Mario villain’s name changed from racist slur in games, movie

Don’t hate the player, hate the name.

After three decades, Nintendo has decided to change the controversial name of one of the villains from “Super Mario Bros” ahead of the movie’s official release in Japan this week.

The Japanese video game giant announced the image overhaul in a recent message on their Twitter account.

Per a translation of the Tweet, the foreman character “Blackie,” who appeared in the 1980s computer game “Wrecking Crew,” will have his name changed to “Spike” in Japanese.

This moniker makeover will take place in both the games and the “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” which remains at the top of the box office for the third week running, grossing over $400 million since it opened in theaters on April 5.

While Nintendo didn’t provide a reason for the decision, the character’s former title is a racial slur in Western countries.

In fact, Spike’s name change is currently in effect in the U.S. and EU iterations of the original game.

Spike first appeared in Famicon’s 1985 action puzzle game “Wrecking Crew” as the villainous construction worker who tried to stop Mario and Luigi from breaking objects with a hammer, Kotaku reported.

The character’s former title is misleading given that he is portrayed as a “white guy.”

His video game portrayal is markedly different than the character in the movie (voiced by Sebastian Maniscalco), who is the former boss of the Mario brothers before the turtle-hammering toilet technicians branch off to start their own plumbing business.

Interestingly, although widely lauded now, the project initially came under fire in 2021 after it was announced that Anglo-American star Chris Pratt, 43, would voice the titular Italian plumber.

“Danny Devito should’ve been Mario not Chris Pratt, we were robbed,” tweeted one incensed franchise fan.

Interestingly, few criticized the character of Mario himself, who is an Italian caricature created by Japanese game designer Miyamoto.