It’s not every day that a video game company changes the name of its official characters decades after the game’s release. So when Nintendo announced that it plans to give one character an official name change, it confused a majority of the player base, especially those from Japan. And this all has to do with The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The official Japanese Nintendo account announced that “Spike” will be the official name of this Nintendo character from the game Wrecking Crew. While Spike was the official name for the character in the USA and Europe releases, its Japanese name was originally called “Blackie.” Nintendo has also confirmed that in the Japan release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Spike will also be the name shown in the film’s credits.
This news shocked both Western and Japanese Nintendo fans. Western fans didn’t expect Spike to have a different name in the Japanese release. They were even surprised by the racist connotations this name had.
Meanwhile, Japanese fans were surprised that this character from a 40-year-old game even had a name to begin with. They just assumed he was called “evil Mario” or gave him another title. At the same time, others said that they didn’t mind the name change.
Interestingly, this news caught Pokémon fans’ attention since Umbreon shares the same name as the aforementioned Mario character in the Japanese version of the game.
Spike, aka Foreman Spike, made his debut in 1985 in the game Wrecking Crew for the Nintendo Family Computer, two years before its European and North American release in 1987. Since his debut, the character appeared in a handful of games like WarioWare Gold, NES Remix, and Japan-only titles like Wrecking Crew ’98.
Despite his relatively rare appearances, especially in Western countries, Spike’s influence in the Super Mario franchise led to him receiving a small role in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by The Irishman Sebastian Maniscalco. At least now, this obscure Nintendo character now has the same name across its international releases.