Was Mario a carpenter?
Mario was a carpenter before he became a plumber.
In his first game, Donkey Kong, Mario worked on a construction site made of steel beams. He changed jobs to a plumber two years later when his next game took place in underground sewers.
Nerd's Section
Mario first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong. The game was set on a skyscraper under construction. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto made Mario a carpenter so his job matched the building site.In 1983, Nintendo released the game Mario Bros. This game took place in the New York City sewer system. It featured large green pipes and water-based enemies like crabs and turtles.Miyamoto decided that a character working in pipes should be a plumber. A fellow designer also told Miyamoto that Mario's overalls and mustache made him look like a plumber. This change became permanent in the 1985 hit Super Mario Bros.Nintendo briefly changed his official bio in 2017 to say he was retired from plumbing. They changed it back to plumber in 2018. Mario has also been a doctor, a race car driver, and an athlete in different games.His career often changes to fit the setting of the game. Designers wanted him to be an ordinary worker so players could relate to him. Plumbing remains his most famous and official job today.
Verified Fact
FP-0002017 · Mar 10, 2026