Histories of Video Game Mascots

Most people in the world, regardless of how many video games they play themselves, will of course recognise at least one or two of the classic mascots that have existed for decades. It’s hard not to see the absolute most famous ones plastered around on adverts, billboards and shop shelves! But even those famous faces were once just an idea in a designer’s head, and they’ve been through plenty of changes too. It begs the question - how did they go from pixelated blobs to worldwide mascots of huge video game companies, even having entire movies made about them?

This week marks the start of our second Game Jam for the summer, and our theme this time is MASCOT MAYHEM! This is of course a little nod to the recent Olympic Games, with their own rich history of mascots for each time it is held, but it also links nicely to the world of video games which is likewise filled with mascots – and of course, let’s not forget The Code Zone’s mascot the Zonebot, who is always getting up to adventures in our games! We’ve decided to mark the start of the Game Jam with a fun little dive into the history of the biggest video game mascots, so buckle in as we travel back in time to learn a little more!

1)      Mario

Possibly the most famous video game character of all time, Mario is of course Nintendo’s beloved mushroom-eating mascot and a face most people recognise – and if you don’t recognise him, his famous catchphrase ‘It’s-a me, Mario!’ will clear up who he is at least! In 2023, Nintendo was worth a whopping £5.2 TRILLION, and with Mario as their main mascot, it’s safe to say he’s the world’s richest plumber. But he had a long journey to become the figurehead he is today!

Mario’s journey to fame started before he even had the name he has today. He starred as the main character in Nintendo’s ‘Donkey Kong’, an arcade game created in 1981. At that time, he was just known as Jumpman, the character who jumped over the barrels Donkey Kong sent hurtling down ramps toward him. He wasn’t even a plumber at that point – instead, he was a carpenter! Although only as a bunch of orange, red and blue pixels, it was technically his first appearance.

But four years later, he starred in the first ever Super Mario Bros game, alongside his brother Luigi. This marked the start of his journey to become more like the character we recognise today, with appearances in hundreds of games, a theme park in Japan, and of course the Mario Movie under his belt. It’s fantastic to see how far he’s come since those humble beginnings!

Another pivotal moment in Mario’s mascot career was when he became 3D for the first time in Super Mario 64, starting out as a bit of a many-sided blob. Since then, Mario has become 3D-rendered in such detail, that even his individual moustache hairs were rendered separately in 2017’s Super Mario: Odyssey!

2)      Pikachu

The obvious contender for Mario’s spot at the top is of course Pikachu, and it’s difficult to tell sometimes which is the most well-known! This cute little electric mouse is of course the mascot of the Pokémon franchise, the best selling media franchise in history. Strangely enough, Disney’s Mickey Mouse is in second place – something about mice must just be very popular!

But just like Mario, Pikachu had some pretty unassuming beginnings! Pikachu first appeared in the original Pokémon games, Pokémon Red & Blue. Despite quickly becoming the mascot of the game series, Pikachu wasn’t even featured on the cover of the first two games, with the Pokemon Charizard and Blastoise taking those places instead! However, Pikachu was a particularly cute looking critter, and rare too – and so players came to adore it. Only two years after the first two games were released, Pokemon Yellow was also released alongside Pokemon being made internationally available, rather than just in Japan. This was a special version of the first two games, where Pikachu became the mascot, and even had the unique ability to follow the player around in-game.

Likewise, the Pokemon Anime series quickly became a smash hit and Pikachu was the main character’s chosen companion, further cementing his claim to fame. However, Pikachu’s original design as a plump, round little mouse proved difficult to animate, and so its design was elongated and made to look more how it looks today, even in the video games. It was clearly a good choice, as now Pikachu can be identified by just its silhouette!

3)      The Zonebot

Okay so… this one isn’t anywhere near as famous as Mario or Pikachu. In fact, it’s miles behind – but for all the mentors and members here at The Code Zone, this lil guy is as famous as it gets! While he may be small, the Zonebot is sure mighty, and has been on more adventures than we can count, though we estimate at least 100! And what’s more, he’s all over our merchandise and website too. But it’s interesting to see that most mascot journeys have similar routes to fame, from the greatest to the smallest – our little Zonebot started his journey a lot like Mario and Pikachu!
When The Code Zone was in its infancy, all those years ago, our Lead Mentor Tom was building games for our members day-in, day-out. We had all sorts of awesome illustrations of characters and objects themed around both The Code Zone and Scratch! Many of them make their way into projects, even now. However, by complete chance, our lovely robot friend stuck out to Tom as something special. And how can anyone be surprised! His adorable cube body and silly little antennae are just too cool to ignore. One game at a time, he became the main character we know today! And we’re all glad he was such an eyecatching design, because what would The Code Zone be without the iconic Zonebot to play our games as?!

Mascots in video games always have super-interesting histories, and it’s been a blast to have a look through them today! Perhaps just like Mario, Pikachu and the Zonebot, we all can start from humble beginnings and become someone amazing and iconic. Don’t forget to take part in our Mascot Mayhem Game Jam this week and the next, to work on your coding skills and create amazing games!