Mario's face

Artwork of Mario's head for Super Mario 64

“I'm-a bet you can't-a do this! WHEEEEEEEEE! Ahahaha!”

—Mario's face, Mario Teaches Typing 2

Mario's face, also referred to as the Mario face, is a floating disembodied head of Mario. The gameplay element of an interactive floating head of Mario (along with other disembodied character heads) has appeared in many games.

History

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Mario's floating head first appears in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Mario's head appears during The Mario Rap and as a transition during live-action segments.

Mario Teaches Typing / Mario Teaches Typing 2

Mario's floating head (animated with VActor technology) later appears in Mario Teaches Typing and its sequel, Mario Teaches Typing 2. He narrates players' lessons and actions as they learn to type, while also making random small talk, sometimes invoking jokes and comments about his lack of body.

Super Mario series

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS

Mario's head later appears on the title screen of Super Mario 64, where players can tug and stretch his facial features (his nose, ears, cheeks, chin, and hat) to humorous positions. The model originates from a demo for real-time vertex calculations by ex-Nintendo programmer Giles Goddard, which featured a primitive Mario head controlled via movement from a camera on an SGI Indy workstation. As Super Mario 64 was Nintendo's first title for the Nintendo 64, an interactive Mario face served to familiarize the player to the Nintendo 64 Controller without worrying about actual gameplay. Additionally, on the Game Over screen, Mario's head appears dazed and worn out.

In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, the Mario head appears along with a Yoshi head. In this game, Mario's face is able to turn into an ink outline version of itself, which can be distorted with the stylus or various buttons. The player can also erase the face and draw their own creations.

Mario's face is also a feature in some of the minigames in Super Mario 64 DS. When the player opens a treasure chest in Boom Box, the chest makes a sound, astonishing Mario's face on the top screen. If the player makes a mistake, Mario's face frowns, while if the player succeeds, Mario's face beams joyously at the player. If the player gets a Game Over in any minigame, Mario's face yells and looks dazed. When the player clears any minigame round or beats a high score, Mario's face is astonished, then bursts out laughing. In Tox Box Shuffle, if the player finds Yoshi in the right Tox Box, the Mario head bursts into laughter like how the player succeeds in Boom Box; if the player loses twice in a round, the Mario head yells.

Super Mario Sunshine

Although a floating Mario head does not appear in Super Mario Sunshine, it has appeared in website advertisements for certain events that promoted the game. In the Guide Book, an icon of Mario's face represents the area on the map of Isle Delfino he is in.

Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy 2

The heads of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Toad, along with Mii heads, have appeared in both Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel as file icons. In the sequel, a Rosalina head can be unlocked as a file icon when the player collects 120 Stars and unlocks the Green Star Prankster Comets. Also, the Peach head has her neck removed unlike in the predecessor, allowing more of a disembodied feature.

Super Mario-kun

Mario's face is also spoofed in a beginning chapter of volume 16 of Super Mario-kun. This volume also follows Super Mario 64's story. Later in the volume, there is a 4-koma that involves Yoshi playing the game and not only moving Mario's face to bizarre positions but also drawing on it.

Mario Party series

Mario's face later appears in the Mario Party 2 version of Face Lift (also in Mario Party, Mario Party: The Top 100, and Mario Party Superstars but with Bowser's face and no other faces), where the player has to alter the face of Mario or other characters in the game. The more accurately the face is changed to match a picture, the more points the player receives. The player who earns the most points wins, although two players can win if they earn the same number of points. Mario's head, along with a Luigi head, Peach head, Yoshi head, Wario head, and Donkey Kong head, appears in the 1-vs-3 minigame Look Away, where each head has to dance along to the music, and the team of three heads must avoid looking in the same direction as the single player head. In Mario Party 3, Mario's face is one of the faces (alongside Wiggler and Toad) to appear in the minigame Picture Imperfect. The player must get his M on his hat right, nose right, mustache right, mouth right, and eyes right.

Unused appearances

Mario Artist: Paint Studio

Mario's face appears as an icon during the minigame Gnat Attack in a prototype of Mario Artist: Paint Studio. Additionally, according to an image shared by Nintendo of America's Twitter account on Mar10 Day 2023, Mario's face in Super Mario 64 was taken from a prototype of what eventually became this game, previously referred to by Shigeru Miyamoto as Mario Paint 3D.

Gallery

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  Model from Super Mario 64

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  Animation from the title screen of Super Mario 64

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  Mario's face in Super Mario 64

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  The floating Mario head as seen in Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM version)

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  The floating Mario head as seen in Mario Teaches Typing 2

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  Mario's face in the minigame Face Lift from Mario Party 2

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  In-game model from Super Mario 64 DS

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  Mario's head as a file icon in Super Mario Galaxy 2

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  Mario's face in Super Mario-kun

Game appearances

Title	Description	Release date	System/format
Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM version only)	Makes small talk with player while playing.	1994	PC
Super Mario 64	Appears on Title Screen, speaks occasionally. Can be altered with hand.	1996	Nintendo 64
Mario Teaches Typing 2	Makes small talk with player while playing.	1996	PC
Mario Party 2	Must be altered in the minigame Face Lift. Also appears in Look Away along with other character heads.	1999	Nintendo 64
Pokémon Stadium 2	Cameo. Appeared on a TV screen, and appears exactly as in Super Mario 64.	2001	Nintendo 64
Super Mario 64 DS	Face appears on Title Screen. If touched with stylus, it becomes a sketch. Also observes several minigames.	2004	Nintendo DS
Mario Superstar Baseball	Appears in loading screens along with heads of Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Bowser.	2005	Nintendo GameCube
Super Mario Galaxy	File icon	2007	Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2	File icon and Starship Mario	2010	Wii
Super Mario 3D All-Stars	Appears on title screen, speaks occasionally. Can be altered with hand. (Super Mario 64) File icon (Super Mario Galaxy)	2020	Nintendo Switch

Nintendo DS tech demo

Main article: Mario's Face (tech demo)

A tech demo for the Nintendo DS involved Mario's face, which could be squeezed and stretched so as to demonstrate to players about the usage of the Touch Screen.

Quotes

The following quotes are from the Mario Teaches Typing series.

• "Oh! That's the file menu. Hmm."
• "Oooh! That's-a the student's menu."
• "That's-a the lesson's menu."
• "You're fantastic! I know you're going to be a great typist one day."
• "I'm-a going to fly for you. Mmmmmph. Mmmmmmmph. Mmmmmmmmph. Mmmmmmmph. KRSH! Ow! ... I hit my nose."
• "Oh no! I'm-a fallen, and I can't-a get up! That is my impression of American advertising! Thank you very much! Thank you! Thank you!"
• "Hmmm... Oh! Nice computer you've got here. Can I have it?"
• "Look, I'm a video game. Pong...pong pong...pong pong...pong... Thank you very much, thank you, thank you."
• "Hey, you got a good joke for Mario?"
• "My nose-a feels-a funny against this screen. Hmm."
• "Have you seen Luigi? Hmm."
• "Have you seen the Princess? PRINCESS! Hmm."
• "Thank you for choosing Mario Teaches Typing, from Nintendo and Interplay."
• "Have you seen the Princess? PRINCESS! Hmm, I'm-a can't find her."
• "Say, I'm-a thirsty. You got something to drink-a?"
• "Hey, I'm-a hungry. Have you got any food?"
• "Okey-dokey. Let's do the next lesson."
• "Oh, boy, finally! I'm-a get to move on the ground! Here we go! Movin' on the ground, movin' on the ground! Hee hee hee hee hee! Hey, where'd everybody go? Oh, there you are! Hahaha!"
• "Hey! Are you ready to Mariocise? Okey-dokey. You do just like Mario, OK? One... Very good! Two... And three! Wheeeeee! Oh. Sorry. That's hard for you, but easy for me. You know why? (in sing-song voice) I ain't got no body! (in normal voice) Get it? No body? Heeheeheeheehee! Eeheeheehee! Wheeee haha!"
• "Hey, can you tell me what the back of my head looks like? Oops! I'm-a disappeared for a minute. Hey, why are you upside-down? Oh, sorry. Heeheehee! It was me."
• "Can I sing a song for you? When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's amore; when an eel lunges out, and he takes a bite of your snout, that's a moray! Get it? A moray eel? Heeheeheeheehee! I said-a funny!"
• "Hey, wait a minute. Where's all my furniture? Hey, somebody must've brought a moving van in here! Hmm."
• "Oh, boy! That-a makes me so happy, I'm-a lightheaded! Wee!"
• "Hey, what are you doing upside-down anyway? What's-a matter for you? Oh, wait a minute... Hmm... Oh, it's me, sorry. Heehee!"
• "Oh, boy, look at that keyboard! I'll bet you're going to learn how to type on it! Heehee!"
• "Hoo hoo! Hello! It's me, Mario! And I'm-a want to thank you for choosing Mario Teaches Typing. I know you're gonna be a great typist. Hee hee."
• "I'm-a bet you can't do this! WHEEEEEEEEEE! Ahahaha!"
• "Hello! It's me, Mario! Thank you for starting me up!"
• "Hmm, Mario's Smash and Dash."
• "Mario's Wet World Challenge."
• "Ooh! Mario's Tunnel of Doom! Very scary!"
• "Oh, look! It's-a Mario's Expert Express!"
• "Oh, look! Hmm... It's Mario's Expert Express! I’ll bet you're an expert, too."
• "Oh, you're doing great!"
• "Ooh! You're getting faster. Keep it up."
• "Hey, who's that behind you? Made you look! Made you look! Heeheehee!"
• "Look, I don't got no tonsils! Aaaah..."
• "Hoo hoo! I always want to type."
• "Hoo hoo! You're getting better with each lesson."
• "Oh, boy! That was a tough lesson! But I bet, if we do it again, it's-a gonna be easier!"
• "Hmm... Guess what time it is? It's time for you to type! Let's do this!"
• "Hey, Luigi! It's-a time for you to try!"
• "Hello there, are you ready to type? Good! Then let's go."
• "Hey, are you ready to type? Gooooooooooood!"
• "So, you want to type, eh? Well, there's no better time than now. Go for it."
• "If you’re ready, go for it."
• "Okey-dokey! I'm-a ready to run!"
• "Okey-dokey! Begin typing now!"
• "Okey-dokey! Get ready to move your fingers!"
• "Hey, that was pretty good. But I know you can do even better."
• "Hey, that was pretty good. Let's see if we can go even faster next lesson, eh?"
• "Okey-dokey. It's time to type now, so go for it."
• "That was great! Want to try again?"
• "Uh-oh! That wasn't as fast as last time. Let's try again, okay?"
• "Uh-oh. That wasn't quite as-a fast as the last time. Hmm... Are your fingers getting tired? Mine would be by now...if I had any! Hehehehehe!"
• "Uh-oh, we slipped a little bit. Now let's get back in there and try real hard to get better, eh?"
• "That was fantastic! See you next time! Okay, bye-bye! ... Peekaboo!"
• "Hey, don't leave me alone. Hey, where is everybody? Come back!"
• "Get ready to show those rock heads what you can do!"
• "Okey-dokey, it's time to type now, so go for it."
• "Hmm, you have a nice PC here. Hmm, very nice. Hmm, nice keyboard, too."
• "Hey! Anybody got a diving board?"
• "Hey! I wonder there's hidden treasure down there?"
• "Oooh! I can swim very fast when someone is chasing me!"
• "Welcome to the outside world. You going to be typing one letter at a time. I know you can do it."
• "Welcome to the intermediate level. You going to be typing whole words now. Hoo hoo!"
• "Okey-dokey. Now we go to advanced level. Watch out for falling rocks! Heeheehee, scary!"
• "On your mark...get set...go!"
• "Typing is fun. Try it!"
• "Hey, I got something in my eye. Can you help me get it out?"
• "I'm-a look better when I standing still. Hmm!"
• "When I kiss-a the Princess, I'm-a get lightheaded. Hee!"
• "Hey, you must be pretty ready to type now, so do it!"
• "Hoo hoo! Good job!"

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Chinese (simplified)	马力欧的脑袋 Mǎlì'ōu de Nǎodai 马力欧头像 Mǎlì'ōu Tóuxiàng	Mario's Head Mario Head Portrait