Little Mac

Lore & Background

Little Mac's design has varied across games. In the NES and Wii titles, he has black hair, a black tank top, green shorts, and green boxing gloves; Super Punch-Out!! depicts him with blonde hair and blue pants. He was originally going to be named Peter Punch, but this was changed before the game's debut. The identity of the player character in Super Punch-Out!! is disputed; a fan theory suggests the SNES title takes place after the NES and Wii games, with Mac given a makeover after separating from Doc Louis, but no official source confirms this timeline. In the Wii game, he was voiced by Matt Harty, a sound designer for Next Level Games, and was kept a silent protagonist to align with tradition and to serve as an avatar for the player. The Wii game also introduced a multiplayer mode where a second player can control an alternate Mac, and either player can transform into Giga Mac (originally planned to be named 'Big Mac').

Reader's Guide

Little Mac has appeared as the main protagonist in every Punch-Out!! game since his named debut. He has made cameo appearances in Fight Night Round 2 (as his SNES incarnation), Captain Rainbow (as an 'overweight has-been'), and the Super Smash Bros. series—first as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, then as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In Smash, his Power Meter mechanic is drawn from the arcade titles, and his Final Smash is Giga Mac. He also appears in Valiant Comics' Nintendo Comics System stories and in Illumination's Super Mario movies (pictured in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and training in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie). Little Mac has received generally positive reception, being listed by Nintendo Power as their 11th favorite hero and by GamesRadar as the 68th greatest video game hero. However, his updated design in Super Punch-Out!! and Doc Louis' absence were criticized, and the franchise has been noted for stereotypical opponent designs, with Little Mac described as the 'Great White Hope' by 1UP.com.

Did You Know?

• In the Wii game's multiplayer mode, players can transform into Giga Mac, a larger and more powerful version.
• His SNES incarnation appears as a playable character in Fight Night Round 2, which includes a bonus version of the SNES Super Punch-Out!! game as an unlockable feature.