Who Is Older: Mario Or Luigi? (It Might Not Be Who You Think)

Everyone knows Mario Mario, the long-running Nintendo mascot. He made his debut in the 1981 video game "Donkey Kong," came to his own in 1985's "Super Mario Bros.," and has been one of the most recognizable video game characters ever since. Seemingly always trailing behind him in prominence is his brother Luigi Mario, the other half of the world-famous Mario Bros. 

The pair started out as identical, color-swapped protagonist characters, but eventually became physically distinctive — and as 2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" shows, they've very much developed into their own separate characters. However, despite their long-standing place in pop culture, one thing might still confuse fans; Which of the two Mario Bros. is older? 

One of the most obvious facts about the 1993 "Super Mario Bros." live-action movie is that the age difference between its versions of Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo) is significant, with Mario being the older sibling by what looks like well over a decade. In the games, of course, it's a different matter. Even after their early days as identical color-swapped character sprites, they've looked roughly the same age. In fact, if you're ranking seniority simply by birthday, there's a very simple answer to which one of the Mario brothers is older. They're actually twins. 

In a 2005 interview for Nintendo's Japanese website, Mario and Luigi's creator Shigeru Miyamoto even confirmed Mario's — and therefore, Luigi's as well — canon age. "I think it was fortuitous that we didn't put any restrictions on Mario as a character," Miyamoto said (via Ars Technica). "Normally when you create a character and present him to the world, all the details get filed in: What's his favourite colour? What kind of food does he like to eat? But aside from the fact that he's about 24-25 years old, we didn't define anything else."

Even though the Mario brothers are officially twins, one has to be at least a little bit older than the other. In this particular aspect, at least, the 1993 movie gets things right. Mario Mario is the older sibling of the two, if only by order of birth. 

On paper, this plays fairly well to the dynamic between the pair. As the de facto face of Nintendo, Mario is clearly shouldering the majority of responsibility between the pair. Meanwhile, Luigi plays an erstwhile "Player 2" role. Apart from the Hoskins-Leguizamo dynamic, this is also evident in the 2023 movie. While Mario is voiced by notorious protagonist actor Chris Pratt, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'" star Charlie Day steals the show as Luigi, delivering a strong supporting role that plays with the younger Mario brother's cowardly and worrisome nature. 

Despite the canonical slight difference in Mario and Luigi's ages, a part of the fandom tends to picture Luigi as the older sibling, possibly due to his significantly greater height and more careful personality. Some have even figured out a way to make this vision reality thanks to the events of the "Luigi's Mansion" action horror game series, which sees the green-wearing brother as the central protagonist while Mario is trapped in a painting. 

"In the 'Luigi's Mansion' games, Mario is trapped in a painting for the duration of 3 nights all together (perhaps longer, we don't know exactly when he was captured in 'Dark Moon')," Redditor u/Lank_Master theorized. "In a painting, you're essentially frozen. Can't move, can't talk (apart from the first game's painting), can't age. Mario was basically un ageing in a painting while Luigi was busy sucking up ghosts in a journey to save him, while most certainly overtaking Mario in age."

Of course, whether you buy into the theory of "Luigi's Mansion" making Luigi the physically older sibling, Mario's slightly earlier birth time nevertheless makes him the older of the pair, especially since the two don't really seem to visibly age, save for some design changes over the years. As such, Mario is the older brother and Luigi the younger one. Regardless, there's no question that the two remain one of pop culture's most iconic and formidable duos.