The voice of Mario is stepping away from the character
By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.
Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for over 25 years, will no longer be voicing the iconic character, according to a tweet from Nintendo. Martinet has voiced the character since the ’90s, appearing in mainline Mario titles like Super Mario 64, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Mario Galaxy as well as countless spinoffs.
“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this new transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games,” Nintendo’s statement reads. “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.”
The news that Martinet will no longer be voicing Mario arrives after speculation about why Mario’s voice sounded a little different in promo material for the new Super Mario Bros. Wonder game, due out October 20th. But Nintendo has yet to confirm if Wonder features Martinet or if it may be his last time voicing the famous plumber.
Though a fixture in video game history, Martinet was missed as the voice of Mario in the billon-dollar grossing Super Mario Bros. Movie that was released earlier this year. Nintendo’s statement mentions a forthcoming video message from Martinet and CEO Shigeru Miyamoto, but there’s no word yet on when that video will be released.
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