Tumble

Tumble is a living die who was featured as a host of Mario Party 3 and Mario Party Advance.

Appearance

Tumble resembles a single blue die with a head attached to the bottom. His head generally resembles that of a Toad, with the die taking the place of the mushroom cape. He also has seemingly disembodied hands and feet that he wears gloves and shoes over. Tumble possesses the ability to float in the air and is most commonly seen in midair.

Background

Tumble was first seen in the introduction of Mario Party 3 as a large but lifeless blue die that was found in the toy box that Lakitu provided. After the characters were transported into the toy box, Tumble came to life. He was given life by the true Millennium Star, which hid itself within Tumble's die. Within the game, Tumble acted as a host alongside the fake Millennium Star. He ran the game's tutorials and the set-up for different modes, provided explanations for each minigame and would inform the player(s) about the location of the latest Star. At the end of the game's Story Mode, the fake Millennium Star confessed his own fraudulent nature and fled. At this point, Tumble's head opened up, and the real Millennium Star revealed itself. The game's ending screen also showed a normal blue die being placed by a Mario Party board game, but with a magical sound effect.

He reappeared in Mario Party Advance as the host of most of the game's modes. This included acting as the guide of Shroom City and running minigames. During the game's ending credits, it is simply said that he continued his work as the "beloved Shroom guide".

Trivia

• His name is simply a reference to the word "tumble" being associated with the rolling of dice.
• Tumble is the only host character created for the Mario Party series to be featured in more than one game. He is also notable within the series as being its first original host character and the first host character who was not Toad.
• A profile for Tumble is included in Mario Party: The Top 100, along with profiles for the numbered installments' other host characters.