The voice of Nintendo’s Mario character for 27 years is to “step back” from the role, the game company has announced.
Charles Martinet was the original voice of the Italian plumber, according to the Japanese video game giant, which said his acting stretches back to 1996 instalment Super Mario 64.
He also provided other voices in the game series including Mario’s twin brother Luigi and villain Wario.
In statement on Monday on Twitter – recently rebranded as X – Nintendo said: “Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario ambassador.
We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023
“With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!
“It has been an honour working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him.
“Please keep an eye out for a special video message from (video game designer and Mario creator) Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
Captioning the post, Martinet wrote: “My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!”
The 67-year-old actor did not reprise his role as Mario in animated film adaptation The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which Guardians Of The Galaxy star Chris Pratt voiced the title character opposite It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor Charlie Day as Luigi.
However, Martinet did play Luigi and Mario’s father Giuseppe in the Universal Pictures movie which grossed more than a billion dollars (£795 million), according to studio estimates.
The next game in the series from Nintendo is set to be Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Martinet has also appeared in games The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time, as well as the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.