In one of the strangest, six-month-long pre-April Fools jokes in recent memory, fans of beloved video game plumber Super Mario dead declared the tradesman dead as of yesterday. Press F for Mario. But is he really dead? Like really?

The story of the Mario Dies on March 31st begins last September when Nintendo announced a slew of new Mario games and content in celebration of his 35th year on the job. Aside from the curiously absent pension, which he clearly deserves, Nintendo delivered on a release date for the long-anticipated Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as well a battle royale game that would, like 3-D All-Stars, only be available until March 31st.

Why March 31st? If you ask the internet, it's because that's the day Mario would die.

Jokes about Mario's death persisted for the next six months, reaching their peak last month as the date drew closer.

Well, yesterday was the day of Mario's long-awaited pre-determined death. How did the gaming world react? With a big hardy "F":m/memes/press-f-to-pay-respects/.

Today is March 31. RIP Mario

pic.twitter.com/FnjxSXTWut

— Disney TVA ● (@CallanCove) March 31, 2021

Super Mario 3d Allstars is officially DEAD on the JAPANESE ESHOP. This here says " not for sale " RIP. pic.twitter.com/3I1Z6P8e2c

— 𝗠𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻 🇯🇵 (@YLaylee) March 31, 2021

RIP Mario.. pic.twitter.com/VcDU0e8AmS

— JW Cartoonist (Commissions CLOSED) (@JW_Cartoonist) March 31, 2021

I guess It's March 31, Rip Mario pic.twitter.com/WLUQksMeJa

— FABINO (@KinoFabino) March 31, 2021

RIP Mario, Luigi was always the better brother anyway pic.twitter.com/wxgJRDwSA7

— Lotte Winter (Addison) |cmk|💖💚🏳️‍🌈 (@_Winter_Warlock) March 31, 2021

Good bye Mario, thank you for the memories.
RIP pic.twitter.com/2c5AbyKWiy

— HillelArt (@HillelArt) March 31, 2021

It's all enough to bring a tear to your eye. The idea of Mario, our good friend for more than 35 years, shaking off his mortal coil and jumping into the great warp pipe in the sky is too much to bear. Of course, if you miss him, you can always go to one of his two theme parks (provided that you're vaccinated and following COVID safety precautions and also you thought long and hard about traveling to Japan or *gulp* Orlando during a pandemic) or play his upcoming video game Mario Golf: Super Rush due out this June.