Mario's goofy Italian accent has long been a focal and oft-parodied aspect of his character. The tiny plumber's sing-song lilt is so essential to his lore that the Super Mario fandom was left biting their nails after learning about Chris Pratt's Mario voice casting, for fear that he may do away with the over-the-top accent.

This is because Mario's thick accent has been the catalyst of some of the fandom's funniest memes, including a joke inspired by a classic mishearing of Mario's dialogue from the OG 1996 Super Mario 64 games. Here's how a clip of Mario KO-ing Bowser led to the catchphrase, "So long, gay Bowser."

Where Did The Line 'So Long, Gay Bowser' Come From?

In the 1996 Super Mario 64 game, players boss-fighting King Bowser must grab him by the tail and spin him around before tossing him into a bomb. After the player gains enough momentum on Bowser's tail, he is sent flying into the distance, which is when Mario's voiceover in this scene can be heard saying, "So long, King Bowser!"

What tickles players during such scenes is that Mario's dialogue somehow sounds an awful lot like he's saying, "So long, gay Bowser!" possibly due to his thick Italian accent adding an extra syllable.

The joke has long been a cause for giggles in the Super Mario 64 community, but it was eventually reified in meme form on August 17th, 2005, when YTMND user Wizard created a page titled "So long, gay Bowser!" featuring a GIF of Mario throwing Bowser along with audio of the voice line playing in the background.

How Did 'So Long, Gay Bowser' Spread Online?

Meme edits about Mario's misheard dialogue began to appear online by 2010, as seen in a video posted by SergeiEisenstein. The video shows a string of Super Mario clips where the titular character is shown flinging Bowser around and ends with Mario peering at the viewer.

By November 2013, the meme had traveled across sites and forms, with a viral Tumblr post showing a gravestone marked "Bowser" being tagged with the caption, "so long… gay bowser wipes tears."

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For the full history of "So long, gay Bowser," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.