Toad

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 to 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 English localizations of Mario games, the race of mushroom-capped people were simply referred to as mushroom people or mushroom retainers. Toad was the first named character of the species when he made his first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2, although there has been uncertainty from the beginning as he was also commonly believed to have been one of the seven unnamed mushroom retainers from the original Super Mario Bros.. Toad have the same design that was used for generic members of his species, but his individual name and status as a character made it possible to distinguish him from other mushroom people 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 games such as 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. Adding to the confusion is that Toad has been depicted with blue spots in some appearances such as Super Mario 3D World, which has helped to distinguish him from Captain Toad, but has also raised confusion as to which appearances by a blue Toad (such as the aforementioned playable one in the New Super Mario Bros. games) could be Toad the character. Despite those factors, Toad has still consistently been featured as an individual character in the various sports games and other spin-off games. There have also been some instances where Toad the character's presence has been made easier to identify, such as in the remake of Super Mario RPG which gave all the other Red Toads red vests while Toad kept his blue vest.

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 experienced 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 was depicted as a group of Toads working with or under the Chancellor in the palace. He appeared early in the game looking for Princess Peach and provided Mario with advice about the gameplay basics. He also gave items to Mario while traveling with him along Mushroom Way, although he had to be saved from various enemies along the way, ending with a pair of Hammer Bros.. He had to be saved again from Claymorton's underlings once he invaded the palace. While staying at Nimbus Land's inn with the Dream Cushion, Mario could also have a nightmare in which Toad revealed himself to be a monster, only for the real Toad to be standing at his bedside when he woke up and gave him a valuable Red Essence before departing. During the last portion of the game, he traversed through the Weapon World to sell a variety of items to Mario and his friends. In the Switch remake, he also provided aid to Mario's group in battle through a move called Toad Assist, where he would provide Mario with an item selected from a roulette in a treasure box. In Super Mario 64 (and its 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 species.

Gamecube/Wii Eras

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, although it was also possible that Toad's appearances in other parts the mansion were actually other Toads. 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 played a brief role in the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where he was temporarily playable as he entered Mario's house to summon him to Peach's Castle. 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. In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Toad (along with four other differently-colored Toads) acted as a research assistant for E. Gadd and had to be saved from the Haunted Towers after he was turned into a portrait by the ghosts under King Boo's control. At the end of the game, the Toads brought Luigi the other pieces of the Dark Moon, and they celebrated with the now-friendly ghosts afterwards.

Wii U/Switch Eras

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.

In Super Mario Maker 2, Toad was one of the playable characters available for multiplayer games (with blue spots again, as in Super Mario 3D World), and he also played a role in Story Mode as Taskmaster Toad, also known as the Taskmaster (there depicted with his red spots). As the Taskmaster, he allowed Mario access to a list of jobs that Mario could complete to earn coins that would go towards constructing the castle. He collected jobs from around the world, and many of them were anonymous, but Taskmaster did not care as long as they offered enough coins. As the Taskmaster, he also had a habit of referring to Mario as Big Red. In Dr. Mario World, Toad appeared as Dr. Toad. He acted as the in-game tutorial and gave advice to Dr. Mario or whoever the player character was. He could be unlocked as a playable character at random through the in-game Staffing feature. His special ability was to select ten random spots on the screen and eliminate anything in those spots.

Toad later appeared in Luigi's Mansion 3, where he was one of the guests who Luigi brought with him to his free stay at The Last Resort, with the other guests being Mario, Peach and two other Toads (Blue and Yellow). That night, everyone except for Luigi was captured and trapped in a portrait by King Boo and Hellen Gravely. Toad's portrait was kept on the fourth floor, The Great Stage, where it was guarded by Amadeus Wolfgeist. Luigi eventually defeated Wolfgeist and saved Toad. Toad then spent time with E. Gadd at his portable laboratory, but he was later sent to retrieve a part from the Boilerworks (the bottom basement level) that E. Gadd needed for his Poltergust. He was cornered by ghosts and trapped until Luigi came and escorted him safely back to the elevator. He remained in E. Gadd's lab until the end of the game, when King Boo trapped everyone save for Luigi in the same portrait. After Luigi defeated King Boo, he freed all of them from the portrait, and they all worked together with the now-benign ghosts to build a new hotel in the old one's ruins.

In Other Mario-Related Games

Sports, Racing and Party Spin-Offs

Toad as seen in Mario Kart DS.

Toad has made playable appearances in various sports-themed spin-offs of the Mario games. In most games, he appears as a distinct character. However, there are still some games (such as in Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Super Sluggers and Mario Sports Superstars) in which numerous generic Toads appear as sidekick characters instead. There are also cases in which Toad makes a non-playable appearance as a referee or some other type of host.

• Kart Racing: Toad has been playable in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (where he was partnered with Toadette), Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (only during Relay Races added in November 2021). In Tour, he could be unlocked at random through the pipe-firing mechanic, with a Super level of rarity, and he was one of the two characters who a player could receive as their first character (with Toadette being the other). Several Toad variants have been temporarily available during certain tours: a Party Time variant, Builder Toad, a Pit Crew variant, Cat Toad and a Tourist variant.
• Golf: He was playable in Mario Golf: World Tour (unlocked by collecting 40 Star Coins in Challenge Mode) and Mario Golf: Super Rush. He has also made minor non-playable appearances in NES Open Tournament Golf and most of the past Mario Golf games.
• Tennis: Toad was playable in Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis 64, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Mario Tennis Aces. He makes a few minor non-playable appearances in Mario Power Tennis and acts as a referee (as well as running a tutorial) in Mario Tennis Open.
• Baseball: Toads appeared as playable team players in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers. The red Toads appearing in these games are the red-vested ones.
• Soccer: Toads appeared as playable sidekicks in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged, and Toad appeared as a playable captain in Mario Strikers: Battle League.
• Other Sports: Toad is playable in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mario Sports Mix. In Mario Sports Superstars, Toads appeared as playable teammates for baseball and soccer, featuring red-vested Red Toads.
• The Olympics: Toad has appeared as a non-playable host/referee in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. In the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, he was playable exclusively in the 4x100 Relay event.

Mario Party

Within the Mario Party subseries, Toad initially filled non-playable roles, most prominently as a host for the games who the player bought Stars from, until becoming part of the main playable cast starting in Mario Party 5, before reverting to his non-playable hosting duties in more recent appearances. He acted as the main host in Mario Party and Mario Party 2. In Mario Party 3, he filled several other functions instead of hosting, such as running an item shop, hosting item minigames and being available as a partner in Duel Mode. In Mario Party 4, he shared hosting duties with several other characters while dressed in a party-themed outfit, acting as the personal host for his own board, Toad's Midway Madness. The hosts of that game arrived on the mysterious Party Cube to celebrate the birthday party of the character chosen by the player. He could also be unlocked as a playable character for the Beach Folley Volley minigame.

Toad later appeared as a playable character in Mario Party 5, 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, Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars.

Cameos and Non-Storyline Roles

• In Mario Clash, an image of Toad would appear to congratulate the player after hitting 200,000 points.
• In the Game & Watch Gallery games, Toad appeared often in non-playable roles, usually in which he had to be saved by another character. In Game & Watch Gallery 3, he had a playable role in the Modern version of Turtle Bridge, where he had to cross a bridge made up of flying Goonies to deliver packages between Mario and Peach.
• In WarioWare: Touched!!, he could make an appearance depicted from behind in the third level of the Wario-Man microgame "You Scratch Mine", in which the player had to scratch his back along with Mario and Wario's.
• In Super Mario Maker, Toad appeared as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes that Mario could transform into, and the costume could be unlocked as a random prize for clearing a 100 Mario Challenge or by scanning an amiibo of Toad. However, another captured Toad would refer to Mario in this costume as 'Captain', in reference to Captain Toad.
• In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, pixel versions of Toad (using his sprite from Super Mario Maker) could be found on surfaces throughout the game. Toad himself made a cameo appearance at the end of the original Wii U version of the game, which showed Captain Toad coming across the beginning of Super Mario 3D World and thus depicted Toad with his blue-spotted appearance from that game.

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.
• In Kirby Super Star and its remake, Toad made cameo appearances in audiences for minigames such as "Megaton Punch".
• He was featured as the host of a game called Satella-Q for the Satellaview.
• In the CD-ROM release of Mario is Missing!, Toad appeared as one of the NPC characters who Luigi could receive hints from over the phone. He was shown on the title screen of Mario Teaches Typing, using art from Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Toad appeared as a playable character in Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Toad has been featured as one of the moves performed by Peach in every game since her introduction to the series in Super Smash Bros. Melee. 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. Toad costume sets were also made available for Mii Brawlers starting as DLC in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.
  • 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. In Ultimate, Toad appears as an Advanced-rank Primary Spirit that can be enhanced into Captain Toad's Spirit upon reaching Level 99. When fought in a Spirit battle, Toad's Spirit would possess a Mii Brawler dressed in a Mii Brawler costume. Toad was also part of the art used for the Cheep Charger's Spirit.
• 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.
• Toad appeared in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle as an NPC who could be escorted by Mario and the others at several points in the game. He often had to be rescued and/or reunited with Toadette. He and Toadette would also congratulate the player by Peach's Castle if the game had reached 100% completion.

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 live action film Super Mario Bros., Toad was a disgruntled singer who made songs about Koopa's oppression. As punishment for this, he was de-evolved into a Goomba, but he still helped Mario and Luigi in that form. He was played by Mojo Nixon.
• In the 2023 CGI film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Toad appeared as a supporting character voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. He acts as a chipper and eccentric guide for Mario when he first arrives in the kingdom and plays some key roles later on, such as smuggling an Ice Flower to Peach's bouquet to help her escape Bowser's attempt to marry her. He is shown carrying a large backpack, similar to Captain Toad, and is armed with a frying pan as well as a walking stick.

Canceled Appearances

• Toad was shown as a playable character in one build of the canceled game Diddy Kong Pilot.

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. Some fans have also used this name as a basis to nickname him Kinopio T., based on a naming convention from the early Paper Mario games.
• In Super Mario Bros. 2, he was said to have recurring dreams about cobrats.