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Mario is the main character and protagonist of the long-running and highly successful Mario franchise. He serves as the main mascot of Nintendo. Before appearing in his own franchise, Mario debuted in the Donkey Kong title Donkey Kong, released in 1981, in which he took the alias "Jumpman". Mario's first appearance in his titular franchise is the Game & Watch version of Mario Bros., released in 1983. Despite the Mario franchise coming after the Donkey Kong franchise, the latter has become a subfranchise of the Mario franchise, so Mario is primarily seen as a character of his own franchise.