Raven

Ravens are flightless black birds that seem to be both allies and enemies of Mario.

Appearences
Ravens first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where they could be found walking around large floating rocks. If they ran into Yoshi they would send Baby Mario flying off his back, an act even more dangerous since these Ravens were usually found on rocks high in the air. Ravens were also invulnerable in this game, making them doubly difficult to get by. A large Raven named Raphael the Raven seems to be the de jure leader of all the birds. A brown variety of Raven would go on to appear in Yoshi's Story.

Up until Paper Mario all Ravens seemed to be minions of Baby Bowser and Kamek, (influenced by Raphael the Raven's appearence in Tetris Attack) but in Paper Mario a friendly group of Ravens can be encountered on Lavalava Island. These Ravens (including, oddly, Raphael the Raven himself) help Mario and his party reach Mt. Lavalava. This games also proves that Ravens have there own language (which mostly consists of the word "caw"), although some can speak in human tongue.

Despite this brief period of alliance, the Raven's appearences in Yoshi Topsy-Turvy and Super Princess Peach seem to imply that they have returned to there previous engagement with Bowser.

Sub-Species

 * Mini-Ravens - Small, possibly juvenile Ravens who move quickly.
 * Sad Ravens - Ravens who create earthquakes while crying hysterically.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that they are called Ravens, they have almost nothing in common with the aforementioned birds. Real Ravens are (for the most part) small and fast black scavengers, the Ravens of the Marioverse are slow moving and wingless. The only similarities are the coloring of the birds and the sound they make.