Mario Brothers

Mario Brothers is the familyship between Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario fandom.

Canon
Mario and Luigi are twins who were to be delivered by a stork in Yoshi's Island, with Mario being the elder twin. However, tragedy struck when Kamek attempted to kidnap the young brothers. As ordered by Baby Bowser, Kamek attacks the stork. While Mario falls downward to eventually be rescued, Luigi is taken away by the wizard koopa. Through a subconscious bond between the brothers, Baby Mario decides to rescue his brother with the help of the Yoshies via relay system. Once the long adventure is finished with Kamek and Baby Bowser defeated, the brothers are reunited and brought to their parents.

As children, the two brothers would eventually become great friends with each other and Princess Peach. The trio have even been shown to have playdates during Partners in Time. Even as children, the two brothers are shown to work together, as evidenced by their bro attacks and cooperation with their elder counterparts. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! gives Baby Mario and Luigi a chain chomp.

When the duo grew up to be adults, their teamwork with each other was still prominent. As mentioned before, the brothers' partnership is best shown via their bro attacks from the Mario and Luigi sub series. They have also been portrayed still sharing a subconscious bond with each other as well. Although, Luigi has been shown to prefer staying at the brothers' home due to his own personal fears, with Mario only having Luigi join him when necessary or of his own accord.

Party and sports games have the duo always be paired up together. For example, Mario Power Tennis features the Mario Bros as a team during the game's intro. The bloopers of said game also show an instance in which Mario accidentally shoots a tennis ball into Luigi's eye, with the former apologizing for the accident. Their adult versions in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! are constantly shown in promo art, with their special item being fireballs. As for the Mario Party sub series, their team name is always "Mario Bros."

Within the Mario and Luigi sub series, the brother's relationship is the most developed here compared to other canon forms of media. In multiple instances, the duo hug each other when separated for too long and become angry when either of them is hurt. If a brother is knocked out during battle, the one left will begin to carry him during the defense segments.

In Partners in Time, Luigi is not allowed to enter the Star Shrine due to not being 'worthy.' Instead of forcing Luigi to leave, Mario helps the Star Gate find the Aurora Block in order to let Luigi join him. During this whole instance, both adult and baby Mario become angry at the gate due to Luigi crying from its insults. However, the Star Gate ends up revealing he was testing the brothers' relationship, and deemed them to be "the best siblings ever." Thus, the gate finally lets them pass.

Dream Team goes even further as Mario journeys through Luigi's sub conscious. As the red plumber explores the core of the Dream World—also known as Dreams' Deep, Luigi's thoughts of his brother flutter around the area. Every single one of them praises Mario and shows his deep commitment to his sibling. He will sometimes even directly talk to him, stating that he's there for him.

The Luigi's Mansion sub series also has Luigi rescue Mario multiple times. During the first game, Luigi can find Mario's items spread through out the mansion and give them to Madame Clairvoya to learn about Mario's current state. He can also find Mario locked away in the well, with Luigi even reaching out to him to no avail. After Luigi rescues Mario, he hysterically laughs with tears of joy, thankful about his brother's safety. The sequel also has Luigi rescue Mario, with Mario thanking him and praising the younger twin. Both games also have a button command in which Luigi can call for Mario. Luigi's vocal range can change from normal sounding to outright screaming depending on his current health.

Super Mario Adventures not only has the brothers cooperate together when they're fixing Princess Peach's pipes, but also when rescuing her. At one point, Mario is captured by the Koopa Kids. They blackmail Luigi with the elder twin's life in order to obtain Peach. Instead, though, Luigi disguises himself as Peach. When Mario sees the disguise, he compliments him and says pink suits him. When Mario is captured again during Bowser and Peach's wedding, Luigi frees all of the Yoshies and unintentionally also helps rescue Mario.

After beating the game, Luigi's Balloon World will be unlocked in Super Mario Odyssey. Here, Luigi will allow the player to place or collect balloons in a limited amount of time. When wearing certain costumes, Luigi has the chance of responding to them. If Mario wears any of the wedding outfits, for example, Luigi will become confused and upset from his brother not inviting him to his wedding, only for Mario to tell him its for fun.

Like any pair of siblings, however, the Mario Brothers can also be rude or mad at each other. Mario Power Tennis has Luigi have his foot stepped on by Mario due to Mario's nature of being too competitive. He can also be heard yelling "Hey Luigi! What's the hold up?!" when walking past the well in Luigi's Mansion. When Luigi accidentally makes their baby counterparts cry in Partners in Time, Mario gets mad at Luigi, thinking he purposely upset them, only for Luigi to also cry. Within his diary in Paper Mario, Luigi admits to being jealous of Mario and wanting to not be "Player 2" anymore. However, compared to everything else, these instances of anger or rivalry are small and don't last for long. It is also worth pointing out that with the Player 2 comment, during the Mario Sports Mix press conference, Mario states that it was taken out of context and that Luigi enjoys being Mario's sidekick.

Currently, there have only been a few instances in which the brothers were enemies. Super Paper Mario has Luigi be brainwashed by Nastasia and become Mr. L. The player, discounting Super Dimentio, fights him twice. Mario Tennis Aces has Luigi become possessed by Lucien and, unwillingly, Mario's rival. In both instances, Luigi was not given a choice. No hard feelings were formed, however.

Quotes
"Big bro... It's your choice... Luigi... will follow you... We're all here for you, bro. Always."

- Dreamy Luigi, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team

"Hey, bro! You saved Princess Peach, huh? So proud of ya!"

- Luigi, Super Mario Odyssey

"Luigi, you saved Mario!"

- Mario, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

"Hey Luigi! Stick with me, bro, and we'll win this one together!"

- Mario, Fortune Street

Fanon
Mario and Luigi are one of the most recognized sibling duos in video games, with them being a common costume for Halloween or cosplay conventions. In media such as Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Chowder, and LISA: the Painful, lookalikes of the brothers have even appeared. Fans of the Mario and Luigi series constantly praise the brother's teamwork and partnership. It is also a common idea to have the duo work together in multiple fan games.

However, some fans view the brothers' relationship to be toxic and abusive. This is thanks to popular game theories in which Mario is considered the 'true villain' of the series. Some of the evidence used to prove this is Mario stepping on Luigi's foot and Luigi's jealousy. However, these theorists often over-exaggerate these events to a heavy degree and ignore conflicting evidence such as Dream's Deep. Thankfully, this belief has begun to die down due to counterclaims and rebuttals.

For fans who do not believe in the widespread villain theories, Mario and Luigi are portrayed as being siblings who help each other whenever possible. Luigi is often headcanoned to cook meals for the both of them and tidy up their home whenever Mario is away. Mario, on the other hand, will often be the solace for Luigi whenever the younger twin becomes overwhelmed. Although they will sometimes still bicker in fancomics, most agree that they support each other.

Fanart will usually have the duo going on adventures or participating in activities together. Activities may include sports, housekeeping, etc. The two bros will also typically stick up for each other (especially Mario when Luigi is insulted by a third party). Some even state that the bros are their own biggest fans. Art may also go into angst territory using canon events as a point of reference such as Luigi's role in Super Paper Mario.

Within the fandom, jokes have also formed about the duo. Fans may swap the bros' shirt and hat colors for the purpose of jokes. This comes from Luigi's nickname, "Green Mario." From this, "Red Luigi" was formed. The non-official Phillips CD-I game, Hotel Mario, has also accidentally caused several memes of the two brothers. Examples include 'Gay Luigi' and 'This is it, Luigi.'

Due to the name for the familyship being similar to the series name, there is a bit of a tagging issue with it. Most will use Mario Brothers or Mario and Luigi, despite sharing the same names with games.

Fandom
DEVIANT ART

Trivia

 * In the Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, Luigi refers to Mario as 'aniki.' In this instance, the term is being used in the sense of 'big brother.' However, it can also be slang for 'gang boss'
 * Luigi's Mansion shows Luigi owning his own house. Despite this, both Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi:: Superstar Saga have them live together. It is unlikely all three of these are the same home
 * During Super Mario RPG, Mario can find a wish asking "to be a great plumber like his big bro." This is, of course, supposed to be Luigi's wish. However, Luigi himself never appears in-game
 * Despite being older, Mario is shorter than Luigi. The reverse can be said about his younger brother