Toad

> “M-M-M-M-M-M-M-Mario! Help! It's Sh-sh-sh-sh-shocking... Mushroom Castle... RAIDED! Princess Peach... STOLEN!”
>
> —Toad, Super Paper Mario

## Character info

### Item

Triple Mushrooms

**Toad** is a character who is Princess Peach's attendant and a longtime protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. He is actually a singular character among an entire species of look-alikes (much like Yoshi is to the Yoshi species), leading to confusion over some of his appearances. He usually has the role of a supporting character who tries to help Mario and Luigi on their adventures, although he occasionally has been a main protagonist, such as in *Super Mario Bros. 2*, *Super Mario 3D World*, and his starring roles in *Wario's Woods* and *Kinopio Live*. His role as Peach's steward has sometimes instead been given to Toadsworth.

He also appears regularly as a playable character in the *Mario* spin-offs. Since *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!*, Toad's partner in spin-offs has been Toadette. Toad's defining traits are his cartoonish and cutesy appearance, his optimism and humble, his sometimes cowardly personality, and his characteristic smile and voice.

## History

### *Super Mario* series

#### *Super Mario Bros. 2*

While often retroactively believed to be one of the Toads in the original *Super Mario Bros.*, the individual character Toad did not debut until *Super Mario Bros. 2*. In the game, he, along with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool go on a picnic at the beginning of the game. As they head out, the four heroes soon discover a cave that leads to the strange world known as Subcon. Upon reaching the mythical area, Toad and his friends then learn that the once peaceful land is now ruled by the tyrannical toad, Wart. Agreeing to stop Wart and bring peace to the land, the quartet immediately set off to defeat the villain and rescue the original inhabitants of Subcon. Toad, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool eventually defeat the evil tyrant toad after traveling through the mystical land and defeating Wart's army (the 8 bits). Upon Wart's defeat, Toad and his friends then go on to save the people of Subcon, thus bringing peace to the land. At the end of the game, however, it is revealed that the events of the game were just a part of Mario's dream.

Gameplay-wise, Toad is the worst jumper, but he is extremely fast when it comes to picking vegetables or digging through sand. He also is super speedy, making him the fastest of the four characters, being the only character who runs faster than normal while carrying a "heavy" object that would slow the other characters down. While being the weakest jumper, Toad is capable of overcoming this problem by performing a Power Squat Jump (a jump that is twice as strong as his regular jumps).

### *Mario Kart* series

#### *Super Mario Kart*

Toad is playable in *Super Mario Kart*, as a lightweight character. His signature color is blue (the color of his vest) since Mario occupies red. Whenever Toad is left as a CPU or a non player character, his special ability is throwing Poison Mushrooms that make another player shrink when hit (an ability that he shares with Princess Toadstool). However, Toad cannot use this ability whenever he is chosen as the player's character (as like any of the other playable characters and their exclusive abilities when chosen as non player characters).

#### *Mario Kart 64*

Toad is also playable in *Mario Kart 64*, and he also has his own course, Toad's Turnpike. Like in the first game, he is again a lightweight character; however, this time he shares this weight classification with Princess Peach and Yoshi.

#### *Mario Kart: Super Circuit*

Toad re-appears in *Mario Kart: Super Circuit* as one of the two lightest and fastest characters in the game - the other being Princess Peach. As like the past *Mario Kart* titles, Toad's greatest attribute in this game is acceleration (which contributes to his high speed statistic in the game).

#### *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!*

Toad and Toadette in *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!*
Toad is given a partner in *Mario Kart: Double Dash!!*, Toadette. His and Toadette's special item is the Golden Mushroom. Along with Toadette and their kart, the Toad Kart, Toad is featured as an unlockable character, marking the only time he is unlockable in the *Mario Kart* series. He is unlocked by completing the Special Cup on the 100cc mode.

While he does not have his own track in this game, artwork of Toad (taken from *Super Mario Sunshine*) can be seen on a billboard at Peach Beach and several banners of him can be spotted throughout the beginning sector of Yoshi Circuit.

#### *Mario Kart Arcade GP*

Toad in *Mario Kart Arcade GP* Toad makes an appearance in arcade exclusive game *Mario Kart Arcade GP* as a playable racer. Featured as a light weight character, Toad's special items in this game are the Miracle Mushroom, Poison Mushroom, Mushroom Hammer, and Mushroom Powder.

#### *Mario Kart DS*

In *Mario Kart DS*, Toad is a default playable character and is of the lightweight class. He has three personal karts which consist of the following: the Standard TD, the Mushmellow, and the 4-Wheel Cradle. Alongside being playable in Grand Prix mode, Toad is the main character in one of the boss races in Mission Mode. In this mission, he races against the Goomboss throughout the race course Baby Park. Toad also appears in many other instances of the Mission Mode (most of which involve Toad racing through numbered gates).

#### *Mario Kart Arcade GP 2*

Toad appears in the sequel to the exclusive arcade version of *Mario Kart* in *Mario Kart Arcade GP 2*. Toad is featured as one of the three easy control racers (the other two characters under this classification are Ms. Pac-Man and Mametchi). The special items featured for Toad in this game are the same as the ones he had in the original *Mario Kart Arcade GP* title.

While he does not have his own race course in the game, Toad does receive a few notable cameos within several other courses. In the course Yoshi Park 1, large paper cutout figures of Toad (done in the art style of the *Yoshi's Island* and *Yoshi's Story* games) can be spotted throughout the course including in the section depicting cakes and sweets where figures of Toad and Yoshi can be seen to be baking cakes together. In the course Yoshi Park 2, figures of Toad along with Toadette and Toadsworth can be seen in the beginning part of the Trick House area.

#### *Mario Kart Wii*

Toad takes to the wheel once again in *Mario Kart Wii*, as a small-sized driver. He has his own track in this game, Toad's Factory. Toad is given a good acceleration and drift bonus, which made vehicles like the Cheep Charger and Bullet Bike accelerate and drift better than normal. Toad and Toadette have the same vehicles, but they are available in different colors (Toad in blue, Toadette in magenta). He is also the staff ghost of Toad's Factory. Toad is tied with Princess Peach and Waluigi for having the best drift and acceleration stats respectively in the game.

#### *Mario Kart 7*

Toad in *Mario Kart 7*
Toad is also a playable character in *Mario Kart 7* for the Nintendo 3DS. Like in the previous installments, he is one of the default playable racers in the game and is a Feather-weight character whose greatest attribute is his acceleration. In this game he has his own track, Toad Circuit (which serves as the first course in the Grand Prix mode).

#### *Mario Kart 8* / *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*

Toad returns in *Mario Kart 8* for the Wii U once again as a default lightweight character, only this time as a heavy lightweight. This means that his acceleration, handling, and traction stats are reduced to increase his speed and weight stats. He shares this trait with Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, Toadette, Lakitu, Larry, Wendy, and Isabelle.

Toad owns two race courses, which are the new Toad Harbor and returning N64 Toad's Turnpike (the latter being his staff ghost course).

Like the previous games, Toad uses blue as his main color scheme. This color is used for every color-changing vehicle parts and gliders that Toad uses, such as the Circuit Special, Super Glider, and Pipe Frame. His secondary color is red, which is used for the Sneeker and Sport Bike. As CPU controlled Toad will sometimes use the Sneeker.

Toad also appears on posters for the sponsors Galaxy Air and the 1-Up Mushroom Car Insurance Group.

Toad returns in the Nintendo Switch port *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe* where he now only shares stats with Shy Guy and Larry and is the heaviest of all the five groups of lightweights. He has the highest top speed and weight of all the lightweights, but has the lowest acceleration and traction stats of the entire lightweights.

#### *Mario Kart Tour*

Toad appears in *Mario Kart Tour* as one of the starting playable characters, with the other two potential starters being Toadette and Peachette. If either Toadette or Peachette is given as the starting character, Toad is unlockable as a Super character; his special item is the Triple Mushrooms. Toad is also a playable character in the tutorial, and when the in-game update data is being downloaded.

In addition, during the New Year's Tour, Toad received an alternate form called **Toad (Party Time)**, who is classified as a spotlight High-End driver and uses the Mushroom Cannon as his special item, as well as utilizing as his special kart and glider the Glam Bruiser and Fireworks Parachute, respectively. On April 22, 2020, Builder Toad with his blue-spotted appearance in *Super Mario Maker 2* was featured as a spotlight High-End driver for the Trick Tour alongside Builder Mario to promote the final major update for said game. He is classified as a lightweight driver, and has a Bob-omb Cannon as its special item.

## Trivia

* Toad's emblem in various games is a mushroom. However, since *Mario Party 7*, this has often been substituted for his own head.
* Toad appears as a property in Nintendo Monopoly. He takes the place of Kentucky Avenue and costs $220.
	+ Toad is also a playable character in Monopoly Gamer. He is sold separately as a "Power Pack" expansion figure.