Have We Been Saying Mario's Famous Phrase Wrong All Along? Viral TikTok Says So, But... It's Fake!

A video has gone viral on TikTok suggesting that we’ve been getting it all wrong for years, in regards to Mario‘s famous tagline.

The video game character famously says “It’s a me, Mario!” or so we thought, but the viral video claims that he’s actually speaking in Japanese, as he was created by a Japanese video game designer.

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In the video posted by TikTok user @theberardo, he tells a friend, “I just found out that Super Mario, he doesn’t really say ‘It’s a me, Mario.’”

“Wait, what?” the friend responds.

“Yeah! Since Nintendo’s based in Japan, in Japanese, ‘itsumi’ means superb or super. So really, he was saying, ‘Super Mario,’ not ‘it’s a me.’”

“As an Italian, that one kinda stings,” the friend says.

However, in the caption, Tony uses #dadjokes, meaning, it is in fact, just a joke…

@theberardo Ok, we heard this somewhere and don’t know if its true. Buuuuuuut… #supermario 🪠 #mario #mariokart #n64 #nintendo #nintendo64 #dadsoftiktok #dadjokes ♬ original sound – TONY🤌🏼

But, the video has racked up over six million views in the last few days, and has caught the attention of many. Another user on TikTok was even blown away by that “fact.”

@jawnysparklez The japenese and their words man. Never ceases to amaze me. #nintendo #mario #itsame ♬ original sound – Jawny Sparklez

Yet another user saw that video and duetted it, discrediting the validity of itsumi meaning super and that Mario does indeed just say “It’s a me, Mario.” That user shared another video confirming that Mario is not speaking Japanese, just using an Italian accent.

@matcha_samurai #duet with @Jawny Sparklez All the Japanese ppl think Mario is just speaking English… Im sorry 😭 #matchasamurai #japan #fyp #nintendo ♬ original sound – Jawny Sparklez

@matcha_samurai #stitch with @TONY🤌🏼 Honestly, it’s not that deep 😂 #matchasamurai #japan #fyp ♬ original sound – Matcha Samurai

For some historical context, this is actually correct. After Mario was created, he was then made to be an Italian from New York. Charles Martinet has been voicing Mario since 1992, and when he got the prompt to audition to be the voice, it was “an Italian plumber from Brooklyn,” so he thought of a stereotypical Italian American voice.