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Character fact sheet
Name: Toad First Appearance: Super Mario Bros. (1985) at the end of levels Home: The Mushroom Kingdom Voiced by: Samantha Kelly (Also does Peach) Associates: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach Toadstool, and The Toad Brigade. |
General Profile
Toad is Princess Peach’s attendant and a long time protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad can be seen on many adventures helping the Mario Brothers. Toad looks like the rest of his species; he usually wears a blue vest, large brown shoes and a large piece of clothing for pants. In later games Toad’s vest has yellow lining and has a red-spotted mushroom cap.
However in Super Mario Bros. 2 Toad was given a blue mushroom cap instead of a red one. However, Toad’s blue mushroom cap was
actually due to the graphical incapability of the NES rather than a continuity thread. In remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2, such as Super Mario All-Stars, Toad is wearing his signature red mushroom cap.
Toad can sometimes be seen as a coward, but is always happy to try and help Mario. Toad can also get upset and shows to be impatient. Overall though Toad’s good qualities is his loyalty to his friends and his happy excitable nature which encourages the rest of the group.
Toad is surprisingly stronger than Mario and Luigi and is able to run faster than the others. He is generally considered an expert on items, often giving Mario power-ups and telling him what he needs to do.
A video from the writers of the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 showing the way Toad is meant to be portrayed as a character and the concept behind him.
Quotes
“Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!”
— Toad, Super Mario Bros. (1985) — the line that defined a generation
“I’m-a-Toad!”
— Toad, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) onwards
“Yippee!”
— Toad, Mario Party series — his trademark high-pitched cheer
Enemies
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Birdo – Birdo and Toad immediately saw each other as enemies and fought each other in the game. Birdo later appears as one of Toad’s major allies in Wario’s Woods.
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Bowser – Toad, as a loyal servant to Peach has tried to protect her from Bowser, and therefore sees him as an enemy. But as mentioned earlier, he is kidnapped almost as frequently as she is.
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King Koopa – an obvious enemy as he always kidnaps Princess Peach who Toad is a loyal servant too and would do anything to protect her.
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Wario – another enemy of Toad’s, even though he has defeated him before he appears to fear Wario in Super Mario 64 DS.
Friends
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Mario – Although not incredibly close friends, Toad and Mario share a mutual respect for one another and Toad admires Mario’s bravery.
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Luigi – Toad and Luigi are on good terms with each other, however it is often shown that Toad looks down on Luigi and instead gives Mario more attention.
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Princess Peach – Toad is Princess Peach’s obedient servant, and he would do anything to protect her. Toad frequently asks the Mario brothers for help when Peach has been kidnapped.
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Toadette – Toadette was introduced as Toad’s partner, which has been continued throughout spin-off games. Their relationship is questionable as Mario party 6 indicates they are good friends where as Mario Kart wii refers to them as brother and sister.
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Yoshi – Toad sees Yoshi as both a hero and as a friend
Appearances
Since his debut appearance in Super Mario Bros, he once made many appearances in the mainstream Mario games, but has lately been reduced to being a playable character in the Mario spin-off titles, while Toadsworth has taken over many of his previous roles.
Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Toad’s very first appearance was as the seven Mushroom Retainers Mario rescues at the end of each world castle. Each one tells Mario the now-iconic line “Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!” — a phrase that has since become permanently embedded in gaming culture.
Super Mario Bros. 2 / USA (1988)
Toad first became playable in Super Mario Bros. 2, the Western retitling of Doki Doki Panic. He was the fastest of the four characters but had the weakest jump — a perfect counterpart to slow but high-jumping Luigi.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) & New Super Mario Bros. U (2012)
Toad returned as a playable character (in his Yellow and Blue variants) in the 4-player co-op New Super Mario Bros. titles — the first time multiple Toads were playable in a 2D Mario platformer.
Super Mario Galaxy (2007) & Galaxy 2 (2010)
Toad and his fellow Toad Brigade members provide most of the supporting cast for the Mario Galaxy games, with their boss Captain Toad making his first major appearance here.
Super Mario 3D World (2013) & Bowser’s Fury (2021)
Toad becomes one of the four core playable characters in Super Mario 3D World, alongside Mario, Luigi and Peach. Toad is the fastest of the four, with a more limited jump — a callback to his SMB2 stats.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014 / 2018)
Captain Toad got his first solo starring role with this puzzle-platformer originally on Wii U, re-released for Switch and 3DS in 2018. The game puts Toad through dozens of bite-sized levels, hunting treasure across a series of clever miniature dioramas.
Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe (2014 / 2017) & Mario Kart World (2025)
Toad has been a Mario Kart staple since the very first Super Mario Kart in 1992, with his lightweight class making him a popular pick for time-trial speedrunners. He returns playable in Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl onwards (2008–present)
Toad has appeared in every Super Smash Bros. game since Melee — originally as one of Peach’s shield moves, where she pulls him out to absorb attacks. He returns in this role through to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018).
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023) & Switch 2 Edition (2025)
Toad (in his Yellow variant) is one of the lineup of playable characters in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, returning for the expanded Switch 2 Edition with Bellabel Park meetup in 2025.
Trivia & Official Sources
- The Toad we know today is not a single character but a member of the Toad species — the mushroom-headed inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. The iconic red-spotted Toad is sometimes referred to as “Captain Toad” in newer games, with other Toads in blue, yellow and green.
- Toad’s line “Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!” first appeared in the original Super Mario Bros. (1985) and is one of the most-quoted lines in all of gaming. The Mushroom Retainers who deliver it are technically all separate Toads.
- According to MarioWiki, Toad has been voiced by Samantha Kelly since Mario Strikers Charged (2007), giving him his distinctive high-pitched voice across modern Mario games.
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014) was Toad’s first standalone starring role — a puzzle-platformer originally for Wii U, later ported to Switch and 3DS.
- In Super Mario Bros. 2 Toad was Mario’s first sidekick to be playable in a mainline platformer, several years before Luigi got equal status. His speed and weak jump made him a deliberate counterbalance to Luigi’s slow run but high jump.
- Toad makes a brief cameo appearance in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. He plays a significant role as Mario’s guide through the Mushroom Kingdom.
- The original Japanese name of Toad is Kinopio (キノピオ), a portmanteau of “Kinoko” (mushroom) and “Pinocchio” — the European fairy tale puppet who came to life.