Step 1 : Introduction to the question "What was Nintendo character Mario's original name?"
Mario is a fictional character in the Mario video game franchise, owned by Nintendo. Serving as the company's mascot and protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong on July 9, 1981. Jumpman was later renamed "Mario" in the 1982 arcade game Donkey Kong Junior. With more than 500 million units sold worldwide, the overall Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time.