Toad (character)

Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio, is a fictional 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.

As a singular character, Toad is known for being the long time servant and attendant of Princess Peach. He constantly tries to protect her; however, he prominently fails almost every time during the events of her kidnapping. Despite his cowardice, Toad is notable for being one of the few characters who help the Mario Bros. through a variety of different ways throughout their adventures. Toad has even made his own fair share of heroic contributions as seen in games such as in Wario's Woods (a game that features Toad himself as the main hero) and Super Mario Bros. 2.

Biography
Toad first appears as a singular character in Super Mario Bros. 2 as one of the four playable characters. In the game's story, he and his three friends (Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach) had to help the people of the land of Subcon by defeating the villainous frog (known as Wart) from taking over their kingdom. Among the four characters, Toad was both the strongest and fastest character; however, he had the worst jumps. Toad himself 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 by helping Mario and Luigi through 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 own courage and the help of Birdo and the fairy named Wanda, Toad manages to defeat Wario in the end and chase him out of the Woods (thus reversing the antagonist's control over the woods and monsters). For the next few years, Toad appears in many of the Mario spin-off games such as the Mario Kart Series Mario Party Series (where he is often featured as a playable character) and various other sports games.

Toad 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). As a result, he was named as the Toad Brigade Captain by his fellow Toad Brigade members. Much of Toad's original personality is retained in the Galaxy games (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. In Super Mario 3D Land, Toad plays the role as Mario's sidekick as he continually assists the hero by providing him with assistance through the red Toad Houses (which Toad himself runs) and the provision of cannons for the airship levels. Toad also appears in a certain few levels where he must be spotted through the binoculars to see the help he would provide (such as tossing down star coins near to Mario or providing free power-ups/1-Up Mushrooms).

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.

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..

Super Mario Bros. series
Toad is often seen as a recurring character within the Super Mario Bros. titles. He is often seen to as a major supporting character in these games. Additionally, he is occasionally playable within the series at the times when he teams up with the Mario Bros. to stop the evil forces.

Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2 introduced Toad as a singular character, and in this game, he was a playable character; thus marking him as the very first playable toad. He, along with Mario, Luigi, and Peach, traveled the land of Subcom in hopes of defeating the evil King Wart. In this game, Toad exhibited several unique abilities as he was the fastest character in the game and was also the strongest of the four characters (being able to uproot vegetables more quickly than the other three characters). However, he has poor jumps, though his super/charged jumps (triggered by charging up) can compensate for this in most cases.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Toad began the adventure of Super Mario Bros. 3 by sending a letter to Princess Peach for help as the Koopalings were attacking and taking over the lands of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad later appears in the game as one of the major allies for the Mario Bros. by running the Toad's Houses. In these houses, the Mario Bros. can play mini-games in order to win either extra power-ups or lives.

Super Mario 64
Toad, along with Princess Peach and the rest of the Toads at her castle, was sealed behind the walls in the events of Super Mario 64 by Bowser. While he was not able to help Mario as much as he did in the past, Toad still provided the back story to Mario (upon his arrival to the castle) of what had happened to both Princess Peach's Castle and as well as Peach herself. Toad would then request for Mario to recover the Power Stars in order to save everyone. Toad soon begins Mario's adventure by telling him of the first area that he can get a Power Star.

In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, Toad plays a very similar role to his original one from Super Mario 64. However, his tone of speaking appears to change depending on what character he is speaking to (for example he praises Mario and Yoshi; however, he appears to forget who Luigi is). Toad through some means is also able to recover either Mario's, Luigi's, or Wario's caps if they lose it in a previous level. If the capless hero is able to obtain a Power Star from another level (not the one that he had lost his cap), Toad would then be seen wearing the hero's cap and would happily give it back to its owner.

Super Mario Sunshine
Toad plays the role of one of Princess Peach's attendants who accompany her and Mario on their journey to the paradise land known as Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine. He is seen with a red vest in this game; however, it is implied from sources (such as the instruction booklet) that this character is indeed Toad himself. Throughout the events of the game, Toad would mostly be seen worrying about Peach after her kidnapping. However, he does provided some useful advice for Mario such as the information of how to perform the "Box Break" move (known as the Ground Pound in other games). In the end of the game, Toad and the other Toad attendants were able to fix F.L.U.D.D. after Mario's final battle with Bowser and Bowser Jr.. During the staff roll, Toad is seen enjoying himself in the finally recovered paradise of Isle Delfino.

Super Mario Galaxy
Toad plays a crucial role in Super Mario Galaxy by being the captain of the Toad organization named as the Toad Brigade (as confirmed by official biographies for the game). In recognition of his status, Toad is referred to as Captain or the Toad Brigade Captain for most of the game. Toad is recognizable by the headlamp that he wears on his head at all times, and as well as his large backpack. Toad also owns a special spaceship called a Starshroom in this game. While he is determined to rescue Princess Peach, Toad is often cowardly and relies on Mario to back him up on various Galaxies. While he is not seen to be fighting, Toad is shown to be able to defeat Boos by shining his bright headlamp light at them. At some levels, Toad even finds some Power Stars for Mario and even points some of the other ones out to him as well. At the end of the game, Toad reveals to Mario that he and the rest of his brigade have been promoted to becoming royal guards for Peach.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Toad returns as the cowardly, yet trying leader of the Toad Brigade in Super Mario Galaxy 2. As this game has more character backgrounds revealed, Toad is shown to be rather not trusted by his brigade as they believe that he is not fit for being captain. Regardless, Toad tries his best and tries to find Power Stars to help Mario (which he does successfully to some extent for a few times). However, he does occasionally need Mario's help as Toad sometimes finds himself in trouble while trying to obtain Power Stars. Like the first game, he is overly cautious; however, it is also revealed that he is also a bit of a slacker as he often daydreams about taking vacation rests at various planets and galaxies. In the Bowser levels, it is ironically Toad himself (out of the Toad Brigade) who seems to be the most brave as he is often seen cheerful (as he usually is) and brining coins for Mario so that he could recover any lost health. In Toad is seen celebrating with the rest of protagonists as they return home to the Mushroom Kingdom with the rescued Princess Peach at the end of the game.

Super Mario 3D Land
Toad makes a reappearance in Super Mario 3D Land. In this game, he is notable for being the only Red Toad with a blue vest (all other Red Toads have red vests in the game) and can easily be noticed through this difference. He is seen operating the Red Toad Houses which is an area that Mario can go to obtain a free Power-Up from Toad. Toad also operates the cannon that gives Mario access to the airship levels where Boom Boom and Pom Pom lurk.

Toad also appears in some of the actual levels where he can be spotted through the binoculars. Whenever he is spotted he will either demonstrate to Mario fo how to use a new Power-Up, uncover a secret in the level, or throw a helpful item to the plumber. Mario first meets up with Toad in World 1 through Toad's Toad House; however, he will later need to rescue the Mushroom Retainer from the first False Bowser at the first castle later on. Upon being rescued, Toad will assist Mario for the remainder of his adventure.

Wario's Woods
Toad is featured as the main star in both versions (NES and SNES) of the Nintendo puzzle game Wario's Woods. In this game, he rescues the entire Mushroom Kingdom from the wrath of Wario (who is attempting to take over these lands). Throughout the adventure, Toad is helped by his two allies Birdo and Wanda. With their help, Toad uses his superhuman strength to clear his path to Wario by eliminating his minions (through the use of bombs). Throughout the game, Toad is constantly insulted and put down by Wario, the game's main antagonist. Despite this, Toad still completes his duty as the Mushroom Kingdom Hero by defeating Wario and his minions, and lifting the spell off the wooded areas that Wario began his capture of the Kingdom. Depending on the version of the game, Toad is either seen to be chasing Wario out of the woods or bombing Wario's castle at the end of the game. Regardless, it is safe to assume that Toad had successfully defeated Wario by this point in time.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Toad is portrayed as one of the Mushroom Retainers and Peach's loyal servant. He is first at Mario's Pad in the intro when he arrives to pick Princess Peach from her visit to Mario. However, he soon becomes panicked once Mario tells him that the Princess has been kidnapped.Toad later is seen accompanying Mario throughout his journey in the forest; however, Toad is frequently kidnapped and rescued several times throughout the adventure. However, in his gratitude upon his rescues, Toad gives Mario several items that would assist him in battle.Toad joins Mario when he speaks with the Chancellor and the other Mushroom Retainers (once they arrive in the Mushroom Kingdom) about Peach's kidnapping. After this point, Toad makes a few cameo appearances such as hiding under Peach's bed during Bowser's attack and being the focus of one of Mario's nightmare. Toad later makes a notable appearance by running a shop in Bowser's Keep in order to support Mario (though it is unknown how he reached here and why he did considering his fear of Bowser in the prior events of the game). Interestingly enough, Toad asks Mario to pay for these items and does not give him the items for free like he did before.

Super Paper Mario
While his species is present in all of the installments of the Paper Mario series, Toad himself did not make an appearance in the series until Super Paper Mario. In this game, Toad begins the adventure of the Mario Bros. by running up to their house and alerting them of the recent event of Princess Peach's absence because someone has kidnapped her. As the Mario Bros. make an assumption and leave towards Bowser's Castle to rescue Peach, Toad stays behind and is seen wishing both of the Mario Bros. luck on their journey. Toad makes a cameo appearance as the 256th and final Catch Card.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Toad appears again in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. He is usually seen being bullied by enemies in certain levels. Mario has a choice to either fight the enemies, pay them coins, or leave Toad be. Toad lives in the furthest east house in Decalburg where he keeps paintings of his adventures stating how "bravely" he fought off the enemies. If Mario rescues Toad five times in the levels of the first five Worlds, Toad will award him with a Hp-Up Heart. Toad can be found in Bouquet Gardens, Drybake Desert, Holey Thicket, Bowser's Snow Fort, and Jungle Rapids.

Mario Kart series
Toad has played an important role in the Mario Kart series as he has been playable in all of its installments so far (a trait also shared by Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi). He has appeared in each game of the series as a lightweight with exceptionally good acceleration stats.

Super Mario Kart
Toad appears as a lightweight character alongside Koopa Troopa in Super Mario Kart. His special move in this game is throwing Poison Mushrooms that can temporarily shrink the other characters. This special move is also shared with Princess Peach. His kart is featured in a characteristic blue color in resemblance to his vest (his karts continue to be presented in a blue color in future Mario Kart titles).

Mario Kart 64
Toad reappears in the Mario Kart 64 as the only returning lightweight character (as Koopa Troopa has been replaced by Wario). However, he shares his weight class now with both Peach and Yoshi (Both of whom were once middleweights in the previous installment). Toad receives his own course in this game entitled as Toad's Turnpike.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Toad appears in Mario Kart: Super Circuit once again as a lightweight driver. While he appears identical to his statistics in the previous game, Toad retains his original Japanese voice portrayal in this game in all versions of the game.

Mario Kart Double Dash!!
Toad reappears as a lightweight driver in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and is given his own partner known as Toadette. The two Toads are featured as unlockable characters in this game after completing the Special Cup on 100cc, and their special item is the Golden Mushroom. The Golden Mushroom allows the duo to pull consecutive speed boosts until the power of the mushroom runs out. Toad's own kart in this game is named as the "Toad Kart" and it bears a strong resemblance to the classic karts that were used in the previous Mario Kart games.

Mario Kart DS
Toad appears as a default lightweight character in Mario Kart DS. His three unique karts include the "Mushmellow", the "Standard Toad Kart", and the "Four-Wheel Cradle". Toad is also featured in several mission modes within the game; most being events involving him running through all the gates in a specified course. One notable mission mode event featuring Toad was his race against the Goomboss in Baby Park.

Mario Kart Wii
Toad reappears once again as a default lightweight character in Mario Kart Wii. His karts are shared among all the lightweight characters; however, Toad's own karts are usually featured in a blue or red color pattern. Toad also has his own course in this game entitled as Toad's Factory.

Mario Kart 7
Toad is set to appear as a standard playable character in the upcoming Mario Kart 7. He also has his own circuit.

Mario Kart 8
Toad returns in Mario Kart 8 as a default character. He will once again be classified as a lightweight racer, this time he has two tracks dedicated to him which include: Toad Harbor and Toad's Turnpike from Mario Kart 64.

Mario Party series
Toad has played a big role in the Mario Party series as both a playable and non-playable character. Toad was originally introduced as a host in Mario Party and regulated the stars on the boards and explained the mini-game instructions for the characters. He also appeared in a handful of mini-games like Toad in the Box. Later, in Mario Party 4, Toad hosted his own board map. When Mario Party 5 was introduced to the Gamecube, Toad became a regular playable character and has appeared on as being playable since this game (the only exception being Mario Party Advance).

Mario Party 1-2
Toad originally appeared as the host of the original Mario Party game. In this game, he was responsible in explaining the rules of the boards and mini-games to the characters. He also handed out the stars on different board maps. In certain board maps like Mario's Rainbow Castle, Toad would rotate positions with Bowser at the top of the castle. Toad would hand out stars to the player while Bowser would steal stars from them. Toad also completed with Bowser in Yoshi's Tropical Island where he would hand out stars on one side of the island, while Bowser stole stars on the other side. On board maps like Luigi's Engine Room, Toad would just hand out stars for twenty coins.

Toad reprise his role as a host in Mario Party 2. In this game, Toad would both explain the rules of the boards and mini-games, and would also hand stars out to players. At one point in the game, however, Baby Bowser would kick Toad out of his role as a host and take the role of hosting Bowser Land. In addition to hosting the board maps, Toad appeared in a wide variety of games. He appears in Toad in the Box as one of the characters that the player can get on the wooden block. In this mini-game, the characters must collect five Toads in order to win. Toad also appeared in the mini-game Roll Call as one of the Mario characters that the player must count. He also appears as a target that earns the players extra coins in Archer-ival. In different modes in Mario Party 2, a Toad with a turquoise head hosts the events instead of a regular Toad.

Mario Party 3-4
Toad appears as a supporting character in Mario Party 3. However, he does not reprise his role as a host for the boards since that duty is fulfilled by the Millennium Star and Tumble. Toad does make an appearance as the Item Shop owner on the board maps. Toad owns his own item shop that contains different lines of Toad items. This includes the Mushroom, Cellular Shopper, and the Magic Lamp. He will seldom approach a character if they land on an Item Space and ask them a question, usually granting them with a wide variety of items, or on a special occasion, rare items. Toad also appears in a few mini-games in Mario Party 3. He appears as the host for the mini-game M.P.I.Q., where he will ask the characters a wide variety of questions to deal with the Mario series characters. He also appears in the mini-game Messy Memory, where a whole group of Toads appear and mess up a room full of items. He also appears as one of the portraits that the characters must replicate in Picture Imperfect. Outside of the mini-games, Toad appears as a partner in duel mode and is the beginning partner for Peach.

Toad appears as a host for his own board map in Mario Party 4 called Toad's Midway Madness. This is the first time he has owned his own map. This map contains a wide variety of rides, games, and events. Different Toads host he different games, stores, and events on this board. Toad will also challenge a player in a mini-game called Bowser Bop, where the player must knock out more Koopa Kids than Toad. Outside of the board map, Toad appears as a playable character in the mini-game Beach Volley Folley. However, that was his only role of a playable character until Mario Party 5.

Mario Party 5 and Onwards
With the introduction of Mario Party 5, Toad become a regular playable character to the Mario Party series. He was one of the three characters to be added to the playable characters roster in Mario Party 5. When Toadette was introduced in Mario Party 6, Toad was often paired with her when it came to certain events. They even had their own special orb in Mario Party 7 called the Triple 'Shroom Orb, which increased the amount of dice blocks they would get for three turns. Ever since he was added to the playable character roster, Toad has not appeared as a host or side character on boards or in mini-games.

Mario Sports Mix
Despite his absence in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Toad appears as a lightweight newcomer in Mario Sports Mix. He is classified as a speedy character and is one of the more nimble characters in the game. His special move involves Toad creating large rotating mushrooms out of the ground in order to stun his opponents. Toad is also seen using a variety of mushroom and spore emitting based moves in this game.

In the story mode of the game, Toad is first seen gardening in the courtyards of Princess Peach's Castle; however, he stops when he sees a large fiery mass shooting through the sky. Upon its impact in the grounds not too far from the castle, Toad leaves his gardening and rushes into the scene with three other Toads in order to investigate. Upon discovering several odd, shiny crystals, Toad and his friends decide to host a Sports tournament for Mario and co. with the crystals being contained within the trophies awarded to the winners.

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 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.

Super Mario 3D World gives Toad the ability to run very fast unlike in New Super Mario Bros. Wii where he was well-balanced. However, he cannot jump very high and falls down quickly. Toad retains the ability to shoot fireballs in his Fire Toad form when he obtains the Fire Flower power-up, as well as being able to both climb up walls and perform claw attacks in his Cat Toad form once he obtains the new Super Bell power-up.

Voice Portrayals
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.

Gallery
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