- "Hey! Im The Fantastic Fungus!"
- —Toad In Super Mario Bros Super Show
Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio, is a humanoid mushroom that is both a single character and the collective name of the "Mushroom People" found in the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toad species first appeared in Super Mario Bros. as seven guards that serve Princess Peach, called Mushroom Retainers. In games prior to Paper Mario, which features an entire race of Toad inhabiting Toad Town, the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, manuals referred to them as Mushroom People, but they were always referred to as Kinopio in Japanese languages.
History
Toad first appears as a singular character in Super Mario Bros. 2 as one of the four playable characters. In the game, he and his three friends, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, had to help the people of the land of Subcon by defeating the villanous frog, Wart from taking over. He is stated to be the chief guard of the Mushroom Retainers (Toad who were kidnapped in the events of the previous game, Super Mario Bros.). In Super Mario Bros. 3, he begins the story by writing a letter to Princess Peach warning her about Bowser and the Koopalings who were taking over the Mushroom Kingdom and asks her to send help. He also appears in the game helping Mario and Luigi by running the Toad's Houses (areas that provided power-ups or extra lives for the Mario Bros.). The character then goes on to star in Wario's Woods where he prevents Wario from taking over the Mushroom Kingdom with his monsters. Thanks to his courage and with the help of Birdo and the fairy named Wanda, Toad manages to defeat Wario in the end and chases him out of the Woods (thus reversing the antagonist's control over the woods and monsters). Toad later appears in many of the Mario spin-off games such as the the Mario Kart and Mario Party series (where he is often featured as a playable character) and various other sports games.
He appears in the various Mario 3D series games such as Super Mario 64 where he was the first Toad that Mario met in Peach's castle and he explains much of the back story of what had happened to Mario. In Super Mario Sunshine, Toad (as he was named in the instruction booklet) accompanied the princess, Mario and Toadsworth with four other Toads to Isle Delfino as one of her attendants. In the Super Mario Galaxy games, he is the captain of the Toad Brigade (naming himself as so by having a head lamp). Much of his original personality is retained here (once again being impatient and cowardly yet loyal) and he assists Mario on his adventure throughout the galaxies in this game as well as it's sequel.
Toad also makes a brief appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, in which he can be seen running back and forth frantically in the first stage of adventure mode. He is also a collectible trophy. He is also one of Princess Peach's attacks in which she throws Toad in front of herself to take the blow of a foe's attack; this attack of Peach's will be reused in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There, he will also appear as a sticker. In other games, he acts as an instructor, such as in the earlier Mario Party games, and helps guide characters in other games. As with the games, Toad plays a major supporting character in other forms of media starring Mario. He usually tags along with Mario in the various cartoons and comics as a sidekick.
Toad's voice is first heard in the SNES version of Wario's Woods where he had a rather unusually low voice. Toad's voice is later heard in Mario Kart 64 (only American and PAL version), which features actor Isaac Marshall. By the advent of the GameCube, Jen Taylor has continued to provide the voice of Toad until 2005, when Kelsey Hutchison took over for games such as Super Mario Strikers. Recently, Nicole Mills voiced him in Mario Party 8. Samantha Kelly has recently been taking over the role of his voice as heard in Mario Kart Wii and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
In the Super Mario Bros. live-action film, Toad (portrayed by Mojo Nixon) was re-imagined as a street musician and one of the poor inhabitants of Dinohattan, all of whom were descended from dinosaurs; unhappy with King Koopa's rule, Toad was placed under arrest by King Koopa's police force for singing "anti-Koopa songs" and placed in custody, where he befriends Mario and Luigi. Toad is later forcibly devolved into a Goomba, but apparently retains his humanity, as evidenced by his kindness towards Princess Daisy and the fact that he aids Mario and Luigi, giving them the devolution gun that is ultimately used to end the threat of King Koopa.
He is well known for the quote "Thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle", from Super Mario Bros..
Abilities
Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first game to have Toad as a playable character and in the game, he played very similar to the other characters by jumping on the enemies in the game and picking up various objects to aid him. However out of the four characters, Toad was the strongest character and as well as the fastest character in terms of running and vegetable uprooting speed. Wario's Woods marked the return of Toad's superhuman strength and the game also gave him the ability to run up walls. His speed from Super Mario Bros. 2 also seems to be implemented in the Mario Kart games as he is often a rather speedy racer. In Mario Party 3, Toad had used a hammer though this has yet to be seen in future games.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii gave Toad balanced stats, thus allowing him to play similarly to the Mario Bros.. He also was given abilities such as the ground pound, spin jump, and the wall kick. He is also able to use his superhuman strength to carry objects and characters much larger than himself with no ease. He is also capable of using the power-ups in this game, thus giving him forms such as Fire Toad (allows him to shoot fireballs), Propeller Toad (allows him to propel into the sky for flight purposes) and more.
Other Toads
Like Yoshi, Toad has also appeared with an alternate coloration for different games throughout the Mario series timeline. This section will list the more notable alternately colored versions of Toad (for more information about the species of Mushroom People, see Toad (species)).
Blue Toad
Blue Toad on a Red Yoshi in New Super Mario Bros. Wii
He is one of the four playable characters that appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii alongside Yellow Toad, Mario, and Luigi. Blue Toad bears the same abilities as the Mario Bros. and Yellow Toad, and items affect him in the same way.
Yellow Toad
Yellow Toad in NSMB Wii
He is one of the four playable characters that appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii alongside Blue Toad, Mario, and Luigi. Yellow Toad bears the same abilities as the Mario Bros. and Blue Toad, and items affect him in the same way.
Red Toad
Red Toad in Mario Super Sluggers
The Red Toads are the most common type of Toads. They're in two types: the Red Toads with a blue vest (Toad is the most important) and Red Toads with red vest. Red Toads with red vest's first appearance is in Super Mario Sunshine. A Red Toad reappears in Super Mario Galaxy as a leader of the Toad Brigade. In Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, Red Toad is playable, along with Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, Purple Toad and Green Toad.
Green Toad
Green Toads are a species of Toads appearing in a few of the recent games.
Purple Toad
The Purple Toads are a species of Toads appearing in a few of the recent games.
