Toad


 * This article is about the character Toad. For more about the species, see Toad (species).



"Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!"

- Toad

Toad, Peach's longtime servant, first showed off his strength in Super Mario Bros. 2, then proved to be an agile driver in Super Mario Kart. Not the best of guards, Toad must often be rescued. Additionally, Toad is an expert on items.

The Mushroom Retainer
Toad first appeared in the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES. In this game he was one of Princess Peach's Mushroom Retainers, and was called Mushroom Retainer instead of Toad. Mario rescued the first six mushroom retainers from the first six castles. Toad was the seventh he rescued. Toad had the same role in Super Mario Bros.: the Lost Levels.

The Unlikely Hero
Toad appeared again in Super Mario Bros. 2. This time his name was Toad, and he was a playable character (along with Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool). He wasn't very good at jumping, but he was extremely fast when it came to plucking vegetables or digging sand.

The Item Giver
For the third installment of the Super Mario Bros. series, Toad was once again a non-playable character. He told Mario to find the Magic Wand to turn the Mushroom Kings back to normal. he also ran the Toad Houses in Super Mario Bros. 3. He would award you with an item if you won one of his mini-games. In New Super Mario Bros. he was replaced by Toadsworth.

Interestingly, in the code of Super Mario Bros. 3, there is what seems to be a "Toad Suit" similar to the Tanooki Suit and Hammer Bros. Suit. However, it has been removed from the game and the coding does not give a clue to what abilities it may have bestowed upon Mario.

Battle for the Woods
Toad was the main character of Wario's Woods, a Nintendo puzzle game. In this game Wario was attacking Toad's woods and Toad had to stop him. He was helped by Birdo and a fairy named Wanda. Birdo would give bombs to Wanda who would then give them to Toad. He also showed a unique ability in this game, the ability to run up walls. At the end of the game Toad faced Wario himself, and won.

An Odd Visit
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.

During the events of the game, He was sent by the Chancellor to pick up Princess Toadstool, who was visiting Mario at Mario's Pad. 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 was none other than Mario, who had just been 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 arrived, Exor destroys the bridge to the castle, preventing any access by land.

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 Toad 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,Mario 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.

The Checkpoint
Toad also appeared in Luigi's Mansion. He is the first Toad Luigi finds. When Luigi talked to him, he was crying. Luigi cheered him up and Toad let him save the game in return. Toad is found like this several places in the game, all crying over something, always gives the ability to save. Interestingly, the music played while Luigi talks to Toad is the same music played when Mario talks to Toad in Super Mario 64.

An Urgent Message
Toad has a brief and often overlooked playable appearance in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. After Cackletta steals Peach's voice, he runs to find Mario. He can look around Mario's house until he finds him.

Helper in Distress
Toad was captured in Super Princess Peach. All of the Toads were captured, so it is unknown which Toad you save for it to be him. He is also playable in mini-games.

Sports
Toad was playable in Super Mario Kart, as a lightweight character. His special ability is throwing Poison Mushrooms that make the player shrink.

He was also playable in Mario Kart 64, where he is given his own track, Toad's Turnpike. He has also been playable in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Mario Kart Arcade GP.

Toad was given a partner in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. This character's name is Toadette and she and Toad's special item were Golden Mushrooms. They are, along with his kart, the Toad Kart, unlockables, and can be unlocked by completing the Special Cup on the 100cc setting. There is also a rumor that Toadette is Toad's girlfriend because they're paired together.

In the mission section of Mario Kart DS, Toad's enemy is the Goomboss. He must complete 3 laps before Goomboss does. After each lap, the Goomboss will grow bigger and bigger. However, he takes a few seconds to grow, giving Toad a chance to pass him. During the three laps, the Goomboss will start throwing Goombas at Toad. Occasionly, he will throw a Mushroom, giving Toad a speed boost. On the third lap, the Goomboss will cheat and take a shortcut by jumping over the middle of the course. If Toad is in the lead, he will not stop to throw a Goomba, but try to pass Toad instead. Eventually, Toad defeats Goomboss in this race.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee Toad appeared as Princess Peach's helper. He could be pulled out from under the princess's skirt and used him as a shield. Interestingly Toad appears to be struggling as Princess Peach holds him, implying that he is being held against his will. If Kirby sucks in Princess Peach than he too can use Toad. Toad also appears in the background of the Mushroom Kingdom segment of the game's Adventure Mode and has a trophy in his likeness.

Toad was playable in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, as a default character. He (along with Toadette) appeared in the opening movie of Mario Power Tennis but were not playable in the game. It is likely that they were originally planned to be playable in the game, but were cut-out after the opening movie was made.

Mario Party
In Mario Party and Mario Party 2 Toad was the host, and he gave out Stars. In Mario Party 3, he was replaced by Tumble, but still appeared to give out items and as Princess Peach's partner in Battle Mode.

He continued his role as host in Mario Party 4. However, in Mario Party 5 he was a playable character. He has been playable in every Mario Party game since then, and has been confirmed to appear in Mario Party 8.

Non-Playable appearances

 * Super Mario Bros
 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
 * Super Mario Bros. 3
 * Mario Party
 * Mario Party 2
 * Mario Party 3
 * Mario Party 4
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars 

Playable appearances

 * Super Mario Bros 2
 * Super Mario Kart
 * Mario Kart 64
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash
 * Mario Kart DS
 * Mario Party 5
 * Mario Party 6
 * Mario Party 7
 * Super Princess Peach
 * Wario's Woods
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP
 * Mario Tennis

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. However he is also sometimes seen as somewhat of a coward, particularly in Luigi's Mansion. He is presumably one of the most humble characters in the Marioverse, as he seems to be actually aware of his own cowardice. Despite this Toad is kind, and often helps Mario on his many adventures.

Powers and Abilities
Super Mario Bros 2 revealed that Toad was a very fast character. This was further influenced in the Mario Kart series, where he is a lightweight character and very often a fast one. Wario's Woods gave him the ability to walk up walls, but this ability has not been seen for a long time.He used a Hammer in Mario Party 3, but this too has not been seen recently. He is generally considered an expert on Items, often giving Mario power-ups and telling him what he needs to do. He used a Hammer in Mario Party 3, but this too has not been seen recently. His appearence in Super Smash Bros. Melee would also seem to hint at the fact that he has heavy endurance.

Voice and Gender
Although Toad himself did not appear in Super Mario 64, his species did, and there voices were abnormally high. So high that many people begin to doubt the exact gender of all the Toads. Toads are mushroom people, mushrooms are fungus, and fungus does not scientifically have a gender. This theory was debunked in Super Mario RPG, which introduced Female Toads, and further dis-proved in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, when Toad was given his supposed girlfriend Toadette. Since then, Toad's personal voice has been heard, and gone through many changes, from sounding like a small child in Mario Kart 64 to being high and screechy in Super Mario Advance.

Physical Appearance
Toad normally 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. He has a red spotted mushroom cap, indicating slight cowardice and heavy obedience. A small controversy arose with Super Mario Bros 2, because Toad was given a blue mushroom cap, instead of a red one, making many fans think that the Toad we know today and the Toad from Super Mario Bros 2 were different characters. However, Toad's blue mushroom cap was actually due to the graphical incapabilities of the NES rather than a continuity thread. In remakes of Super Mario Bros 2, Toad is given a red mushroom cap.

Mario
Althogh not incredibly close friends, Toad and Mario share a mutual respect for one another. Toad admires Mario because of his bravery and heroism, and Mario is fond of Toad because of the help he gives him. At times though, Toad seems more of a helper to Mario then a friend.

Princess Peach
Toad is Princess Peach's obedient servant, and he would do anything to protect her. Thrice he got kidnapped by the Koopa Troop trying to protect her from Bowser, and other times he is seen to dote on her. This is further influenced by the fact that Toad is one of seven Mushroom Retainers, a group of Toads particularly dedicated to serving Her Royal Highness. However, it is recently shown that he dotes on her much less than Toadsworth.

Bowser
Unlike other villains, such as Wart and Wario, Bowser seems to just plain terrify Toad (perhaps because of his enormous size in proportion with tiny Toad). Fortunatly, Bowser and Toad rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face.

Wario
Toad seems to hold a grudge against Wario ever since Wario's Woods. Unlike Bowser Toad does appear not to fear Wario, it is possible that he even has contempt for the anti-hero (and vice-versa).

Toadette
Toadette is always partnered with Toad in her appearances, leading many fans to believe that they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Nothing has been confirmed, but it is very possible.

Roles
Often Toad is made into a tutorial-type character, who introduces the player to the game. Rarely, he plays the role of side-kick, and is occasionally a full-fledged hero. He is sometimes given the simple role of a checkpoint, a place to save your game, and he is occasionally a damsel in distress (but never the main one).

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
In the Super Mario Bros movie, Toad is portrayed as a musician. He is one of many who is unhappy with King Koopa's rule, and is arrested by the police for playing "Anti Koopa" songs. He is then turned into a Goomba. Even when he is a Goomba he keeps his harmonica. He is set on fire in an accident, and is saved by Princess Daisy. Later on he helps Daisy and the Mario Bros. by playing his harmonica to distract the other Goombas.

What happened to him afterward is unknown, although best guess is he was turned back into his original form.

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. Interestingly, Toad is seen as somewhat of a side-kick to Mario through-out the shows, while Luigi was upgraded to partner.

Monopoly
Toad was a purchasable character in the Nintendo Monopoly game. He could be bought on the space normally occupied by Kentucky Avenue.

Portrayals
Was voiced/portrayed by:
 * John Stocker in the TV Series.
 * Issac Marshall, Jen Taylor and Kelsey Hutchinson in most of the video games.
 * Mojo Nixon in the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Quotes

 * Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle! - Super Mario Bros.
 * Hey Mario! Lots of people use something called a "door" to go in and out of their houses... - Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Trivia

 * Toad (alongside Mario, Luigi, and Birdo appear in the audience of the punch-out match in Kirby Superstar