Toad

"M-M-M-M-M-M-M-Mario! Help! It's Sh-sh-sh-sh-shocking... Mushroom Castle... RAIDED! Princess Peach... STOLEN!"

- Toad

Toad is a character who is Princess Peach's attendant and a long time protector of the Mushroom Kingdom. He is actually a singular character among an entire species of look-alikes (much like Yoshi is to the Yoshi species), leading to confusion over some of his appearances, even with his unique color palette of having a red-spotted mushroom head and a blue vest. He usually has the role of a supporting character who tries to help Mario and Luigi on their adventures, although he occasionally has been a main protagonist, such as in Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario 3D World, and his starring role in Wario's Woods. He also appears regularly as a playable character in the Mario spin-offs. His role as Peach's steward has sometimes instead been given to Toadsworth.

Super Mario Bros. 2
While often retroactively believed to be one of the Toads in the original Super Mario Bros., the individual character Toad did not debut until Super Mario Bros. 2. In the game, he, along with Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool go on a picnic at the beginning of the game. As they head out, the four heroes soon discover a cave that leads to the strange world known as Subcon. Upon reaching the mythical area, Toad and his friends then learn that the once peaceful land is now ruled by the tyrannical toad, Wart. Agreeing to stop Wart and bring peace to the land, the quartet immediately set off to defeat the villain and rescue the original inhabitants of Subcon. Toad, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool eventually defeat the evil tyrant toad after traveling through the mystical land and defeating Wart's army (the 8 bits). Upon Wart's defeat, Toad and his friends then go on to save the people of Subcon, thus bringing peace to the land. At the end of the game, however, it is revealed that the events of the game were just a part of Mario's dream.

Gameplay-wise, Toad is the worst jumper, but he is extremely fast when it comes to picking vegetables or digging through sand. He also is super speedy, making him the fastest of the four characters, being the only character who runs faster than normal while carrying a "heavy" object that would slow the other characters down. While being the weakest jumper, Toad is capable of overcoming this problem by performing a Power Squat Jump (a jump that is twice as strong as his regular jumps).

BS Super Mario USA
In the Satellaview exclusive game BS Super Mario USA, Toad returns as one of the four playable characters alongside Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. As BS Super Mario USA serves as a pseudo-sequel to the game Super Mario Bros. 2, the game serves as a continuation to the adventures of Toad and his friends in the land of Subcon. The game's story begins after the events of Super Mario Bros. 2 at the scene where the four characters begin to believe that Subcon really did not exist, and that their previous adventure was nothing but a dream. However, the four heroes were proven to be wrong when the protagonists were called back to Subcon by Ōsama, the King of Subcon. Upon arriving to Subcon once again, the King informs Toad and his friends about news of Wart's recent take-over of Subcon once more (having overthrown Ōsama during the process). Hearing the King's pleas, Toad and his three friends once again head out to stop Wart and his army, and return the kingdom back to Ōsama's possession.

While the player starts off as Mario in the beginning of the game, a timer in the game has the player's character change at various times to one of the other three characters (including Toad himself) throughout the game.

Super Mario 3D World
Toad returns in Super Mario 3D World as one of the playable characters that the player can use. In this game, Toad is depicted with blue spots, which seems to be based off Blue Toad from the New Super Mario Bros. games, as well as Toad's very own in-game appearance in the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2, where his sprite presented him with blue spots. During the introduction sequence of Super Mario 3D World, Toad is seen taking a late evening stroll with his friends Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach near Peach's castle. However, Toad is the first to notice a strange clear pipe that stood in front of their way in a tilted position. After Mario and Luigi fix the pipe, the gang meet the green Sprixie Princess who warn the four friends of Bowser's evil plot of capturing all the Sprixies. Unfortunately, Bowser arrives to the scene and captures the Sprixie Princess. After Peach falls into the pipe trying to stop Bowser, Toad immediately jumps into the pipe with Mario and a cowering Luigi to start their new adventure.

Toad's abilities during gameplay are very similar to Super Mario Bros. 2. Toad is the fastest playable character, but has the shortest jumping height as well as having the fastest falling speed. When he turns to Small Toad, the colors of his cap are inverted to blue with white spots. When he is Fire Toad, he gains the colors of Fire Yellow Toad.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Toad was a main character in the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, where he retained his look and personality from the games. Toad is seen as somewhat of a side-kick to Mario through-out the shows, while Luigi was upgraded to a partner. Like his game counterpart, Toad is one of Toadstool's most loyal servants and he has constantly tried his best to protect Princess Toadstool from Bowser and his Koopa Troop forces until the Mario Bros. arrived to protect her as well. Like Princess Toadstool, he might get kidnaped and maybe with Mario and/or Luigi. Toad has two alternate forms in this series, Super Toad and Toad Warrior.

According to the episode "Escape from Koopatraz", Toad's father is named Moldy. Additionally, Toad's paternal grandfather is named Gramps.

In comparison to his game counterpart, Toad looks a little different in the cartoons. His cap is a little bit darker and the waistcoat is red instead of blue. Oddly, for the first three episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Toad's color scheme is reversed, having a red mushroom cap with white spots, along with a white vest and red pants.

On an additional note, Toad often makes squeaky sounds, which is noticeable whenever he gets grabbed or touches ground.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Like in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Toad was seen as Mario's sidekick in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, often adventuring with him. Despite this, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3's last episode, "Super Koopa" has Toad complaining about always being left behind in the adventures (though this might be in reference to his diminishing roles in the games). The main cast even stayed in Toad's house for many episodes as well as a place of shelter. "Baby Toad" has made his first (and last) appearance in the episode, "Toddler Terrors of Time Travel", which had Toad, as well as Mario, Luigi, Bowser and Kooky von Koopa regressed to infant states due to a malfunction with a time machine.

Episodes such as "Up, Up, and a Koopa" has Toad using various Power-Ups such as the P-Wing to gain forms such as Raccoon Toad in order to help the Mario Bros. with the assistance of Princess Toadstool. The final episode of the series "Super Koopa" has Toad making a stronger reference to his actual role from Super Mario Bros. 3 as he potentially saved the day using his knowledge of items to power up the Mario Bros. during their time of peril. Toad's own character was given more development as he often had to fix the problems he caused due to his own misfortune as seen in episodes such as "A Toadally Magical Adventure".

Nintendo Comics System
Issues of Nintendo Comics System portrayed Toad as more outgoing than previous incarnations; with another Toad named Wooster acting as the servant of Princess Toadstool and the Mushroom King. Throughout the many comics, Toad would often adventure with Mario (in a sidekick like manner), with issues such as "Betrayal Most Proper" showing that Toad was able to hold his own in a fist-fight with various enemies.

Piranha-Round Sue
In the issue Piranha-Round Sue of the Nintendo Comic System, Toad plays an active role as Mario's sidekick in the story. Toad is first seen with Mario rushing into the King's chambers while claiming that the Piranha Plants were rebelling against the Kingdom. However, the two soon learn that the King had been turned into a chameleon like creature, and that a wand was required to turn him back to his original form. The King reveals that the wand was located somewhere within the piranha plant headquarters, and as such he gives Toad and Mario the task of retrieving it. The King gives Mario the special item known as the Green Gecko Gem for protection against the piranha plants (the gem casts a force field around whoever holds it).

After retrieving the gem, Mario and Toad head off towards the piranha plant headquarters. While leaving the castle, Toad tells Mario a plan of rushing ahead while defeating the enemies in their way. Mario agrees, and runs and bounces ahead using the Green Gecko Gem's protective field while Toad unfortunately falls behind (as a result of not having the power of the Green Gecko Gem). As Toad attempts to catch up Mario, he is stopped by Piranha Sue (who is attempting to devise a plan of stealing the Green Gecko Gem). In attempt of stealing the gem, she manipulates Toad by asking how badly he is treated as a sidekick to Mario, and that Toad should have been the one to receive the Green Gecko Gem from the King. At first Toad ignores her comments bluntly by arguing that Mario is his friend; however, she continues to persuade the mushroom retainer by telling him that with the power of the gem, he could become the new King of the Kingdom and achieve respect from the others. Toad eventually gives in to Piranha Sue's ideas, and devises a plan with her by pretending that he was drowning in a nearby river in order to have Mario return, drop the gem (so that Piranha-Sue can hold on to it for Toad after he is saved), and save him.

During that time, Mario has already retrieved the magic wand (needed to transform the King back to his original form), and was heading back towards the castle. However, on his way back Mario notices Toad who was inside the creek. Mario asks Toad why he is in the water while Toad asks Mario to save him. Initially, Mario was not sure to drop the gem as he worried if someone else would take the gem (in spite of Toad's exclaims of dropping the gem); however, at this point of time, Piranha-Sue used one of her roots to grab onto Toad's feet and pulled him down deeper into water causing him to actually start drowning. In Toad's screams of really drowning, Mario becomes shocked and jumps in to save his friend while dropping the gem. At this point of time, Piranha-Sue snatches the gem and becomes invincible. After Toad was saved by Mario, he innocently asks the Piranha Plant to give the gem to him; however, she ridicules the mushroom retainer by calling him a fool and announcing that she is now invincible.

Fortunately, Bowser appears at that point of time and demands the reason of why Piranha-Sue was in this area (meanwhile Mario and Toad hide nearby). She replies that she now had the power of the Green Gecko Gem for him. However, Bowser simply tosses the gem away deeming it to be useless, and instead punishes the Piranha Plant (by choking her) for her actions. Meanwhile, Toad and Mario re-obtain the gem (with Toad even processing the powers of the gem on their way back) and head back towards the castle thanks to the efforts of Toad's plan. After getting back, Mario uses the wand to reverse the magic over the Mushroom King in order to turn him back to a human. After becoming a human again, everyone (including Toad) celebrate for Mario and Toad’s victory of defeating Piranha-Sue and saving the King.

Koopa's Believe It or Else!
Toad makes a cameo in the Nintendo Comic System issue Koopa's Believe It or Else! where he is seen holding the Mario Cap full of stuffing while the Mario Bros. in the background. Bowser’s reasoning for this message was that of making a claim that in the Mushroom Kingdom, stuffed plumber's caps were a favorite meal in relation to how stuffed mushroom caps are a great delicacy in Brooklyn (where Mario and Luigi came from).

The Kingdom Enquirer
In the issue The Kingdom Enquirer of the Nintendo Comic System, Toad makes a major appearance as one of the lead characters in the story. Toad is first seen in the introduction where he is seen to have received a package from a postal worker and is seen to immediately be opening it as a curious Wooster watches the scene. After having Wooster guess a few times of what was inside his parcel, Toad reveals to him that the package contained his graduation package from the "The Apook Correspondence School of Journalism, Hotel Management and Transmission Repair". While Wooster ridicules Toad for the simplicity of graduating the institution through (saying that he remembered that the entire curriculum of the school consisted of Toad sending them a check), Toad ignores the other Toad and grabs his reporter gear that was in his graduation package. At this point of time, Mario and the Mushroom King exit a nearby door and started discussing about a top secret mission. Toad’s curiosity got the better of him, and he begins to follow Mario by saying that he is going to report for his secret mission.

While Mario initially is fine with Toad’s accompaniance, he begins to get irritated as Toad starts to narrate and write every move that he and Mario makes (even exaggerating some of them) while the two walk. After reaching a Warp Pipe that transports them to World 1-3, a Boomerang Brother overhears Mario and Toad talking about a secret mission, and begins to attack the duo. While the two were able to avoid the Boomerang Brother, Mario begins to get annoyed by Toad, and eventually leaves the mushroom retainer alone after Toad begins to quote passages from his Reporters Hand Book. As Mario leaves, Toad is immediately addressed by two shrubs (two movie star bushes) who tell Toad that they have a story for him to write about.

After interviewing the two shrubs, Toad attempts to catch up with Mario by jumping on a ♩ Block to reach the plumber above. As he attempts to jump on the block, Toad is addressed by two Hammer Bros.; one of which demands Toad to listen to his story once he identified that Toad is a reporter. As the Hammer Bro tells Toad of his stories, more Hammer Bros., Koopa Troopas, Koopa Paratroopas, and even Bullet Bills start to arrive to tell Toad of their incidents. On the other hand, Toad begins to show a lack of interest in their stories as more of them begin to arrive. Eventually, a fight gets loose between the enemies in correlation of who can receive Toad’s attention. At this point of time, Toad begins to panic, and he begins to be run away from the group.

Noticing that Toad was running away from the growing number of Koopas, Mario leaps down from a cloud that he was on and lands beside an exhausted Toad near a Warp Pipe. Seeing Mario, Toad introduces Mario to the group of enemies that had followed him. A Koopa Troopa immediately recognizes Mario, and announces his identity to the rest of the group who all agree to defeat Mario for Bowser’s purpose. A nearby Koopa immediately asks Toad to write about their defeating of Mario which Toad prominently replies by saying that he has already done that. Toad then asks a Koopa Paratroopa to deliver his transcript to the offices of "The Kingdom Enquirer". The Paratroopa cheerfully agree and does the task as a surprised Mario onlooks the entire scene from between the group.

Once the Paratroopa had left, Toad tells all the surrounding enemies that he has actually entitled his story as "The Trouble With Troopas" and goes on to say that he actually wrote about all the secrets he was told, saying King Koopa will probably punish all the enemies present for telling confidential information and for doing such things as stealing Bowser's money and personal chocolates. The group of enemies immediately get horrified and surprised from Toad’s blackmail, and immediately leave Mario and Toad alone as they rush off to stop the Koopa Paratroopa who had left to deliver Toad’s transcript to The Kingdom Enquirer. After all the enemies have left, Mario asks Toad if he had actually found out about any other secrets that day. In spite of Mario’s pestering of him, Toad resolves to not reveal any more secrets to anyone by saying that he must protect his sources and that so he can keep his own secrets as the two walk off into the horizon.

Nintendo Adventure Books
Toad was also featured as a recurring character in Valiant's Nintendo Adventure Books, though here, he was somewhat overshadowed in his appearances by Yoshi who instead played the role of the sidekick rather than Toad.

Club Nintendo comics
Toad also made several appearances in the comics provided by the Club Nintendo magazines. While most of his appearances were minor, some made a strong impact on the comic's tale as well.

Süße Weihnachten
In the comic strip Süße Weihnachten, Toad plays the role of a doctor. He is first seen when he spots Bowser falling to the ground in pain after obtaining a stomach ache. Upon seeing him in pain, Toad swiftly runs to Dr. Mario and tells him of the issue. As Bowser is brought into Dr. Mario's cabin, Dr. Mario checks Bowser's condition along with the help of Dr. Toad and Nurse Toadstool. After the diagnosis, Dr. Mario, Dr. Toad, and Nurse Toadstool prescribe Bowser "a bitter pill every hour instead of marzipan" in order for him to get better.

As the trio leaves, Bowser is seen to be in pain as he thinks of the party taking place at that very time in which Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad would all be enjoying without him (as Bowser had become sick from eating all the sweets at the party before it began).

Ostern im Schwammerlland
In "Ostern im Schwammerlland", Toad had a picnic together with Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. Eventually, the group finds a Yoshi Egg which soon hatches into their new friend Yoshi.

Super Mario Klemp-Won-Do: Muskeln sind nicht alles!
Toad makes a small, yet notable cameo in Super Mario Klemp-Won-Do: Muskeln sind nicht alles!. He appears in the scene before Mario faces off against Blanka by supporting him and brining him some bananas. The bananas proved to be the source of Mario's victory as he effectively uses the peels to make Blanka slip out of the boxing ring.

Super Mario: Die Bescherung
In the comic Super Mario: Die Bescherung, Toad appears as one of the guests that Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool had invited over for their Christmas party. The other guests invited for the party included Yoshi, Link, Pit, and Mega Man.During the party, Toad can be seen to be enjoying himself while having a conversation with Pit and Mega Man.

Some time after Mario had left the house for unknown reasons, the doorbell suddenly rings. Toad (along with the help of Yoshi) decide to investigate and opens the door. Upon opening the door, the two discover someone dressed up as Santa Claus and having a strong resemblance to Mario. In their excitement, both Toad and Yoshi believe that the stranger is actually Santa Claus while Luigi and Link claim to have seen through Mario's "trick". As the Santa Claus-like man is about to give out presents, Mario enters the room and asks if he missed anything. Having seen two so similar looking men, everyone else in the room (including Toad) become perplexed to see both at the same time.

Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland
Toad also makes an appearance in the comic "Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland" where he was the first person for Mario to meet when he arrives in Wunderland (in fact, Mario had landed on top of Toad upon arriving). Mario's appearance had drastically changed however, appearing much like a girl upon arriving in Wunderland and he asks Toad for help so that he could get back home. Toad tells Mario that he was on his way to visit the wizard named Crab to ask him to grant his own wish (which was to become larger in size) and Toad happily invites Mario to follow him to the wizard's castle so that the wizard could grant his wish to go back home.

Along the way, the duo meet some other friends who join their group (Kirby and Yoshi); each having their own wishes to ask the wizard. Eventually, the group of friends arrived at the castle and the wizard grants them their wishes, however in a horrible way. Toad's wish which was to only become larger had his wish fulfilled however he grows into an enormous size instead (possibly due to the wizard's lack of control over his own magic).

Warios Weihnachtsmärchen
While Toad himself doesn't make an actual appearance in the comic "Warios Weihnachtsmärchen", The Ghost of Past (who shows Wario about his past life) strongly resembles Toad. The Ghost of the Past was the first of the ghosts to appear before Wario and he showed his early life as a infant all the way till he was almost an adult. In all of these sequences, he reveals that the reason why Wario had a grudge against Mario was because Mario beat him in everything from building sand castles as children to impressing Princess Peach during their school years.

Mario in Mariozilla
Toad makes a small appearance in the comic "Mario in Mariozilla" in the introduction. He is first seen alongside Mario and Yoshi where the three heroes were seen looking for Easter Eggs in Mario's garden. However, their search is interrupted when Kamek and several Toadies arrive and put a spell on Mario to shrink him to a miniature size. However, the spell backfires and instead Mario grows to an enormous size. Upon seeing his gigantic friend, Toad fearfully asks if Mario had became evil which the plumber accidentally responds by taking a step forward causing Toad, Yoshi, and Kamek's group to flee in fear.

Super Mario-Kun
Toad makes an appearance in the Japanese exclusive manga series Super Mario-Kun as a prominent recurring character throughout its numerous installments. Within the story line, Toad serves as the head or captain of the Toad guards at Princess Peach's Castle and is often seen to be very protective of her. However, in spite of Toad's different attempts at protecting her during the various issues, Peach still manages to get kidnapped by Bowser frequently due to the certain small flaws in the plans that Toad and the other guards create while guarding Peach. As a result, Toad is often seen as a character featuring of comedic relief within the manga series (especially in the scenes featuring the antics of him and the other guards).

Toad makes a prominent appearance in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth issues of Super Mario-Kun which feature an adaptation of Wario's Woods (the game where Toad starred as the main hero). In these two issues, Toad is accompanied by his friends Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi as the four help Wanda fight off Wario's attempt to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. While Toad does very little at first, he plays a prominent role in the battle against Seizer where he is first seen fleeing in fear after seeing the skeletal boss. However, after seeing his friends getting injured within the battle, Toad steps into the battlefield and battles Seizer by himself and eventually wins the battle against the grim reaper-like boss through his own determination.

Toad also plays a major role within the issues featuring Mario Party where he guides Mario and friends throughout the adventure. In spite of Toadsworth's presence within the later issues, Toad continues to make reoccurring appearances (including the issue featuring the Mario & Luigi titles such as Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story). Toad also makes a major appearance as Mario's sidekick within the forty-fourth issue based on Super Mario 3D Land.

Mario Golf series
Toad has appeared in several Mario Golf titles. In NES Open Tournament Golf, Toad appears with a blue flag to inform the player whenever an O.B. occurs. During the opening cinematic to Mario Golf, Toad makes a short appearance waving a flag in the heavy rough where Luigi had hit his ball (he also plays the role of informing the player whenever an O.B. occurs once again in the actual game). Despite his lack of playability, there is also a course named in his honor which is the Toad Highlands in Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64. He appears on the main menu screen of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour as well as in the corner of the screen while golfing in any mode.

Toad is playable for the first time in the series in Mario Golf: World Tour, where he is an unlockable character, obtained by collecting 40 Star Coins in Challenge Mode. Miis can also use his golf clubs and ball and wear outfits based on him, and his costume will be available if 100 gear items are unlocked.

Super Mario Adventures
In Super Mario Adventures, Toad travels with Princess Toadstool and several other Mushroom Retainers on a quest to defeat Bowser; unfortunately, Princess Toadstool, Toad and the other Toads are ambushed by Lakitu, with only Toad himself having escaped the battle. A wounded Toad later manages to reach Mario, Luigi and Yoshi at Yoshi's Island. After recovering, Toad decides to team up with the trio in an attempt to rescue Princess Toadstool. However, their plan backfires when Mario is accidentally captured instead within Bowser's Castle while the princess manages to rescue herself (though her attempt had caused her to lose consciousness upon escaping).

As Toadstool recovers, Toad, Luigi, and Yoshi catch sight of a boat containing Mechakoopas sailing from Bowser's Castle. The Mechakoopas illustrate the demand that Bowser wanted by demanding that the trio to put Toadstool into the boat and return her to Bowser's Castle; otherwise, the captured Mario would be executed. The trio become shocked by the demand (with Toad even exclaiming that the whole ordeal was blackmail) and as they come to the conclusion that they have no other choice to make, a business man known as the Friendly Floyd arrives to the scene and makes a plan with the trio to disguise Luigi as the Princess and vise-versa. As Toadstool regains consciousness, she catches sight of Toad and realizes that Mario had been captured instead as she made her own escape. Upon realizing that she was in Luigi's clothes, Toad tells her that a plan has already been made to rescue Mario and that everyone's cooperation is needed. Soon, Toad and Yoshi talk about the plan to sneak a bomb-wielding Princess Toadstool and Friendly Floyd into the Koopalings' tower disguised as pizza delivery workers in order to help Luigi save Mario. Toad also helped to battle the Koopalings along with Luigi, Toadstool, and Yoshi after their disguises were discovered. After the battle, Toad was blown from the tower with everyone else when it exploded.

Fortunately, Toad survived along with the rest of his friends (including the once kidnapped Mario) and he soon accompanied the rest of the heroes in an attempt to getting back to their homes. However, after getting lost, Toad makes a plan of using Toadstool's cape and getting back to the Mushroom Kingdom in order to send for help to help the rest of his friends. Unfortunately, as Toad attempted to reach the Mushroom Kingdom with Toadstool's cape, he was only to be captured by Bowser and his forces and held hostage. Oddly, Toad's fate in the comic is never made clear, as he was never rescued from Bowser's clutches (though he was seen alerting Princess Toadstool of the state of the Mushroom Kingdom after Bowser had arrived).

Oddly, this comic depicts Toad with an odd color scheme in comparison to his game counterpart as instead of a white mushroom cap with red spots, Toad instead has an inversed red cap with white spots. While he sports good vision, he is seen constantly seen to be sporting large sunglasses that cover his eyes. This appears to be a trait of the attire that Toadstool's guards seem to wear throughout the comic series.

Mario vs. Wario: The Birthday Bash
Toad makes an appearance in the Club Nintendo comic Mario vs. Wario: The Birthday Bash. He is seen alongside Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Wario during the scene in which the group of five were on a walk to the park. However, on their way there, Peach spots a Samus doll in the window which she has set her love for. During this scene, Mario and Wario both start getting ideas of getting the doll for her birthday (which was arriving soon). In spite of the distraction, both Toad and Luigi can be seen frantically trying to get the attention of their three friends as the two did not want the group to miss the bus that had just arrived.

Alongside Mario, Luigi, and Wario, Toad along with the other Toads are later seen to be decorating Peach's Castle in preparation for her birthday party. He likely celebrated her birthday along with everyone else once the party began at the end of the comic strip.

Super Mario Kart
Toad is playable in Super Mario Kart, as a lightweight character. His signature color is blue (the color of his vest) since Mario occupies red. Whenever Toad is left as a CPU or a non player character, his special ability is throwing Poison Mushrooms that make another player shrink when hit (an ability that he shares with Princess Toadstool). However, Toad cannot use this ability whenever he is chosen as the player's character (as like any of the other playable characters and their exclusive abilities when chosen as non player characters).

Mario Kart 64
Toad is also playable in Mario Kart 64, and he also has his own course, Toad's Turnpike. Like in the first game, he is again a light weight character; however, this time he shares this weight classification with Princess Peach and Yoshi.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Toad re-appears in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as one of the two lightest and fastest characters in the game - the other being Princess Peach. As like the past Mario Kart titles, Toad's greatest attribute in this game is acceleration (which contributes to his high speed statistic in the game).

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Toad is given a partner in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Toadette. His and Toadette's special item is the Golden Mushroom. Along with Toadette and their kart, the Toad Kart, Toad is featured as an unlockable character, marking the only time he is unlockable in the Mario Kart series. He is unlocked by completing the Special Cup on the 100cc mode.

While he does not have his own track in this game, artwork of Toad (taken from Super Mario Sunshine) can be seen on a billboard at Peach Beach and several banners of him can be spotted throughout the beginning sector of Yoshi Circuit.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
Toad makes an appearance in arcade exclusive game Mario Kart Arcade GP as a playable racer. Featured as a light weight character, Toad's special items in this game are the Miracle Mushroom, Poison Mushroom, Mushroom Hammer, and Mushroom Powder.

Mario Kart DS
In Mario Kart DS, Toad is a default playable character and is of the lightweight class. He has three personal karts which consist of the following: the Standard TD, the Mushmellow, and the 4-Wheel Cradle. Alongside being playable in Grand Prix mode, Toad is the main character in one of the boss races in Mission Mode. In this mission, he races against the Goomboss throughout the race course Baby Park. Toad also appears in many other instances of the Mission Mode (most of which involve Toad racing through numbered gates).

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
Toad appears in the sequel to the exclusive arcade version of Mario Kart in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2. Toad is featured as one of the three easy control racers (the other two characters under this classification are Ms. Pac-Man and Mametchi). The special items featured for Toad in this game are the same as the ones he had in the original Mario Kart Arcade GP title.

While he does not have his own race course in the game, Toad does receive a few notable cameos within several other courses. In the course Yoshi Park 1, large paper cutout figures of Toad (done in the art style of the Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Story games) can be spotted throughout the course including in the section depicting cakes and sweets where figures of Toad and Yoshi can be seen to be baking cakes together. In the course Yoshi Park 2, figures of Toad along with Toadette and Toadsworth can be seen in the beginning part of the Trick House area.

Mario Kart Wii
Toad takes to the wheel once again in Mario Kart Wii, as a small-sized driver. He has his own track in this game, Toad's Factory. Toad is given a good acceleration and drift bonus, which made vehicles like the Cheep Charger and Bullet Bike accelerate and drift better than normal. Toad and Toadette have the same vehicles, but they are available in different colors (Toad in blue, Toadette in magenta). He is also the staff ghost of Toad's Factory. Toad is tied with Princess Peach and Waluigi for having the best drift and acceleration stats respectively in the game.

Mario Kart 7
Toad is also a playable character in Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. Like in the previous installments, he is one of the default playable racers in the game and is a Feather-weight character whose greatest attribute is his acceleration. In this game he has his own track, Toad Circuit (which serves as the first course in the Grand Prix mode).

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Toad returns in Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U once again as a default lightweight character, only this time as a heavy lightweight. This means that his acceleration, handling, and traction stats are reduced to increase his speed and weight stats. He shares this trait with Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, Toadette, Lakitu, Larry, Wendy, and Isabelle.

Toad owns two race courses, which are the new Toad Harbor and returning N64 Toad's Turnpike (the latter being his staff ghost course).

Like the previous games, Toad uses blue as his main color scheme. This color is used for every color-changing vehicle parts and gliders that Toad uses, such as the Circuit Special, Super Glider, and Pipe Frame. His secondary color is red, which is used for the Sneeker and Sport Bike. As CPU controlled Toad will sometimes use the Sneeker.

Toad also appears on posters for the sponsors Galaxy Air and the 1-Up Mushroom Car Insurance Group.

Toad returns in the Nintendo Switch port Mario Kart 8 Deluxe where he now only shares stats with Shy Guy and Larry and is the heaviest of all the five groups of lightweights. He has the highest top speed and weight of all the lightweights, while sharing similar acceleration stats with the other light groups. However, his mini turbo stat is the lowest of all the lightweights.

Wario's Woods
Toad is the main character of Wario's Woods, a Nintendo puzzle game. Within the plot of the game, the antagonist Wario had taken control over a once quiet forest (renaming it Wario's Woods soon after) and controlled the original peaceful creatures of the woods by brainwashing them with a sinister spell. After gaining complete control over the Peaceful Forest, Wario begins his plans of attacking the Mushroom Kingdom with the help of his various monsters. Meanwhile, Toad (known as the Mushroom Kingdom hero) had been taking a walk in what he thought was Peach's garden but was actually Wario's Woods and soon gets stuck in the forest. After being asked by the forest sprites to save their home, Toad agrees to help them and sets off to stop Wario and his diabolical plans. While in the woods, Toad gets helped by Birdo and a Sprite.

Throughout the adventure, Toad has to stack up the various minions that Wario sends out and he has to use different colored bombs to attempt to destroy them. After matching the colors of his opponents with the correct bomb, Toad manages to defeat his foes and clear a round. Throughout the game, Toad shows different abilities including his superhuman strength from Super Mario Bros. 2 which he uses to carry the large monsters and bombs (he can even carry large stacks of them with ease). He also shows the unique ability to run up the walls of the tree hollow each round took place in within this game. While Toad is fighting, the Sprite provides the bombs for him to use while Birdo provides encouragement for Toad to keep going on. However, there are times when Wario appears to cause Toad trouble. He makes his appearance on the screen in Birdo's place by getting rid of Toad's helper temporarily and replacing the Sprite with a Pidgit who in turn will supply more monsters for Toad instead of bombs. Wario himself occasionally slams into the tree hollow that Toad is in, and cause the Thwomp engrossing the ceiling to fall lower; thus, limiting Toad's time to defeating Wario's monsters before becoming crushed by the Thwomp.

Along the way, Toad also has to face several other bosses (such as Fauster and Mad) who attempt to stop Toad. The SNES version of the game includes more bosses who slows down Toad's chase after Wario. As Toad reaches closer to Wario's hideout, Wario continues to taunt him in the various cutscenes and attempt to discourage the hero from defeating him. Oddly, Wario continues to get larger in size within each cutscene. As Toad finally catches up to Wario, the antagonist reveals himself to being a fake (as a result being an impostor) and challenges him to a battle. After defeating the fake Wario, Toad finally meets with the real Wario who had used the opportunity of Toad's delay to making him grow to the biggest size possible to face against Toad. At the end of the game, Toad faces against Wario himself, and eventually defeats him. After Wario falls to defeat, the antagonist attempts to make himself bigger; however, he instead explodes and returns to his regular size (thus, revealing that Wario had only used an air pump to increase his size the entire time). Seeing the miniature Wario, Toad uses this opportunity to chase him out of the woods and restore peace to the area.

In the SNES version of the game, Toad not only has to face Wario in his pursuit to save the Mushroom Kingdom, but as well as several others who serve as mini-bosses in the game. Toad's voice is first heard in this game and it is unusually deep. Toad's abilities from the original version reappear in this game as well. Unlike the NES version, setting changes have been implemented within this game as the levels in this game do not only occur within Wario's Woods, but rather in many other parts of the Mushroom Kingdom (hence, Toad has to fight mini-bosses who are themed appropriately according to their stage). The ending for this version is also much different from the original as Toad does not chase Wario out of the woods and, instead, throws a bomb right at the castle causing it as well as Wario to go crashing down. Soon a message is given and it states that thanks to Toad's efforts, the woods had returned to peace and that all the monsters were turned back to normal as Wario's spell (referred to as a nightmare in the game) over them had finally lifted.

Mario Tennis series
Toad makes his first appearance in the Mario Tennis series as a default playable character in the lesser-known Virtual Boy game Mario's Tennis. A better known role is his appearance in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 as a technique player, where he is once again playable from the very beginning. Although he does not actually appear in Mario Tennis' Game Boy Color version outside of being a referee, he can be transferred into the game with a Transfer Pack.

He, along with Toadette, also appears on a scoreboard for a tennis tournament in the opening movie of Mario Power Tennis, but they are not playable in the game. Additionally, Toad also appears on the main menu screen when setting up a match. Toad also makes cameo appearances in a few of the celebration sequences for the playable characters (most notably in Donkey Kong's and Koopa Paratroopa's award ceremonies).

While he is not a playable participant in Mario Tennis Open, Toad makes a notable appearance as the referee in the game (sitting on the referee's chair during the various tennis matches). Toad tells the player how many games are needed to win a set or the match, and if the player is about to win or lose. In the tutorial mode of the game, Toad will explain the controls of the game to the player. When the player does a tournament for the first time, Toad reminds the player about tutorial pointers. Toad also runs the Clubhouse where the players can customize their Mii characters. A costume based off Toad can be unlocked for the Mii by gathering a total of 50,000 coins. Toad's racket is also an unlockable accessory for the Miis in the game.

Toad make a reappearance as a playable character in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, since his last playable appearance in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. This time, he is classified as a Speed player.

Satella-Q
Toad is the starring and primary character of the Japanese exclusive game Satella-Q which is a series of quiz game events for the Satellaview (an add-on for the Super Famicom). Toad's role in these game events is to guide the players through a series of quizzes and minigames throughout the Satella-Q episodes. Occasionally, the players interact with him through the events of the minigames such as moving him around certain areas and stages. Toad also cheers on for the player at various points of the game (especially whenever the player claims victory over a certain minigame). The game also features several minigames which often make references to Toad and his own character such as the featuring of titles such as "Kinopio Live" (which translates to that of "Toad Live" outside of Japan) whenever Toad is seen performing in a musical concert in one of the minigames.

Mario Teaches Typing
Toad makes a small appearance in Mario Teaches Typing by appearing on the title screen alongside Luigi, Princess Peach, and Mario. The artwork used to depict him (as well as Luigi and Peach) is taken from the official group artwork of the three from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Game & Watch Gallery series
Throughout the Game & Watch Gallery series, Toad has been featured in nearly all of the installments. In most of the games, Toad usually appears as a non-playable character who must often be rescued by the other heroes. This is especially evident in Game & Watch Gallery, Game & Watch Gallery 2, and Game & Watch Gallery Advance. However, in Game & Watch Gallery 3, Toad is the protagonist of his own game, Turtle Bridge (which is based off the original Turtle Bridge game from the original Game & Watch). This game involves Toad delivering and relaying packages from Mario to Princess Peach (who both stand on opposite sides of a castle) while crossing a bridge full of Goonies. The games is played by having Toad deliver the various items (from left to right) while jumping on the various Goonies that appear in the sky and he must also avoid falling while in the air.

Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium
Toad is playable in the Sattleview demo of the game Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, which was released in Japan in 1997. Overall, he is one of the five playable Mario series characters in the game (the other four being Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Wario). Toad is also notably one of the two characters who are playable in all of the four levels in the game (with Mario being the other character).

Mario no Photopi
Toad makes several appearances in the creativity game Mario no Photopi. Some of his more notable appearances in this game include him being on the title screen of the game as well as being a character featured in the bonus puzzle that was provided with the game.

Mario Party series
In Mario Party and Mario Party 2, Toad is the main host and the character that awards the Players with Stars. During the story mode of these games, Toad (being the main host) often plays the role as the main guide for the players as he often gives out tips and assistance whenever the players interact with him.

In Mario Party 3, he is replaced by Tumble as the host, but still appears to give out items in the various boards. He runs Toad's Trading Post, one of the two possible shops in the game; he generally sells items that the player can use on themselves to benefit. He can also appear when the player lands on an Item Space. He both appears when playing an item minigame, and can appear to ask the player a question to get an item; his questions are choice-oriented, with the more noble answer generally getting the player better items. Toad is also one of the possible partners, as well as Princess Peach's default partner, in Duel Mode, with 1 HP, 1 Attack, and a salary of one coin. His ability prevents the player from losing coins if they land on an opponent's Basic Space.

He continues his role as host in Mario Party 4 even having his own board like the other co-hosts, Toad's Midway Madness. Toad also serves as the boss for the aforementioned board. One can also unlock him as a playable character in the Beach Volley Folley minigame, thus marking his first appearance as a playable character in the series (despite being just one mode). However, in Mario Party 5 he was promoted to being a playable character in Party Mode. He has been playable in every Mario Party game since then, except for Mario Party Advance and Mario Party: The Top 100.

In Mario Party Advance, Toad acts as co-host, along with E. Gadd, Toadette, and Tumble. Toad co-hosts Play Land with E. Gadd and Party Land with Toadette; however, he serves as the main host of the Mini-Game Attack mode. Toad also provides 10 coins to the players in the Game Room mode if they do not have any coins to begin with. In the introduction sequence of the game, Toad is attacked by Bowser and a Koopa Kid just as he is about to show the player all of the game's minigames and Gaddgets. The sudden attack spreads the items all across Shroom City, setting the main "story mode" of the game into action. After showing that he is fine from the attack, Toad then requests for the player to help assist in saving the items and stopping Bowser's plans.

Despite his lack of being a playable character in the first handheld Mario Party game, he appears as one of eight playable characters in the next portable installment, Mario Party DS.

A blue-colored Toad going by "Toad" in the Mario Party 9 minigame Toad and Go Seek also appears, although Toad himself is fully playable.

Super Smash Bros. series
In the Super Smash Bros. games, Toad appears as Princess Peach's helper and standard special move. He can be pulled out of nowhere and used as a shield. One of Peach's trophies says not to worry about him, as it is his job to protect her. If Kirby inhales Princess Peach, then he too can use Toad. He also has a trophy in his likeness. Toad (expect for Super Smash Bros. Melee) is able to release spores which damage the enemy after being used enough times as a shield. This is the second time Toad has ever displayed this ability throughout his existence (Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 was the first while the future game Mario Sports Mix further explored this ability). Toad is once again given a collectible trophy in the game and also has three obtainable stickers. While he isn't a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Toad is technically playable in the unlockable Masterpiece Super Mario Bros. 2 if the player chooses to make the default playable Princess Peach lose all her lives in the game.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Toad can be altered into one of the two custom variants, if they are unlocked first. One is the Sleepy Toad, which can put opponents to sleep with it spores, while the other one is Grumpy Toad, which immediately releases spores upon use.

Mario Pinball Land
Toad aids Mario in the spin-off title, Mario Pinball Land. He runs Toad's Tent, a secret location accessed when a transformed Pinball Mario hits Toad on one of the various levels in the game. Once inside the tent, Mario can buy items from Toad that can help him in his adventure.

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Toad accompanies the character of the Player's choice, Mario or Luigi. He plays a sidekick like role by helping either plumber on their quest to get the Music Keys from Wario, Waluigi and Bowser. Toad makes his debut in the game by running to the hero's house to alert him of the news after witnessing the capturing of the Music Keys. Toad also appears in the background of the first song, "Here We Go!" where he is seen dancing alongside either Mario or Luigi. He tries to help obtain the lost keys, but is not entirely successful as Toad is non-violent throughout the game. In the various dance scenes after the first one, Toad often makes various excuses of not being able to dance to excuse himself from dancing. He does, however, tell Mario or Luigi what he needs to do, and when he needs to do it (as seen during the battle with Freezie).

Super Princess Peach
In the intro of Super Princess Peach, Toad is kidnapped along with Mario and Luigi by the Hammer Bros. They are soon transported to Bowser's castle where he locks the three in the dungeon. The lead Hammer Bro refers to Toad as "a mushroom-headed loud-mouth" when he informs Bowser of the captures. In the ending of the game, Toad is seen to be rescued by Peach and during the credits, he along with the princess, Mario, Luigi, and another Toad (who Peach rescued earlier on in Bowser's Castle) can be seen walking back to Peach's Castle through a starlit sky.

Toad also appears as a playable character in two of the mini games in the game. The first minigame is Toad Jump, which involves a side scrolling world where Toad must jump over enemies and pits. The only way to control him in this minigame is through blowing into the microphone of the DS. If he is hit by an enemy or falls in a hole, it will trigger an instant loss in the game. The other minigame is named Toad Tote which involves Toad being trapped in a maze like area that is engulfed in flames with the goal of the mini game being to help Toad to escape. In the minigame, Toad is controlled utilizing the Stylus and he must avoid the obstacles in the maze which could burn him.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Toad is an adviser to the Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom. He appears throughout the game to offer Mario tutorials on how to accomplish certain tasks.

Prior to the events of the game, he was sent by the Chancellor to pick up Princess Toadstool, who was visiting Mario at his house. However, when Toad arrives, no one is to be found. Soon, an object appears in the sky and crashes into Mario's house. The object is none other than Mario, who was just ejected from Bowser's Keep by the giant sword, Exor. Toad asks Mario to return to the castle to rescue the Princess. However, when Mario arrives, Exor destroys the bridge to the castle, preventing any access to the keep.

As such, Mario returns to his pad and tells Toad the bad news. Toad decides the pair will have to journey to the Mushroom Kingdom to inform the Chancellor about Bowser's Keep and Princess Peach. As they are leaving, Toad accidentally bumps into Mario and does one HP worth of damage. Toad quickly apologizes and then teaches Mario about items and Timed Hits. Additionally, Toad gives Mario four Mushrooms before they journey into the Goomba-infested Mushroom Way. As soon as Toad enters Mushroom Way, he is captured by a group of Goombas. However, Mario promptly rescues him and he quickly rewards Mario with some Honey Syrup. However, when Toad enters the next area of the passageway, he is quickly kidnapped by a Sky Troopa. Once again, Mario saves Toad and, once again, Mario is rewarded (this time, he gets a Flower Tab). Right before the exit to the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad is captured by the Hammer Bros., the leaders of the Koopa Troop's forces in Mushroom Way. Ultimately, Mario defeats the Hammer Bros., frees Toad, and accompanies Toad to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Upon reaching the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad leads Mario to the room where the Chancellor and the other five mushroom retainers were holding a meeting. Upon talking to the Chancellor, Mario provides an animated speech of how the Princess was kidnapped using various impersonations of the characters he met during the kidnapping. Toad also aids Mario in the speech by playing along after Mario introduces the part of the tale where Toad comes in. After the Chancellor gives instructions to Mario of his next steps in his journey, Toad is left to remain at the castle and await for Mario's return.

Later, during the invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom by Mack and the Shysters, Toad hides, very frightened, in the Princess's bedroom in the castle.

When Mario is taking a nap at the Rose Town inn, Toad visits him to deliver a Flower Tab. If Mario chooses to sleep with the Dream Cushion at the Inn in Nimbus Land, he would sometimes dream of Toad revealing himself to be a monster (in this case, a Greaper). Mario initially becomes frightened of Toad when he comes to visit, but the fear is gone once Toad gives him a Red Essence.

Later, in the Factory, Toad, having through unknown means traveled to and through Bowser's Keep and the rest of the Factory, appears to support Mario and sell him useful items, giving him two Rock Candies for free the first time he shops. Why Toad didn't just give these needed items to Mario for free (as he did before) is unknown. Additionally, despite being at the Factory, the player can return to the Mushroom Kingdom and still find him in the castle's throne room with the Chancellor.

Super Paper Mario
Toad makes a very small appearance in the beginning of Super Paper Mario. Mario and Luigi, bored and looking for adventure one lazy morning, decide to visit Princess Peach. However, on their way out the door they are stopped by Toad, who had rushed to the Mario Bros.' House to inform them that Princess Peach has been kidnapped and Mushroom Castle has been raided, thus starting the Bros.' adventure to Bowser's Castle and later to save all worlds from The Void. As the Mario Bros. leave on their journey, Toad can be seen wishing the two brothers good luck on their adventure and stating that the entire Mushroom Kingdom is depending on the two to saving Peach. Toad also appears as the last Catch Card in this game.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
Despite the numerous amounts of similar-looking Toads, Toad makes his reappearance in Paper Mario: Color Splash. He is first seen accompanying Peach in the introduction cutscene where the two travel to Mario's house during a stormy night to deliver a mysterious letter to him. Upon opening the letter at his house, Mario is shocked to find a colorless Toad that has been drained of his colors within the letter. After discovering that the incident took place on Prism Island, the three head off on a boat to the island despite the storm.

Upon reaching Prism Island, the three heroes find the plaza deserted causing Peach to worry and ask Toad if he was sure if they were at the right place. Having consulted his guidebook, Toad confidently says that the island was indeed the right place and he offers to ask for some help from the locales. After scampering off to find help, Mario and Peach meet Huey, a floating 3D talking paint bucket. However, it isn't long before the screams of Toad were heard in which Mario, Peach and Huey are horrified to find a Slurp Guy draining the colors out of Toad leaving him to become mere paper. Eventually, Toad is given back his colors thanks to Mario and Huey. He spends the rest of the game in the small inn in Port Prisma's yellow district. After Peach is kidnapped by Bowser, Mario can visit him and show him Peach's messages recorded in Holo-Peaches.

The concept of the recurring character Toad is also lampshaded. When the red Rescue Squad has assembled at The Emerald Circus, talking to Toad #35 has him ask if Mario remembers him, the Toad who appeared together with Mario in "that other game".

Itadaki Street DS
Toad, along eleven other Mario series characters and several characters from the Dragon Quest series, appears as a playable character in the Monopoly game Itadaki Street DS. Toad also runs the tutorial mode of the game where he assists the player by explaining the basic controls.

The Toad Head and Toad Suit are collectible accessories in this game that can be equipped on customizable characters.

Fortune Street
Toad returns as a playable participant in the Nintendo Wii game Fortune Street, the sequel to the Japanese exclusive Itadaki Street DS. He is one of the thirteen playable Mario series characters in this installment. Within the game, Toad is classified of being in the C Rank (a trait he shares with Luigi, Princess Daisy, and Waluigi). Instead of making-fun of the other players during his talking sequences, Toad will normally encourage the other players and ask if they are all having a good time (as his personality is shown to be rather kind and open throughout the game).

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Toad makes a small appearance in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as one of the referees in the game from the Mario franchise. He can frequently be seen alongside Cream the Rabbit as judges in the various event matches including the fencing and high jump events. The two also are seen calling out fouls and starting the races in the Athletics events.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Toad also appears in the sequel, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games which features him once again as a referee. In the Wii version, he along with Cream are the main hosts that introduce the events to the players in the Festival Mode. The two also resume very similar judging roles as in the first game. However in the DS version of the game, Toad appears in the story mode with a bigger role and is the first person for Mario and Sonic to meet in Frostown. He excitedly joins their party after been spoken to, acting mainly as a guide for the adventure (Toad states himself that he will not be able to do much once he agrees to join them). In both games, Toad is the only red spotted Toad to appear within the games (despite the numerous amount of Toads present in the audience).

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Toad makes another appearance in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Like in the previous two games, he alongside Cream the Rabbit serve as the main hosts in the "London Party" mode. As hosts, he and Cream both judge the players and often give them their daily duties for that mode in order to achieve stickers and points. Toad and Cream also give out the final scores of the events to the players as well.

In the other events of the game, Toad serves as one of the more commonly seen referees alongside Cream, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy Bee. Toad also hosts his own games such as the "Dream Equestrian" match where he has the players bring back Yoshi Eggs through a series of horse riding events. A suit based on Toad can also be unlocked (through playing against a friend 5 times in the "Single Event" mode) and be worn by the player's Mii.

While Toad maintains the same role as a host and referee through the event modes in the 3DS version of the game, he plays a much larger role in the story mode as one of the main heroes who attempt to stop Bowser and Dr. Eggman's plans of preventing the Olympic games from occurring. He makes his first appearance in the Main Stadium where he is among the first to witness the appearance of the Phantasmal Fog (released by Bowser and Dr. Eggman) covering the various areas in London. While investigating the cause of the fog, Toad runs into two foggy figures resembling Mario and Sonic. At first confused by their appearances, Toad asks for help; however, he is unfortunately knocked unconscious by the vicious imposters. It is at this point that Player is introduced to the fake versions of the athletes who are appropriately named as "Fog Clones" in the story.

Sometime later, Toad is met up with Mario and Luigi who had arrived to the Main Stadium for a search of the fog's creators. Toad explains the situation of the previous night and tells the two of the Fog Clones which the two plumbers have difficulty believing in terms of their potential existence. However, Toad's words proved to be correct as two Fog Clones (based off Sonic and Tails) arrive to face off against the Mario Bros.. After defeating them, Toad decides to join Mario and Luigi's search for the origination of the Phantasmal Fog while an accompanying Omochao joins their party temporarily to assist in their search in the Main Stadium. The group of three forms their first success by destroying the Fog Machine (which created the fog in the Main Stadium) that Dry Bowser and a lone Dry Bones guarded (after having defeated the two in an event). As the fog clears in the area, the Mario Bros. and Toad bid Omochao farewell as the three head out to Hyde Park where more fog appeared to exist as well as the possibility that Peach may be in the area.

After meeting up with Peach in Hyde Park and finding out that she is fine, the Mario Bros. and Toad head to British Museum where the trio meet both Sonic and Tails who happily agrees to join the three in their quest. For the remainder of the game, Toad remains on the protagonist side and remains as a part of the original team of five heroes (Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, and Toad). While he does not participate in the events (as Toad's role is a referee in the game), Toad plays a guide like role and often helps the team in their search for clues to the best of ability (which Toad prominently succeeds in when finding various Fog Machines and other athletes). Toad is assigned the role as Mario's partner in the search for Wario after the group separated to cover more ground for clues. He even assists in defending other hosts such as Cream the Rabbit from harm while encouraging the athletes to continually do their best prior to the events against their enemies. After Omega joins the five man team, Toad later receives a walkie talkie from Omoachao in order for the group to keep contact with the Main Stadium.

After getting closer to Big Ben (where the source of Phantasmal Fog is especially great), Toad falls down in exhaustion after an especially tough event against four Fog Clones. He attempts to get back up; however, his attempts prove to no avail as he discovers that his breathing abilities in the fog were diminishing. Omega also finds a similar problem by finding that his circuits might malfunction if he were to continue. After realizing that the ahead path might be too tough for the hosts, Toad gives the walkie talkie to Tails for future contact and wishes the group of four athletes (Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Tails) good luck as he replies that he and Omega would make their way back to the Main Stadium after the other four heroes had left. Prior to the final battle, Toad stations in through the walkie talkie and wishes the team luck while telling them that the other areas had been cleared by the other athletes during the time being. After the heroes had defeated the two villains, Toad accepts Bowser and Dr. Eggman's requests to participate in the Olympic Games (their lack of invitations to the Olympic Games had been their motivator to their plans to fogging up London) and motions for the four heroes and two villains to hurry to the Main Stadium as the Olympic Games were to begin shortly. In the ending credits, a photograph finishes the story by consisting of all the athletes playable in the game and as well as Toad himself standing by the track.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Toad makes his first playable appearance in the series in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He is exclusive to the 4x100m Relay event. Toad does not appear as a playable character in the Nintendo 3DS version.

Mario Sports Mix
Toad makes an appearance as a default playable character in Mario Sports Mix where he is classified as a speedy character. His home stage in this game is the amusement park like area called Toad Park. Toad's special move involves him emitting a spore like attack while having large rotating mushrooms blocking any opponents in his path.

Toad also appears in the story mode of the game where he was first seen gardening outside of Princess Peach's castle. He is soon interrupted by the appearance of a meteor like object crashing into the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon investigation, Toad and three other Toads discover that the crashed objects were four Sports Crystals. The four Toads then get an idea to make a Sports tournament, with the crystals representing the trophies for each sport; thus beginning the events of the game.

Super Mario Run
Toad appears as an unlockable playable character in Super Mario Run. He is obtained by linking the game to the player's My Nintendo account and redeeming the reward.

Much like in Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World, Toad is once again the fastest of the playable characters; however, his jumps are now on par with Mario's. Despite this, Toad (along with all the other playable characters except Mario and Luigi) can only take one hit from an enemy or obstacle before losing a life. This has changes in version 3.4.0, when every character in the game is now able to access the Small Mario form while starting out in their Super forms when starting a stage, with the exception of Mario and Luigi.

When playing as Toadette, Toad will take her place as the referee of Toad Rally.

Kirby Super Star
Toad makes a cameo appearance in Kirby Super Star where he is a part of the audience in several of the minigames such as "Megaton Punch" (along with several others from the Mario cast such as Mario, Luigi, and Birdo). In the DS remake Kirby Super Star Ultra, Toad along with Mario, Peach, Luigi, Wario, and various other Toads appear once again as a a part of the audience in some of the minigames.

F-1 Race
Toad makes a cameo appearance in the Game Boy version of  alongside a few other Nintendo and Mario series characters (Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Link, Samus Aran, and Pit). Toad himself is exclusively seen in the beginning of a race in the racecourse Course 2 where he greets and cheers on the player alongside several referees before the race on the specified course. Toad is also the first guest character to congratulate the player in the ending sequence of the game (while using the same animations as his first appearance in the game).

Game Boy Camera
Toad makes a notable cameo as a stamp for photos in the Game Boy Camera peripherial. The artwork of him depicted in this stamp is inspired by his official artwork from Mario Party.

WarioWare: Touched!
In WarioWare: Touched!, Toad makes a small cameo in level three of Wario-Man's microgame You Scratch Mine, alongside Mario and Wario. The objective of the microgame is for the players to use their stylus to rub the backs of the three characters until they felt good. However, the player must complete the rubbing sequence before the timer runs out (as like the other microgames).

Minecraft
In the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft, Toad appears as a playable skin.

Possible appearances
Many red-spotted Toads appear throughout the Mushroom Kingdom and other locales, and are often confused to be the actual character named Toad. Generally, it is believed that any Toad given a unique role is Toad, or that at least one of a number of Toads appearing in a game is the Toad. It is also largely held that Toad is set apart by having red spots and a blue vest, rather than having matching spots and clothes, however games such as Super Princess Peach have depicted multiple blue-vested-red-spotted Toads, and Toad's appearance has also varied to give him a red vest in some games, and even blue spots in others, such as Super Mario 3D World.

Super Mario Bros.
Toads first appear in the game Super Mario Bros. where they are kidnapped by Bowser and imprisoned in the various castles visited before the final one, where Peach is held. As Toad was later established as one of Peach's loyal advisers, it is often assumed that he was one of the kidnapped "mushroom retainers," although the character of Toad was not created until after Super Mario Bros. and its sequel, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, wherein the Toads fill the same role as the first game.

Super Mario Bros. 3 / Super Mario Advance 4
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad is mentioned in the instruction booklet storyline as saying goodbye and good luck to Mario and Luigi alongside the princess. While this is retained in the manual of Super Mario Advance 4, the opening depicts the letter from the Toad servant of the king of Grass Land as signed by "Toad", and the princess is not seen in the company of any Toad. In either case, he would appear not to be in charge of the Toad Houses or Spade Panels.

Super Mario 64
The Super Mario 64 instruction booklet mentions that Toad is missing, presumably making him one of the many Toads trapped within the castle walls. However, the Super Mario 64 DS instruction booklet instead indicates that Toad is the first one seen in the game, and isn't missing.

Super Mario Sunshine
The Toad wearing a red vest is named as Toad in the instruction booklet for the game, appearing as one of five young Toad attendants who had accompanied Princess Peach and Mario on their vacation to Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine, although it is unclear if this role refers to his name or species. Upon landing on the island, this Toad and the others find the place to be a mess thanks to the work of a mysterious man who strongly resembles Mario.

Throughout most of the actual game, Toad plays a rather minor role by giving out tips to Mario about how to play the game (such as how to do the box break move and as well as information about the different areas within the island). At the time of Princess Peach's kidnapping, Toad and the Green Toad attempt to stop Shadow Mario by blocking his path (though this did not work out successfully as he simply covered them up with Graffiti). After Peach had been kidnapped, Toad can be seen to be very upset and spends most of his time worrying about in Delfino Plaza. He will give Mario the occasional tips if he is spoken to (such as mentioning about the princess being taken to Pinna Park). After Mario had rescued Peach, Toad and the other heroes can finally be seen enjoying the facilities available on Isle Delfino during the credits.

Additionally, it is revealed at the end of game that Toad along with the other Toad attendants had fixed F.L.U.D.D. shortly after its breakdown after the battle between Mario and Bowser. It is also Toad himself who is seen supporting the repaired F.L.U.D.D. as he reveals the fixed device to Mario and Peach as Toadsworth and the Green Toad stands alongside him. As the game's credits begin, it is revealed through the snapshots that Toad and the other heroes finally had the time to relax in the various areas of Isle Delfino after Bowser's defeat.

Super Mario Galaxy


Official art for Super Mario Galaxy shows a Toad with a blue vest, who may be Toad, and who makes various cameos in the game, including an appearance with (possibly) Toadette in the intro where the two of them watch the Star Festival. He also appears as one of many icons for a save file. Otherwise, the only appearances of red-spotted, blue-capped Toads in the game are Peach's two attendants in the introduction, both of whom also wear shiny capes.

This game marks the appearance of a character very similar to Toad called Captain Toad who is the self-proclaimed Captain of the Toad Brigade. Although earlier official bios for the game state that Captain Toad is equivalent to Toad, later games have declared Captain Toad and Toad separate characters, and Super Mario 3D World had the two co-existing, with Toad wearing a blue vest while Captain Toad was in red.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
One Toad can be found back at Princess Peach's Castle throughout Mario's adventure in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where he will offer to show help videos to the players in exchange for star coins.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Like in the first game, Toad's appearance of a blue vest is on the box art of Super Mario Galaxy 2 as well as his head resuming its place as one of the many save icons for the game. Captain Toad also appears here.

Super Mario 3D Land
Various monochromatic Toads appear in Super Mario 3D Land, as does one who has red spots yet sports a blue vest. He is mainly seen operating the cannons that provide Mario with access to the airship levels, and running the Red Toad Houses where players can obtain Power-Ups and access the Street Pass option from their Nintendo 3DS. He also hides in some of the levels and will either toss a Star Medal, a Power-Up, or a 1-Up Mushroom close to Mario in order to provide him with help when spotted with binoculars, just like the other Toads in the game.

While Toad makes his introduction through some brief appearances in the first world (such as inside his Toad House), Toad must later be rescued from the first Bowser Impostor that Mario encounters in the end of World 1 after Toad and his Toad House vanish once Mario leaves the area. Toad is seen to be calling out for help from his cell as Mario attempts to avoid the impostor's attacks in order to save the mushroom retainer and defeat the impostor by stepping the switch at the end. Once the cell is opened, Toad can be seen jumping happily and thanking Mario for his rescue. After his rescue, Toad will provide Mario with all forms of help throughout his journey.

Toad makes his final appearance in the last level Special 8-Crown. In this level, he is seen near the Warp Pipe that leads to the room where Mario (or Luigi) would need to face both Boom Boom and Pom Pom. The player has the option to bounce upon Toad's head in order to reach the platform with the warp pipe. Once again, Toad is identified in this level as he is the only Red Toad to be sporting a blue vest (the other numerous Red Toads in the level are wearing red vests).

New Super Mario Bros. 2
The Toad Houses in New Super Mario Bros. 2 are all run by a red-spotted blue-vested Toad. Like in the original New Super Mario Bros. (where Toadsworth ran all the Houses), the Mario Bros. must occasionally use Star Coins to access some of the Toad Houses.

The red Toad Houses (Power Up Toad Houses) consist of Toad throwing three Power-Ups to three platforms in which either Mario or Luigi can select the Power-Up the hero chooses to use (though all three Power-Ups can be taken at the same time if chosen). The green Toad Houses (1-Up Toad Houses) has Toad throwing multiple 1-Up Mushrooms into an above pipe in which the Mario Bros. must hit a glove to knock down the descending mushrooms falling from the pipe. The gold Toad Houses (Star Toad Houses) has Toad giving either Mario or Luigi a free Gold Flower (Star if visiting it on World Star).

New Super Mario Bros. U
A red-capped blue-vested Toad runs the Toad Houses once more in New Super Mario Bros. U. A bonus feature included within the Toad House mini-games include Toad either jumping up excitedly in correspondence to the players if they were to win the game or shake his head in disappointment if the players were to lose. Toad also appears when the player receives two digits at the end of a course and rewards the player with a power-up for their achievement.

In the second world, Toad's Toad House appears to be in a conflict and a character known as Nabbit makes an introduction by stealing a power-up from Toad. After Nabbit rushes off, Toad immediately appears out of his Toad House and informs the player of the situation. He then introduces the pipe cannons (which players could use to transport themselves to different worlds) to pursue a chase after the thief. Toad also appears after a player captures Nabbit; when this happens Toad will give Mario and co a P-Acorn.

Luigi's Mansion
In Luigi's Mansion, the character presumed to be Toad makes his first appearance in the foyer of the mansion where he can be seen sobbing terribly. Upon Luigi's comfort, Toad stops crying and informs Luigi that he was sent by Princess Peach in search for Mario in the mansion. However, Toad states that upon entering the Mansion, he became frightened as he could not find Mario. Toad then decides to help Luigi in search for Mario and he does this by being able to save the hero's progress throughout the game. Toad can be found in several different locations throughout the game; the aforementioned foyer, the Courtyard, both the first and second floor Washrooms, and the second floor Balcony. In one of his Washroom appearances, Toad states that he was looking for something precious that he dropped into the toilet, but eventually decides to give up on it. Regardless of where he is found, Toad is more than happy to save Luigi's progress for the game.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Toad appears in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. In the game, he and four other Toads (blue, yellow, purple, and green) are researching ghosts in various different mansions by playing the role as Professor E. Gadd's assistants. Once King Boo shatters the Dark Moon, all the ghosts in Evershade Valley get hostile and imprison Toad and the others in paintings. It is revealed that Toad was imprisoned in a painting within the Haunted Towers.

Some time later, Luigi arrives to the Haunted Towers, and eventually finds the painting of Toad. Using his Poltergust 5000 and flashlight, Luigi was able to rescue Toad out of the painting he was imprisoned in. After being saved, Toad is overjoyed with gratitude and calls Luigi a hero. As the duo continue on to the outer part of the Haunted Towers, they run into The Three Sisters by accident. Toad becomes frightened and attempts to escape the scene, but his means of an exit through a gate is unfortunately sealed immediately in the scene. Throughout the battle, Toad appears frightened of the surrounding ghosts.

After The Three Sisters have been defeated, Toad continues to accompany Luigi through the area. Luigi is able to pull in Toad with the Poltergust 5000 and able to launch him from the vacuum in certain directions. Upon being launched, Toad is able to make a powerful impact with any object he comes into contact with by the force; as a result, being able to reveal secret areas and items. Toad also reveals his fear of deep bodies of water within the adventure (promptly having Luigi carry him over such bodies of water). After the two find a computer with access to Professor E. Gadd's lab within the Haunted Towers, Toad gives his thanks to Luigi and teleports back to the lab.

In the ending of the game, Toad along with the other Toad assistants teleport to the post-battle scene with the pieces of the Dark Moon in their arms. Toad himself hands Luigi the central piece upon reaching the group consisting of Luigi, Mario, and Professor E. Gadd. As Luigi and the Toads hold up the pieces of the dark moon to the sky, the pieces shine brightly and form a new Dark Moon. With the moon in place, the previously mind corrupted ghosts revert back to their peaceful ways and celebrate with the heroes. The ghosts even go onward to giving Toad and the other Toads rides on them. In the final scene, Toad joins the Mario Bros., Professor E. Gadd, and several ghosts for a group picture. Within the ending credits, it is revealed the ghosts have truly went back to their happier states and even reveal to be on friendly terms with Toad and co.

Whenever Toad walks, his footsteps make squeaky sounds. This is a possible reference to the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 TV series where Toad always made squeaky sounds when he walked.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In the Nintendo Power guide of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Toad refers to the emissary that the player briefly controls in the Mario Bros.' House, who ends up running into a wardrobe after seeing Mario in the shower and can barely inform "P-P-Princess P-P-Peach... P-P-Princess P-P-Peach..." when jumped on by Mario. However, in the Prima Games guide, Toad refers to the aforementioned as well as the one in the castle who offers tutorial advice against Bowser, who more coherently explains the situation about Princess Peach's voice with the scene's other Toad after the battle.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
"No sign of the Princess! No! No! NOOOOOOOO! That awful monster..."

- Toad

In the beginning of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, a Toad along with Mario, Luigi, and several other Toads can be seen awaiting for Princess Peach to return from her time traveling experience at Princess Peach's Castle and while waiting, Mario and co. begin to ask questions to Professor E. Gadd about his latest invention, the time machine. This is due to the fact that Princess Peach along with her two Toad accomplices (Toadiko and Toadbert) had decided to take the machine for a spin to go back to the past and then return back. Though the professor assures the group that Peach will soon return, Toadsworth soon falls unconscious while worrying about the safety of the princess. At this time, Toad asks for Mario to fetch a refreshroom in order to help Toadsworth regain his consciousness back. After Mario returns with the mushroom, Toadsworth immediately awakes and this occurs right at the time when E. Gadd's time machine had finally returned from its time traveling.

The time machine appears in heavily damaged state and this causes the group to investigate more closer until finally the door of the machine opens. Instead of Peach, a Junior Shrooboid appears from the machine and this appearance of the alien causes all the other Toads (except for Toadsworth and Toad himself) to flee from the main hall. After Mario defeats the monster, Toad bravely enters inside the time machine to check if the princess was still inside it. Unfortunately, he did not find anything and immediately begins to panic. However at this time, E. Gadd announces that a new Time Hole had appeared outside of the castle. Before following the professor, Toad turns back to the Mario bros. and asks Luigi if he would like to guard the unconscious Junior Shrooboid so that it does not harm anyone while they went to investigate. However, Luigi immediately refuses which causes Toad to be a tad upset but before he leaves, he asks Luigi to perform a jump to see if he was ready for the adventure. After Luigi performs a successful jump, Toad then goes outside to see the Time Hole. The Mario bros. soon appear as well to join Toad and the professor to look at the odd hole. Immediately, Toadsworth appears out of nowhere while shouting out Mario's name but instead he slams into the Time Hole's base causing Luigi to fall in and be pulled back in time to the shock of Mario, Toad and E. Gadd. Mario then immediately jumps in after his brother, thus beginning their adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom of the past.

For the rest of the game, Toad can be found back at Peach's castle in the Mushroom Kingdom of the present and he can be visited at any time after the Mario bros. had retrieved a Cobalt Star. He can seen in the main hall alongside professor E. Gadd. while Toad can be seen watching the professor analyze the cobalt stars, his main job is to guard the tube containing the Junior Shrooboid (the same one that Mario had defeated earlier on) so that the monster would not escape (being that Luigi had refused to take up the job earlier on). When the Mario Bros. finally return to the present day castle after retrieving the 5 cobalt star pieces, Toad wishes the group good luck along with the professor before they leave to the ''Shroob Castle.

After the bros. return with Peach and conquer the Shroob princesses, Toad can be seen rejoicing with the main group until they discover the unconscious Bowser who soon eats the Shroob Mushroom from the Elder Princess Shroob (which had escaped from the grip of Baby Luigi. This causes Bowser to gain the powers of the Elder Princess Shroob. Fortunately as Toad, Peach, the two Toadsworths (elder and younger), and Baby Peach evacuate, the Mario and Baby Bros. manage to defeat the shroobified Bowser, officially marking an end of the Shroob takeover. In the ending of the game, Toad along with the Mario bros., Princess Peach, Professor E. Gadd and Toadsworth can be seen bidding farewell to the baby bros., Toadsworth the Younger and Baby Peach as they use the rebuilt time machine to travel back to the Mushroom Kingdom of the past.

Mario Baseball series
In both Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, a red-colored Toad often believed to be Toad appears as a playable character. The Red Toad has stronger power and speed stats than the other Toad colors, but he is never identified as the Toad.

Mario Superstar Baseball
In the opening for Mario Superstar Baseball, Red Toad is frequently shown with the other notable characters in the game (mainly Peach and Daisy) as they begin their match. Red Toad is shown to be on Mario's team when they were facing Wario, Waluigi, and Donkey Kong as he (along with Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, and Luigi) are seen celebrating Mario's victory through his home run.

Mario Super Sluggers
In the Challenge Mode of Mario Super Sluggers, Red Toad appears as a part of Peach's team, the Peach Monarchs. He is first seen in the out skirts of Peach Ice Garden, where he runs up to Mario and his team and leads them to a statue resembling Princess Daisy. Toad reveals to the group that Bowser Jr. was behind this wrongdoing and asks the group to stop him from doing the same to Peach, directing them to first talk to the nearby Toadette. After meeting up with Toadsworth, Mario and his group heads back to Toad to ask if they could burrow the statue in order to save Peach, only to find him fighting Hammer Bro that was trying to take the statue. They defeat the enemies and Toad thanks them, agreeing to let them take the stautue themselves after some initial worrying. He then joins the team in order to protect the rest of the characters and back them up.

In the opening video to the game, Toad is seen arriving to the Baseball Kingdom via a small cruiser along with his good friends from the Mushroom Kingdom (Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Daisy, and Birdo). After arrival, Red Toad and co. explore the Kingdom and eventually play baseball against each other. Toad is seen during one of the matches where he is shown to be running in order to catch the soaring baseball in the Peach Ice Garden Stadium; however, he accidentally crashes into a giant Freezie and becomes frozen solid (fortunately a Blue Toad crashes into the frozen Toad and the Freezie and frees him). Red Toad is later seen with Peach and Daisy where they are anxiously watching a scene of a baseball match. They are seen cheering when Luigi is shown to have caught the ball (earning their team a victory). In the ending of the game, the cut scenes reveal that Toad and co. enjoyed the rest of the baseball game by having a celebration of cakes and other snacks as well as to watching a beautiful display of fireworks (as all of the disasters have been stopped thanks to the efforts of Toad and the other heroes.)

Physical appearance
Toad basically has the look of the rest of his species. He normally wears a blue vest, large brown shoes and a large diaper-like piece of clothing for pants. His appearance often depicts him to looking like a small human child with his miniature size and recognizable human like features. In the games starting from Mario Party 4, Toad's vest is given an added gold lining. He has a red-spotted mushroom cap, indicating slight cowardice and heavy obedience. A small controversy arose with Super Mario Bros. 2, because Toad is given a blue mushroom cap instead of a red one. However, Toad's blue mushroom cap is actually due to the graphical incapability of the NES rather than a continuity thread. In remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2, such as Super Mario All-Stars, Toad is given a red mushroom cap. There has been some ambiguity and inconsistency as to whether or not Toad's mushroom bulb is in fact a hat. In Mario Party: The Top 100, Toad claims that he has a hat ("You've come so far...I'd tip my hat to you, but neither of us wants to see that." ), and in the cartoon series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad removes his bulb as a cap on occasion. In an interview with Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, it was stated that the mushroom bulb is indeed a part of Toad's head and not a cap.

Like most of the characters in the series, Toad has changed very little appearance wise throughout the years since his debut in Super Mario Bros.. The only recognizable differences in his current look consists of his physical appearance which included some defining factors in the recent years (such as redesigned eyes and a gold outline that was recently added to his traditional vest), and the corrected number of spots on his mushroom cap (the number of spots on his cap was inconsistent in the older Mario games). The addition of the red polka dot on the top of his head is first seen in the game Luigi's Mansion where even Luigi acknowledges the top spot and called it lovely if he is to take a picture of Toad with the Game Boy Horror.

In other aspects, Toad is very small in size (a trait shared within his species). In relation to his body size, he also has small, thin arms and no legs (with just his feet). He also has a large head that is mostly dominated by the red spotted mushroom cap on his head. Overall, Toad's head appears to have a strong resemblance to various mushrooms (most notably the Super Mushroom). While having the look of a child in his current appearance (as like most of the members of his species do), it can be arguable that his earlier appearances (especially in his game appearances during the Nintendo 64 era) portray him as looking much more childish in design with his very large head and miniature body (more so than his current appearance). Surprisingly, a piece of artwork of Toad for the game Mario Party has Toad's legs showing. Toads have never been portrayed with their legs showing in game artwork before or after Mario Party. In the graphics for Super Mario Bros. 3 and Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, Toad appears to have short legs unlike his other appearances.

Toad's arguably most drastically changed appearance can be seen in Super Mario 3D World in which he appears with a blue spotted mushroom cap instead of his red one; ultimately, giving him an appearance of a blue toad. However, it should be noted that Toad's appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2 for the NES also featured him with a blue cap instead of a red one (as a result of hardware limitations for the character sprites); thus, making his blue cap in the former game a potential reference to Super Mario Bros. 2.

Clothing
Toad is generally seen to be in an attire consisting of a blue vest (or waistcoat), white pants, and large brown shoes. In some Mario games and as well as the early Mario cartoons, Toad is depicted to be wearing a red vest as opposed to his traditional blue vest. As a result, Toad's appearances with a red vest sometimes results in confusion among whether or not it is truly Toad himself who is making an appearance in these games or not. Even without his red vest, Toad's general appearance is often shared by many other Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom; thus, further causing confusion between his appearances. However, later Super Mario games such as Super Mario 3D Land have made attempts to differentiate Toad from the other Toads by making him the only Red Toad (Toads with red head spots) to be sporting a blue vest.

While he is commonly seen in his traditional clothing style consisting of his standard vest and pants throughout the series, Toad is sometimes seen to be sporting different wardrobes in various games. This change is first witnessed in some of the earlier spin-off titles as some of the Mario Sports games for the Nintendo 64 (such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf titles for the system) has Toad is seen wearing a blue shirt with a large gold button that may have served as his original sports outfit. Additionally, Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy depicts Toad in the same tennis wear as the other playable male characters. Regardless of his new looks, Toad's clothing style for the later Mario Sports game have him wearing his usual default clothing from the general Mario games (his regular clothing including his vest) as opposed to owning a separate sports outfit.

Toad has also been seen in different outfits and costumes throughout the various Mario games; however, it is the Mario Party series that has given Toad his most different and customized appearances. In Mario Party 2, Toad (along with the other main characters) often dressed up in different costumes in respect to the boards that the characters were playing on (such as as a wizard in Horror Land or a live boat in Pirate Land). In Mario Party 4, Toad is depicted to wearing a fancy white and black striped suit with a rather shiny red bow tie in regards to his status as one of the main hosts in the game (in the ending credits of the game, Toad reveals that he and the other hosts had received their new clothes through the appearance of the Party Cube).

In the Super Mario games, the general appearance of a Toad is often changed drastically depending on the Power-Ups they use (as especially seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii). This is no different for Toad himself as games like Super Mario 3D Land portrayed him in his very own Tanooki suit (with a red scarf) whenever he has gained the power from a Super Leaf (thus, becoming Tanooki Toad). His alternate forms from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show also portray him in different clothing styles such as his Super Toad form (which portrays him with an reversed color pattern of a red mushroom cap and white spots) and the Toad Warrior (which depicts him in a typical biker outfit). The Mini Toad toy from the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games also stays true to Toad's original Fire Toad form by having a reversed colored mushroom cap whenever it becomes a Fire Mini Toad.

Super Mario 3D World not only altered Toad's overall appearance with his blue spotted mushroom cap, but his Fire Toad form has also changed to becoming very similar in appearance to Fire Yellow Toad from the New Super Mario Bros. games with an orange mushroom cap and red spots while Toad sports a red vest.

Personality
Toad is often foreseen as a happy character (happy almost to the point of childishness). His official artwork often shows him with a wide, happy smile on his face. Within the games, Toad is often depicted in a child-like manner by often performing actions that resemble those of a child (such as jumping enthusiastically and cheering on in a joyful way). However, he is also sometimes seen as somewhat of a coward. He is presumably one of the most humble characters in the Mario series, as he seems to be actually aware of his own cowardice. Despite this, Toad is kind and often helps Mario on his multiple adventures. In a variety of games, he has been referenced multiple times to being a very kind and polite Toad who generally roots for the well being for just about anyone who he calls his friend. In some Mario Kart images and various Mario media (such as the comic series), Toad has been shown to be accident-prone or simply unlucky. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Toad shows something of a sarcastic streak.

Toad is almost never seen to get angry. Where most characters would get angry, Toad merely gets upset, and indeed has been described as an impatient character. He is shown to be an excitable little guy, and is often shown running around frantically. Despite all this, he still manages to be brave when the need truly calls for it.

In some Mario media, Toad's personality is slightly altered. Many of these show or comic books created another character to take care of Princess Peach (such as Wooster in the Nintendo Comic System), allowing Toad to have a more active role in the story. In these forms of media, Toad is sometimes depicted to being rather naïve and a bit on the selfish side while performing his child-like mannerisms. However, his own rashness often leads him into trouble which causes him to forcefully change his attitude for the better in order to fix the problems he unintentionally started. In the Valiant Comics series, it gives a brief insight as to Toad's private residence. This reveals Toad lives in a small house which is furnished in a similar way to many houses in the "real world", with modern appliances including a coffee maker. Toad's lifestyle is also similar to many American working men, where he is dedicated to his work as a mushroom retainer. He also drinks coffee from a cup that reads "World's Greatest Mushroom Retainer," which is likely an intentionally comedic reference to the self-important statements on coffee cups that many working men own.

Voice
Toad's voice has gone through many changes since it was first heard in the SNES version of Wario's Woods. In this game, Toad has a rather deep voice that sounded much like a young adolescent. In the first three Mario Party installments and the Japanese release of Mario Kart 64, Toad has a very high pitched and almost child-like voice. In the English release of Mario Kart 64, he sounds like a small child, often screaming in a high voice or cheering in his speech. In Super Mario Advance and forward (as a result of Jen Taylor being introduced as his new voice actress), his voice is changed to a less high level, but it is given a screech to it. In the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, he had a somewhat deeper voice, with a very thick Brooklyn accent.

In the games department, Toad's voice was originally portrayed by Tomoko Maruno for the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64 (and later the first three Mario Party titles) and Isaac Marshall for the overseas version. Eventually, Jen Taylor, and then Kelsey Hutchinson, played Toad's voice for many installments. His current voice actor is Samantha Kelly, who also currently voices Princess Peach and Toadette.

Powers and abilities
Super Mario Bros. 2 reveals that, despite his diminutive size, Toad is somewhat stronger than the Mario Bros., pulling Vegetables and Coins out of the ground faster than any other character. It also showed that he is a very fast character, being able to run faster than the others. These strengths were again seen in Super Mario 3D World. This is further influenced in the Mario Kart series, where he is a lightweight character and very often an extremely fast one. However, both Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World also acknowledges the fact that Toad has very weak jumps. In spite of his limited jumping power, Toad is capable of performing the Power Squat Jump ability in Super Mario Bros. 2 to surpass this limitation. Wario's Woods gives him the unique ability to walk up walls, but this ability has not been seen since. Toad uses a Hammer in Mario Party 3, but this too has not been seen recently.

His appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a shield for Princess Peach further hints at the fact that he has good endurance. In the Super Princess Peach minigame Toad Jump, it is revealed that Toad can perform a kind of flutter jump to increase his jumps simply by flapping his arms around wildly after jumping (though the length of how long he can keep this jump depends on how much the player blows into the mic). Toad also has access to Mario's power ups and is skilled at riding Yoshis. He is generally considered an expert on items, often giving Mario power-ups and telling him what he needs to do. Toad has also been shown to be able to perform a spin jump as seen in games such as Mario Sports Mix.

While it is not common within the Mario series, Toad has also been able to emit spores as his own unique special ability. This ability is given a preview in the earlier games when he is hit by a powerful force as seen in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 and the Super Smash Bros. series (though it is the latter game series that he is shown to be able to use this technique as an offensive attack). However, Mario Sports Mix (for the Wii) further explores Toad's hidden talent by allowing him to use spores to cause mushrooms to sprout from the ground. Toad is capable of using this move as a recovery move. Toad is also able to create a shield of spores as a deflective move. Additionally, Toad's special move in this game involves him emitting many spores to cause gargantuan mushrooms to grow from the ground. These large mushrooms are then able to move in a rotational pattern, and are able to knock out any opponent who attempts to get closer to the mushrooms. Toad completes his attack by throwing a shot full of fungi material at his goal.

In Super Mario 3D Land, Toad is seen to be able to use a variety of the Power-Ups in the game that Mario can also use. In one instance in World 5-5, Toad demonstrates to the player of how to use the Propeller Block by simply jumping off a platform with the block from high above and slowly descending below to the flagpole (when seen through the binoculars). In some of the later worlds and levels, Toad is seen to have used the powers of the Super Leaf and gained access to becoming Tanooki Toad within the Red Toad Houses. In some of his appearances through the use of the binoculars in the earlier levels, Toad is also seen to be able to make jumps rivaling those of Mario as he scampers through the level to show Mario the goal point.

Toad is later seen to be able to use a variety of Power-Ups in Super Mario 3D World such as the Fire Flower and Super Bell to gain forms such as Fire Toad, Cat Toad, and more.

Additionally, episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 occasionally had Toad using Power-Ups such as in "The Fire of Hercufleas" where he uses a Fire Flower, and in "The Ugly Mermaid" where he spends the entire episode in a Frog Suit. He is even one of five characters (the other four being Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Wario) who can turn into different, more powerful forms; he becomes Super Toad when touching a Fire Flower and the Toad Warrior when touching a Starman.

Roles
Often Toad is made into a tutorial-type character or host, who introduces the player to the game (such as in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour). Rarely, he plays the role of side-kick, and is occasionally a full-fledged hero. He is also occasionally a "damsel-in-distress" (but never the main one). He is usually seen as a helper, giving items and performing various other duties, such as running Toad Houses in Super Mario Bros. 3. His role as a tutorial character and as Peach's caretaker seems to have recently been taken over by Toadsworth. However, this replacement has allowed Toad to take more active roles in the Super Mario games such as having him being the host of the Toad House areas. While he is often featured as a playable character within the various Mario spin-off titles, he sometimes plays the role as the referee within some titles.

Relationships
Toad is Princess Peach's obedient servant. While he is not as doting as Toadsworth, he cares for her deeply and would do anything for her. When teamed up, the two are even called "Royal Family" in Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 6 and "Loyal Friends" in Mario Party 8. In the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode The Bird! The Bird!, Peach claims that Toad has protected her "over a hundred times" from Bowser's army before the Mario Bros. arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom, and actively helps in saving him from a misguided Birdo. However, Toad is not nearly as valiant in the games: his fear of Bowser is much more pronounced than in the cartoons, and he often ending up kidnapped just the same as Peach, or is simply reduced to running to the Mario Bros. for help.

Toad is good friends with Mario and Luigi. He respects their bravery and heroism, although some games reveal that he doesn't look up to Luigi as much as Mario, and in Super Mario 64 DS, Toad even mistakes Luigi for his brother at first, and later belittles him for losing his cap. In most games, however, Toad is nothing but loyal to both Mario Bros., often aiding them in their journeys and even fighting alongside them in Super Mario Bros. 2. In the cartoons and most of the comics, Toad acts as sidekick and constant companion for the brothers during their heroic adventures. Like the Mario brothers, Toad values Yoshi as a hero and friend, trusting him to collect Power Stars in Super Mario 64 DS, and teaming up to help rescue Luigi from the the Koopalings in Super Mario Adventures. And while he is not as close to Princess Daisy as he is to Peach, Toad has still shown himself to be a true friend to her as well, such as jumping to her defense when she is turned into a statue in Mario Super Sluggers.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Toadette is introduced as Toad's partner and continues to fill that role in many subsequent releases. The two get along and care about each other, however the exact nature of their relationship is disputed, with guide books for Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 referring to them as brother and sister, but most other sources merely suggesting they are good friends.

Like Bowser, Toad is shown to be afraid of Wario and holds him in contempt. The two had a direct confrontation in Wario's Woods and share bad chemistry in the baseball games. In Super Mario 64 DS, Toad expresses doubts about Wario, believing that he would rather run away with the Power Stars than help the other protagonists, and despite being intimidated by Wario, brazenly insults him by saying his cap smells terrible and telling him to wash it more often. While Toad and Birdo were initially foes in Super Mario Bros. 2, she becomes one of his strongest allies in Wario's Woods, where she provides encouragement for him. The only Mario Party series team name they have shared is "Surprise Attackers".

Bio from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Writers Bible
''Toad was left on his own at an early age, and managed to survive on the streets of many magic lands by his quick wit and fast feet. He met the princess when he was delivering pizzas and attempting to sell encyclopedias to the Mushroom Kingdom Palace. She was so impressed by his eagerness to improve himself, that she got him a job in the royal kitchen. And when King Koopa took over the Mushroom Kingdom, and the princess was cast on the streets, Toad repaid her kindness by serving as her guide, loyal servant, and diplomatic adviser. He's not too sure the Mario Bros. know what they're doing, and often launches his own counterplan, which sometimes saves their hides, and sometimes, doubles their jeopardy. Toad is street smart, very bright and totally resourceful. All in all, he's exactly the kind of Mushroom you'd want guarding your flank in a fireball fight, or facing a clutch of snapping Piranha Plants.

Mario Tennis

 * Type: Technique

Mario Kart: Super Circuit

 * Speed: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 * Weight: ⭐
 * Bio: Toad is a speed demon, but his small size makes him vulnerable to Bowser and DK's bullying ways. Try not to bump into other drivers while controlling the fun guy.

Portrayals
Toad has been voiced by the following people:


 * John Stocker - The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
 * Tomoko Maruno - Mario Kart 64 (Japanese), Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Isaac Marshall - Mario Kart 64
 * Nanae Sumitomo - Satellaview titles (1996 - 199])
 * Jen Taylor - (1998 - 2006) and 2008
 * Kelsey Hutchinson - Super Mario Strikers
 * Samantha Kelly - (2007 - present)

Games

 * "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" - Super Mario Bros.
 * "Pick a box. Its contents will help you on your way." - Super Mario Bros. 3
 * "Cool!" - Wario's Woods (SNES)
 * "Winner!" - "Wario's Woods'' (SNES)
 * "Lots of people use something called a "door" to go in and out of their houses..." - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
 * "Am I glad to see you! The Princess...and I...and, well, everybody...we're all trapped inside the castle walls. Bowser has stolen the castle's Stars, and he's using their power to create his own world in the paintings and walls. Please recover the Power Stars! As you find them, you can use their power to open the doors that Bowser has sealed." - Super Mario 64
 * "I'm the best!" - Mario Kart 64
 * "Already for a mushroom!" - Super Mario Advance
 * "What's this icky paint-like goop?" - Super Mario Sunshine
 * "That big, bad, mean, altogether nasty Bowser went rushing out toward the other exit!" - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
 * "Wa ha haa! I'm the Best! Haha!" - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
 * "Yeah! I'm the winner!" - Mario Party 5
 * "Toad, won!" - Mario Party 8
 * "We're counting on you, Mario...Bros.!" - Super Paper Mario
 * "I'm the winner! Whoo-hoo-hoo!" - Mario Kart Wii
 * " Thanks! Here's a gift for you. Just head through the door!" - New Super Mario Bros. Wii
 * "Yay! Hm...Blastoff!" - Super Mario 3D Land
 * "I can't wait for my promotion! With power and money, I can protect Princess Peach almost as well as Mario does!" - Fortune Street
 * "This is a nice shop and all, but might I make a suggestion? Add a mushroom-cap roof!" - Fortune Street
 * "Being in first place makes me nervous. Someone is always trying to take me down!" - Fortune Street
 * "Okay! Let's do this!" - Super Mario 3D World
 * "Come on! Let's go!" - Super Mario 3D World

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

 * "I'm warning you, I get airsick. Heeeelp!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "Mommy? You're not my mommy!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "I can't be your little Cheepy, lady! I don't have wings! Look! No wings, no feathers. I'm just a mushroom that can't stand heights!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "Flyin' lessons!? Are you outta your mind!?" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "The least that featherbrain could've done was lend me a parachute. Hey! That's it! A parachute!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "Hey! It's me! I mean, him! It's little Cheepy! The Birdo's real lost baby!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "Oh no! I'm not going back up there! Never!" -"The Bird! The Bird!"
 * "When I get my hands on that King Koopa, I'll fix his wagon!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid"
 * "I'm no frog. I can't even swim." - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid"
 * "Bombs awaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid"
 * "Who did you expect? Pee-wee Herman?" - "Rolling Down the River"
 * "Hey, man, I’m the Fantastic Fungus! The supercharged Mushroom of Might! I’m the Toad Warrior!" - "Toad Warriors"
 * "Give me five. NO! Give me five bomb plants!" - "Toad Warriors"
 * "Whoever slows down first, loses!" - "Toad Warriors"
 * "You blew that one, Koopa Stoopa!" - "Pirates of Koopa"
 * "Some mushroom retainer I turned out to be... I was so close! I couldn't save her..." - "The Trojan Koopa"
 * "Naughty turtle, you've been hittin' the sauce again, well, have some more!" - "Count Koopula"
 * "You blew that one, Koopa stoopa!" - "Pirates of Koopa"
 * "Let's make like eggs and SCRAMBLE!!!" - "Mario of the Deep"
 * "So much for hope." - "Stars in Their Eyes"
 * "Don't do it, Princess! Don't marry Koopa! I'd rather be a rock!" - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?"
 * "Koopa you stoopa! Watch it with the Bob-ombs!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush"
 * "By order of his most royal repulsiveness, the reptile Sheriff of Koopingham! The castle road shall require a toll! In the amount of: One wagon full of gold coins!" - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men"

Trivia

 * Toad's emblem in various games is a mushroom. However, since Mario Party 7, this has often been substituted for his own head.
 * Toad appears as a property in Nintendo Monopoly. He takes the place of Kentucky Avenue and costs $220.
 * Toad is also a playable Character in Monopoly Gamer. He is sold separately as a "Power Pack" expansion figure.
 * According to a 1993 Nintendo character guide, Toad has the nickname of Little Toadie and was off visiting relatives of the "Fungus Federation" prior to the events of Super Mario Bros.; thus, only to find Princess Toadstool missing and the rest of his friends missing once he returned.