Toad (Mario)

is a fictional character in Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. series of video games. In the game series, Toad is Princess Peach's attendant. He is also a friend of Mario and Luigi. Toad first appeared in Super Mario Bros, but didn't have a name. He became a playable character in *Super Mario Bros. 2*. He also appeared in Mario Kart, in Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy and many other games. He also shares many similarities with the blue toad in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. On the television series based on the games, Toad gave Mario information and sometimes Power Stars. He was a recurring member in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. In that series, he would help his friends whenever they needed it. The character on the show was voiced by John Stocker. Toad looks like a small man with a mushroom-like hat. He also wears a vest and shoes.

## Development
Toad and the species were first seen in the game *Super Mario Bros.*. Toad's design was made directly from the power up, the Super Mushroom as well as the game's general use with mushrooms. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario series, made a reason that Toad's creation was that of being a character that has a simplistic design; yet, still appears cute and lovely and pleases to everybody. In the game, the peaceful Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom had been turned into various objects such as bricks and pipes by the evil King Bowser; however, some of Princess Toadstool's loyal servants, known as the "Mushroom Retainers" were simply kidnapped. During the making of *New Super Mario Bros. Wii*, the developers at Nintendo decided between four characters to be playable in the game: Princess Peach, Toad, Wario and Waluigi (all suggestions made by fans). Two Toads (yellow and blue) were eventually included as playable characters in *New Super Mario Bros. Wii* due to their physical similarity to Mario and Luigi.

## Promotion and reception
Toad is considered one of the major Mario series characters, because he is playable and appears in many of the games. Toad appears in lots of Mario merchandise, such as toys, plushies, and keychains, among other things. Toad is featured in Nintendo's board games such as being on the protagonist side in the Mario themed chess set, as well as being a purchasable character in the Nintendo Monopoly game. In Animal Crossing: City Folk, Toad's hat is available after getting 3000 points in Tom Nook's Point Tracking system.

*Black Pear Tree*, an EP by The Mountain Goats and Kaki King, features a song titled "Thank You Mario But Our Princess is in Another Castle," sung from the view of Toad. Toad ranked in the seventh slot on Game Daily's top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games list; the site explained that he has a strong appeal that Nintendo has yet to tap into. Toad is listed as number two in the most neglected Mario Bros. characters list as he has been described by the site to have been ignored by Nintendo for quite a while due to the lack of starring roles he gets in the more recent games. In an Oricon poll from 2008, Toad was voted as the eighth most popular video game character in Japan. IGN editor Matt Casamassina criticized Nintendo for including the Toads over more notable characters in the *Mario* series for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, arguing that the developers were being lazy to not include other characters because the Toads were easier to make.

## References