Toad

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Toad.jpg
Toad as seen in New Super Mario Bros.
Toad
Species Toad
Affiliation Mushroom Kingdom
Voiced by Isaac Marshall (1996)
Jen Taylor (1999-2005)
Kelsey Hutchinson (2005)
Samantha Kelly (2007-Present)
Debut Super Mario Bros. 2
This article is about the character named Toad. For the race, see Toad (species).

Toad is a mushroom retainer who serves Princess Peach in the Mario series. He is a member of the species of peaceful mushroom people who go by the name of Toads. He has had several playable appearances and most commonly plays a supporting role in helping Mario, Luigi, and the Princess in their adventures. Although he has had an increasingly minor role in the main series over the years due to his resemblance of a generic Toad and the surge of other Toad characters, he has remained active in the sports and other spin-off games.

Name Confusion

Initially within the Mario games, the race of mushroom-capped people were simply referred to as mushroom people or mushroom retainers. Toad was the first of them to receive a name. He made his first appearance as a character in Super Mario Bros. 2, although he was commonly believed to have been one of the seven unnamed mushroom retainers from the original Super Mario Bros.. Toad did resemble the generic image of a mushroom person, but his individual name and status as a character made it possible to distinguish him for years. This changed in Paper Mario, which changed the English name of the Mushroom people to Toads. The Japanese version has made this harder to distinguish, as the race and character were all known by the name of "Kinopio" from the beginning.

Since then, it has been increasingly hard to distinguish Toad the character from the generic Toads. There have also been some instances in which different Toads fulfilled his role, such as Toadsworth in some games from from Super Mario Sunshine onwards, a pair of Toads (one yellow and the other blue) who appeared as playable characters in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U and Captain Toad, a red Toad who was introduced in Super Mario Galaxy and ultimately received his own spin-off in the form of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Despite those factors, Toad has still consistently been featured in the various Sports games and other spin-off games.

Background

Pre-Paper Mario

Artwork of Toad from Super Mario Bros. 2.

Toad's initial role was a playable character in Super Mario Bros. 2, where his jumping was not quite as good as Mario's, but he had the highest strength of the four characters and was also the fastest. The story had Toad stumbling into the mythical land of Subcon through a mysterious cave while on a picnic with Mario, Luigi and Peach. There they faced and defeated the evil King Wart and his army to save the land of Subcon and its people. The ending showed their adventure to have been a dream exprienced by Mario, which means that the Toad in this game might have just been a projection of Mario's dream, unless all four characters were exploring Subcon at the same time through their dreams. In his next appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad was not a playable character, but he ran the special area called Toad's House which allowed him to give the Mario bros. special items and extra lives via small mini-games when one of the brothers entered into one of Toad's houses.

He received a starring role in Wario's Woods, where he saved the Dark Woods from Wario. Toad also appeared in a non-playable role in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, where he provided Mario with advice about the gameplay basics early in the game. He also provided Mario with items while traveling with him along Mushroom Way, although he had to be saved from various enemies along the way. During the last portion of the game, he traversed through Smithy's Factory to sell a variety of items to Mario and his friends. In Super Mario 64 (and it's remake), he and the other toads provided Mario (and his friends) with information on the situation and general advice while they were all trapped in the walls of the castle by Bowser. Toad himself was believed to be the first Toad found in the castle (as mentioned in the instruction manual for Super Mario 64 DS). This was Toad's last appearance as a character in a main game before the renaming of the mushroom series.

Post-Paper Mario

He made his debut on the Nintendo Gamecube in Luigi's Mansion. In that game, he was first seen crying in the first floor of the mansion and did not stop until Luigi arrived to comfort him. Toad later stated that Princess Peach had sent him to the castle to check on Mario, who did not return to the castle after leaving to see Luigi's new mansion. As an attempt to assist Luigi in finding Mario, he helped Luigi by giving him advice and saving the game for the player. Toad sometimes found items that could help Luigi through his adventure (such as keys) as well. The instruction manual of Super Mario Sunshine describes the red-capped toad as being Toad (despite his vest being red instead of blue), and he was simply described as being 'Peach's Attendant' in this game. Nonetheless, Toad played a small role in this game by simply worrying about Princess Peach after she was kidnapped. Soon afterwards, Toadette was introduced as his 'partner' character throughout the spin-off titles.

Toad plaed a brief role in the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where he was briefly playable as he entered Mario's house to find him. In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Toad discovered that someone had broken into Truffle Towers and stolen the Music Keys, and he recruited Mario to help get them back. Despite the danger, Toad faithfully stayed by Mario's side and ferried him around the kingdom in the SS Brass. In Mario Pinball Land, Toad ran the shop 'Toad's Tent', where Mario could buy items after rolling into it. Toad was also captured by Bowser's forces in Super Princess Peach and was ultimately rescued by the princess, in addition to being playable in two of the game's minigames. In Super Paper Mario, a Toad who seemed to be Toad appeared in the intro, where he told the Mario Bros. of the latest attack on the Mushroom Kingdom. While he did not appear outside of the scene, he did have a Catch Card.

Toad did appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but only to see off Mario (as well as possibly Luigi and the other two Toads) as they set off to rescue the princess. Toad remained at the castle and offered helpful videos in exchange for Star Coins. Toad also had a widespread appearance throughout Super Mario 3D Land, where he was part of the trio of Toads appearing throughout the game. Toad ran Toad Houses as in Super Mario Bros. 3 (although the blue Toad also had his own) and appeared in several levels where he would throw Star Coins or a power-up if Mario or Luigi spotted him with binoculars. He was also held captive in the first castle until Bowser's decoy was defeated. Toad also operated the cannon which fired Mario to Bowser's airships. With the other Toads, he also cheered Mario on before the big fight against Bowser, and in the ending they all donned Tanooki Suits to help Mario escort the princess home.

He was featured as one of the four playable characters in Super Mario 3D World in reference to Super Mario Bros. 2, although his cap had blue spots in this appearance (in homage to the blue spots on Toad's sprite from Super Mario Bros. 2). In this game, he teamed up with Mario, Luigi and Peach to save the Sprixie Kingdom from Bowser. Toad also appeared in Paper Mario: Color Splash, where he accompanied Princess Peach and Mario on their adventure in Prism Island and spent most of the game staying at the inn in Post Prisma's yellow district. In Super Mario Run, Toad could be unlocked as a playable character as a redeemable reward for linking one's game with a My Nintendo account, and he was also temporarily playable in several individual stages of Remix 10. Toad could also appear as the referee of Toad Rally when playing as Toadette.

Sports

Toad as seen in Mario Kart DS.

Toad is playable in a variety of sports games. There are still some uncertain cases among these games, such as in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, where generic Toads are playable as sidekick characters.

Within the Mario Party subseries, Toad initially appeared as the host in Mario Party, Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 4. He (or another toad) also ran shops in various games such as in Mario Party 3. Starting in Mario Party 5, Toad was incorporated as a playable character. Toad was later playable in Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, Mario Party 8, Mario Party 9, Mario Party DS, Mario Party: Island Tour, Mario Party 10 and Mario Party: Star Rush. He has also reprised his role as a non-playable host in Mario Party Advance, Mario Party: The Top 100 and Super Mario Party.

Abilities

In Super Mario Bros. 2 (his first playable appearance), Toad has the ability to pick up opponents and large items over his head and carry them with ease. He could also throw these opponents at any time (even in midair). Statistically, Toad is the strongest of the four characters as well as the fastest. This made him a valuable character in the desert levels as he was able to dig through the sand dunes very easily and quickly. However, Toad has the worst jumps out of the playable characters which could cause him some difficulty. He still had asuper jump move which enabled to him to surpass his low jumps as he would be able to jump higher when the move was activated by crouching down. He has similar statistics in Super Mario 3D World. In Super Mario Run, he remains exceptionally fast, but he now has no problems with jumping.

In Wario's Woods, Toad's superhuman strength returns as he is able to carry large stacks of Wario's minions and bombs over his head with ease. He also has the unique ability to run up walls in this game. In the Wii game Mario Sports Mix, Toad's nimbleness returns as he is classified as a speed type character. His special ability in this game involves him emitting spores unto the stage, causing large mushrooms to sprout from the ground of the stage. Upon jumping into midair, Toad would stay aloft in the air as he uses mental powers to make the gargantuan mushrooms move around the stage. If these mushrooms came in contact with Toad's opponents, they would become stunned and be unable move. Toad would then finish the other players by throwing a ball of fungi material at his knocked out foes.

Other Appearances

Video Games

  • In F-1 Race, Toad made a cameo appearance to cheer for the player at the beginning of Course 2 and also congratulated the player at the end of the game.
  • He was featured as the host of a game called Satella-Q for the Satellaview.
  • Toad is featured as one of the moves performed by Peach in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. When she pulls him out, he will reflect attacks back and protect Peach from danger. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this was modified so that Toad instead appeared by Peach's side and could perform multiple attacks. Another Toad appears in the background of the first Adventure stage in Melee at the end of the level.
    • There is also a Toad trophy in Melee, Brawl and the 3DS/Wii U games. The Wii U Smash also has a trophy for Toad with the Quacker from Mario Kart. Brawl also has three stickers of Toad using art from Mario Party 6 and 7, which are primarily usable by other Mario characters.
  • Toad appeared as a playable character in the board game-themed Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street.
  • In Nintendo releases of Minecraft, Toad is available as a playable skin as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Other Media

  • Toad appeared as a main character in the animated shows The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where he was the streetwise attendant of Princess Peach. He was removed when the show became Super Mario World to make room for Yoshi.
  • In the movie Super Mario Bros., Toad was a disgruntled singer who made songs about Koopa's oppression. For this, he was de-evolved into a goomba. He was played by Mojo Nixon.

Trivia

  • The name Toad is a play on "toadstool", a word used for mushrooms. This also matched Peach's original localized name, Princess Toadstool.
  • His Japanese name is 'Kinopio' (a play on "kinoko", the Japanese word for "mushroom"), which is the same for other Toads. However in some fan circles, it has become common to refer to him as Kinopio T. (a naming convention from the Paper Mario games).
  • In Super Mario Bros. 2, he was said to have recurring dreams about cobrats.


Characters in Super Mario series
Mario · Luigi · Peach · Toad · Toadette · Yoshi · Bowser · Bowser Jr. · Koopalings
Daisy · Donkey Kong · Pauline · Rosalina · Toadsworth · Waluigi · Wario
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