Is Mario a generic character?

[fireball3k]

you know, i think mario being generic is a good thing given the sort of game he usually stars in. platformers can, and often do have fleshed out characters with quite a bit of depth to them. still, all we need to know about mario to enjoy his games is that he's a courageous, noble young man who's fighting to stop the evil schemes of bowser and rescue a pretty young lady like princess peach. do we need to know about mario's internal struggles, whatever they may be? in this context, no, i don't think that we do. his lack of expressed character works to his advantage as the hero of an action game which is more focused on making the right jumps than it is telling a grand story like your metal gear solids, your resident evils, or your kingdom hearts games.