Charles Martinet, the longtime voice of Nintendo’s Mario, is ending his run as the chipper video game plumber.
Nintendo announced Martinet’s next stage in a statement on Monday. He will hop into the role of ambassador for the company, “sharing the joy of Mario” with the world.
“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years,” the company statement read.
Credited with Mario’s signature woo-hoos and “It’s-a-me” catchphrase, Martinet also voiced Mario’s taller, greener brother, Luigi, and Wario, their archrival.
Martinet celebrated the news on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, writing, “My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!”
In a 2017 interview with CNN, Martinet admitted that he stumbled into the Mario role, remembering how he was told to make up a voice for “an Italian plumber from Brooklyn” after he “crashed an audition.”
Martinet started working for Nintendo as the voice of Mario at trade shows starting in the early ’90s. His first major job voicing the character in a game was in 1996 for Super Mario 64.
He relinquished the role of Mario to actor Chris Pratt in this spring’s “Super Mario Brothers Movie,” but he did score a cameo as Mario and Luigi’s dad.
For now, it seems like Martinet’s time in the Mushroom Kingdom is over. He does not appear to have a role in the new game “Super Mario Bros. Wonder,” which comes out in October for Nintendo Switch.
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