Trivia
HardWhich Character Was Created Because Of Nintendo’s Inability To License Popeye?

Answer: Mario
In July of 1981, Nintendo released what would go on to become one of the most iconic arcade games of all time: Donkey Kong. Millions of players around the globe would drop handful after handful of quarters into machines to help the nameless mustachioed protagonist save his girlfriend from an angry ape.
The original version of Donkey Kong, however, was actually intended to star the cast of the Popeye cartoons. The role of the kidnapper was originally played by Bluto, Popeye’s nemesis, the girlfriend by Olive Oyl, and the protagonist by Popeye himself. When licensing could not be secured for the game, developer Shigeru Miyamoto took the general premise of Popeye—a scrappy smaller guy fighting to save his girlfriend in the face of a big brute of an opponent—and adapted it.
The new protagonist, known informally in the early years simply as “Jumpman” because he spent all of his time in the game leaping about, would go on to become Mario of the Mario Bros. fame—the most recognizable video game character in the world.
More Trivia Questions
Trivia
EasyWhat Was Once Considered Cruel And Unusual Punishment To Feed Inmates?
Trivia
HardWhich Television Show Contains An Entire Movie Hidden Within It?
Trivia
HardThe Exhaustion People Feel After Quitting Coffee Is A Result Of Hypersensitivity To?
Trivia
EasyWhat Movie Introduced The Public To The Concept Of “DEFCON” Military Alerts?
Trivia
HardWhich Of These Products Did Microsoft Design But Then Deny, Claiming It Was A Hoax?
Trivia
HardThe Heaviest Computer System Ever Constructed Was Used For?
Trivia
EasyWhat Term, Commonly Used To Denote Speedy, Is Also a Legitimate Scientific Measurement?
Trivia
EasyVanilla Beans Are Not Beans At All But The Seed Pods Of?
Trivia
HardA Popular Sci-Fi Show Forced The U.S. National Park Service To Post Warning Signs Where?
Trivia
HardThe Phrase “See You Later, Alligator” Is A Reference To What?