Toad (character)

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

Toad (キノピオ, Kinopio) is a humanoid mushroom like character who usually serves as a major ally for Mario and Luigi. As an individual character, Toad made his debut in Super Mario Bros. as one of the several Mushroom Retainers (Toads who protect Peach the most), then Super Mario Bros. 2, where he was a playable character (the fastest and strongest one however he had the weakest jump) 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 due to his generic appearence.

NES to SNES generation
Toad was first introduced in the game Super Mario Bros. in 1985 for the NES, where his species of the Mushroom People (known as Toads in later games) were captured by King Bowser due to will to control the kingdom. Some of the mushroom people were even turned into stones, mushrooms, and blocks via the use of the magical powers that Bowser had possessed. However, while Princess Peach was first kidnapped (due to her ability to reverse the effects of the magic that Bowser had accomplished), some of her loyal Toad servants (the Mushroom Retainers) were also kidnapped alongside her. In each world throughout the game, one of these mushroom retainers would be waiting for Mario (or Luigi) when the hero beat Bowser, and would tell the plumber that Peach is in another castle. Toad himself was also one of these mushroom retainers though he appeared virtually the same as the other Mushroom Retainers, saying the same infamous line "Thank you Mario, but our princess is in another castle" once he is rescued. Despite being no different in comparison to the other Retainers, Toad is stated in later games such as in Super Mario Bros. 2 to be the highest ranked of the Mushroom Retainers. In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, more mushroom retainers were available to save (as there are more levels in the game). In the remake of Super Mario Bros. in Super Mario All-Stars, the amount of Toads at the end of each castle depended on which world Mario (or Luigi) was in. For example, if the hero was in world 4, there would be 4 Toads captured. Though like the original game, Toad appears as a generic mushroom retainer in these remakes as well.

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 known as Super Mario USA. In this game, Toad was the strongest of the 4 playable characters, and also was able to pluck plants and dig faster than any character. However, Toad had the weakest jump of the 4 characters. 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 as his hat appears red. In Super Mario Advance, Toad's super/charged jump also included a back flip as well, thus giving a fix for his poor jumps (however, all characters also received this ability).

His next appearance was in Super Mario Bros. 3, where he told Mario (via a letter) to find and retrieve the Magic Wands that the Koopalings have stolen from the kings. He was also a character in the mini-games. He was later found in the special area called Toad's Houses where he would provide useful items for Mario (or Luigi) to take on his quest. In some Toad's Houses, Toad would provide a card flipping game which allowed the hero to win more lives.

Toad was the main protagonist in Wario's Woods where he fought Wario so that the evil antagonist did not take full control over the woods as well as the Mushroom Kingdom. 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. Toad also had to fight several mini bosses before facing Wario. Eventually Toad fought Wario by himself and defeated the greedy villain from taking over the woods. With Toad's efforts, the woods that Wario had taken over had returned to normal and all the creatures turned peaceful once awakening from the nightmare that Wario had placed on them.

Toad makes another reappearance in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 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, fortunately 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.

Nintendo 64 generation
Super Mario 64 marked the first game for the Nintendo 64 that Toad made an appearance in (as well as first 3D appearance). Despite this, his role is relatively small in this game in comparison to his roles in the previous games in the series. In the game, Toad is the first toad in the castle 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 for the Nintendo DS, however he is seen with more personality. This can be seen when the player interacts with him as he will make a remark about the character that the player is using such as mistaking Luigi for Mario or thinking that Wario is only on the adventure just for the coins. He also retrieves back the players cap if they lost it in one world (though this only happens if the player gets a power star from another world).

His next few appearances were mainly in the Mario Spin-off titles that appeared on this console such as the Mario Party, Mario Kart and Mario Tennis games.

Gamecube and Game Boy Advance generation
One of the lauch titles for the newest consoles at that time was Luigi's Mansion, a game that Toad plays a key supporting role in. He was stated to have been sent to the haunted mansion in search for Mario by Princess Peach however after looking around for a while, he soon found himself lost. Luigi eventually finds the toad and encourages to him to not give up. Happily, Toad decides to assist Luigi by saving his game’s progress throughout the game.

Toad’s next appearance was in the game Super Mario Sunshine where he was one of the five young toad attendants who accompanied the princess, Mario and Toadsworth on their vacation to the tropical paradise of Isle Delfino. Toad appears in this game (and in some later game titles) with a red vest and is confirmed to being Toad himself by the game’s instruction manual. However, upon getting there the group soon discovers the island as a mess thanks to a mysterious person resembling Mario. Shadow Mario is soon introduced and he eventually kidnaps the princess causing the toads to become rather upset. Throughout the game, Toad can be seen rather distressed (much like all the other toads) however he does give several tips to Mario to help him on his adventure. After she is saved, Toad makes an appearance in the ending where he is holding up a fixed FLUDD (Mario’s water pump) that he and the other toads had repaired during their time on Isle Delfino. Toad is also shown in the ending credits where he is seen enjoying the island alongside Mario, Peach, Toadsworth and the other toads. Toad also made several appearances within the Game Boy Advance handheld console as well. His appearances started in the Super Mario Advance game where he was a playable character in the remake of Super Mario Bros. 2. In Super Mario Advance 4, he appears in the remake of Super Mario Bros. 3 where he once again runs the Toad’s Houses to support Mario.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Toad is playable for a short time in the intro when he is exploring Mario's house to find the hero and inform him of Peach's problem at the castle. He soon finds Mario, though in the shower causing the toad to run out completely embarrassed. Toad then collides into Mario’s wardrobe causing him to fall unconscious. Mario soon discovers the toad and gathers the details of what he had wanted to tell the plumber. Toad is later seen bidding the Mario Bros. and Bowser as they head off to the Bean Kingdom via Bowser’s airship.

Toad makes an appearance in Mario Pinball Land where he runs the special area called Toad’s tent. Very much like the Toad’s House from Super Mario Bros. 3, this area allows Mario to get items to help him on his quest to rescue Peach.

Wii and DS generation
Toad makes a reappearance on the Nintendo Wii console in Super Mario Galaxy, where (according to bios and several references to his character throughout the game) he is the captain of the Toad Brigade. He is first met in the HoneyHive Galaxy where he reveals that he and his brigade had escaped Peach’s castle alongside Luigi during the events in the beginning of the game. However, they were soon separated from Luigi and eventually located themselves on this galaxy. Throughout the game, Toad and his brigade attempt to assist Mario by following him throughout the different galaxies. Toad even uses his own spaceship, the Starshroom (which was built by the lumas). In the sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2, Toad and the Toad Brigade play a very similar role though they assist Mario in a variety of new ways (such as the green toad who now saves Mario’s starbits). They use their Starshroom to follow the Starship Mario as it explores the different galaxies.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii has two Toads (Yellow and Blue) that are playable however it is the Blue Toad who resembles much like Toad himself. This is due to the fact that they both have extremely similar or the same voices and are both represented by the blue color in the games. Toad's original blue colored sprite from Super Mario Bros. 2 also strongly resembles the Blue Toad's appearence. It should also be noted that Toad was one of the four characters (the other three being Princess Peach, Wario and Waluigi) that Shigeru Miyamoto (the creator of the game as well as the Mario series as a whole) had in mind for being one of the playable characters for the third and fourth players. Toad was ultimately chosen however he was recolored to being blue and yellow (thus making two toads playable). It is possible that this recoloration was due to the fact that Toad shared much of the coloration that Mario and his power-up forms such as Fire Mario had (the red, white and blue color pattern were in common). Thus, Blue Toad (due to his similarities as stated above) possibly may have replaced (or been a slightly changed Toad with a recolored cap) Toad due to this.

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. He is also one of the 256 catch cards in this game.

With the newest handheld console the Nintendo DS, Toad makes several appearances in comparison to the Wii. The first being Super Mario 64 DS where he plays the same role as in Super Mario 64, though he is seen with more personality. He is first seen in the main hall of the castle where he provides back story to Yoshi, the only hero who did not get captured by Bowser. He also provides help by getting back the hero’s cap if he lost it in one world (as stated above). He is also featured in some of the mini-games in the game.

Toad appears in Super Princess Peach where he himself is kidnapped alongside with Mario and Luigi by Bowser’s minions in the beginning of the game. He and the Mario Bros. are soon placed in Bowser’s dungeon though he and the bros. are eventually rescued by Peach. He makes a bigger appearance by being playable in the mini games such as “Toad Jump” and “Toad Tote”.

In the sequel to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Toad plays a small role by being in the Mushroom castle of the present. He distinguishes himself by remaining in the main hall of the casle along with Professor E. Gadd. He can seen panicking at times though he sometimes provides tips for the Mario bros.. He accompanies Professor E. Gadd as he attempts to make inventions to assist the heroes on their adventure. Toad also helps the princess to evacuate the castle in the ending of the game when Bowser had swallowed the shroob mushroom (causing him to change into a stronger form). Toad is also seen in the ending, bidding the past versions of the heroes as they return back to the Mushroom Kingdom of the past via the professor’s time machine.

In the next installment Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Toad is distinguished by his red vest (being the only toad who wears one) and is one of the toads that Bowser swallowed in the beginning of the game. He is seen in Toad Square (a secret location inside Bowser’s body) where he provides juice for Mario and Luigi (for a mere price of 10 coins). If they drink the juice, their HP and SP will become fully healed. In the ending of the game, Toad finally gets released from Bowser’s body though he flees when Bowser awakes and begins to attack the Mario bros. with fire.

Spin-off Games
Toad also appears in the various Mario spin-off games such as in the Mario Kart series where he is playable in every game up to date as a light weight character with good acceleration. 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). Toadette is also introduced in Mario Kart Double Dash as Toad's partner for the game. In the Mario Kart games, Toad is also shown with his own special items as times as seen in Super Mario Kart where he had Poison Mushrooms that can shrink other players and in double dash where he and Toadette had the Super Mushroom (later renamed as the Golden Mushroom) which could do consecutive speed boosts. 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). In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Toad appears as a sidekick to either Mario or Luigi and he helps them to save the musical keys from Bowser. He also makes an appearance in the Mario Baseball series as a balanced team player. He will also be appearing as a playable character in the upcoming Wii game, Mario Sports Mix.

Toad also makes several appearances in cross-over games such as the Mario Excite Bike game where he is a playable character. He is also featured in all of the installments of the Game & Watch Gallery series games. Toad makes cameo appearences in the Super Smash Bros. series as a special move used by Princess Peach in Super Smash Bros. Melee as well as the sequel Super Smash Bros. 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, however 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. Toad is even one of the eleven Mario series characters who are playable in the Japanese only game, Itadaki Street DS.

Other Media
Toad also makes an appearance in the Mario cartoons, often as one of the main characters. He first appears in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show where he was Princess Peach’s loyal Mushroom Retainer who accompanied her and the Mario Bros. on their adventure to stop King Koopa. Often the Princess was kidnapped, causing the pair of plumbers and Toad to go save her. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad plays a rather similar role where he was one of the heroes who had to stop Bowser and the Koopalings from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. Throughout the show, he gained several different forms (via power-ups) such as Fire Toad (known as “Super Toad” then), the Toad Warrior (with a starman) and even Baby Toad. Toad even used some of the power-ups from Super Mario Bros. 3 such as the Tanooki and Frog suit. In the Super Mario World series of cartoons, Toad was seemingly replaced by Yoshi and Ootar the caveboy due to the fact that he did not appear in the actual game.

Toad also made an appearance in the Mario comics. One example was in Super Mario Adventures where he helped the bros. and Yoshi to save Princess Peach.

List of appearances

 * Super Mario Bros. (NES)
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (NES)&nbsp
 * Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES
 * Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
 * Wario's Woods (NES + SNES)
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
 * Super Mario Kart (SNES)
 * Super Mario 64 (N64)
 * Mario Kart 64 (N64)
 * Mario Golf (N64)
 * Mario Tennis (N64)
 * Paper Mario (N64)
 * Mario Party (N64)
 * Mario Party 2 (N64)
 * Mario Party 3 (N64)
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (DS)
 * Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)
 * Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
 * Mario Party 4 (GCN)
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)
 * Mario Party 5 (GCN)
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
 * Mario Power Tennis (GCN)
 * Mario Party 6 (GCN)
 * Mario Party 7 (GCN)
 * Mario Party Advance (GBA)
 * Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN)
 * Mario Kart DS (DS)
 * New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)
 * Super Mario 64 DS (DS)
 * Super Princess Peach (DS)
 * Super Paper Mario (Wii)
 * Mario Party 8 (Wii)
 * Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
 * Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
 * Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
 * Mario Super Sluggers (Wii)
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
 * Mario Sports Mix (Wii)