Toad (character)

''Note: This article is for the character. For other uses, go here.''

Toad as an individual character made his debut in Super Mario Bros., then Super Mario Bros. 2, where he was a playable character (the fastest and strongest one) on equal standing to the other protagonists — Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. His relationship to the other main characters of the series is unclear (as most of those between characters in the Mario series are), but it can be seen that he is a good friend of Mario and Princess Peach. He lives with the princess in her castle as her personal servant and constant companion.

Toads as a whole are an entire species. In the primary series they don't tend to have individual names unless it's a prominent character such as Toadsworth in Super Mario Sunshine. This, however, is not the case with the RPG's, in which each has a distinct title. In their first appearance they are most notable for uttering one of the more famous video game lines: "Thank you Mario. But our princess is in another castle!".

Like Yoshi, it's hard to tell whether or not a Toad is the character from the previous games or just another member of the species.

History
Toad's first appearance in a game was in Super Mario Bros. for the NES, where the species was captured by Bowser, some were even turned into stones, mushrooms, and blocks. In each world, a Toad would be waiting for you when you beat Bowser, and would tell you that Peach is in another castle. In Super Mario All-Stars, the amount of Toads at the end of each castle depended on which world you were in. For example, if you were in world 4, there would be 4 Toads captured.

Toad's next, and first playable appearance was in a remake of the Japan only Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2, for the U.S. The game was later released in Japan as Super Mario USA. In the game, Toad was the strongest of the 4 playable characters, and also was able to pluck plants and dig faster than any character. Oddly Toad's mushroom hat in the original version was blue however this was due to the 3 color limitations that were held by the NES. In the remakes Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario advance this was fixed to make Toad's hat red.

His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. 3, where he told Mario to find and retrieve the Magic Wands that the Koopalings have stolen, and was also a character in the mini-games.He was found in the Toad houses later where he would provide useful items for Mario on his quest.

Toad was the main protagonist in Wario's Woods where he fought Wario so that the evil antogonist did not take full control over the woods. Toad's allies in this game were Wanda (a fairy who provided bombs for Toad so that he could destroy the monsters Wario had summoned to stop him) and Birdo who gave encouragement for Toad. Sometimes Wario would come (by shoving Birdo out of the way and replacing Wanda with a bird) and would attack Toad with more monsters. Eventually Toad fought Wario by himself and defeated the greedy villain from taking over the woods.

Toad later appears in Mario RPG as a major NPC character in the beginning where he tags along with Mario as they return to the Mushroom kingdom however during the trip Toad gets kidnapped a few times however Mario saves him each time. Toad is later seen hiding in Princess Peach's bedroom due to fright during the invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom. Later Toad appears in several areas selling Mario items for his quest.

In Super Mario 64, Toad is the first toad in the caste that Mario meets and from there he points Mario to the first room where a bob-omb painting awaits to start Mario's adventure. Toad keeps this same role in the remake Super Mario 64 DS however he is seen with more personality.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Toad is playable for a short time when he is exploring Mario's house to find the hero and inform him of Peach's problem at the castle. Toad makes a brief appearence in Super Paper Mario where he rushes to the Mario bros's house to tell them of the kidnapping of Princess Peach thus starting another adventure.

In games such as Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy and the Mario baseball series it is unclear whether the red toad is infact Toad due to the fact it could be another generic toad with red spots and as well the toad is wearing a red vest instead of blue like Toad's. However it could be possible it is Toad as the red toad shares many similar personality traits as him. However Toad does officially appear in the the intro of Super Mario Galaxy where he is watching the sky alongside Toadette. Toad also has official artwork provided for this game.

Toad also appears in various Mario spinnoff games such as Mario Kart where he is playable in every game up to date as a light weight character. Toad's standard kart color has always been blue in this series and a mushroom appears as his symbol (though his own head was his symbol in Mario Kart Wii). Toad is playable in the various sports titles such as Mario Tennis as well though he appears absent in some games in the series unlike Mario Kart. Toad appears as a host starting from the first Mario party to the fourth and by the 5th game and on he is available as a default character (with the exception being Mario party Advance).

Toad makes cameo appearences in the Super Smash bros series as a special move used by Princess Peach in melee and brawl and as a trophy for both as well. It was rumoured that he was playable in melee however this was proven false later and another rumour was also spread that he was playable in brawl, unfortunately it was proven false like the melee one. Toad appears as a referee in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for several events alongside Cream the rabbit. He is shown to make an appearence in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.