Yoshi

Sturdy mount and loyal friend.
Yoshi
Species	Yoshi
Weaponry	Yoshi's Eggs
Voiced by	Kazumi Totaka
Debut	Super Mario World

Yoshi is an unusual green dinosaur that has been a good friend of Mario as well as the star of a series of spin-off games. He's well known for his long tongue, endless appetite, and arsenal of spotted eggs.

Background

Prequel Games

A tribe of Yoshis appear in several games set in the past. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi: Touch & Go, this tribe carries Baby Mario across the island and saves his brother, the Baby Luigi, from Kamek. In Yoshi's Island DS, the tribe also transports Baby Peach, Baby Donkey Kong, Baby Wario and even Baby Bowser to save Baby Luigi and various other babies from future versions of Bowser and Kamek. What seems to be the same tribe also appears in the past segment of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time on Yoshi's Island.

This tribe contains a green Yoshi which is commonly believed to be the main Yoshi. However, it is more likely that the main Yoshi is the one born at the end of Yoshi's Island DS, who is one of the seven children born with a star piece.

There is also a newly-hatched green Yoshi in Yoshi's Story, who could be the main Yoshi. It is possible that both the end of Yoshi's Island DS and beginning of Yoshi's Story show his hatching. In this game, the newly-born group of Yoshis defeat Baby Bowser in order to retrieve the Super Happy Tree and undo the curse Baby Bowser put on the island (turning it into a storybook).

The SNES/N64 Adventures

Yoshi's first appearance in the Mario universe was in Super Mario World. However both Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 were retconned to include Yoshi when they were rereleased as Super Mario Bros. DX and Super Mario Advance. Yoshi Eggs were hidden in each level, and had to be hunted down before they would hatch into a Yoshi. It is also likely that these were just generic Yoshis in those games.

A resident of Yoshi's Island in Dinosaur Land, Yoshi had gone after Bowser after the Koopa King stole seven eggs containing Baby Yoshis in Super Mario World. As a result, he was trapped inside an egg of his own. According to the manual, Mario and Luigi found the egg and freed him, after which he agreed to help them and gave them the magic cape. In the game, either brother can find his egg in ? Blocks, after which he can be ridden.

Yoshi was also featured in a pair of puzzle games, both of which played in his appetite. In Yoshi, Yoshi assists the Mario Bros. in cleaning up heaps of enemies by adding his eggs into the mix. After cramming enemies between the top and bottom shells, they turn into more Yoshis. Yoshi's Cookie has Mario baking cookies in their spare time, which Yoshi seems to be stealing from Mario...

Yoshi went on another adventure with Mario in Yoshi's Safari, where he and Mario were sent to Jewelry Land by Princess Peach to save Prince Pine and King Fret. In this game, Mario used the Super Scope while riding on Yoshi to shoot down enemies, while Yoshi must safely lead Mario through the level and avoid being shot in the back of the head. He is also the lead character in Tetris Attack, where his friends (based on various characters from Yoshi's Island) were hypnotized by Kamek, who was also flooding the world under Bowser's orders. But Yoshi was able to free his friends, and together they defeated Kamek and Bowser.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Yoshi was found hanging out on Yo'ster Isle, where he would gladly translate the other Yoshis' speech to Mario. With Mario's help, he is able to beat the local cookie tycoon, Boshi, in a race. The original Super Mario 64 also features Yoshi in a supporting role; he can be found on the castle roof after collecting all 120 stars (or performing some fancy jumps). Yoshi presents Mario with 100 lives and an enhanced triple jump. Unfortunately, he must be revisited each time the game is started up to get the triple jump again.

The GBA/Gamecube Adventures

Yoshi takes a more passive role at this point, with only one adventure game to call his own. In Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, Yoshi's Island has been turned into a pop-up book by Bowser (again), and Yoshi heads out to defeat him. Along the way, he discovers the ability to tilt the world around him, which ultimately gives him an edge in the final battle with the Koopa King.

As a playable character in Mario Party Advance, Yoshi begins at the beach area. It is required that you play as him to complete the Loch Dorrie mission. During this mission, Yoshi will cheer Dorrie up by showing it that it's not the only dinosaur around.

The DS/Wii Adventures

For the remake of Super Mario 64 on the DS, Yoshi was given the lead role, and is the first character playable in the game. He was sleeping on the roof of Peach's Castle when Mario, Luigi, and Wario went inside and never came out, after which Lakitu convinced him to go in and find them. He enters the castle and finds that they've all been captured inside paintings. Collecting stars and defeating the likes of Bob-omb King and Goomboss, he rescues Mario (and in turn, they work to rescue Luigi, Wario, and Peach). Of the four playable characters, Yoshi is the most unique; he can turn some enemies into eggs and throw them, but he cannot pick things up.

Abilities

Yoshi has had a somewhat varied set of abilities, depending on which game he appears in and slightly on what appearance he's using. In Super Mario World, Yoshi can eat enemies (which rewards Mario with coins) and Koopa shells (which can be spat back out). Certain colored Koopa shells will give him the abilities to fly, breathe fire, or stomp the ground extra hard. When Mario jumps off Yoshi's back, he gets an added boost. Yoshi will also absorb any hits that Mario takes while riding on him, though he tosses Mario off and frantically runs back and forth until falling into a pit or being remounted. In this game, Yoshi refuses to enter fortresses.

Yoshi's Island presents Yoshis with the ability to make eggs from enemies they've eaten and then throw them (though they were first weaponized by Yoshi when controlled by the CPU in Super Mario Kart). They can also flutter jump and/or ground pound after a jump. These abilities are all duplicated by Yoshi himself in Super Mario 64 DS. An ability that is not duplicated, however, is the Yoshies ability to sniff out fruit and other items that is seen in Yoshi's Story. In Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshies can spray fruit juice to wash away thick goop made by Bowser Jr. and damage enemies. This ability has also not been shown by the main Yoshi.

Other Major Roles

Super Smash Bros.

Yoshi appears in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character. His special attacks consist of turning opponents into eggs, throwing eggs, rolling himself into an egg, and ground pounding his foes. Yoshi is also notable as the only contestant to have his own shield; he uses a giant egg while everyone else uses a generic red bubble. In Melee he has three unlockable trophies, and in Japan it was also possible to obtain an extra trophy of Mario and Yoshi together. Within Brawl he has two trophies, one being a normal trophy while the other depicts his Final Smash.

Within Brawl's "The Subspace Emissary", Yoshi was first seen in The Forest taking a nap on the stump near the Master Sword's pedestal. When minions of the Subspace Army arrived and woke Yoshi, Yoshi teamed up with Link to fight them off. Yoshi continued traveling with Link and later helped him in the fight against Mario and Pit which resulted from a misunderstanding (which is strange considering that Yoshi knows Mario and usually would not have turned on him so quickly). After the misunderstanding was cleared, the four united and then teamed up with Kirby in pursuit of King Dedede; although this hunt failed, they did eventually meet up with Marth and Ike and teamed up with them, eventually forming the main party that traveled into Subspace to fight in the final battles.

• Along with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Diddy Kong, Wario, Wolf, Pikachu, and Pokémon Trainer, Yoshi can exclusively equip the following stickers for the Subspace Emissary:
  • • 1-Up Mushroom (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Barkle (Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland)
    • Blathers (Animal Crossing: Wild World)
    • Bone Dragon (Yoshi's Story)
    • Bowser (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix)
    • Bowser (Mario Kart 64)
    • Bowser (Super Paper Mario)
    • Bowser Jr. (Super Mario Sunshine)
    • Boxy (Kirby: Squeak Squad)
    • Bubble Baby Mario (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)
    • Burt the Bashful (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)
    • Car Yoshi (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)
    • Chain Chomp (Mario Party 8)
    • Chihuahua (Nintendogs)
    • Coin (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Dice Block (Mario Party 8)
    • Dr. Mario (Nintendo Puzzle Collection)
    • Eight Yoshis (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island)
    • Fairy (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
    • Koopa (Super Mario Strikers)
    • Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
    • Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
    • Luigi & Baby Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time)
    • Mario (Mario Kart DS)
    • Mario & Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
    • Mario & Yoshi (Super Mario Sunshine)
    • Master Belch (EarthBound)
    • Mega Rush Badge (Paper Mario)
    • Mushroom (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Pak E. Derm (Yoshi's Story)
    • Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball)
    • Peach (Super Mario Bros. 2)
    • Peach (Super Princess Peach)
    • Petey Piranha (Mario Strikers Charged)
    • Rawk Hawk (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
    • Red Fire (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
    • Rouge the Bat (Sonic Adventure 2 Battle)
    • Sable (Animal Crossing: Wild World)
    • Spitz (WarioWare: Mega Party Game$)
    • Stafy (Densetsu no Stafy)
    • Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Bros.)
    • Toad (Mario Party 6)
    • Toad & Toadette (Mario Party 7)
    • Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball)
    • Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers)
    • Wario (Super Mario Strikers)
    • Warrior Ing (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
    • Yoshi (Mario Party 2)
    • Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
    • Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go)
    • Yoshi's Egg (Yoshi Touch & Go)

Other Media

• Yoshi appeared in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, where he is a pet of King Koopa who befriends Daisy. The Yoshi of this movie is small and resembles a realistic dinosaur, looking almost nothing like the Yoshi of the video games. Yoshi does, however, have his recognizable extending tongue.
• Yoshi appeared as a main character in the Super Mario World cartoon series. He was voiced by Andrew Sabiston, who would later provide the voice of Diddy Kong in the Donkey Kong Country animated series.

Sports

Like several other characters in the Mario universe, Yoshi makes frequent appearances in the sporting events held throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. These include:

• Golf: Yoshi is playable in Mario Golf, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and Mario Golf: Advance Tour (though not in the main adventure). He also appears in Mario Golf GBC.
• Kart Racing: Yoshi has appeared in all of the kart racing games, including: Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (in which he is paired with Birdo), Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart DS (where he drives the Egg 1, Standard YS, and Cucumber), Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, and Mario Kart Wii.
• Tennis: Yoshi is playable in every tennis game as well, including: Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis, Mario Tennis GBC, Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Tennis: Power Tour.
• Baseball: Yoshi is one of the captains in Mario Superstar Baseball, his co-captain being Birdo, and in Mario Super Sluggers.
• Soccer: Yoshi is also one of the captains in Super Mario Strikers and in Mario Strikers Charged.
• Basketball: ...and one of the playable characters in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Itadaki Street DS.
• The Olympics: Yoshi is playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Yoshi has been playable in all eleven games of the Mario Party series, which includes Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party Advance, Mario Party 7, Mario Party 8, Mario Party-e and Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party. He will also be appearing in Mario Party DS and Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2.

Trivia

• He's named Yoshi in Japanese and English, which is no big deal, but when trying to give him a code name to differentiate him from the species of yoshis, it's a lot more difficult.
• The concept of Yoshi was first thought of shortly after Super Mario Bros. was released, but due to hardware limitations, Miyamoto was unable to implement Mario riding a dinosaur until the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World.