Mario or Pikachu, who's more recognizable?

CastletonSnob

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Which gaming icon is more recognizable? Mario is the face of gaming to a lot of people, but Pikachu is the mascot of the most profitable media franchise of all time.
 

XsjadoBlayde

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The math tells me mario had way more time to infect human consciousness than pretty lil pikachu. And if anyone even dares to think otherwise, well...

ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-19.jpg

(I should clarify, this is but a joke: A simple disguise worn by Luigi to smear his brother's immaculate name. Stand down and stand by, Luigi! There. Told. I in no way endorse this behaviour.)
 
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CriticalGaming

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Pikachu hands down.

Mario is certainly recognizable, but not to the degree of Pikachu. Pokemon is the biggest franchise in the world, and is in TV shows, movies, comics, video games, stuffed animals, toys, trading card games, etc.

Mario is a strictly video game character. But Pikachu has transcended into far more forms.

/thread.
 

happyninja42

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Mario is a strictly video game character. But Pikachu has transcended into far more forms.

/thread.
Except for the various cartoons, live action tv shows, live action movie, comics, stuffed toys, trading cards, etc, that have also used the Mario brand to sell their schwag.
Some of them might not have been as successful, but to say Mario is "strictly a video game character" is just flat out incorrect.

OT: I mean, is there a way to really tell the difference? What metric are we using? Because I'd frankly be surprised to find anyone who doesn't know both of them. I haven't played a Mario game in probably 20 years, and I've never digested any pokemon content other than as secondary memes and shit, and I still know them both on sight. Their market penetration is pretty uniform I would say at this point in a globally connected society.
 

CriticalGaming

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Mario is "strictly a video game character" is just flat out incorrect.
He is CURRENTLY just a video game character. At least for the most part.

The Pokemon Anime is still running. They continue to make Pokemon Movies. They still make the Pokemon trading Card game. They still print new episodes of the pokemon manga.

Mario might still get the occasional shitty Happy meal toy, and a plushie here and there. I am unaware of any Tv shows, or film, or media outside video games which are using his likeness.

My point stands. Pikachu is the more recognizable character.

On a related Note here is a code to get Ash's Pikachu in Sword and Shield. https://www.destructoid.com/stories...achu-in-pokemon-sword-and-shield-605156.phtml
 

CastletonSnob

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The thing is, Pikachu was just another Pokemon in the games. It wasn't until the anime that he became popular.
 
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BrawlMan

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About the same, either way. Both of my parents know both characters. Especially my mom. Hell, all of my aunts on my mom's side of the family know who Pikachu is.
 

Eclipse Dragon

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I'd say Pikachu. The yellow rat's reach is far.
Mario has a lot of nostalgia power but at the end of the day, Pikachu is cuter, more endearing to children and adults a like, and is the face of the Pokemon franchise.

My 6-14 year old nieces and nephews know about Mario but they don't care about him and don't want to play his games.

Either way, Nintendo wins.
 
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Shadyside

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My question is, why does Pikachu suck in the games? Shouldn't it have better stats and more exclusive held items? I haven't kept up with the games since X and Y so I don't know if anything has changed.
 

Eclipse Dragon

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My question is, why does Pikachu suck in the games? Shouldn't it have better stats and more exclusive held items? I haven't kept up with the games since X and Y so I don't know if anything has changed.
It has gained more exclusive held items to make up for its suckage.
If you play Let's Go Pikachu, it has godly stats to make up for the fact that it can never evolve, that's the only game where that applies.
 

DJShaddycat

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Probably Mario honestly. You'll be hard pressed to find someone in a first world country, and even second world countries, that has never heard of Mario or Pikachu. But I think Mario has a slightly farther reaching sphere of influence. A lot more family fun games are available for Mario. Mario Kart, Mario Party, even the New Super Mario Brothers games allow for four player co-op.

While I was still in highschool, there were several people who played video games only casually. And the only game they played was Mario Kart. I doubt Pokemon even crossed their mind. Sure, if you showed them Pikachu, they would recognize him. But I think Mario just has a much greater air of a casual video game character. Anybody can pick up and play Mario Kart, or Mario Party, or NSMB and have fun with friends. The same can't be said for Pokemon.
 
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Dreiko

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In Japan Pikachu is like Mickey Mouse so I'd say he wins out.
 
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Dalisclock

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Mario might still get the occasional shitty Happy meal toy, and a plushie here and there. I am unaware of any Tv shows, or film, or media outside video games which are using his likeness.
Ahem.....



No, the movie trailer isn't a fake, as much as one might want to believe it to be.

They're from the 1990's sure but a TV show and a godawful movie is a bit more then nothing.
 
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Hawki

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Pikachu. At least in a wider sense.

As has been pointed out, Pokemon's a multi-media franchise. If you don't play the games, you can watch the anime or read the manga, both of which are very popular with the kids these days. Mario is certainly recognisable within gamer culture, but in wider culture? Well, he'd probably be recognisable, but not nearly to the extent as Pikachu. Heck, I'd wager that Sonic is more recognisable than Mario (in that he's had a plethora of cartoons, anime, and comics, while Mario hasn't - not to the same extent).
 
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CriticalGaming

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Ahem.....



No, the movie trailer isn't a fake, as much as one might want to believe it to be.

They're from the 1990's sure but a TV show and a godawful movie is a bit more then nothing.
Yeah that Mario movie was made 3 years before pokemon existed. Mario is not made into anything like that anymore.
 

CaitSeith

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Pikachu is more recognizable from more stuff than just video games.

If you count only video games, Mario is the most recognizable.
 

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My question is, why does Pikachu suck in the games? Shouldn't it have better stats and more exclusive held items? I haven't kept up with the games since X and Y so I don't know if anything has changed.
Well for one thing is it isn't a fully evolved Pokemon so it doesn't have the best possible stats around. Its best stat is a base 90 speed but 100 is considered to be the average for good Pokemon. It has an item that's exclusive to it called the Light Ball which gives it attacking stats on par with legendaries and it can boost its own defenses with an item called Eviolite which powers up its defenses by 50% if the Pokemon holding it isn't fully evolved.

The problem is that Pikachu is way too frail to the bigger meta game and it doesn't do anything special than other Pokemon can do. It doesn't help that Pikachu is over reliant on its items to be effective in a game where Knock Off is considered the best move because it removes items. Basically more consistent mons that hit hard and are much faster and bulkier do more than a one trick pony. Oh and Landorus-T exists which laughs in Pikachu's face.

I hope that explained things as simple as possible. As for the question for the thread yeah Pikachu is more recognizable. There's a reason why there was a Pokemon craze in the 90s and yeah its hype comes and goes but when it happens it goes in hard. So yeah that's what I think personally.
 

Shadyside

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Pikachu. At least in a wider sense.

As has been pointed out, Pokemon's a multi-media franchise. If you don't play the games, you can watch the anime or read the manga, both of which are very popular with the kids these days. Mario is certainly recognisable within gamer culture, but in wider culture? Well, he'd probably be recognisable, but not nearly to the extent as Pikachu. Heck, I'd wager that Sonic is more recognisable than Mario (in that he's had a plethora of cartoons, anime, and comics, while Mario hasn't - not to the same extent).
The only thing Sonic is recognized for is being the biggest punching bag a mascot has ever been.