Charles Martinet is stepping down as the voice of Mario!

Posted on August 22, 2023

Wahoo, space cowboy… In news that has definitely come as a shock, Nintendo of America have officially announced that veteran voice actor Charles Martinet, known for his iconic roles as the Mario brothers, Wario and Waluigi, will be stepping down from the role as of today. The news was broken on their Twitter account (no I am NOT calling it X, Elon), where they released the following statement:

Mr. Martinet will from this point on be a “Mario Ambassador,” so it’s far from the last we’ll see of him, but we’ll need to wait and see what this new role entails. With any luck the promised video message will come sooner rather than later to shed some more light on what’s happening. In the meantime, plenty of love and words of gratitude are pouring in on Mr. Martinet’s Twitter page, showing that his distinctive voices have left a strong impression on countless gamers the world over. Feel free to see for yourself here, especially if you need some cheering up; I sure do after this.

As for what comes next, it’s too soon to tell. At this point it’s been shown that Nintendo isn’t opposed to giving our favourite plumbers other voices, but as for who it’ll be and in what capacity? Your guess is as good as mine… Just please don’t be AI.

Thank you Charles Martinet for all the happy memories and best of luck in the future. Years from now when people ask us why we loved Nintendo so much growing up, the reason will always be, it’s-a you.