Yoshi

"You saved me! I was trying to save my friends, but then I got turned into an egg and trapped! I know! We should team up! Come on! Hop on my back!"

- Yoshi

Yoshi is a dinosaur-like character that acts as an ally of Mario and Luigi and is the protagonist of his own franchise. Among members of the Yoshi species hailing from Yoshi's Island, any Yoshi may be identified as the "Yoshi" character, and as such, not all iterations of the character are necessarily the same one. According to the Super Mario World manual, he got his name from Yoshi's Island because he was first discovered there. In the Super Mario series, he often acts as a rideable character for the heroes, while in most of the spin-off games, he is a playable character on his own. Yoshi's defining traits include his cutesy appearance, his cheerful and friendly personality, his flutter-jumping and egg-laying abilities, his rideability as a steed, and exclaiming his own name.

Creation and development
Shigeru Miyamoto has stated in interviews that he wanted Mario to ride a horse after the completion of Super Mario Bros. However, technical limitations on the NES kept this from being possible, but with the development of the Super Famicom, an animal partner for Mario could be added. The character of Yoshi was specifically created by Shigefumi Hino, a graphics designer, with the help of Takashi Tezuka. According to Yoichi Kotabe, Yoshi's name (alternately romanized as "Yossy") is a of female staff member Mie Yoshimura's nickname and "." His name is the same as the Japanese interjection 良し (yoshi), meaning "good!", "okay!", or "all right!"

Since Super Mario World was supposed to take place in Dinosaur Land, Hino initially designed a reptile similar to a large lizard. Since the initial design felt out of place, Tezuka redesigned him by making a rough sketch that then Hino polished. During the redesign, Tezuka tried making Yoshi related to the Turtle Tribe, with the saddle actually being his shell. Kotabe had previously sketched a chameleon that would eat by sticking out its tongue, and suggests that the drawing may have helped inspire the concept of Yoshi.

Yoshi's design has been altered and refined between games over the course of the SNES and Nintendo 64 eras, gradually becoming more turtle-like. In his earliest appearances, Yoshi is shown as having a long neck and back and small arms. In later games, such as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Mario Party, Yoshi is shorter and stouter, with longer arms and more human-like hands. In Mario Kart 64, he is given a more upright appearance. The Mario Kart 64 design has been used for his general design ever since, with a few minor yet notable alterations from Mario Party 4.

History
As Yoshi is Mario's companion, he has appeared in a multitude of Super Mario media starting with Super Mario World, and he has had the common role of being an ally, allowing Mario and other characters to ride on him to assist them in any situation. Yoshi also has appeared in various Super Mario spin-off games, often being a playable character, such as the Mario Kart series and the Mario Party series, and he appears in many comics and cartoons.

Yoshi appears in his own series of games, starring as the main character, with his goal being to save Baby Mario's brother, Baby Luigi, from Kamek and Baby Bowser's clutches and reunite the two brothers to their parents.

Yoshi, like Mario, has made many cameo appearances in a lot of games, even outside his own franchise, with his most famous cameo being in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, appearing as a plush doll that can be won and later traded with.

Physical description and traits
Yoshi, like all other Yoshis, is a dinosaur-like character with a large round nose, a row of orange spines along his head, orange shoes, and a saddle-shaped shell 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. He is also noticeably taller than Mario. Beginning with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and later 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, while Paper Mario: Color Splash uses a redesign that matches more with his current 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. Most of these features stem from the original Yoshi design. Said alternate design so far has not been 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 and 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. In 2017, an interview on Super Mario World confirmed that Yoshi's saddle has always been a shell from the beginning. 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 flowers 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 aside from his hurt sprite from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, 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, and Super Mario Chie Asobi Ehon ④ Larry No Itazura (Super Mario Wisdom Games Picture Book ④ Larry's Mischief), with Yoshi's Island DS showing that his new design still has a full set of teeth.

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, 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 Super 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 notwithstanding), although exceptions can be found with the Mini-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.

Speech
Prior to the SNES version of Yoshi's Cookie and later 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. 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 Super Mario games are Super Mario World (when Mario is introduced to him, and to a lesser extent, the message box at his house), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (when he is freed from his egg, and to a lesser extent, the sign 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 "Woo-hoo!" as well as "No!!!" in various Super Mario spinoffs, though this trait is somewhat rare. Yoshi is known to be 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 Super 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. In a commercial for Yoshi, Yoshi speaks in "meeps," similar to from .

Nature
In the West, Yoshi is known to be a dinosaur since his introduction in Super Mario World. 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」), 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」). He was as well explicitly referred to as a dinosaur in the Nintendo Official Guidebook of Super Mario World. Yoshi being a dragon was reconfirmed as well in Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 and Super Mario Galaxy 2, since in the mission Peewee Piranha's Speed Run of Sky Station Galaxy, on the sign that Yoshi has put up, Yoshi states that he is a space dragon (「スペースドラゴン」). 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." 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, 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 can be obtained by using drivers with a shell can be obtained by using Yoshi, marking the first time Yoshi having a shell has affected gameplay while indirectly grouping Yoshi among the other turtles featured in the game as well.

Powers and abilities
Like other Yoshis, Yoshi has a long tongue that he uses to eat almost anything, even things much larger than himself. Yoshi can transform any enemies and objects he eats into eggs, which he can then use as projectile weapons. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi can keep up to six eggs at a time or up to four Huffin' Puffins, which return to him, similar to a boomerang, and are renewable.

Yoshi can also transform things that he eats into other objects. For example, in Super Mario World, after Yoshi eats an enemy, one coin is added to Mario's coin total. Yoshi can also transform berries into eggs. However, instead of using them as projectiles, these eggs can break apart and reveal items, including Super Mushrooms and Yoshi Clouds that drop Bonus Coins. In Super Mario RPG, Yoshi can eat enemies to produce eggs that can break apart to reveal a variety of helpful (and often rare) items. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Yoshi can 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. It could be that Yoshi does not officially have an assigned gender, as the original Japanese does not use gender pronouns. However, on several occasions that he has dialogue, such as his rescue in Super Mario World and the story mode of Mario Party 3, he uses the masculine pronoun ぼく (boku) in the Japanese versions.

Yoshi has a hard time swallowing Koopa Shells. In fact, in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Yoshi has to spit out Koopa Shells before he can eat another enemy. In Super Mario World, Yoshi can swallow a Koopa Shell but can also use it to boost his own abilities. While Yoshi can only spit out a Green Shell, he can instead shoot three large fireballs after ingesting a Red Shell. A Yellow Shell allows Yoshi to create sand clouds whenever he jumps and hits the ground, destroying nearby enemies. A Blue Shell provides 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 is left in Yoshi's mouth for too long, he inevitably swallows the shell and, as such, loses any abilities he possessed at this moment.

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 are much more powerful than Mario's normal jump attacks. Yoshi can 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 has the same power as Mario's special Spin Jump technique. Yoshi is also proficient of the Flutter Jump technique, allowing him to jump with great horizontal distance. Yoshi is also capable of creating shockwaves with his Ground Pound, which can be seen when the player uses 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.

Alternate forms
Throughout the games, Yoshi has acquired a variety of alternate forms to help him combat his foes. Most of these transformations are a result of special morph bubbles that can transform Yoshi into a helpful vehicle. Several unused alternate forms have been found in the coding of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Their purpose is unknown, but one can assume the plane has a similar function to the helicopter.
 * Super Mario World
 * Winged Yoshi
 * Super Mario 64 DS
 * Mega Mario
 * Super Mario Run
 * Small Yoshi
 * Super Yoshi
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Car
 * Helicopter
 * Mole Tank
 * Submarine
 * Train
 * "Plane" (unused)
 * "Tree" (unused)
 * "Mushroom" (unused)
 * Yoshi Topsy-Turvy
 * Balloon Yoshi
 * Ship Yoshi
 * Ball Yoshi
 * Boat Yoshi
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2
 * Dash Yoshi
 * Bulb Yoshi
 * Blimp Yoshi
 * Yoshi's New Island
 * Hot-Air Balloon Yoshi
 * Bobsled Yoshi
 * Jackhammer Yoshi
 * Mine-Cart Yoshi
 * Super Yoshi
 * Yoshi's Woolly World
 * Mermaid Yoshi
 * Mole Yoshi
 * Moto Yoshi
 * Sky Pop Yoshi
 * Umbrella Yoshi

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 can be considered a hero and has helped his friends, defeated Bowser, and saved his island more than once. He is also very courageous, allowing him to stand and fight enemies much larger than himself, including Yoob, an enlarged Bowser, Nep-Enuts, Tap-Tap the Golden, and the gigantic form of 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 is offered a leadership position in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the humble character declines 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). In volume 3 of Super Mario-kun, Yoshi gets hurt and begins to cry while red liquid is seen. It turns out to be juice from Yoshi's fruit, to which he glumly states, "What a waste."

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 levels. Later, Mario helps 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 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 he 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 to fight Tabuu and the Subspace Army. Yoshi and Luigi are also good friends and allies, although their chemistry in the Super Mario baseball games is neutral. In the Super Mario World TV show, Luigi is the one who finds Yoshi, and the dinosaur initially believes him to be his "mama," with Luigi even continuing to act as a parental figure of sorts, and Luigi is known to tell him bedtime stories. This aspect of their relationship is unique to the TV show, however. 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.

Yoshi and Birdo are partnered up in various spinoff and sports games, and it has been implied that they are romantically involved. They are seen nuzzling each other on the title screen of Mario Tennis, and on the official Japanese site for Mario Kart: Double Dash!! the description for Catherine states that 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!?」)

Yoshi has been shown to get along with his Rabbid counterpart, since they are willing to cooperate to save the Mushroom Kingdom from the Megabug's grasp. Yoshi and Rabbid Yoshi also slide on their own tails, store their weapons in their mouths, and use Rumblebangs as their primary weapons, which shows Rabbid Yoshi's respect and admiration for the real Yoshi, as well as Yoshi's appreciation for being idolized by someone.

Yoshi is shown to get along with Link, since they have worked together to fend off Tabuu's forces and save the World of Trophies from ultimate destruction. Yoshi and Link both show heroic behavior, since they defeat False Peach to save Mario and Pit (though the latter duo has a miscommunication). Yoshi's loyalty towards Link is unwavering, since he joins him in the fight against Mario and Pit for defeating "Zelda" (though he later learns that their battle was a misunderstanding).

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 betrays 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.

Profiles and statistics


Yoshi's bios typically describe him as Mario's friend and ally, as well as mentioning his long tongue, egg-laying abilities, Flutter Jump, and big appetite for fruits and enemies. Yoshi, in most Super Mario sports games, is classed as an Acceleration type character. He has also been classed as a Speed type character in some games, such as the Mario Tennis series and the Mario Baseball series. Like Mario, Yoshi has occasionally been classified as a balanced character, such as in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, where he is classified as an All-Around type character, and in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged, where he appears as a balanced captain. In Mario Strikers: Battle League, he appears as an offensive type character with high Shooting and Passing attributes. In the Mario Kart series, Yoshi is classified as either a lightweight or a middleweight character.

Yoshi's most often associated color scheme is green, although he has been occasionally associated with orange, yellow, or blue. His logo is a green-spotted Yoshi's Egg.

Portrayals
In the Super Mario World: Mario to Yoshi no Bōken Land interactive OVA, Yoshi was voiced by.

In the Super Mario World cartoon, Yoshi was voiced by Andrew Sabiston (Sabiston would later provide the voice of Diddy Kong in the Donkey Kong Country cartoon series).

In the Japanese commercials and store promotional video for Yoshi's Cookie, Yoshi was voiced by.

In the video games, Yoshi has been voiced by Kazumi Totaka from Yoshi's Story (who also composed the musical score for the game) to Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Games

 * "Hooray! Thank you for rescuing me. My name is Yoshi. On my way to rescue my friends, Bowser trapped me in that egg." – Super Mario World
 * "Mario!!! It [sic] that really you???" – Super Mario 64
 * "(Thanks to you, Mario, I finally beat that rascal! And we can all race together now!)" – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
 * "Yoshi... Yoshi! (I'm kind of hungry… Maybe I'll find some tasty pieces of fruit in those green pipes!)" – Fortune Street
 * "Yoshi, Yoshi!" – Mario Party 9
 * "(Think anyone would notice if I ate some fruit? I'm so hungry!)" – Mario Golf: World Tour
 * "Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi! (It's Mario! I've gotta try extra hard!)" – Super Mario Party

Super Mario World television series

 * "Oh, kukumba! Mama Fireplant lives on the other side of the river, AND I SCARED OF WATER!!!"
 * "Oogabooga! I ready, and hungry!"
 * "Oh, creepity spookity scary! Yoshi hopes no ghost in enchanted forest!"
 * "Oh, Yoshi like motorcycle! Go varoom!"
 * "Yoshi think Luigi mama!"

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 Super Mario games.
 * According to a 1993 Nintendo character guide, Yoshi is "properly" known as T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas.