Yoshi (species)

Yoshi (alternatively spelled Yoshis or Yoshies) are a species of dinosaur that first appeared in Super Mario World. They later made their mark in that game's sequel, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Yoshi are mainly found on Yoshi's Island in Dinosaur Land, but have been known to inhabit other areas, most notably the Yoshi's Village of Lavalava Island.

Biology
A Yoshi's dominating feature is the snout, which takes up a large portion of the overall head. The nose is very sensitive and is often used for smelling out fruit or other secrets that could be buried underground.

Yoshi are especially known for their long, adhesive tongues that cling to most enemies, allowing a Yoshi to swallow it whole. They can either swallow whatever they eat, or encase it in an egg. The eggs can then be used as projectile weapons to defeat other enemies and bosses. Yoshi also presumably have a strong and efficient digestive system, which digests live enemies very quickly.

Though Yoshi have teeth, they don't usually use them and prefer to swallow food whole. The teeth usually aren't even seen, but are clearly visible in Yoshi's Island DS death and Flutter Jump animation.

Physical Appearance
Yoshi come in a variety of colors, including black and white. In Super Mario Sunshine they can even change skin color by eating different fruit, while their colors are determined by hatching time in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

In Super Mario World, Yoshi had abilities depending on their color and Koopa Shells. If a Blue Yoshi eats a Koopa Shell, it could grow wings. If a Red Yoshi eats a Koopa Shell, it could spit Fireballs.

Shoes color is also usually in conjunction with skin color: a green Yoshi has red shoes, a red Yoshi has blue shoes, etc. This shoe color denomination was not set up until Yoshi's Story.

This is all the (known) colors for a Yoshi and the first appearance of said color of Yoshi.
 * Green Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Red Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Yellow Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Blue Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Pink Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Light Blue Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Purple Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Brown Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Black Yoshi – ''Yoshi's Story
 * White Yoshi – ''Yoshi's Story
 * Orange Yoshi – ''Super Mario Sunshine

Apart from Skin color, a Yoshi's physical appearance may also differ depending how old they are. For example, in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Yoshi appears much smaller compared to other Yoshi. He also has hair, while most other Yoshis do not, though this is most likely to differentiate the character as playable.

Speech
Yoshi are capable of speaking human language, as proven by Yoshi in Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, as well as various other Yoshi in games like Yoshi's Story, Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Mario Galaxy 2 (featuring the main Yoshi) and others. However, it has been suggested that Yoshi speaking human language is rare, as the main Yoshi must translate for Mario in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

In older games (and in more recent ones, such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii), the voice of different Yoshi were a sound created by a backwards record scratching (in Super Mario World there was only one green Yoshi who spoke a text bubble - after that, Yoshi only made the sounds). In Yoshi's Story, the Yoshi are voiced by Nintendo musician Kazumi Totaka, who mutters the word "Yoshi" and unintelligible words (such as "gong" and "hup"); it is also worth noting that his voice was sped up to create the squeaky, childish voice of the Yoshi in this game.

Oddly, in the Mario & Luigi series, Yoshi still speak with Super Mario RPG-style translation parenthesis.

As a final note on language, the Super Mario Adventures comic joked that, much as would be repeated years later with Yoshi's Story, Yoshi could only speak the word "Yoshi" with various marks of punctuation.

Gender
Little is known about the gender-differences of Yoshi. The Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee states in Yoshi's trophy that Yoshi reproduce asexually, meaning that they reproduce without a mate, and are neither male nor female.

All Yoshi are shown to lay eggs, though not all are used for reproduction. Most are actually used as weapons, as first shown in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. However Game & Watch Gallery 2 and Game and Watch Gallery 4 feature the Chef minigame, in which the main Yoshi is actually seen laying eggs that do hatch.

At least one of the Yoshi in Paper Mario refers to his "son," and in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Yoshi who sometimes appears on-board the Excess Express expresses his hatred of business trips due to them keeping him away from his "lovely wife." Additionally, in the original Mario Party, two Yoshi, one specifically male and the other specifically female, hoped to be reunited, and eventually were, though the two did not appear to have a romantic relationship.

Finally, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Otacon states that Yoshi is a male, contrary to Solid Snake's belief. Male pronouns are often applied to Yoshi in his other appearances, though male pronouns can sometimes be given to someone of unknown sex. It should also be noted that the Japanese rarely use gender-specific pronouns at all.

Diet
Though omnivorous, Yoshi eat mostly fruit, and in Yoshi's Story, they become happy when eating fruit of their own skin color. Melons are their favorite fruit regardless of skin color. Very few Yoshi, such as Black and White Yoshi could digest Peppers without hurting themselves. However, in Super Mario Galaxy 2, the playable green Yoshi can eat the Dash Pepper, turning him red-orange and causing him to run very fast for a short amount of time. All Yoshis can eat enemies of various kinds, from large Koopas to plants. Also, if they eat a Bean Fruit, then they will lay a rare Neon Egg, the color of which depends on the Yoshi's own skin color.

Other Notes

 * Yoshis are the originator of the "Ground Pound", a move in which a creature jumps into the air, flips and then slams into the ground. Yoshis first performed the move in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Yoshi uses "Ground Pound" in the Super Smash Bros. series as a special attack. The move has been performed by many characters in later games, such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and various entries in the Mario Party franchise.
 * The plural for Yoshi has often come up in debates. Some argue that "Yoshis" is the proper term, while others argue that "Yoshies" is correct. Japanese plurals have no indicative marks, meaning that "Yoshi" is another possibility. Nintendo of America has used both "Yoshies" and "Yoshis" in the Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance versions of Yoshi's Island, respectively. It could be that both versions are valid.
 * In the Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance 4 adaptations of Super Mario Bros. 3, the king in the castle of World seven is transformed into a Green Yoshi by Ludwig Von Koopa (whereas in the NES version of the game, predating Yoshis, the king was transformed into a Piranha Plant).
 * In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, it's confirmed that Yoshis tend to travel in very large herds; consisting of thousands. They can also create stampedes that are similar to that of the real world animal, the Wildebeest.
 * Yoshis have apparently existed since Stone Age, as seen in the Club Nintendo comic "Super Mario: Verloren in der Zeit".
 * Certain Yoshis have the ability to swim, but some can't dive underwater. Also, Yoshis that live on or around Isle Delfino are unable to come into contact with any body of water, which makes them turn green and disappear.

Mario Super Sluggers Profiles
Note: The profiles below are only for the Yoshis that can only play as team players. For Yoshi's profile, go here.

Notable Yoshis

 * Yoshi (a.k.a. Green Yoshi) – ''Super Mario World
 * Yoshi (a.k.a. Yoshi Kid) – ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
 * Boshi – ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
 * Little Yoshi – ''Tetris Attack
 * Village Leader – ''Paper Mario
 * Yoob – ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

Groups

 * Fearsome 5 – ''Paper Mario

Trivia

 * Yoshis seem to resemble Koopa Troopas, for they have tall eyes, big noses, and a saddle that bears a resemblance to a Koopa Troopa's shell. A Yellow Yoshi also has the same skin color and color of shoes that resembles a Koopa Troopa more than the other Yoshis do.
 * In fact, Yoshis were originally supposed to be a type of Koopa; the saddles on their back was actually supposed to be their shell.