I used to hate Mario for how everyone in-game loves him despite his bloody rampages through the Koopa Troop and his vicious Amazee Dayzee level grinding and whatnot. Then I mellowed out. Now I think of him as a nice guy who loves his brother, his princess, his kingdom and all his friends, and who will stop at nothing to defend them against the forces of evil, no matter the risk to himself or the cost to his enemies. However, while he's certainly not malevolent about it, conflict and competitiveness is in his blood: if all the evil in the world suddenly disappeared, while he'd be glad no one needs saving, he'd quickly grow restless and dissatisfied with having nothing left to fight. And he's still a brutal hurricane of destruction if you're fighting on the wrong side - or even if you're simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when he goes into his one-track-minded "save Peach" mode.
