Yoshi

**Yoshi** (ヨッシー *Yoshi***?**) is a Yoshi, who lives in Yoshi's Island. Yoshi assisted Mario while he was a baby and rescued Luigi and the stork.

In the main series, Yoshi is a deuteragonist and Mario's sidekick. In his series, Yoshi is the main protagonist. He debuted in Super Mario World, claiming that he was trapped in an egg.

## Contents

* Profile
	+ Physical description
	+ Personality traits
	+ Powers and abilities
		- Powers
		- Abilities
* Biography
	+ Meeting Mario
	+ Dinosaur Island
* Appearances
* Behind the scenes
	+ Creation and development
	+ Etymology
* Real-world influences
	+ Cultural impact
	+ Reception
* Notes
* Trivia
* Gallery
* Quotes Link
* References
* See also:
* External links
* Navigation

## Profileedit | edit source

### Physical descriptionedit | edit source

Yoshi is a little green dinosaur-like creature that helps his friend Mario on various quests, serving as transportation. He has light green skin. His stomach, chest and mouth are white. He has two big blue eyes, round cheeks, and a big round nose. On his nape, he has three red spikes. On his back has a red saddle that can be used for riding him and he has orange shoes on his feet. In some rare cases, he is without shoes, when he does it, he reveals he has padded feet. He has a long sticky tongue that can be used for swallowing enemies.

### Personality traitsedit | edit source

Yoshi is kind and generous and childish at times. He loves his friends and is very compassionate and playful.

### Powers and abilitiesedit | edit source

#### Powersedit | edit source

* **Flutter Jump**: Yoshi's unique ability allows him to stall in the air for a short duration.
* **Super Eating**: Yoshi can eat enemies and trap them in eggs.
* **Shell Fusion**: As seen in *Super World*, by eating a certain color shell of a Koopa Troopa, Yoshi can gain certain powers by either spitting the shell out or keeping it in his mouth until he swallows it.
	+ **Red:** By eating a Koopa with a red shell, Yoshi can spit out three fireballs that travel in the direction he is facing. This can be useful in taking out enemies from afar.
	+ **Blue:** By eating a Koopa with a blue shell and keeping it in his mouth, Yoshi will grow wings and will be able to fly for a short time. This is needed for a level where Yoshi must fly underneath it in order to get to the secret exit. This doesn't last long as when Yoshi eventually swallows the shell, he loses his wings.
	+ **Yellow:** By eating a Koopa with a yellow shell and keeping it in his mouth, Yoshi gains a stomping ability when he jumps in the air. This lasts until he either swallows the shell or spits it back out.
	+ **Green:** Eating a Koopa with a green shell doesn't do much special ability-wise as Yoshi simply spits the shell back out. However, the can be used to defeat any enemies ahead from a distance without worry.

#### Abilitiesedit | edit source

* **Athleticism**: Yoshi participates events in *Mario & Sonic* series, with his athleticism aligning with other *Mario & Sonic* participants.
* **Vehicular Combat**: In *Mario Kart* series, Yoshi can attack with Item Boxes. This ability also applies to other *Mario Kart* contestants.

## Biographyedit | edit source

### Meeting Marioedit | edit source

Yoshi took a walk at Yoshi's Land. When Baby Mario landed on Yoshi, Yoshi decided to take Mario to his clan. The clan Yoshis panicked and yelled at each other to what to do for Baby Mario. Baby Mario points at something, sensing Baby Luigi's location. Yoshis agree to carry the baby to its destination. Yoshis carried Baby Mario safely one-by-one to reach to King Bowser's Castle. Yoshi fought Baby Bowser, Kamek enhanced his size for Baby Bowser to continue the battle. Yoshi defeated Baby Bowser, then Kamek took Baby Bowser and left. Yoshi rescued Baby Luigi and the stork. Baby Bowser's castle collapsed and Yoshi marked the flag on his map. The stork set his duty to send Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their parents' house.

### Dinosaur Islandedit | edit source

Yoshi's friends have been captured by Bowser. When Yoshi tried to rescue his friends, Bowser trapped him inside an egg and he needed help.

Mario went to Dinosaur Land to have a vacation with Luigi and Peach. However, Bowser kidnapped Peach without Mario and Luigi knowing.

Mario spots an egg. Curious, Mario opens it, only to reveal Yoshi. Yoshi thanked Mario and they joined forces. Mario and Yoshi ventured together and rescued the princess. Peach thanks Yoshi for helping Mario.

## Appearancesedit | edit source

*Main article: Yoshi (character)/Appearances*
## Behind the scenesedit | edit source

### Creation and developmentedit | edit source

Yoshi's concept artfully differs from his current appearance. Nintendo developers came up with the idea of Mario riding onto Yoshi, but they could not do it on the Famicom.

### Etymologyedit | edit source

*Yoshi* has different scripts in Japanese. They mean "good luck", "righteous" and "good, virtuous, respectable" respectively. The "good luck" may relate to the event when Baby Mario happened to land onto Yoshi's back.

## Real-world influencesedit | edit source

### Cultural impactedit | edit source

In Tokyo, people dress up as different *Mario* characters and ride on karts.

On the internet, **Yoshi Committed Tax Fraud** is a meme refers to jokes that Yoshi illegally evaded paying his taxes; it has lasted since 2016. The meme may also be based off his quote in *Fortune Street*.

### Receptionedit | edit source

Brad Fear (from WhatCulture!) considered Yoshi to be #1 on "20 Top Video Game Sidekicks Of All Time" on his blog. Lit Lists has placed Yoshi #3 on the list as "10 Of The Best Mario Characters", having a "variety of abilities that stand out relative to other characters in the Mario series".

## Triviaedit | edit source

* Yoshi was originally supposed to be a type of Koopa, and the saddle on his back would have been his shell.
* In some Mario games (such as in *Super Mario Sunshine*), Yoshi can't swim; however in *Super Mario 64 DS*, he is the fastest swimmer.
* Yoshi appeared as a doll in *The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening*.
* A picture of Yoshi can be found in Hyrule Castle Courtyard in *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time*. This picture was omitted from the 3D remake.
* Yoshi and Mario appeared in *Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes* as dolls on Otacon's desk. When the doll was shot, it made the famous Yoshi sound and shooting Mario made the 1up sound effect, refilling Snake's health. Yoshi also appeared in *Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D* as an easter egg.
* Yoshi was named after Yoshio Sakamoto (Director of Metroid series) due to the friendship between him and Shigeru Miyamoto.
* Yoshi did appear in *Super Mario 64* as a non-playable character, but appeared in the DS version as a starting character.
* In *Mario Kart 64*, Yoshi's sound effects are when Mario sits on him from *Super Mario World*.
* The furniture item Yoshi's Egg in *Animal Crossing: City Folk*, and Animal Crossing: New Leaf when activated, bounces and makes his famous Yoshi sound.
* Yoshi (along with Mario) had a cameo in *Donkey Kong Country 2* as one of Cranky's Video Game Heroes. Yoshi is in second place (third if the player beats Mario's first place score) with 29 DK Coins.
* In *Super Mario World*, it seems that Mario is actually hitting Yoshi to make Yoshi extend it's tongue. Mario actually points but does not have a finger pointing animation and Mario's hand animation seems like his fist is always bald up. Mario hand or "fist" goes diagonally when Mario is trying to make Yoshi extend it's tongue indicating that he is pointing.
* Yoshi's full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. This was shown in a Nintendo Character Guide published in 1993 and came to light on August 6, 2014.
* Yoshi was the main star of 3 Nintendo puzzle games, *Yoshi* (a.k.a. *Yoshi's Egg* by Game Freak), *Yoshi's Cookie* by TOSE, and *Tetris Attack* by Intelligent Systems (a western adaptation of *Panel de Pon*). He was also the main star of the Super NES game, *Yoshi's Safari* and a sidekick to Luigi in a 3rd party spin-off game, *Mario is Missing*.
* Yoshi can speak English, first time speaking in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.
* Yoshi's gender can never be fully confirmed. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Yoshi was called an "asexual", it can simply produce its own eggs on its own, like Birdo. But in instruction booklets Yoshi is sometimes referred to as "he"; as seen in many games too like *Mario Party 3*.

## Referencesedit | edit source

1. ↑ Jenna (2017-05-02). So This is Yoshi's Real Name. *IGN*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
2. ↑ *Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island* instruction booklet (English), page 3-6
3. ↑ Super Mario World – 1990 Developer Interview. *shmuplations*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03. “The biggest thing was not having to worry about the hardware limitations like we did in the Famicom days. One specific example would be Mario riding Yoshi: we came up with that idea a long time ago, but couldn’t do it on the Famicom. I’m really happy we finally got to realize that in SMW.”
4. ↑ AWOL (2016-11-30). Um, Guys, You Can Go Real-Life Mario Karting In Tokyo. *AWOL*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
5. ↑ Yoshi Committed Tax Fraud. *Know Your Meme*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
6. ↑ Hard Evidence. *Know Your Meme*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
8. ↑ Brad Fear (2011-11-23). 20 Top Video Game Sidekicks Of All Time. *WhatCulture!*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
9. ↑ 10 Of The Best Mario Characters. *Lit Lists* (2019-08-06). Retrieved on 2020-04-03.

## External linksedit | edit source

* Yoshi on Nintendo Wiki.
* Yoshi on Smashpedia.
* Yoshi on Yoshi Wiki.

## Navigationedit | edit source

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.