Cappy Character Profile & Biography

Character fact sheet Name: Cappy (キャッピー, Kappī in Japanese) First Appearance: Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch, 2017) Home: Cap Kingdom (Bonneton) Voiced by: Robert Tinkler (English, 2017) Associates: Mario (his hat-host throughout Odyssey), Tiara (his sister), the Bonneter species, Princess Peach

General profile

Cappy, known in Japan as Kappī (キャッピー), is the sentient hat-creature that serves as Mario’s constant companion throughout Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch, 2017). Introduced as a major new character for the Odyssey adventure, Cappy is a member of the Bonneter species — a race of ghostly, top-hat-shaped beings native to the Cap Kingdom (also called Bonneton). His appearance is distinctive: a simple white, ghost-like body resembling a translucent hat, with two enormous expressive yellow eyes that dominate his entire visual silhouette, and the ability to flatten and transform himself into any headgear shape. His physical form is essentially the "hat layer" on top of Mario’s head.

Cappy’s defining gameplay role is his function as Mario’s primary equipment throughout Super Mario Odyssey. He replaces Mario’s classic cap entirely and grants Mario the "Capture" ability — by throwing Cappy onto enemies or objects, Mario can possess them and gain their abilities, movements, and forms. This Capture mechanic forms the core gameplay loop of Odyssey, with over 50 distinct enemy and object captures available across the game’s 17 Kingdoms. From small Bullet Bills to enormous T-Rex dinosaurs to power-line-walking electricity beings, Cappy enables Mario to experience the game world in dramatically varied ways.

Cappy’s personal motivation throughout Odyssey is the rescue of his sister Tiara — the Princess of the Cap Kingdom — whom Bowser kidnaps in the game’s opening cinematic alongside Princess Peach. Bowser’s plan to marry both Peach and Tiara in a single ceremony drives the game’s plot, with Cappy and Mario forming an alliance based on their shared mission to rescue their respective companions. Cappy’s relationship with Tiara provides the emotional through-line of Odyssey, with the sister’s rescue being treated as equally important to Peach’s rescue in the game’s plot beats.

Quotes

Enemies

Cappy’s primary enemy is Bowser, who kidnaps his sister Tiara alongside Princess Peach in the opening cinematic of Super Mario Odyssey. The conflict drives the entire game’s plot. Beyond Bowser, Cappy opposes the Broodals — the five rabbit-like wedding-planning villains who serve Bowser throughout Odyssey — Madame Broode (their matriarch), and the assorted boss creatures of each Kingdom. He has no personal animosity toward generic Mario series enemies; in fact, he can possess them via the Capture mechanic, making them his temporary allies.

Friends

Cappy’s closest companion is Mario, with whom he forms the central duo of Super Mario Odyssey. The relationship has the dynamic of a buddy-cop partnership — Mario provides the platforming skills and physical presence, while Cappy provides the navigation hints, lore exposition, and Capture-mechanic enablement. Beyond Mario, his closest associate is his sister Tiara (Princess of the Cap Kingdom), and the wider Bonneter species. He has warm relations with Princess Peach (who joins Tiara as Bowser’s kidnap victim), the Toad Brigade, and the various Kingdom-residents Mario meets across Odyssey’s adventure.

Appearances

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch, October 2017)

Cappy debuted in Super Mario Odyssey for Nintendo Switch (October 2017) as the primary new character of the Odyssey adventure. Directed by Kenta Motokura at Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Odyssey introduced Cappy in its opening cinematic: Mario, Cappy, Peach and Tiara are all caught up in Bowser’s wedding-kidnap scheme aboard the airship at the start of the game. Mario falls from the airship to the Cap Kingdom below, where he meets Cappy and the two form their alliance to rescue Peach and Tiara. Cappy was designed by character artist Daisuke Tsujimura.

Super Mario Odyssey Capture mechanic (2017)

Cappy’s defining gameplay role is the Capture mechanic. By pressing the throw button, Mario sends Cappy flying as a projectile; when Cappy makes contact with a Capture-enabled enemy or object, Mario possesses that entity and takes control of its movements and abilities. Odyssey features over 50 unique Captures across its 17 Kingdoms, ranging from simple Goomba captures to the famous T-Rex capture in the Cascade Kingdom, the Bowser capture in the Moon Kingdom, and the unique Sphynx capture in the Sand Kingdom. The Capture mechanic was widely praised by reviewers as the most innovative platforming-mechanic addition to the Mario series since the F.L.U.D.D. backpack in 2002.

Cap Kingdom and the broader Odyssey narrative (2017)

The Cap Kingdom (Bonneton) is the first Kingdom Mario visits in Super Mario Odyssey and serves as Cappy’s home. The Kingdom’s residents — the Bonneter species — are all small, white, hat-shaped beings similar to Cappy, with distinctive bowler-hat-shaped bodies and oversized eyes. Cappy’s sister Tiara is the Princess of the Cap Kingdom and her kidnap by Bowser sets up the game’s rescue mission. The Kingdom’s aesthetic deliberately evokes Victorian London with smoky black-and-white architecture and gothic Victorian fashion influences.

Concept and Design Development (2014–2017)

Cappy’s character design went through extensive iteration during Super Mario Odyssey’s three-year development (2014–2017). Director Kenta Motokura confirmed in a 2017 Iwata Asks interview that Cappy was originally conceived as a more humanoid character before being simplified to the hat-shape design. The decision to make him essentially "a sentient hat with eyes" was intended to keep his on-screen presence minimal so as not to obstruct the player’s view during platforming sections — a critical gameplay consideration.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch, 2018)

Cappy appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (December 2018) as part of Mario’s default character costume — his Odyssey-themed alternate costume gives Mario the wedding-suit outfit from Odyssey’s ending sequence and includes Cappy as the hat character. Cappy is also featured as a collectible Spirit and appears in Odyssey-themed assist trophies.

Other appearances and Cameos

Cappy has had brief cameo appearances in Super Mario Maker 2 (2019) as a Mystery Mushroom costume, and as a hat-themed costume option in Mario Kart Tour (2019-2025). He is featured in promotional art for Nintendo’s Switch Online avatar service. The character has not made a starring appearance in any post-Odyssey title as of late 2025, though Nintendo has hinted at his return in future Odyssey-related projects.

Trivia & Official Sources

• Cappy was created by Kenta Motokura’s team at Nintendo EAD Tokyo for Super Mario Odyssey (2017). Character design was led by Daisuke Tsujimura. The character’s simple silhouette — two huge eyes on a translucent hat-body — was chosen for gameplay-clarity reasons rather than narrative ones.
• The Japanese name Kappī (キャッピー) is a play on "cap" with the Japanese long-vowel suffix. The Western name "Cappy" was created for the 2017 Odyssey localisation by Nintendo of America’s Treehouse team and retains the same wordplay.
• Robert Tinkler voiced Cappy in English for the Odyssey release — the only voice-acting credit for the character to date. Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor known primarily for animated children’s television work; his Cappy performance is widely considered one of the most distinctive non-Charles-Martinet performances in the modern Mario series.
• Cappy’s species name "Bonneter" (after Bonneton, the Cap Kingdom’s capital) was created for the English localisation. The Japanese material refers to the species more generally as "Bonnet people."
• The Pix’n Love Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros. (2018) describes Cappy as "Mario’s sentient hat companion in Super Mario Odyssey — a noble Bonneter from the Cap Kingdom."
• Cappy’s "Capture" mechanic in Super Mario Odyssey was one of the most-praised gameplay innovations of the 2017 release year. Odyssey itself sold over 28 million copies as of late 2025, making it one of the best-selling Switch games of all time.
• Cappy’s sister Tiara is the Princess of the Cap Kingdom. The two are canonically siblings with no further family established. Tiara was kidnapped alongside Princess Peach by Bowser in the opening cinematic of Super Mario Odyssey — her rescue is treated as a parallel plot beat to Peach’s rescue throughout the game.
• The Bonneter species’ home Cap Kingdom is the only Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey that is completely monochrome — a deliberate aesthetic choice to differentiate it from the other 16 colourful Kingdoms.
• Cappy is the first major Mario series companion character to have his own dedicated "throw" button in mainline platforming. The throw input — mapped to the Y button on Switch controllers — became one of Odyssey’s most-used controls.
• The character’s ability to transform into various headgear (the standard cap, a sombrero, a top hat, a chef’s hat, etc.) is an in-universe Bonneter-species ability rather than a gameplay-only feature. The Odyssey Travel Guide — the in-game collectible book — confirms that Bonneters can naturally take any hat shape they choose.
• Cappy amiibo figures were released as part of the Super Mario Odyssey amiibo line in October 2017. Three amiibo were released: Mario (Wedding Suit), Peach (Wedding Dress), and Bowser (Wedding Tuxedo) — with Cappy appearing on Mario’s head in his amiibo figure. A standalone Cappy amiibo has not been released.
• The character’s yellow eyes — his most distinctive visual feature — were designed to be readable at any distance and angle in the game. Tsujimura’s design notes mention that the eyes had to function as "an expressive face the player can read at platforming speeds."
• Cappy has no spoken dialogue in any post-Odyssey game appearance as of late 2025. His brief cameos in subsequent titles use the established Cappy silhouette but no voice acting.
• The Capture mechanic Cappy enables in Odyssey was hailed by critics as "the most significant new Mario gameplay mechanic since the F.L.U.D.D. water pack in Super Mario Sunshine (2002)." Eurogamer’s 10/10 review specifically praised Cappy’s introduction as "the year’s most inventive game-design idea."
• Cappy has been confirmed by Illumination to appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 2026) in a supporting role alongside Mario. The film’s pre-release marketing has shown Cappy in early character-design sheets, though Nintendo has kept his exact involvement deliberately vague.
• The character’s Cap Kingdom appears as an unlockable course in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass (2023) and as a stage setting in Mario Tennis Aces (2018) — demonstrating that the Odyssey Cap Kingdom location has been incorporated into the wider Mario series lore beyond just its 2017 introduction.