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"Hooray! Thank you for rescuing me. My name is Yoshi. On my way to rescue my friends, Bowser trapped me in that egg!"
—Yoshi, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island 2

Yoshi (ヨッシー Yosshī?, Yoshi) is the main and titular character representative of his species of the same name. He, like most of the other Yoshis, live at Yoshi's Island. Yoshi and his species first appear in Super Mario World. Since his debut, Yoshi has been one of Mario and Luigi's main allies throughout their journeys and a recurring playable character in the spinoff games. Yoshi is also the main protagonist of his own franchise of the same name.

Profile[]

Physical description[]

Yoshi is a small green dinosaur that helps his friend Mario on various quests, serving as transportation. He has light green skin. His stomach, chest and mouth are white. He has two big blue eyes, round cheeks and a big round nose. On his nape, he has three red spikes. On his back has a red saddle that can be used for riding him and he has orange shoes on his feet. In some rare cases, he is without shoes, when he does it, he reveals he has padded feet. He has a long sticky tongue that can be used for swallowing food or enemies.

Personality traits[]

Yoshi is kind and generous but can be childish at times. He loves his friends and is very compassionate and playful. He could be considered a hero and has helped his friends, defeated Bowser, and saved his island more than once. He is also very courageous, allowing him to stand and fight enemies much larger than himself, including Yoob, an enlarged Bowser, Nep-Enuts, Tap-Tap the Golden, and the gigantic Baby Bowser. As a result of this courage, Yoshi often takes on a leadership position to the Yoshi clan, although Yoshi has no official political status (unlike the Village Leader from Lavalava Island). In fact, when Yoshi was offered a leadership position during the events of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Yoshi humbly declined the position. Like Mario, Yoshi has a large appetite, to the point of outright gluttony.

Powers and abilities[]

Powers[]

Yoshi Eating Goomba - Super Mario 64 DS

Yoshi eating a Goomba in Super Mario 64 DS

  • Flutter Jump: Yoshi's unique ability allows him to stall in the air for a short duration.
  • Super Eating: Yoshi can eat enemies and trap them in eggs.
  • Shell Fusion: As seen in Super Mario World, by eating a certain color shell of a Koopa Troopa, Yoshi can gain certain powers by either spitting the shell out or keeping it in his mouth until he swallows it.
    • Red: By eating a Koopa with a red shell, Yoshi can spit out three fireballs that travel in the direction he is facing. This can be useful in taking out enemies from afar.
    • Blue: By eating a Koopa with a blue shell and keeping it in his mouth, Yoshi will grow wings and will be able to fly for a short time. This is needed for a level where Yoshi must fly underneath it in order to get to the secret exit. This doesn't last long as when Yoshi eventually swallows the shell, he loses his wings.
    • Yellow: By eating a Koopa with a yellow shell and keeping it in his mouth, Yoshi gains a stomping ability when he jumps in the air. This lasts until he either swallows the shell or spits it back out.
    • Green: Eating a Koopa with a green shell doesn't do much special ability-wise as Yoshi simply spits the shell back out. However, the can be used to defeat any enemies ahead from a distance without worry.

Abilities[]

  • Athleticism: Yoshi participates events in Mario & Sonic series, with his athleticism aligning with other Mario & Sonic participants.
  • Vehicular Combat: In Mario Kart series, Yoshi can attack with Item Boxes. This ability also applies to other Mario Kart contestants.

Biography[]

Meeting Mario[]

Yoshi took a walk at Yoshi's Land. When Baby Mario landed on Yoshi, Yoshi decided to take Mario to his clan. The clan Yoshis panicked and yelled at each other to what to do for Baby Mario. Baby Mario points at something, sensing Baby Luigi's location. Yoshis agree to carry the baby to its destination.[2] Yoshis carried Baby Mario safely one-by-one on their way to King Bowser's Castle. Yoshi fought Baby Bowser, Kamek enhanced his size for Baby Bowser to continue the battle. Yoshi defeated Baby Bowser, then Kamek took Baby Bowser and left. Yoshi rescued Baby Luigi and the stork. Baby Bowser's castle collapsed and Yoshi marked the flag on his map. The stork set his duty to send Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their parents' house.

Dinosaur Island[]

Yoshi's friends have been captured by Bowser. When Yoshi tried to rescue his friends, Bowser trapped him inside an egg and he needed help.

Mario went to Dinosaur Land to have a vacation with Luigi and Peach. However, Bowser kidnapped Peach without Mario and Luigi knowing.

Mario spots an egg. Curious, Mario opens it, only to reveal Yoshi. Yoshi thanked Mario and they joined forces. Mario and Yoshi ventured together and rescued the princess. Peach thanks Yoshi for helping Mario.

Game data[]

Mario Kart series
Mario Kart 7
Yoshi
Yoshi MK7 character select icon
Availability: Standard
Class Light
Stat Boosts
Speed 3.25
Acceleration 3.5
Weight 2.75
Handling 3
Off-Road 3.75
Rival Order
WigglerIcon-MK7 Toad MK7 character select iconDK MK7 character select icon

Note: At the end of the race, the results show the order which CPU drivers finish the race when playing Yoshi. If Wiggler is not unlocked yet, Donkey Kong will replace Metal Mario. Otherwise, Donkey Kong is his third rival.

Flavor text[]

  • North American website: Want to go from zero to speedy as fast as possible? Get behind the wheel with Yoshi. Speed and acceleration are his specialties.
  • European website: Yoshi boasts great acceleration at the expense of top speed, and excels at getting back up to speed following a crash.
  • Prima guide: Like Peach, Yoshi favors acceleration over top speed. He's slightly bigger than a true lightweight, but not by much!

Timeline[]

Game Role Year Console Notes
Super Mario World Playable character 1990 Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario 64 DS Playable character 2004 Nintendo DS
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Playable character 2009 Wii
New Super Mario Bros. U Playable character 2012 Wii U
New Super Luigi U Playable character 2013 Wii U
Super Mario Maker Playable character 2015 Wii U
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Playable character 2016 Nintendo 3DS
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Playable character 2019 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Maker 2 Playable character 2019 Nintendo Switch
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Playable character 2023 Nintendo Switch

Attention MarioWiki users!: This section is short or lacks sufficient information. Whether you are commenting or editing, we would appreciate it if you help MarioWiki by expanding it.


Behind the scenes[]

Creation and development[]

Yoshi concept art

Concept art of Yoshi.

Yoshi's concept artfully differs from his current appearance. Nintendo developers came up with the idea of Mario riding onto Yoshi, but they could not do it on the Famicom.[3]

Etymology[]

Yoshi has different scripts in Japanese. They mean "good luck", "righteous" and "good, virtuous, respectable" respectively. The "good luck" may relate to the event when Baby Mario happened to land onto Yoshi's back.

Real-world influences[]

Cultural impact[]

In Tokyo, people dress up as different Mario characters and ride on karts.[4]

On the internet, Yoshi Committed Tax Fraud is a meme refers to jokes that Yoshi illegally evaded paying his taxes; it has lasted since 2016.[5] The meme may also be based off his quote in Fortune Street.[6][7]

Reception[]

Brad Fear (from WhatCulture!) considered Yoshi to be #1 on "20 Top Video Game Sidekicks Of All Time" on his blog.[8] Lit Lists has placed Yoshi #3 on the list as "10 Of The Best Mario Characters", having a "variety of abilities that stand out relative to other characters in the Mario series".[9]

Trivia[]

  • Yoshi was originally supposed to be a type of Koopa, and the saddle on his back would have been his shell.
  • In some Mario games (such as in Super Mario Sunshine), Yoshi can't swim; however in Super Mario 64 DS, he is the fastest swimmer.
  • Yoshi was named after Yoshio Sakamoto (Director of Metroid series) due to the friendship between him and Shigeru Miyamoto.
  • Yoshi did appear in Super Mario 64 as a non-playable character, but appeared in Super Mario 64 DS as a starting character.
  • In Mario Kart 64, Yoshi's sound effects are when Mario sits on him from Super Mario World.
  • In Super Mario World, it seems that Mario is actually hitting Yoshi to make Yoshi extend it's tongue. Mario actually points but does not have a finger pointing animation and Mario's hand animation seems like his fist is always bald up. Mario hand or "fist" goes diagonally when Mario is trying to make Yoshi extend it's tongue indicating that he is pointing.
  • Yoshi's full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. This was shown in a Nintendo Character Manual published in 1993 and came to light on August 6, 2014.[10]
  • Yoshi was the main star of 3 Nintendo puzzle games, Yoshi (a.k.a. Yoshi's Egg by Game Freak), Yoshi's Cookie by TOSE, and Tetris Attack by Intelligent Systems (a western adaptation of Panel de Pon). He was also the main star of the Super NES game, Yoshi's Safari and a sidekick to Luigi in a 3rd party spin-off game, Mario is Missing.
  • Yoshi can speak English, first time speaking in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
  • Yoshi's gender can never be fully confirmed. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Yoshi was called an "asexual", it can simply produce its own eggs on its own, like Birdo. But in instruction booklets Yoshi is sometimes referred to as "he"; as seen in many games too like Mario Party 3.
  • Draglet and Yoshi both have a resemblance to Eeries.
  • Yoshi is the only character in Mario Kart: Super Circuit who has a different loss reaction than in Mario Kart 64.

Gallery[]

Hat mario To view Yoshi (character)'s
image gallery, click here.


Quotes[]

Hat mario To view Yoshi (character)'s
quotes click here.

References[]

  1. Jenna (2017-05-02). So This is Yoshi's Real Name. IGN. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  2. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island instruction booklet (English)
  3. Super Mario World – 1990 Developer Interview. shmuplations. Retrieved on 2020-04-03. “The biggest thing was not having to worry about the hardware limitations like we did in the Famicom days. One specific example would be Mario riding Yoshi: we came up with that idea a long time ago, but couldn’t do it on the Famicom. I’m really happy we finally got to realize that in SMW.”
  4. AWOL (2016-11-30). Um, Guys, You Can Go Real-Life Mario Karting In Tokyo. AWOL. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  5. Yoshi Committed Tax Fraud. Know Your Meme. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  6. Hard Evidence. Know Your Meme. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  7. Square Enix. Fortune Street. Square Enix, Nintendo. Wii. 2011-05-12. Speaker: Yoshi. “Yoshi Yoshi? (Could I please be exempt from paying taxes, <player's name>?)”
  8. Brad Fear (2011-11-23). 20 Top Video Game Sidekicks Of All Time. WhatCulture!. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  9. 10 Of The Best Mario Characters. Lit Lists (2019-08-06). Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
  10. Devore, Jordan (August 5, 2014). Yoshi is properly known as T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. Destructoid.

External links[]


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