Dorrie

Dorrie is the name of a recurring creature that has appeared in a supporting role in several games of the Super Mario series.

Information

Dorrie is a large reptilian creature that bears a resemblance to a plesiosaur and is referred to in-game as "a gentle sea dragon". They are primarily aquatic creatures that spend their days floating around in bodies of water. They are known to be very peaceful and docile, as they have no problem with letting others ride on their backs. Dorries have been shown to be blue in most of their appearances, but it has been shown that they can also be yellow or purple. Dorries have also been shown to wear goggles in most of their later appearances.

Appearances

Adventure Games

A blue Dorrie first appeared in Super Mario 64, where he was found in a underground lake within the Hazy Maze Cave. Mario could ride on his back and steer him through the water. He could also get Dorrie to lower his neck by ground pounding on his back, which made him lower his neck. His role remained the same in Super Mario 64 DS, although his design was updated with goggles, and now he could lower his neck without ground pounding being required. A Dorrie also appeared in two different levels within the fourth world of New Super Mario Bros., where riding him was necessary to get through poison water. This time, ground pounding his back made him move faster.

In Super Mario Odyssey, several different Dorries appeared, all of whom wore hats. A blue Dorrie was found in lakes at the Lake Kingdom, Mushroom Kingdom and the Darker Side of the Moon. There were also two Dorries swimming in the water at the Seaside Kingdom, one yellow and the other purple, and both of them had merchants for the Crazy Cap store on their backs.

Sports/Party Games

The blue Dorrie has made cameo appearances in several Mario Party games. In Mario Party 2, a Dorrie-like silhouette was seen in the background of the Mystery Land board, in a parody of alleged photos of the Loch Ness Monster. In Mario Party 3, Dorrie was featured in a minigame called Dorrie Dip, where players had to ground pound on Dorrie's back to get her to fetch items for them, and Dorrie was also seen in a body of water on the Creepy Cavern board. Dorrie paddle boats were also featured in a minigame in Mario Party 4, as were four plastic Dorries (colored red, blue, green and yellow) in a Mario Party 5 minigame.

Dorrie also appeared in Mario Party Advance, using the creature's original design. In this game, he resided at an area called Loch Dorrie and was lonely due to having scared away Mr. E. He felt cheered up by the visit of Yoshi, whom Dorrie apparently had not seen in ages. He gave Yoshi the Soul Sonar, one of the game's Gaddgets.

Trivia

• Its name is partly a reference to "Nessie", the name of the infamous mythological Loch Ness Monster (which is further referenced in Mario Party Advance) and to Yoshi.
• In Odyssey, Dorrie communicates in the form of elongated moans which are translated in parentheses.
• The goggles that were added to Dorrie's design invoke a resemblence to the dolphins from Super Mario World.
• It was initially unclear where Dorrie was the name of a solitary character or a species. It was not until Super Mario Odyssey that it was clarified that the name 'Dorrie' is used for the entire species. It is also the first game to explicitly feature multiple living Dorries.