Toad (Nintendo character)

Toad (known as Kinopio in Japanese releases) is a humanoid mushroom in games of the Super Mario Bros. series by Nintendo. Like many characters in Nintendo games related to Mario, Toad is both a unique character called "Toad" and a specimen of an entire, homonymous race. For instance, in Paper Mario, there is an entire race of Toads who live in Toad Town. Toads, the general collective name of the "mushroom people" found in the Mushroom Kingdom, are a sapient, anthropomorphic mushroom race, with a peaceful, human-following monarchistic culture.

He and others like him made their debut in Super Mario Bros. (called merely "Mushroom Retainer") but didn't have a name until Super Mario Bros 2. It is believed that his name originated from the word "toadstool," another name for a mushroom. Toad is a loyal mushroom retainer, a servant and companion to Princess Peach Toadstool. He is also a good friend of Mario and Luigi.

Apart from SMB2 and the Mario Kart series, where he is a light, high acceleration driver, Toad is seldom a playable character or protagonist - more often officiating, such as in the Mario Party series, or helping other characters (i.e. Mario) out.

Toad was however the hero of Wario's Woods where he had to line up then blow up strange creatures in a Nintendo puzzle game. His partners were Cathrine (a Birdo referred to by the character's Japanese name) and Wanda but his connection to them is unknown.

Toad is a playable character in multiple games, including Super Mario Bros. 2, Wario's Woods, Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Party 5, and Mario Party 6.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Toad makes two cameo appearances. He is both a trophy and a living shield held out as part of Princess Peach's B button attack. As a shield, Toad reflects damage back to the attacker.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Toadette, the female counterpart of Toad, was introduced.

Many Mario fangames use Toad in some capacity, either as the main character or a supporting character. One example of this is Bowser Technology's Toad Strikes Back.

Toad in Other Media

As with the games, Toad played a major supporting character in other forms of media starring Mario, starting with the animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, in 1989. On the show, Toad usually tagged along with the Mario Bros. and Princess Peach Toadstool wherever they went. Although he usually tagged along with Mario and Luigi in cases where King Bowser Koopa had kidnapped Princess Toadstool, he sometimes got captured as well. An interesting quirk about the cartoon version of Toad was his voice, provided by John Stocker. Although the cartoon established Mario and Luigi to be from Brooklyn (a fact commonly accepted by fans, despite having never been mentioned in any games), Toad seemed to speak with thicker Brooklyn dialect. He also had a habit of making a sqeaking noise whenever he jumped, and his hat was revealed to indeed be a hat, as he occasionally took it off to reveal three strands of hair on his head.

Another quirk came in the form of his design, based slightly off of his sprites from the first game (red vest and white hat with red spots, but with light blue pants and purple shoes in the cartoon). However, the first three episodes of the show featured Toad in a somewhat reversed color scheme (red hat with white spots, white vest, red pants, and white shoes). DiC Entertainment, the company which produced the show, has never given an official explanation for this apparent mistake, although it's quite possible that the first three episodes were animated before the introduction segments (which had Toad in his regular color scheme). However, a later episode, "The Fire of Hercufleas" (an obvious riff of Hercules), featured Toad with this alternate color scheme, this time explaining that it was how he looked when using a Fire Flower.

Toad remained a regular on the show when it spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. As with the previous series, he accompanied the Mario Bros. on their adventures. This time, though, he usually stayed behind with Peach. Ironically, despite having always come along for previous adventures, in the last episode for this series, "Super Koopa", he complains about always having to stay behind. Just as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show had done, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 had Toad (and Princess Toadstool) using the Marios' Power-Ups, mainly the Raccoon Suit and Frog Suit. Despite being such a regular character, Toad did not appear in the Super Mario World cartoon (as he was not in the game itself); his character was filled in by Oogtar the Caveboy, who, incidentally, had the same voice actor.

Toad also regularly appeared in the Super Mario Bros. comic books published by Valiant. The comic Toad, who was featured the same way in other Mario print media published in the early 1990s was seemingly based more towards his game counterpart, as he did not have the Brooklyn accent of his cartoon counterpart, and he had the color scheme depicted in official Nintendo artwork. In these comics, Toad often followed Mario on some of his adventures, seemingly replacing Luigi as the hero's sidekick. He was also a regular companion for King Toadstool (Peach's father, created just for the comic), and even indulged in some of the King's activities. Incidentally, in one of these stories, "Cloud Burst", Toad alerts everyone that Bowser has set up an army in World 5-3, saying that he "barely escaped with [his] mold intact" - suggesting that he is, in fact, an actual fungus.

The Super Mario Adventures manga comic printed by Nintendo Power during 1992 featured several Mushroom Retainers who looked as Toad did elsewhere, but Toad himself spent most of the story wearing an army outfit, as he was among Peach's troops (whom she signalled by whistling). When Bowser sends some Lakitus to capture Peach, Toad escapes to alert Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi and tell them that the Koopalings are holding her captive. After a complicated incident involving Mario being captured by the Koopalings following Peach escaping by way of a cape (ala Super Mario World), Toad disguises himself and Yoshi as pizza delivery boys in order for Peach to infiltrate the Koopalings' tower (with bombs provided by Friendly Floyd) and help Luigi rescue Mario. After they all escape, Toad offers to use the aforementioned cape to fly back to the Mushroom Kingdom and send for a rescue party, but he ends up being lured into a spaceship commandeered ny Bowser, who then captures Peach. Afterwards, Toad, strangely, is not mentioned again in the story.

Played by Mojo Nixon, Toad appeared as a street musician in the Super Mario Bros. movie. In the film, Toad is arrested for singing a song that badmouths Bowser, who punishes him by having him turned into a Goomba. Despite his transformation, the Goomba-fied Toad (portrayed by John Fifer), still manages to serve as a good guy by helping Princess Daisy escape and distracting the other Goombas by playing his harmonica. After Bowser's defeat, though, it is not shown if he ever returns to normal.

External links

• Mario series character guide (http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/mario_characters.txt)de:Figuren und Charaktere aus Super Mario

ja:キノピオ