Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard the big gaming news of the day that Charles Martinet, the long-time voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, is no longer voicing those memorable characters. Instead, he has become a “Mario ambassador” for Nintendo.
While there aren’t too many details on Martinet’s future, the internet is spending the day looking back at the past nearly 30 years of him voicing Mario and more. Here is a round-up of great Charles Martinet memories. First, we are reminded of how iconic Martinet’s Mario catchphrases have been over the years. The words and inflection in his voice made these stand out.
While Mario is the star of the show, Luigi has become much more popular since the early GameCube days. In 2013, Martinet voiced Luigi explaining the Year of Luigi.
While Martinet didn’t get to voice Mario in the recently released movie, he still got a couple of cameos, including the Mario Bros’ father, ending his voice acting career with one proud exclamation for the characters he loves.
The Mario Power Tennis intro stands out for many people as this opening starred Wario and Waluigi. The two went through it all before they took on Mario and Luigi.
While so many think of Super Mario 64 as the first time Charles Martinet put on the red cap, he voiced the character a couple of years earlier in a game called Mario Teaches Typing 2.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is one of the best animated and charming games in the Mario series. Much of that charm comes from Martinet’s voice acting for Luigi, who is justifiably scared out of his wits during the entire game. Hearing the Bros. say “night night” to each other is still one of the cutest things.
Even though Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi will have new voices moving forward, all of us that grew up with Charles Martinet voicing these characters will always remember the joy he brought into our lives. Thank you, Charles Martinet, for decades of great voices to attach to some of gaming’s biggest characters.