A new fan theory has emerged from Loki comic book writer Daniel Kibblesmith that indicates that Dr. Mario is actually a third Mario brother that opted to pursue medicine instead of plumbing like his brothers. The world of Super Mario has long been surrounded by theories made from fans, so another one added to the pile isn’t anything shocking. Although few are quite this engaging, as those theories are more often morbid than something that may be worth seriously considering.
Where previous fan theories detailed potential scenarios where Mario was actually a bad guy all along, this one plays into the naming conventions of the franchise in which the character originates, Super Mario Bros. Of course, this would mean that Mario’s full name is Mario Mario while his younger brother would be Luigi Mario. Now, what would happen if there were to be another brother? Enter the one and only Dr. Mario, who may not simply be Mario with a stethoscope and a passion for wiping out viruses.
A new theory from Daniel Kibblesmith on Twitter serves as a rather interesting tidbit to think about. If there were a third Mario brother that chose to ignore the plumbing profession of his siblings in order to follow through on his passion for medicine. According to Kibblesmith, it’s likely then that this other Mario lookalike is a twin to Mario. While he didn’t detail if the family is estranged given the career path, it begs to reason that Mario and Doctor Mario have only appeared alongside one another in the Super Smash Bros series, although that franchise is far from canon.
The reality is that this is just another fan theory, but it’s a cool one to entertain. In truth, Mario and Luigi are twins canonically, with the red-clad plumber being the oldest. This means that Dr. Mario could still be a third brother, but Mario is notorious for changing up his roles between each game. Whether he’s a plumber, adventurer, kart racer, athlete, party animal or whatever hat he’s chosen to wear at any given moment, they’re all still Mario. Also, Dr. Luigi is a character as well, so the theory falls apart immediately.
There are plenty of theories that can be explored to flesh out other corners of the Super Mario universe, and it would be great to see fans tackle more of those next. For example, a more interesting avenue to explore would be the relationship between Wario and Waluigi. Although, since Dr. Mario is already present alongside the regular Mario in Smash Bros Ultimate, it may help Waluigi fans further flesh out the character if he were to be added to Smash as a DLC fighter. In the meantime, this third Mario brother theory is a fun distraction.