Best-selling videogame character

Nintendo’s moustachioed marvel Mario is the best-selling videogame character, having appeared in over 250 games that had sold a total of 807,620,000 units as of 31 December 2024, according to VGChartz.

This figure includes sales of the following series: Super Mario, Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario Tennis, Paper Mario, Mario Golf, Mario & Luigi, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario Strikers, Super Mario RPG and Mario Baseball.

Mario was first introduced in 1981 as a supporting character called “Jumpman” in Donkey Kong. The carpenter’s mission was to save his girlfriend, Pauline, from the titular ape.

His creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, later renamed him after Mario Segale – an American real-estate agent who rented office space to Nintendo in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 2017) is the best-selling Mario videogame, having sold 67.35 million units as of 31 December 2024, according to VGChartz.