When Nintendo of America was created in 1980, it wanted to make a game with Popeye. It contacted the company to buy the license to develop the game. However, it was unable to get the license. So, it decided to develop a game with a new IP inspired by Popeye. It created a monkey called Donkey Kong, similar to Bluto’s character.
They also made a man initially called Jumpman, inspired by the Popeye character. They didn’t know what to call him. However, when the original office space owner, Mario Segal, argued with the head of Nintendo of America to pay his rent, they decided to rename Jumpman to Mario.
After that, many people loved the character, and Nintendo decided to use him as its official mascot. Mario would appear in many games, making him a pop icon.