Birdo

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Birdo
Type	Dinosaur
Debut	Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

The Birdo is a type of pink dinosaur that frequently appears as a boss character in the Mario series.

Information

Birdo is a pink dinosaur that resembles the Yoshi but is pink and notably more feminine, usually wearing a bow of some sort. They also have wide mouths which can fire out eggs or fireballs at enemies. The Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction manual describes the Birdos as actually being males that crossdress (and prefer to be called Birdetta), although it is unsure if this description applies to the entire species or just to one individual.

In the original game, there are three different varieties of Birdos, while Birdos of other colors are seen among the audience of Mario Power Tennis. The pink type (the most common) could only spit out eggs, while green Birdos spit fireballs, and red Birdos spit out both eggs and fireballs. They usual method of defeating them usually involves some way of knocking their eggs back at them.

Appearances

Birdos of the three main colors first appear in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2 as recurring mini-bosses at the end of each level. They could be defeated by tossing their eggs back at them or by tossing Mushroom Blocks in the event of battling red Birdos. The remake Super Mario Advance also adds a boss called Robirdo, which is a large mechanical version of Birdo that appears as the boss of the third world. A Birdo also appeared in Wario's Woods, shown in a box at the top corner of the screen from which she would toss a bomb to Wanda, which seems to make this the first Birdo to be an ally rather than enemy.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, a Birdo appeared as a boss. This Birdo was housed within a giant egg in the Nimbus Palace and offered to give Mario and friends a key if they would play with her. In the first phase of the battle, the fighters must attack Birdo's egg until it cracks. Birdo then battled Mario and his crew until meeting defeat, at which point she surrendered the key but warned Mario not to forget her.

A Birdo later appeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, acting as a decoy for Princess Peach and tricking Cackletta into taking the Birdo's voice rather than Peach's. Later in the game, a Birdo (whether or not it is the same Birdo as earlier is unspecified) fell in love with Popple the Thief, even though he didn't return her affection, and became his second Rookie (following Bowser). Birdo helped Popple battle the Mario brothers with new team attacks. She also protected Popple by hiding him in eggs and also setting up decoy eggs to trick the brothers. When they lost the battle, Popple blamed Birdo and fired her. Birdo then turned on Popple, sending him flying from her mouth, and decided to become a superstar on her own.

Sports

Birdos have begun to make frequent appearances in the Mario sports spin-offs, usually being paired with Yoshi.

• Golf- Birdo appears as a playable character in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.
• Kart Racing- Birdo appears as a playable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (as a middleweight racer and Yoshi's partner) and an unlockable playable character in Mario Kart Wii (unlocked by playing time trials on 16 different courses).
• Tennis- Birdo appears as a playable character in Mario Tennis 64.
• Baseball- Birdo appears as a playable co-captain in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, associated with Yoshi's team.
• Soccer- Birdos appear as playable sidekicks in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged.
• Basketball- Birdo appears as a hidden playable character in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (unlocked by completing the Hard Mushroom Cup) and Itadaki Street DS (by defeating Birdo in Luigi's Stage Level 1).

Within the Challenge Mode of Mario Super Sluggers, Birdo appeared in the Yoshi Park area. After being scared away by Bowser Jr. while sunbathing, she was trapped in an alcove on a tree once the rainbow bridge leading up to it was erased by Bowser Jr. After Bowser Jr. was defeated in that area, the bridge was restored and Birdo joined the baseball team out of gratitude.

Birdo also appears as a playable character in the Mario Party games after first appearing as a hidden playable character in Mario Party 7, who had to be unlocked by being purchased from the Duty Free Shop for 1,000 mileage points. Birdo returns in Mario Party 8.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Melee, a pink Birdo appears in the Kingdom II stage, which is an homage to Super Mario Bros. 2. Thus the Birdo is rendered with its original 8-bit sprite. The Birdo occasionally enters the screen and spits eggs. A trophy of Birdo appears in both Melee and Brawl (with the former game using her 8-bit appearance while the latter uses her modern appearance).
• Birdo appears as one of the characters Captain Rainbow, with the game addressing Birdo's gender controversy. She came to Mimin Island to become popular with the boys but is imprisoned for using a lady's restroom when Mappo believes Birdo is a man. Nick is able to liberate her by proving her to be a woman by presenting a censored vibrator found in her house, and after being freed she claims Nick is her boyfriend. In this game Birdo speaks with a deep voice, which aid the gender ambiguity,

Canceled Appearances

• Birdo was originally intended to appear as a playable character in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, but was cut, although a seemingly unfinished model for Birdo was discovered in the game's data.

In Other Media

• A near-sighted mother Birdo is featured in the first episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, where she confused Toad with her son and captured him. Various Birdos also appeared as minions of Bowser later in the cartoon. Birdos could fly in this incarnation.

Trivia

• Their Japanese name is Catherine.
• A typo in the credits of Super Mario Bros. 2 caused Birdo and Ostro's names to be mixed.