Nintendo changing Mario character's name following racial slur concerns

Nintendo have announced that one Mario character’s name will soon be changed forever. The alteration comes after concerns that the original name is too closely associated with a racial slur.

The Mario franchise is hardly ever out of the spotlight, but April 2023 will go down as a pretty historic month. The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the biggest opening ever for an animated film, and it’s thought that it could be one of very few animated films to hit $1 billion mark. Jack Black’s now viral Peaches song is eligible for an Oscar nomination. That’s not to say it’ll necessarily actually get a nomination, but it does seem to be wildly popular. I wouldn’t be surprised if a sequel was announced soon enough. With this revitalised interest in the franchise though, Nintendo have opted to alter the name of one classic character.

We spoke to Princess Peach actress Anya Taylor Joy about her role in the movie. Take a look below.

As reported by ComicBook, Nintendo confirmed the news on their Japanese Twitter account due to the fact that it’s actually the character’s name in Japan which was proving to be the problem. You may know the character as Spike. Appearing in the NES title Wrecking Crew, Spike was a foreman who proved to be a bit of an issue for everyone’s favourite plumbers Mario and Luigi. In the Japanese version of the game though, Spike was known as “Blackie”.

ファミリーコンピュータ向けソフト『レッキングクルー』などに登場するキャラクター「ブラッキー」の名称を、欧米での名称と同じ「スパイク」に変更いたします。なお、2023年4月28日に公開される『ザ・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・ムービー』での名称も、同様に「スパイク」となっています。 pic.twitter.com/HhTXEOmzxn

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) April 20, 2023

Spike will now also be known as Spike in Japan. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is actually yet to be released in Japan, with a premiere date set for 28 April. Spike’s inclusion in the film will mark the first time the character has been formally referred to as Spike in the country since the change was made. While Nintendo didn’t specify a reason for the change, VGC noted the potential connotations with a racial slur.

Did you know that it’s not the first time the name of a Mario character has been altered? Princess Peach was originally Princess Toadstool. Peach is much catchier.