For video game fans visiting Japan, it sometimes comes as a surprise that when discussing the occupation of perhaps the most famous video game character of all time, there seems to be some confusion. Despite his pipe-traveling adventures, the fact that Mario doesn't actually do much related to his profession in either his games or promotions has resulted in knowledge of him being a plumber to be a little less known in Japan. There may be a much simpler reason, however, as Nintendo recently clarified that Mario is not actually currently in the plumbing business.

As can be seen on the recent character profile for Mario on Nintendo's Mario Portal website, the mustached hero's employment history is a bit different than we thought. After talking about Mario's cheerful spirit, passion for sports, and relationship with Luigi and Peach, the wording of the following comment sticks out:

"An athletic jack-of-all-trades, whether it's tennis, baseball, soccer, or even kart racing, Mario makes everything look cool. Actually, a long time ago, he also seems to have worked as a plumber..."

Given all of his adventures, parties, sports competitions, and even working as a doctor, you may have been able to figure out that Mario isn't an active plumber on your own. Still this gives the video game hero's rep as a "Joe the Plumber" everyman a bit of a twist. At least he seems to have worked his way up to his current stardom.