Is Mario a generic character?

[Evil Yoshi Toes]

Wow. Are you guys gonna say that even everyone but Mario is developed?

All the characters in the Mario franchise are more developed than Mario because Mario is our main avatar that everyone is supposed to relate to. The other main characters are meant to appeal to a much smaller demographic than Mario is. Princess Peach, Luigi and Bowser have more personality, but because of that not everyone is going to relate to them. Mario, on the other hand, is very generic so everyone loves him, which makes sense since he's the main mascot of Nintendo.

I don't see why you're acting like this is a bad thing though. Most everyone who has posted in this thread has said they like Mario, but he just wouldn't be interesting in a setting where his personality would be the main appeal. He's perfectly fine as a game avatar whose shoes the player can jump into and Nintendo did a great job at making him marketable in this way. Nobody dislikes Mario because there's no reason to dislike him.