---
title: "Which came first, Harry Potter or Mario?"
description: "Harry Potter vs Mario: Mario came first, by 16 years — 1981 against 1997. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/harry-potter-vs-super-mario/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Harry Potter or Mario?

**Which came first, Harry Potter or Mario?: Mario**

1981 — 16 years before Harry Potter

Mario came first, by 16 years. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

## Side by side

|  | Harry Potter | Mario |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1997 | 1981 |
| Date | 1997-06-26 | — |
| Category | media | media |
| What happened | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK. | Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong. |

## Harry Potter

Bloomsbury published the first book in June 1997 with a print run of 500 copies, most of which went to libraries, after twelve other publishers had rejected the manuscript. The company's chairman gave the first chapter to his eight-year-old daughter, who demanded the rest. It came out the same year as Netflix was founded and a year before Google.

## Mario

Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, credited as Jumpman, four years before Super Mario Bros. of 1985 made him a household name. He wears a cap because animating hair at that resolution was impossible, and dungarees because they made his arm movements legible against his body — the design is entirely a consequence of an 16×16 pixel sprite.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Harry Potter or Mario?

Mario, by 16 years — 1981 against 1997.

### When did Harry Potter start?

1997. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK.

### When did Mario start?

1981. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]