The Big Eight

The Big Eight are a group of 8 characters in the Mario Games that both are usually in games togeather, and are just the most popular characters in the series. The 8 characters have appeared in many games together, such as the Mario Kart and Party games, and are the most notible characters in the series. The first time all eight of them appeared in a game together, is actully Super Mario RPG for the SNES, but since most of them were cameos, most people count Mario Kart 64 the true game. Even though they have never all appeared in a main platformer, a big amount of them usually appear in one. One way to explain them is the Frat Pack, a group of actors whom will star in the same movies, though each movie of theres that comes out never has all 7 of them. That's pretty much how it is with the Mario Platformers, though the spin-offs usually have all 8.