Nintendo Explains Why Mario Has Nipples But No Belly Button

Not. A. Hat. (Image: Flickr)

If you’ve played Super Mario Odyssey — with the shirtless Mario option, of course — on the Nintendo Switch, you may noticed that Mario doesn’t have a belly button. But he does have nipples.

Which, many users have noted, is not how it is with, you know, human beings. And a lot of other characters in games.

In what was supposed to be a routine Q&A session on Twitter yesterday, Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi was a little surprised by a question about Mario’s anatomical makeup, but gave a straight answer:

“Once I heard that people were talking so much about Mario’s belly button it made me start to think about whether we should revisit the topic on the design side.”

He also confirmed that Toad’s head is not a hat. It’s really his head. It’s just, like, really weird looking.

Here’s the crucial response:

We sit down with Mr. Koizumi, the producer of #SuperMarioOdyssey, and ask him some of those questions we have all wanted answers to! pic.twitter.com/9TjOC9ig3o

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 5, 2018

As seasoned gamers know, the shirtless Mario “outfit” has to be purchased for 1,000 coins the Cascade Kingdom. Which seems like kind of a lot to see a non-belly button, but hey, whatever.