching the colors of stacked vitamins can destroy Viruses, Mario manages to defeat them.

Princess Toadstool then advises Dr. Bloom play golf and return only he is done with the game, but Mario notes that Dr. Bloom is a bad golfer, which means Dr. Bloom will be off duty for a long time. Princess Peach then suggests Mario to be both a plumber and a doctor, which Mario agrees to do.

Super Mario Adventures
A possible variant of Dr. Mario appears in the tenth "episode" of Super Mario Adventures. However, he was not a physical doctor, but rather a psychologist. It was also only a ploy to gain the trust of Big Boo and get out of the Ghost House they were trapped in.

Club Nintendo
Dr. Mario also appears in the German Club Nintendo comic "Süße Weihnachten" where he helps Bowser who suffers from a stomachache on Christmas Day. Bowser has Viruses in his stomach, and Dr. Mario advises him to take bitter pills instead of marzipan.

Super Mario-kun
Dr. Mario makes a brief appearance in volume 1 of Super Mario-kun, in which Yoshi falls from the Sky and Mario then transforms into Dr. Mario before stuffing a giant capsule in his mouth. Dr. Mario reappears in volume 8, after being attacked by a Tweeter, Mario transforms into Dr. Mario. He then reveals a shell underneath a rock and attaches rocket boosters (which resemble capsules) to it, enabling him, Luigi, and Yoshi to fly on it. This knocks away nearby Snifits.

Dr. Mario appears in a special chapter of Super Mario Manga Mania, entitled "Super Mari-Old". While Mario is in the hospital, suffering from a hurt spirit and age over the course of 25 years (an allusion to Yukio Sawada's experience when his father passed away from pancreatic cancer and he was so afflicted with loss he ended up in the hospital, but while having to still make jokes for the manga), Dr. Mario walks in and forces a giant pill down Mario. It cures Mario and causes Mario to realize that his long time spent has plenty of positive experiences. Dr. Mario confirms, and then he tells Luigi and Yoshi, who are accompanying Mario, that he is Mario from 25 years in the future, celebrating the series's 50th anniversary. After his work is done, he hops on a vehicle and says he needs to go back to the future.

Super Smash Bros.
While Dr. Mario does not appear in Super Smash Bros., he is mentioned in Mario's profile as one of his professions.

Super Smash Bros. Melee


Dr. Mario makes his first overall appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he appears as an unlockable fighter. He can be unlocked by clearing Classic Mode or Adventure Mode with Mario without using a continue or by playing 100 Melee matches, and then defeating him in the immediate subsequent match on Peach's Castle. Unlike in his home series, Dr. Mario's design is somewhat modified for his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee: he has a blue stethoscope, a brown head mirror headband and, most noticeable, a pair of dark gray pants. Like his normal self, Dr. Mario's weight is 100 units.

According to Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai, the concept of a slower, yet stronger Mario was originally considered to be used for Wario. Due to time constraints, however, this concept was instead given to Dr. Mario. On a lesser note, some of Dr. Mario's animations are less energetic and thus make him appear more serious and contemplative, which Sakurai jokingly said "make him seem like an old man."

Due to being a moveset clone, the overwhelming majority of Dr. Mario's moves are nearly identical to his normal self's. However, some of his attacks nevertheless have a few distinct traits. In addition to his aforementioned higher strength, Dr. Mario throws Megavitamins instead of Fireballs, his forward smash uses electricity instead of fire, he uses the white-colored Super Sheet instead of the Cape, and his Super Jump Punch is stronger despite consisting of fewer hits. Dr. Mario also cannot wall jump in this game, unlike Mario. Contrary to his trophy's description, Dr. Mario's jump height and running speed are actually the same as Mario's; on a related note, his air speed is slightly faster than his normal self's.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Although Dr. Mario is absent from Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character, data for Dr. Mario can be found, suggesting that he was intended to be in the game in some form. Meanwhile, his Super Smash Bros. Melee theme can be used as one of the songs that plays in the PictoChat and custom stages. He also has a Sticker depicting his artwork from the original Dr. Mario game.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U


Dr. Mario appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as an unlockable fighter, along with fellow cut characters from Super Smash Bros. Melee Mewtwo and Roy. Unlike Mewtwo and Roy, however, he is included with the initial release of the games, whereas Mewtwo and Roy are available as DLC fighters.

To unlock Dr. Mario in the Nintendo 3DS version, players must either complete Classic Mode with Mario on at least 4.0 intensity, or play 60 Smash matches. Afterward, the player must defeat him on Mushroomy Kingdom. In the Wii U version, players can unlock Dr. Mario by completing a Master Orders ticket with a difficulty level of Hard or higher, or by playing 50 Smash matches. Afterward, the player must defeat him on Delfino Plaza.

Dr. Mario's design is now a composition of his appearance as of Dr. Mario 64 and his dark gray pants from Super Smash Bros. Melee, although with a few original changes from this game: his stethoscope has a slightly different color scheme, his pants are rolled up to his ankles, and his neck is longer due to the graphics, allowing him to wear a dress shirt and necktie under the labcoat rather than just a white shirt. To reflect this change, Dr. Mario can wear tie equipment to boost his defense stat instead of the overalls equipment his normal self uses. However, he also uses the gloves and shoes equipment for attack and speed like Mario does.

Like Mario, Dr. Mario is a middlewight close-range fighter and can Wall Jump. Unlike in Super Smash Bros. Melee, however, Dr. Mario now functions like a stronger, yet slower Mario due to multipliers being applied to his damage output and some of his attributes. Conversely, his mobility is lowered from Mario's attributes. These multipliers result in Dr. Mario being distinctly affected by passive equipment physics, in which he specifically possesses a +15 Attack value and a -50 Speed value. Because of this, he can KO opponents noticeably easier than Mario, courtesy of a larger variety of finishing moves. However, this comes at the cost of him being one of the slowest characters in the game.

In addition to retaining his moveset, albeit with some mechanic modifications, the custom versions of Dr. Mario's neutral, side, and up special moves are shared with Mario. However, the custom versions of Dr. Tornado are instead shared with Luigi, owing to Mario having F.L.U.D.D. as his down special move since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Dr. Mario's Final Smash, Doctor Finale, is a variation of Mario's Mario Finale that is stronger and uses giant vitamin capsules instead of giant, streaming Fireballs. Dr. Mario has also gained two new taunts, a new idle animation, a new entrance animation, and a new victory animation that replaces the victory animation he shared with Mario in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Dr. Mario appears as an unlockable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Although he still functions as a stronger, yet slower clone of Mario, Dr. Mario has nevertheless been slightly de-cloned from his normal self in a few ways. His new back throw consists of him lifting the opponent overhead and then powerfully tossing them away, his idle pose and Super Sheet have updated animations, and his traction is slightly higher than Mario's. Like several other fighters, a number of Dr. Mario's standard attacks received nicknames: up smash is Ear, Nose, and Throat, neutral aerial is Dr. Kick, forward aerial is Dr. Punch, down aerial is CLEAR! (Bone Drill prior to version 2.0.0), and down throw is Hospital Bed.

Aside from these changes, Dr. Mario has received a number of noticeable improvements. His damage multiplier has increased from 1.12× to 1.175×, which further bolsters his already high overall damage output. Dr. Mario's new down aerial is a double foot stomp that is capable of meteor smashing, which is a trait only Mario has since Super Smash Bros. Melee. His aforementioned back throw has higher knockback that, when coupled with his higher overall damage output, makes it one of the strongest back throws in the game.

For the Megavitamins move, the capsules are not only larger, but also gained a higher launching angle, increased hitlag, decreased ending lag, better hitbox placements and increased knockback. Altogether, these changes make them much more effective for camping and setting up combos at the comparatively minor cost of their ability to lock a downed opponent. Dr. Tornado gained a drastic increase to its damage output and knockback, which make it a viable finisher unlike in previous installments. In addition, it boasts improved utility, courtesy of its improved vertical recovery and its ability to grant damage-based armor during frames 5-9 when Dr. Mario uses it on the ground.

However, Dr. Mario's grounded and aerial mobility use a negative multiplier with an unspecified value: although his walking and running speeds are slightly faster, his jump is slightly lower and his already sluggish air speed is slightly slower. Aside from these issues, Dr. Mario's up tilt gained the same horizontal range reduction that Mario's acquired, and his grabbing ability is hampered by Ultimate's near-universal lag increase for grabs.

As with several other returning characters, Dr. Mario's victory theme, which is the orchestral arrangement of the level clear theme from Super Mario Bros. (and is shared with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy), has been slightly shortened and sped up compared to the previous installments.

Classic Mode route
Dr. Mario's Classic Mode route involves him fighting red-, yellow-, and blue-colored variants of different characters, as a reference to the Viruses from the Dr. Mario series.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
In Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Dr. Mario and Dr. Luigi appear as outfits for Mario and Luigi.

Mario Kart Tour
Dr. Mario makes his Mario Kart series debut in Mario Kart Tour, being added alongside Dr. Luigi as a separate driver from Mario in his own tour, the 2022 Doctor Tour. Both have the Capsule as their special skill. One of Dr. Mario's trick animations mimics his victory animation at the end of a multiplayer match in Dr. Mario, complete with the same limited number of frames. Dr. Bowser and Dr. Peach later debuted in the May 2022 Peach vs. Bowser Tour.

Other appearances
Dr. Mario also makes a small appearance as one of the occupations listed in Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up on the "Medical Doctor/Nurse" career page. In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, Dr. Mario appears in a microgame named after him based on the NES version of his game. A spoof of the original Dr. Mario game appears in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! called Dr. Wario, though it has no gameplay differences. Yet another microgame in WarioWare Gold stars Dr. Mario.

Dr. Mario in is also one of the several characters that compose Costume Mario in Super Mario Maker; players can unlock the Dr. Mario costume by using the appropriate amiibo or completing one of the several challenges, which randomly unlocks a costume character. When players use Dr. Mario, sound effects from the NES version of Dr. Mario play, and when is pressed, Dr. Mario takes out a capsule. One of Yoshi's designs in Yoshi's Woolly World is based on Dr. Mario. Players can scan a Dr. Mario amiibo to unlock the color scheme.

In the animated Super Mario World TV show episode "King Scoopa Koopa", Mario finishes off his healthy-eating request to a group of cave people with the line "Dr. Mario's orders!". Dr. Mario was given a similar reference in Paper Mario when the thankful Whale told Mario that he should be addressed by the title of "Dr. Mario" after Mario and his partners expelled the Fuzzipede from the Whale's body, thus ending his stomachache.

Dr. Mario also makes a short appearance in one strip of Super Mario 4koma Manga Theater. Here, he receives a patient, which turns out to be a Dry Bones, much to his annoyance.

In Nintendo Monopoly, Dr. Mario is seen on the "Receive for medical services $25" ? Block Card.

In Super Mario Odyssey, Dr. Mario appears as one of Mario's outfits. This is Dr. Mario's first appearance in a mainline Super Mario title.

Remakes and compilations
Dr. Mario has also appeared in the various remakes and compilations of several games. VS. Dr. Mario, which was made for Vs. matches of Dr. Mario, released for the VS. System. Tetris & Dr. Mario is a remake of the NES game, and, as implied in the title, also includes Tetris. Dr. Mario BS Version is a remake of the original game for the Satellaview that includes the graphics and sound from Tetris & Dr. Mario.

Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario is a direct port of the original Dr. Mario, it was one of the many NES games remade for the Classic NES Series on the Game Boy Advance. Also for the Game Boy Advance, Dr. Mario & Puzzle League featured Dr. Mario alongside an unrelated game, Puzzle League in a similar fashion to Tetris & Dr. Mario. Lastly, Nintendo Puzzle Collection includes Dr. Mario 64 as part of the collection of Nintendo puzzle games.

Trivia

 * In an interview about the Super Mario series for the then-upcoming 30th anniversary, Shigeru Miyamoto implied that "Dr. Mario" was not a licensed doctor. Despite this, in the background of the title screen of Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, a degree can be seen on the wall.