Goro-chan

Goro-chan is a baby Dinosaur that appears as an ally of Mario and his friends in the first act of the Super Mario Land 2 manga from the Super Mario series published by KC Deluxe.

It is a big baby green bipedal dinosaur of unclear species (possibly a T-Rex) with a big head with some hairs sticking out from the top. It only communicates via grunts and growls that are sometimes translated into brackets. It shares a lot of points in common with Yoshi, who, by that time, was not introduced yet in the franchise.

While searching with Mario for the fabled treasure of Tetris in the ruins of its kingdom, Peach comes face to face with the dinosaur, who suddenly hugs her. Scared, she calls Mario for help, but he fakes being dead. While yelling at him that he is not going against a bear, Peach waves her arms and accidentally hits the dinosaur, who runs over its eggshell and hides behind them. Realizing by the words written on the cracked egg, Peach realizes the dino has recently hatched and, after telling it sorry, takes it under her care and later naming it Goro-chan. Mario attempts to appear brave by claiming the dinosaur would have lost against him, only to flinch when Goro-chan growls at him.

Mario and Peach then ride Goro-chan to look for the Tetris temple and find it. While Shūchō no Geruman tests some members of the Koopa Troop at the Tetris challenge, Goro-chan grabs Luigi's (who previously failed the challenge and ended up at the bottom of a large water basin) backpack in which Mario finds another piece of clue to how to beat the Tetris challenge. During the challenge, Goro-chan helps Mario and Peach in placing or passing the falling Tetriminos. At one point, Geruman, worried at their imminent victory, attempts to squash Peach with a boulder, but Goro-chan jumps on the falling rock, deviating it from landing onto the princess but falling into the water basin and getting eliminated from the challenge. After Mario wins it, the water basin dries up and Luigi and Goro-chan are back into the game.

Thanks again to Geruman, the group is split up by a failing trap, and Peach, Luigi and Goro-chan end up by the next challenge, in the water source of the waterfalls where Mario and King Tetris are battling for the treasure. Being dragged by the stream, Goro-chan is pulled towards King Tetris' waterfall and ends up cutting off the water by plugging the canal with its big size. Geruman and the Tetris tribe, who were cheating to help the King, order them to move, but the trio refuses, until the tribe men fuse together, creating Gattai Tetris Ningen, scaring off the three away from the canal.

After that, Goro-chan has no other relevant roles and sticks around until the end, where it watches with his friend the starry sky questioning where Bowser landed with the treasure (a rocket ship). It does not reappear in the second act or in other issues of the series, as its role would be later taken by Yoshi.