Birdo

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This article is about the recurring character and species in the Super Mario franchise. For other uses, see Birdo (disambiguation).
"Catherine" redirects here. For other uses, see Catherine (disambiguation).
Birdo
Artwork of Birdo in Mario Party 9
Artwork from Mario Party 9
First appearance Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (1987, overall)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, Super Mario franchise)
Latest appearance The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)
Latest portrayal Kazumi Totaka (2003–present)
Variants
Comparable
Notable members
“Clearly this is a test for me. Yes, the powers-that-be want me to go out on my own. Once I overcome many hardships, I shall be one step closer to superstardom!”
—Birdo, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Birdo, also self-referred to once by the nickname Birdie, is a recurring character in the Super Mario franchise. She is a prehistoric dinosaur,[1][2][3][4] identified in some early sources as a bird,[5][6] with a funnel-shaped mouth from which she can spit eggs. Her first appearance was as a boss in Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, which was rebranded as Super Mario Bros. 2 in the Western world. Birdo is considered to be one of the first transgender characters in video games.[7]

Since her first appearance, Birdo appeared in various spin-off games, appearing as a more neutral character. However, she continues to be occasionally classified as an enemy, as is the case with Super Mario Chess and the Super Mario Trading Card Collection, as well as her being grouped with typically antagonistic characters in the driver list of Mario Kart Tour. Some games portray her as a close friend or even significant other of Yoshi, while others show her simply allying with whoever catches her interest at that moment. Birdo has also been merchandised into figurines, plush toys, and amiibo cards.

While Birdo is often portrayed as an individual character, there have also been many appearances of multiple Birdos that come in different colors and that sometimes have different characteristics. In most cases, these are depicted with the same feminine characteristics as the main Birdo.

General information

Physical description

Birdo's ingame model from Mario Party 9.
Birdo's current appearance

Birdo and the rest of her species are dinosaurs with funnel-shaped mouths and a body structure similar to a Yoshi, though slightly shorter and with a row of three spikes on the tail instead of the head. In several early illustrations, she is depicted as being orange instead of pink, and on the cover of Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, she is depicted with distinct nostrils midway up her snout and what appears to be a tongue in her mouth, though neither of these traits has ever been shown again. In the various iterations of Super Mario Bros. 2, her snout ends with a small hole and is somewhat barrel-shaped, inverting while it is open; later games, however, use the latter shape in all situations, likely due to looking that way in her original artwork.

Birdo is mostly pink, with a rounded belly, red tail spikes and purple spots on her cheeks. She has purple eyes, each of which is framed by three long, thin eyelashes. She does not have hair, and instead wears a big red bow atop her head, which is usually her emblem. She has small but pointed claws, with four fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. More recently, a large diamond ring set in gold is occasionally depicted on her left hand. She has a white belly like a Yoshi, as well as yellow-padded feet.

Since Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Birdo commonly wears purple eye makeup. In her team name, "Birdo Bows", from Mario Super Sluggers, she wears lipstick, which is odd because she does not use lipstick during the game, nor in most of her other appearances. In the Japanese commercial for Super Mario All-Stars, she wears a white stole over an expensive-looking black dress along with a pearl necklace. Overall, however, Birdo's looks have not changed as drastically as many other characters have through the ages.

Color variations

Birdo appears in 9 officially defined colors throughout the Super Mario franchise, and a few other distinct colors. Below is a list of all known colors and their first appearance.

Image Color Primary bow color First appearance
Artwork of Birdo in Mario Party 9 Pink Red Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
Artwork of Birdo (Red) from Mario Kart Tour Red Pink Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
Gray Birdo Gray Gray Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
Birdo (Green) from Mario Kart Tour Green Yellow Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
Artwork of Birdo (Light Blue) from Mario Kart Tour Light-blue Blue Mario Power Tennis
Birdo (Orange) from Mario Kart Tour Orange Red-orange Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (boxart)
Artwork of Birdo (Yellow) from Mario Kart Tour Yellow Orange Super Mario Strikers
Birdo (Blue) from Mario Kart Tour Blue Purple
Pink (Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)) 		Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64)
Birdo (White) from Mario Kart Tour White Light-blue Mario Strikers Charged
Artwork of Birdo (Black) from Mario Kart Tour Black White Mario Strikers Charged
Mother Birdo. Purple Orange (as Giant Birdo)
Brown (Super Mario Strikers; audience) 		The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Image of a Birdo in Donkey Kong's team, from Super Mario Strikers Brown Lime green Super Mario Strikers

List of colors by appearances

This table charts the appearance of Birdo colors chronologically in video games. Games that only feature pink Birdos and reissues that do not feature distinct colors from the originals are not included.

Game Pink Red Green Blue Orange Yellow Light-Blue White Black Other non-defined colors
Super Mario Bros. 2 A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. The gray Birdo occasionally appears green in above-ground levels.
Super Mario All-Stars A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64) A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Super Mario Advance A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Power Tennis A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Superstar Baseball A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Super Mario Strikers A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A dynamically colored audience creates atypical Birdo colors such as purple and dark-green. Additionally, Birdos on Donkey Kong's team appear brown.
Mario Strikers Charged A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Kart Wii A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Super Sluggers A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii) A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS) A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U) A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a]
Mario Kart Tour A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a] A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.[a]
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable. A green check mark, used to indicate when something is true or applicable.
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Introduced in an update after release.

Personality

Artwork of Birdo for Mario Party 8 (Reused for Mario Tennis Aces and Super Mario Party Jamboree)
Birdo posing and winking in her artwork for Mario Party 8

Birdo displays great determination and confidence in all aspects of her life. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Birdo revealed her goal of becoming a Superstar. Birdo has tackled a wide variety of sports and was the first known Birdo to emerge in the public spotlight in Mario Tennis.

Birdo is somewhat vain, as she perceives herself to be very beautiful and feminine, and often strikes eccentric poses to show off her appearance. Also, she is portrayed to be very friendly, and enjoys being with the whole Super Mario crew. This is shown when losing a round of 18 in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Golf: World Tour. She also exudes charm and elegance as shown in many games whenever she wins or appears on-screen, where she waves and blows kisses frequently. Additionally, Birdo always wears a massive diamond ring on her finger. In Mario Party 7 and Mario Party 8, when Birdo gets a Star, she shows off this ring during one of her poses. Birdo appears to enjoy the spotlight, as shown in the Paper Mario series, where she occasionally puts on a singing or theatrical performance in front of Mario and other characters. Her penchant for singing is also alluded to in Mario Kart Tour, where she is shown on banners advertising the Sydney Music Festival in Sydney Sprint. According to Play Nintendo, Birdo's favorite things are (in no particular order) friends, big red bows, and sparkly things.[8]

Birdo is very flirtatious and affectionate with others, even when she does not know them very well, as evidenced in Fortune Street where her dialogue is very playful, flirty and endearing. This is also seen in Birdo's relationship with Popple in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where she expresses her high opinion of love and romance.

Powers and abilities

Birdo spitting out an egg
Birdo's signature ability is shooting eggs from her mouth.

In addition to eggs, Birdo has also shown the ability to utilize her snout in a manner similar to a vacuum, using it to suck things closer to herself or even swallow them; Birdo displays this ability in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Superstar Baseball, and Mario Strikers: Battle League, the first of which also has her leeching away the health of those she sucks up. On occasion, Birdo has enveloped people, including herself, in large eggs, in order to increase defense. She is often classified as all-around in sports games, where she has a great deal of strength. She also has shown this strength when angered in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, when, after discovering that Popple had not actually love her, she knocks him right through a wall, indicating she has super-strength, as well as in the Mario Baseball series where she has a strong throwing arm and has batting as her strongest stat.

In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, hitting a nice shot while playing as her will cause a rainbow to form similar to Yoshi's, but rainbow abilities have since then not been seen. Birdo also has some hints of heart-based power similar to Princess Peach as shown in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour in her victory cut-scene and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 in her special shot. However, they are not as strong or as useful as Peach's hearts. This often has comedic results, such as when they only succeed in charming Birdo's golf trophy into the air for a short time until it falls down again, to its owner's great surprise.

Gender

"Women of Racing Organization" sign.
Birdo on a "Women of Racing Organization" banner in Mario Kart 8

According to the North American instruction booklet of Super Mario Bros. 2 (pg. 27):[9]

He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called “birdetta.“[sic]

This statement applies to all translations of the title. Throughout the official guide, Birdo is also consistently referred to as a "he".[5] The stance of this manual is shared by the Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic manual, Super Smash Bros. Melee (when set to Japanese), and Itadaki Street DS. In Japanese, Birdo is said to be a male who believes she is a female and prefers to be called by a nickname, "Cathie", rather than her real name "Catherine".[10] In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Birdo's trophy description describes the character as "gender indeterminate", and uses the pronoun "it" rather than gender-specific pronouns such as "he" or "she" (in contrast to Super Smash Bros. Melee's English trophy description for her using female pronouns), which has sometimes been used in other occurrences.[11]

Although the manual for Super Mario Bros. 2 and her trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl suggest that Birdo prefers the name "Birdetta", she has never referred to herself by that name, and has introduced herself as Birdo on multiple occasions. In most of her Japanese-language appearances, Birdo uses the feminine personal pronoun atashi, but she has also used the more neutral watashi in some earlier instances, including an ad spot for Super Mario USA and in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its remake.[12] She has also more recently used watashi in Mario & Luigi: Brothership.[13]

In games for the Satellaview, Birdo is consistently shown as an okama, a Japanese term that usually refers to a masculine man that dresses as a woman, but is also used as a slur interchangeably to refer to trans women, gay men, crossdressing men, and effeminate men.[14] In Satella-Q, a picture of Birdo is shown with a masculine, humanoid torso. Meanwhile, in BS Super Mario USA, all three Birdos are shown making typically feminine poses in the world title cards but are given deep voices provided by Jun Donna, Rika and Akemi. All three performers self-identify as "newhalves," a Japanese slang term for transgender women (particularly those who have not undergone sex reassignment surgery).[12]

Responding to a question from a writer for Netorabo, a Japanese news site covering Internet culture, a representative for Nintendo stated in 2015 that Birdo is neither male nor female, but "someone who believes they are a girl" (「『男』『女』ではなく、あくまでも『女の子と思い込んでいる』」). They added that this also applied to Yoshi, and that "Yoshi is Yoshi, and Birdo is Birdo".[15] In contrast, Birdo is referred to as a "pink girl" (「ピンクの娘」) in the Japanese script of Mario & Luigi: Brothership.[16]

Nintendo of America usually refers to Birdo as female. The femininity of Birdo is implied in Mario Kart 8, where she appears on "Women of Racing Organization" advertisements in N64 Royal Raceway along with other female characters, and in Sunshine Airport, where she is referred to on the broadcasting system as "Ms. Birdo". In the North American instruction booklet of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, every female character has a pink dot behind them, including Birdo. Nintendo of Europe usually refers to Birdo as female as well; however, the character is referred to with masculine pronouns in the British English localizations of Mario Tennis Aces[17] and Super Mario Party (other localizations of these games use feminine pronouns for her instead, besides the French and Chinese translations which are ambiguous). Additionally, in Mario Super Sluggers, Peach's Heart Swing, which stuns male characters and characters of unknown gender, does not stun female characters, including Birdo. In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, following the Japanese script, Birdo is referred to as a girl in all localizations except for Korean, which avoids gendering her entirely.

In Mario Tennis and Super Mario Advance, Birdo is given a feminine voice, with the latter being provided by the voice actress of Princess Peach and Princess Daisy at the time, Jen Taylor. However, starting with her appearance in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, she is given a deeper-sounding voice instead, resembling honks from a brass instrument.

The confusion surrounding Birdo's gender has also been addressed in a light-hearted matter, such as when Popple pauses before settling on calling Birdo a "dame" in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The description of Birdo on the Japanese Mario Kart: Double Dash!! website jokes about the matter ("Birdo appears to be Yoshi's girlfriend, but is actually his boyfriend!?"),[18] as do the Spanish website and manual for Super Mario Strikers ("Birdo is your man... well, or woman."). In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the first lyrics of Birdo's serenade allude to the gender confusion by saying, "Heart of a woman, heart of a man... Both can know of love's grace..."

In the game Captain Rainbow, Birdo is heard with a deep, male voice which gets high-pitched when she gets angry or excited. Additionally, in the game's second trailer, Little Mac speaks about Birdo, calling her a "young lady," only to take a short break and ponder. His final verdict is, "Depending on one's view point, she is a young lady." In the game, Birdo's indeterminate gender also forms the basis for a side quest to find proof that she is a girl (which is found, but censored). Overall, it is suggested that she is a transgender woman.

Relationship with Yoshi

Main article: Yoshi
Birdo having a crush on Yoshi in KC Deluxe
Birdo infatuated with Yoshi in the Super Mario Kodansha manga
Artwork of Yoshi and Birdo, from Mario Party 7
Birdo with Yoshi in their team picture for Mario Party 7

Birdo has a special relationship with Yoshi, beginning since her debut in Super Mario-kun, where she falls for Yoshi and, despite her clingy obsession for him, eventually has her feelings reciprocated. In the Super Mario Kodansha manga, Birdo is shown an image of Yoshi by Mario in Super Mario USA and develops a crush on him, though this time Yoshi is uncomfortable about it.

In the games, they are often partners in sports and party titles. Despite this, Birdo has never appeared alongside Yoshi in a Yoshi game.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the two are partners and share a similar Special Item. On the official Japanese site for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the description for Catherine states she "appears to be Yoshi's girlfriend, but is actually his boyfriend!?" (「ヨッシーの彼女に見えて実は彼氏!?」)[18]

In Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, they share a tennis court and are default partners; the two are seen to be very affectionate. In the Mario Baseball series, they share good chemistry with each other, and she is the Sub-Captain of Yoshi's team. The two also share the same Special Orb in Mario Party 7.

History

Super Mario series

Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Advance

“This is as far as you go!”
—Pink Birdo, Super Mario Advance