Poochy

Poochy is a dog that appears in Yoshi games. He has a spotted coat with a long red tongue, duck lips and red (yellow in Yoshi's Woolly World) ball at the end of his tail. He barks constantly while he walks. Poochy has only been playable in Tetris Attack.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Yoshi and company can ride Poochy in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He can run at high speeds on yellow spikes, lava and many other hazardous forms of terrain and can also run over any enemies in his path. To ride Poochy, the player must jump on his head and look in the direction he or she wants to go. If Poochy hits a wall, he'll try to jump over it, which can give the Yoshi a boost. Sometimes, there will be a small gap that Poochy will run through, though unfortunately, the gap will be too small for the Yoshi. Ever faithful, Poochy will follow the Yoshi anywhere he goes except through a pipe or door. He can also swim through water while carrying Yoshi. To distract him, the player can throw an egg at his head. He'll play with it and won't pay attention to anything else.

Poochy first appeared in World 1's extra level "Poochy Ain't Stupid", where he's required to get across many fiery stretches of cave and was seen again in World 2-1's "Visit Koopa And Para-Koopa". He can also be found in "Jungle Rhythm...".

Tetris Attack
Poochy also appears in Tetris Attack, allied with Grinder. He appears as a character that Yoshi must initially beat in a one-on-one match of the game's panel-flipping puzzles, due to Bowser's and Kamek's magic spell, that made him work for them. After Yoshi beats him, the player can select to play as Poochy, though the difference ultimately amounts to cheerful barks as opposed to Yoshi's mutterings. Poochy replaces the earth fairy Thiana from Panel de Pon, the Japanese title that Nintendo remade to create Tetris Attack.

Yoshi's Story
Poochy also aided the Yoshi clan in several levels of Yoshi's Story. Although the Baby Yoshis could not ride on top of him like before, Poochy did help the Yoshis find hidden fruit, allowing the baby dinosaurs to restore happiness to Yoshi's Island during their quest for the Super Happy Tree. In the levels he appears in, Poochy was normally chained to a post that needed to be pounded into the ground, thus breaking the chain and freeing Poochy. After being released, Poochy would run through the level and sniff out hidden items, most notably the Yoshi's favorite fruit - the melon. When Poochy discovers a secret hidden in the ground, he would stand by the spot and bark to alert the Baby Yoshi's attention. Poochy would wait until the Yoshi approached the spot, and would then move on to sniff out more secrets.

Yoshi's New Island
Poochy returns once again in Yoshi's New Island, being able to walk on hazardous obstacles as before. Yoshi can control where he walks by turning left or right, depending on the direction. He first appears in World 3-5, "Don't Fear the Spear", where the player has to use him to traverse a dangerous area which is otherwise impassable. He then makes his final appearance in the game in World 4-S, "See Poochy Run!", where he must be used to clear the stage while avoiding maces and spikes.

Yoshi's Woolly World
Poochy returns in Yoshi's Woolly World appearing in numerous levels functioning nearly identical as in previous installments, though two Yoshis are able to ride him now and they sit on his back rather than stand. Poochy has a knitted appearance made from yarn. There is also a Power Badge that makes him available to play in any stage in the game. Due to his usefulness being very situational however, it costs only 500 Beads to use his Power Badge, making it the cheapest one in the game.

"Rummelplatzquatsch"
Poochy makes a cameo in the Club Nintendo comic Rummelplatzquatsch. He appears on the screen of Mario's Game Boy which he bought from a fortune-teller. After Poochy shows up on the screen, a herd of dogs comes running towards Luigi, all urinating at him.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Poochy makes a cameo in the background decor of the Baby Park racetrack.

Mario Party Advance
A gaddget named Poochy Pal appears in Mario Party Advance. This Gaddget involves the player "raising" Poochy.

Super Mario-Kun
Poochy appears as a supporting character in volumes 19 and 20 of the Coro Coro Comics manga Super Mario-Kun. When he first appears, Red Yoshi mistakes him for an enemy and eats him. Red Yoshi releases him in an egg after Mario reprimands him and Poochy emerges unharmed. He accompanies Mario and the six baby Yoshis on their quest to retrieve the Super Happy Tree, and forms a special friendship with Yellow Yoshi.

Poochy appears in volume 19 chapter 5, 愛犬ポチ！みんあのためにかんばるワン！！ (Beloved Poochy! The dog who does his best for everyone!!), and is the central figure in the events of that chapter.

A different Poochy made his first appearance in the volume 4 of Super Mario-Kun.

Trivia

 * Poochy appears in one pre-release screenshot of Paper Mario but he does not appear in the final game.