Yoshi

Princess Yoshi of Domino

White Yoshi (sister)

Yellow Yoshi (brother)

Purple Yoshi (sister)

Black Yoshi (brother)

Yoshi's parents (parents)

Godmother fairy Yoshi (grandmother)

Blue Yoshi (sister)

Cyan Yoshi (sister)

Bowser (enermy)

Mario (friend)

Luigi (friend)

### Affiliation

A mysterious place outside the Mushroom kingdomYoshi castle, Yoshi's Island, Domino

## Physical description

### Fur color

green/white

**Yoshi** (ヨッシー Yosshī?, [jo.ɕːiː]) (English:/ˈjoʊʃi/ or /ˈjɒʃi/), once romanized as Yossy, is a fictional anthropomorphic dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo, and he is a main protagonist in Hello yoshi franchise. She debuted in Super Mario World (1990) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's former sidekick, a role she has often reprised. Following her debut, Yoshi later starred in platform and puzzle games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and Yoshi's Woolly World. Yoshi has also appeared in many of the Mario spin-off games, including Mario Party and Mario Kart, various Mario sports games, and Nintendo's crossover fighting game series Super Smash Bros. Yoshi herself belongs to the species of the same name, which appears in various colors of her siblings.

## Characteristics

Yoshi has a variety of abilities that stand out relative to other characters in the Mario series. Yoshi has a prehensile tongue that can extend a considerable distance to grab distant objects or access otherwise out-of-reach areas. He is also capable of laying distinctive spotted eggs after swallowing objects, which can then be thrown at enemies or objects; eggs are in fact the primary "logo" of Yoshi in multiplayer games. Another of Yoshi's signature techniques is the "Flutter Jump", which is performed by rapidly fluttering of his arms and legs, and is utilized in order to ascend after a jump or delay his descent. Like Mario, Luigi and a few other characters, Yoshi is also a noted user of the "Ground Pound", which involves dropping bottom-first after a jump in order to destroy blocks or damage opponents. Yoshi's large nose unsurprisingly allows for the detection of hidden collectibles as well as flowers by smell and, as demonstrated in the Super Smash Bros. series, aids her offense alongside his eggs, tail, tongue and feet.

While Yoshi himself is green, his species of the same name comes in a variety of colors. This is generally a cosmetic difference so as to indicate different individuals. However, in some games, the color of a Yoshi provides additional abilities: in Super Mario World, red Yoshis can breathe fire, blue Yoshis have wings, and yellow Yoshis produce damaging dust clouds on landing. In other games, eating fruit changes a Yoshi's color and provides an ability; orange, pink and purple Yoshis in Super Mario Sunshine can spit fruit juice to defeat enemies and create platforms, while Yoshi herself can turn red, light blue and yellow in Super Mario Galaxy 2 upon eating certain fruit and thus attain super speed, the ability to inflate like a balloon, or the ability to produce a platform-enabling glow, respectively. Yoshis of various colors appear often in multiplayer games as alternate choices, which may or may not have specific stats.

In Super Mario World, Super Mario Sunshine, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U, either bongos, other appropriate percussion instruments, or even both are added to the level's background music whenever a player rides Yoshi. Also, in New Super Mario Bros. U, a choir is added to the level's background music whenever a player is holding a baby Yoshi. While being ridden, Yoshi acts as an extra hit point; taking damage will cause either Mario or whoever is riding Yoshi to fly off. This makes Yoshi start to panic and run around haphazardly until Yoshi is remounted or falls into an off-screen pit.

Another distinct characteristic is the sounds Yoshis make. Up to and including Mario Party 3, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U, Yoshi's vocals consist of record-scratching noises for positive interactions and whistling noises for negative interactions. In most other games like Yoshi's Story, Super Smash Bros., Mario Tennis, and every other game since Super Smash Bros. Melee, Yoshi's vocals consist of high-pitched babyish squeals along with intelligible words including "Yoshi" and "Nintendo". Yoshi is voiced by Kazumi Totaka, the composer of Yoshi's Story.

## General information

### Physical description and traits

Yoshi, as all other Yoshis, is a dinosaur with a large round nose, a row of orange spines along his head, orange shoes, and a shell-shaped saddle on his back, which is used by Mario and company when being ridden on. Yoshi's initial design is more dinosaur-like, with a narrower, longer, more hunched appearance and shorter arms.[7] He is also noticeably taller than Mario.[8] Since *Mario Kart 64*, however, Yoshi's build has been adjusted to be more anthropomorphic, with an upright posture, longer arms, a bigger head, and a stouter build, although he is still taller than Mario (comparable to Luigi's height). This newer depiction has slowly replaced the older depiction, although by *Mario Party 4*, the older depiction is generally replaced. Notably, Yoshi's initial design is used in the *Paper Mario* series, with the design used in *Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door* following the original design more strictly and *Paper Mario: Color Splash* still using a posture similar to that of the initial design. In recent times, dating at least back to the Mario Hanafuda cards, an alternate modern design of Yoshi was introduced. It features more defined nostrils, eyelids clearly distinct from the brows, a smaller white region on the cheeks, crest spikes pointing downwards and being nearer to each other, and a bigger protrusion behind the eyes. Interestingly, most of these features stem from the original Yoshi design. Said alternate design so far was not adapted into a 3D model; as a result, the artwork used in most games uses the standard modern design, with the main exceptions so far being *Mario Party: Star Rush*, *Super Mario Maker 2*, and the launch artwork of *Mario Kart Tour* (that then uses the standard modern design in its badges and icons).

Yoshi's saddle is considered his shell. A few sources, such as *Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games*[9] or the official Japanese bio from Nintendo's own site, have stated that it is actually a shell, and more recent depictions show it as a shell-like swelling rather than a flat or inwardly curved saddle. Eventually, in 2017 an interview on *Super Mario World* confirmed that Yoshi's saddle has always been a shell from the beginning.[10] Nonetheless, specific depictions of Baby Yoshi from *Super Mario World* and *New Super Mario Bros. U* are shown without a saddle, although other depictions of Baby Yoshi, such as from *Yoshi's Story*, do include this saddle.

Yoshi is known for having a long red tongue, often used for picking up objects or swallowing them, although it is capable of assisting acrobatic maneuvers, such as its interaction with Flower Grapples in *Super Mario Galaxy 2*. Yoshi can also use this tongue as a physical weapon, shown in *Mario Strikers Charged* and as a custom move in *Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS* / *Wii U*. Even though he is usually shown without visible teeth, in his older design he actually has both a set of upper teeth and lower teeth as shown in *Super Mario Story Quiz Picture Book 2: Mario's Sports Day*,[11] and *Super Mario Chie Asobi Ehon ④ Larry No Itazura* (*Super Mario Wisdom Games Picture Book ④ Larry's Mischief*),[12] with *Yoshi's Island DS* showing that his new design still has a full set of teeth.[13]

Yoshi is always seen wearing his orange shoes, although in *Super Mario Story Quiz Picture Book 5: Mario's Amusement Park* (「スーパーマリオおはなしクイズえほん 5 マリオの ゆうえんち」), a book published by Shogakukan and written in collaboration with Nintendo,[14] it was revealed that he has green feet with three toes and a single white pad on each of them. The orange shade in this shoe has varied across appearances, from brownish to reddish. Some games call these shoes "boots" such as the equipment Yoshi can wear in *Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS* / *Wii U*. These shoes protect Yoshi from obstacles normally harmful to Mario, such as Munchers and spikes (although in *Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island* and its successors, spikes can defeat Yoshi in one hit), so Yoshi can allow Mario to safely cross them. Additionally, Yoshi, when stomping on enemies, typically defeats them in one hit with a special sound effect, similar to Mario's Spin Jump.

Like with all other *Mario* characters that are featured in the *Super Smash Bros.* series, Yoshi's appearance is heavily altered. In the first *Super Smash Bros.*, Yoshi's design takes after his *Super Mario 64* appearance, though with minor adjustments. In *Super Smash Bros. Melee*, Yoshi's color scheme is darker, and he stands with a more realistic dinosaur stance; additionally, his skin is also mottled. In *Super Smash Bros. Brawl*, Yoshi is redesigned to match his current appearance, with him standing in a more upright posture, though his color scheme is even darker than before; also, many of his actions are still performed in a hunched stature. *Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS* / *Wii U* gives Yoshi a more vibrant, cartoonish color scheme (the same applies to his alternate skins), while further adjusting his posture, which also extends to some of his attacks involving his legs. In *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, Yoshi's color scheme is subdued (though mostly vibrant overall).

Normally, Yoshi does not wear clothes (shoes nonwithstanding), although exceptions can be found with the Yoshi from *Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door*, who wore polka-dotted pants of varying colors, his Reindeer outfit in *Mario Kart Tour*, which had Yoshi wearing reindeer antlers, a jingle-bell collar, red shoes with a white trim, and a red circular nose on his snout, and his Egg Hunt outfit in the same game, where he wears the cracked top and bottom halves of an easter egg.

Yoshi/List of Yoshi's Overview

### Speech

Prior to the SNES version of *Yoshi's Cookie* and especially *Yoshi's Story*, with the last game to use it being *Mario Party 3*, Yoshi's "speech" was a sound effect consisting of two pitch-bent orchestra hits.[15] Although it has been largely retired to some extent for Yoshi's current appearances, it does appear to a certain extent in *Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3* when Yoshi retrieves Baby Mario, and out-of-series in *Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes* as well as *Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D*. Yoshi's speech capabilities are rather limited since his most common phrase is his name (sometimes adding exclamations or tones of surprise to make his speech sound different depending on his emotions). Yoshi's voice actor, Kazumi Totaka, also provides him with various grunts and yells, though almost none of them are actual words. The only known instances that Yoshi was shown to speak in the *Mario* games are *Super Mario World* (when Mario is first introduced to him, and to a lesser extent, the message box at his house), *Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars* (which also has him acting as the translator of various Yoshis), the initial release of *Super Mario 64* (where he gives Mario a message congratulating him on 120 Stars), and *Tetris Attack* (where he provides tutorials and tips for the player and has more lines than any other character in the game). However, all of these were given in text. In *Yoshi's Story*, Yoshi still says his name, but like the rest of his species, he also uses nonsensical words such as "Ho hup" and "Blum," which have no true discernible meaning. However, Yoshi is capable of saying exclamations such as "Yeah!", "Oh, yeah!", and "Woohoo!" as well as "No!!!" in various *Mario* spinoffs, though this trait is somewhat rare. It is known that Yoshi is capable of saying the word "Smash!" as heard in *Mario Power Tennis*. In DIC Entertainment's *Super Mario World* television series, Yoshi can speak intelligibly, with his exclamations completely ignored. Yoshi exhibits the ability to speak intelligibly in *Super Mario-Kun*, where he is depicted as a more childish character; as a result, he is easily excitable and yells on a frequent basis. In stark contrast, Yoshi cannot speak fully in *Nintendo Power'*s *Mario* comic series (most notably *Super Mario Adventures*), where he reverts to solely saying his own name. However, Friendly Floyd has a translation book of the Yoshi language, so it is (somewhat) possible to understand what Yoshi is saying. Yoshi also speaks intelligibly in the *Club Nintendo* comics.

### Nature of the species

In the West, Yoshi is known to be a *dinosaur* since his introduction in *Super Mario World*.[17] Likely due to dinosaurs being known in Japan as *scary dragons* (「恐竜」), in the original Japanese manual of said game, he was introduced as a *dragon* (「ドラゴン」),[18] and in the game, Yoshi himself signed his message in Yoshi's House referring to him as *Super Dragon Yoshi* (「スーパードラゴン ヨッシー」).[19] He was as well explicitly referred to as a *dinosaur* in the *Nintendo Official Guidebook* of *Super Mario World*.[20] Yoshi being a dragon was reconfirmed as well in *Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2*[21] and in the Western localizations of *Super Mario Galaxy 2*, since in the Peewee Piranha's Speed Run mission of Sky Station Galaxy, on the sign that Yoshi has put up, Yoshi states that he is a *space dragon*. Nonetheless, in his commentary on the *Super Mario History Booklet*, released in 2010, Takashi Tezuka stated that *Yoshi was originally supposed to be a type of Koopa*.[22] Him possibly being a turtle rather than a dinosaur was then suggested in his official bio of the Kids section of Nintendo Co., Ltd.'s site, published in 2016,[23] with Tezuka eventually confirming in a 2017 interview about *Super Mario World* and reconfirming in a 2019 interview about *Yoshi's Crafted World* that Yoshi is indeed a turtle.

In *Mario Kart Tour*, several badges that could be obtained by using drivers with a shell could be obtained by using Yoshi, marking the first time Yoshi having a shell affected gameplay while indirectly grouping Yoshi among the other turtles featured in the game as well. The Holiday Tour challenge that required the user to *Earn a score of 7,000 or higher using a driver wearing a shell* even featured Yoshi in its badge.

### Powers and abilities

Like other Yoshis, Yoshi has a long, sticky tongue that he uses to eat almost anything, even things much larger than himself. Yoshi can transform the enemies and other objects he eats into eggs, which he can then use as projectile weapons. During the events of *Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island* and *Yoshi's Island DS*, Yoshi could keep up to six eggs at a time or up to four Huffin' Puffins, which would return to him as if they were boomerangs and were renewable.

Yoshi can also transform things that he eats into other objects. For example, in *Super Mario World*, after Yoshi ate an enemy, one coin would be added to Mario's coin total. The green dinosaur could also transform berries into eggs. However, instead of using them as projectiles, these eggs would break apart and reveal items, including Super Mushrooms and strange, smiling clouds that would drop coins. In *Super Mario RPG*, Yoshi could eat enemies to produce eggs that would break apart to reveal a variety of helpful (and often rare) items. In *Super Mario Galaxy 2,* Yoshi could eat enemies to produce Star Bits.

Despite his egg-laying abilities, Yoshi is considered male in most regions. However, Shigeru Miyamoto has gone on record and stated he is not sure if Yoshi is male or female.[25] It could be that Yoshi does not officially have an assigned gender, as the original Japanese does not use gender pronouns.

Yoshi has a hard time swallowing Koopa shells. In fact, in *Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island*, Yoshi had to spit out Koopa shells before he could eat another enemy. In *Super Mario World*, Yoshi could eventually swallow a Koopa shell but could also use it to boost his own abilities. While Yoshi could only spit out a Green Shell, he would instead shoot three large fireballs after ingesting a Red Shell. A Yellow Shell allowed Yoshi to create sand clouds whenever he jumped and hit the ground, destroying nearby enemies. A Blue Shell provided one of the two ways to turn Yoshi into his Winged Yoshi form, allowing him to fly for a limited amount of time. However, if a shell were left in Yoshi's mouth for too long, he would inevitably swallow the shell and, as such, lose any abilities he may have possessed.

Yoshi is very proficient with jumping and ground-pounding abilities, rivaling the capabilities of world-renown jumper Mario. However, in *Super Mario World*, Yoshi's jump attacks were much more powerful than Mario's normal jump attacks. Yoshi could destroy most enemies in one hit (i.e., a Koopa would be completely destroyed, not sent flying out of its shell). As such, Yoshi's jump had the same power as Mario's special Spin Jump technique. Yoshi is also a master of the Flutter Jump technique, allowing him to jump with incredible horizontal distance. Yoshi is also capable of creating shockwaves with his Ground Pound, which can be seen when using the Team Jump technique in *Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle*.

Yoshi is a speed character in several sports games, such as the *Mario Tennis* series, which shows that he is a fast runner. However, he is not particularly fast in every game, such as *Super Mario 64 DS*, where his speed is the same as Mario and Luigi's (according to the instruction booklet).

According to *Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars*, Yoshi is one of the few members of his species who can speak the language of the other characters; however, it seems that this is not his first language, since, as in other games, his statements are translated through parentheses.

Yoshi's Spells

### Personality

Yoshi has a very similar personality to Mario, being brave and kind, albeit underdeveloped. Yoshi is a friendly individual who always lends a helping hand to those in need. He could be considered a hero and has helped his friends, defeated the evil King Bowser Koopa, and saved his island more than once. He is also very courageous, allowing the green dinosaur to stand and fight enemies much larger than himself, including Yoob, an enlarged Bowser, Nep-Enuts, Tap-Tap the Golden, and the gigantic Baby Bowser. As a result of this courage, Yoshi often takes on a leadership position to the Yoshi clan, although Yoshi has no official political status (unlike the Village Leader from Lavalava Island). In fact, when Yoshi was offered a leadership position during the events of *Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars*, the humble dinosaur declined the position. Like Mario, Yoshi has a large appetite, to the point of outright gluttony. While Yoshi eats mostly fruits (mainly melons), he eats almost anything, including enemies (except peppers and certain inedible enemies).

## Relationships

### Friends

Yoshi is one of Mario's closest friends, with their relationship stretching back to Mario's birth, when Yoshi helped reunite the newborn Baby Mario with his kidnapped brother, Baby Luigi. Mario, as an adult, has returned the favor in *Yoshi's New Island* by handing Yoshi powerful items if Yoshi is struggling in the level. Later, Mario has helped free Yoshi's homeland from Bowser in *Super Mario World*. Mario and Yoshi share loyalty to one another, with Yoshi often aiding Mario on his journeys by acting as his steed. This relationship is more pronounced in *Super Mario-Kun*. While the Mario and Yoshi are great friends, Yoshi often makes mistakes, much to Mario's annoyance, such as in volume 1 where Yoshi eats a map, so the two frequently bicker. Despite this, when Yoshi is in danger, even when he is manipulated, Mario risks himself to save Yoshi, shown in volume 23. *Super Smash Bros. Brawl* takes Yoshi's relationship to a more negative level, since the dinosaur and Link aggressively attack Mario and Pit for defeating "Zelda" (who was a false clone trying to turn the former duo into trophies). Similarly, when Yoshi and Link defeat False Peach, Mario misinterprets them as defeating the real Peach, so he decides to fight the duo, with Pit following suit. However, Yoshi and Mario realize the error in their ways and team up as usual to fight Tabuu and the Subspace Army. Yoshi and Luigi are also good friends and allies, although their chemistry in the *Mario* baseball games is neutral. Other characters Yoshi is friends with include Princess Peach and Toad, and he is also on good terms with Donkey Kong more often than not.

### Enemies

Kamek is one of Yoshi's most persistent enemies. Kamek, devoted to the Koopa Troop, views Yoshi and his friends as a major threat and attempts multiple times to hinder their progress to save Baby Luigi. He often transforms normal enemies into bosses, but he additionally kidnaps the stork several times. Kamek, prior to a boss fight, frequently insults Yoshi and his friends, such as calling Yellow Yoshi an "overgrown lizard." With a condescending tone, he threatens or tries to trick Yoshi to give Baby Mario to him. Bowser, who has close ties to Kamek, is also one of Yoshi's major enemies. When Bowser is a baby, he often causes trouble for the Yoshis ranging from stealing cookies to kidnapping the Super Happy Tree. While Baby Bowser once teamed up with the Yoshis and the other babies in *Yoshi's Island DS*, he eventually betrayed them in the end in favor. Yoshi, without Mario's direct aid, has also faced against and defeated adult Bowser several times, such as in *Yoshi Topsy-Turvy*, *Yoshi's Island DS*, and *Yoshi's New Island*.

## Voice Actors

* Andrew Sabiston (formerly)
* Chika Sakamoto (japanese, formerly)
* Tara Strong (current)
* Kazumi Totaka (japanese, current)

## Trivia

* Yoshi's kart's horn in *Mario Kart DS* and *Mario Kart 8* sounds similar to the sound heard when mounting on Yoshi in certain *Mario* games.
* In *Super Mario Sunshine*, Yoshi can perform Triple Jumps, Spin Jumps, and Ground Pounds but not Side Somersaults. In *Super Mario Galaxy 2*, this is reversed, as Yoshi can perform Side Somersaults but not Triple Jumps, Spin Jumps, or Ground Pounds. Additionally, Yoshi cannot swim in *Super Mario Sunshine* but somewhat can in *Super Mario Galaxy 2*.
* According to a 1993 Nintendo character guide, Yoshi is "properly" known as *T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas.*

Smash YoshiActual Yoshi sitting