Profile: Mario Emancipazione

PROFILE

"Inside this staff resides the soul of King Yudi. The former King of Zaire has chosen me to wield the staff that once belonged to him, and I vow to live up to his …our expectations!"

Name: Mario Emancipazione (originally Model 413)

Age: Appears in his early 20's, but Mario has only existed for 5 years

Species: Android

Original World: Earth 2118

Skin Color: Peach

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Icy Blue

Height: 5'11”

Weight: 210 Pounds

Powers: Wields a divine three section staff called "Ayelala's Sapphire" that gives its wielder access to unique magical abilities. Residing in the staff is also the spirit of King Nazebi's elder brother, Yudi, which aids Mario in battle. Mario is also trained in open-hand combat.

Allies: Nazebi, Onyx, Hellin, Nari, Unloyal, Untrue, James, Anna, Petronie, Yanick

Likes: The color blue, cool weather, learning Italian, hanging out with Princess Petronie, training, protecting Zaire, sugar cookies, baths

Dislikes: His past

Backstory: 

Prior to becoming a resident of Earth 135, Mario was originally an android from Earth 2118. Like his fellow androids, his only purpose was to serve the needs of their owners. A man by the name of Ernest Celestin had purchased model 413 AKA "Mario" for himself in order to please his sexual desires. At first, Ernest’s commands for Mario were pretty tame but as time passed, Ernest became more deviant and cruel towards Mario. Mario tried to endure the abuse in order to not suffer the fate of being "canceled" like so many of his kind for disobeying their owners. One day, Mario had enough of Ernest's cruelty and ended up murdering him. Shortly afterwards, Mario went on the run from the law and knew if he was captured that he would be "canceled!" Surprisingly, before his captors could catch up to him, a duo, not from his world, named Unloyal and Untrue rescued Mario. Mario was both confused and somewhat disturbed that Unloyal looked like a much younger version of his owner, Ernest. Mario later discovered that Unloyal and Ernest were alternate universe versions of each other. 

Unloyal then brought Mario to Earth 135 where he met yet another alternate of his former owner by the name of King Onyx Carnival. Mario was welcomed to the new world and Onyx and his friends did their best to make Mario feel comfortable in a world foreign to him. Mario worked as a cashier in a local supermarket in the Royal Lands. While Mario was beyond grateful for his new start in life and being rescued from his cruel original planet, Mario also felt guilty knowing that his fellow android brothers and sisters continued to be at the mercy of their creators, which brought him great sadness.

One evening after getting off from work, Mario was surprised to see both Onyx and James waiting for him outside. Onyx and James were going to Zaire, a country within the continent of Africa and the home of King Nazebi, the younger brother of the deceased King Yudi. Onyx figured Mario would love to accompany them as well as visit a new place within their world. Upon arriving in Zaire, the trio were greeted by King Nazebi's Defense Force along with his children, Prince Yanick and Princess Petronie. While King Nazebi wasn't too fond of Onyx, he respected the half-demon King of Mayland for not only being a strong leader, but also because of his friendship with his elder brother, Yudi, when he was alive. Nazebi had promised Yudi upon his tragic death to remain in contact with Onyx. 

While Onyx and Nazebi discussed various issues within their world, Mario felt an unusual presence calling to him. Onyx and James walked off with Nazebi and his elder son, Yanick. Princess Petronie, the younger child of King Nazebi, noticed the shy Mario and offered to take him on a tour around her father's palace. During the tour, Petronie showed Mario many unique places within the palace, but it was the Treasure Room that truly piqued Mario's interest. Upon entering the room, Mario saw various relics, but the thing that caught his eye was a sapphire and silver colored three section staff. That very staff possessed the same unique presence that Mario felt when he first arrived in Zaire along with Onyx and James. Mario approached the staff. Princess Petronie stopped Mario as she told him that was a sacred staff that once belonged to her uncle and if anything were to happen to that staff, her father would execute the one responsible. Not wanting to cause trouble, Mario respected Petronie's order and left the staff alone. Yet, the mystical weapon that once belonged to King Yudi continued to have a strange hold on him.

Spending the night at King Nazebi's castle along with Onyx and James, Mario slept in one of the many guest rooms and everything felt like a typical night. The strange sensation from King Yudi's staff became stronger to the point where it awoke Mario out of his sleep. Guiding the young man into the Treasure Room, which normally was inaccessible to anyone who wasn't Nazebi or his children, the room opened itself to Mario without caution. Entering the room once again, Mario immediately approached the staff and removed it from its placeholder and held it in his hand. Just then, King Nazebi appeared in the Treasure Room and was filled with rage upon seeing his brother's cherished weapon in the hands of an outsider, especially one he just met. Nazebi was ready to kill Mario where he stood, but was stopped upon seeing his brother's spirit appear beside Mario, protecting the man from harm. Nazebi then realized that his brother had chosen Mario to become the new owner of his beloved weapon. 

Later that morning, Nazebi and Onyx had a discussion concerning Mario being chosen by his deceased brother to wield his staff. Onyx worried that Nazebi would go against his brother's wishes and take the staff from Mario by any means necessary. Onyx even blamed himself for unwittingly bringing Mario to Zaire where all of this became possible. However, before things became even more complicated, Mario spoke up for the first time since Onyx had known him with conviction in his voice. Mario asked if he could remain in Zaire with King Nazebi and his family and learn how to properly wield King Yudi's staff. Nazebi agreed with Mario's request since it would not only mean his brother's staff would remain in Zaire, but he would also be able to oversee the young man's training. Onyx also accepted Mario's decision and promised to check up on him from time to time before James and he returned to Mayland. Mario remained with Nazebi and his family and began his rigorous training.

Several months later, Mario transformed into a competent fighter. He wielded the staff, Ayelala's Sapphire, as if it was an extension of himself. Joining Nazebi's Defense Force, like King Yudi during his time, Mario became a symbol of justice and fought valiantly against troublemakers in Zaire and various other parts of Africa. He became close friends with Petronie and many others within the Defense Force. Despite being from another world, Mario never felt more at home since becoming a resident of Zaire. Over time, he even began to witness King Nazebi's kinder side and the two went on to become good friends. Nazebi even began to understand why his brother had chosen Mario to inherit his weapon. Despite Mario not originally being a warrior, the man possessed a warrior's soul and had the heart to be a proper warrior of justice. No longer feeling weighed down by his less than stellar past, Mario now yearned to be a proper defender of justice and made the most of his new start in life.

TRIVIA

1. Mario's last name "Emancipazione" means "emancipation" in Italian. This last name was given to him by King Onyx.

2. Mario, despite being an android and thus no true nationality, possesses the appearance of an Italian man.

3. While Mario is an android from Earth 2118, which means he's an artificial human, few months after arriving in Mayland, his biology received changes that made him more human than machine. Mario maintains his android-like features, especially his eyes, and the barcode behind his neck. However, his reproductive organs have become more authentic than when he was originally created. 

4. Mario being a staff-wielder was inspired by Tanya from Mortal Kombat 1 (2023). Prior to that, I was struggling to think what kind of fighter/magic user Mario would be since he came from a world where magic did not exist.

5. Early on, I thought to not make Mario into a combative character and to simply keep him as a civilian within Earth 135. The decision was changed when I decided I wanted to do more with Mario's character than the initial story he was introduced in, “Welcoming The Foreigner".

6. Creating Mario's story that led him to wielding a magical staff that once belonged to Zaire's former ruler, King Yudi, was quite a challenge. It took me a little over a week from conceptualizing the story to writing it out from my head onto the computer for the story to make sense.

7. Mario was intended to be my first character for 2024, but his artist, Anne Luc, completed him within 24 hours, thus Mario ended up being my closing character for 2023.