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 Village of Lavalava Island.

Biology
A Yoshi's dominating feature is its nose, taking up most of its head. They are very sensitive when smelling out fruit or secrets that could be buried underground. Even though they have teeth, these are rarely seen or used. The Fighting Polygons version of a Yoshi shows three pointy teeth, even though in the game Yoshi didn't show teeth. Yoshis' teeth were also seen in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island death scenes and the Flutter Jump animation. They have long, adhesive tongues that can 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 be used as projectile weapons to defeat enemies and bosses. They also presumably have a strong digestive system, able to digest live enemies rather quickly.

Physical Appearance
There are many different skin colors for Yoshi, including black and white. They can change skin color in Super Mario Sunshine by eating different fruit, and yet their colors are determined by hatching time in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In Super Mario World they 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. Their shoes' color is in conjunction with their skin; a green Yoshi has red shoes, a red Yoshi has blue shoes, etc. (It should be noted that 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
 * Pink Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Yellow Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Light Blue Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Blue Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * Purple Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Orange Yoshi – ''Super Mario Sunshine
 * Brown Yoshi – ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Black Yoshi – ''Yoshi's Story
 * White Yoshi – ''Yoshi's Story

Apart from Skin color, a Yoshi's physical appearance may also differ depending how old he or she is. For example, in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Yoshi kid appears very smaller than other Yoshis. He also has hair, while most other Yoshis do not.

Speech


Yoshis are capable of speaking the human tongue, as proven by Yoshi in Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, as well as various Yoshis in games like Yoshi's Story, Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and others. In older games, like in Super Mario World the Yoshis' only "voice" was an odd sound created by a backwards record scratching (in Super Mario World there was only one green Yoshi who spoke a text bubble - after that, Yoshis only made the odd sounds). In Yoshi's Story, the Yoshis 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 Yoshis in this game.

Yoshis also have their own language. The Yoshi language is still very much unknown to gamers, but in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Yoshi had to translate the other Yoshis language. Oddly, in the Mario & Luigi series, Yoshis still speak with Super Mario RPG-style translation parenthesis, suggesting that Mario may have learned the language. As a final note on language, the Super Mario Adventures comic showed that, much like would be repeated years later with Yoshi's Story, Yoshis could only speak the word "Yoshi" with various marks of punctuation.

Gender
Little is known about the gender of Yoshis. The Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee states (in Yoshi's trophy) that Yoshis are asexual, meaning that they reproduce without a mate, and are neither male nor female. The canonicity of this statement is uncertain, as this information was only presented in the Smash Bros. universe.

All Yoshis are shown to lay eggs but not all eggs will hatch; most are actually used as weapons, such as 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 hatch. A different game, Yoshi, revealed that live Yoshi Eggs could be produced even without parents (by correct lining of enemies).

At least one of the Yoshis in Paper Mario refers to his "son," and in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Yoshi who sometimes appears onboard the Excess Express expresses his hatred of business trips because they keep him away from his "lovely wife." Additionally, in the original Mario Party, two Yoshis, one specifically male and the other specifically female, hoped to be reunited, and eventually were; 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
Yoshis eat mostly fruit, and in the case in Yoshi's Story, they become happy when eating fruit their own skin color. Melons are their favorite, and only a few Yoshis, such as Black and White Yoshis could digest Peppers (which hurt almost any other Yoshi). All Yoshis can eat enemies of various kinds, from large Koopas to plants. Also if they eat a Bean Fruit, then they will lay the rare but colorful Neon Egg, depending on the Yoshi's color.

Strangely, in some games, there has been evidence that Yoshis can be cannibals. In the Super Smash Bros. series, a Yoshi can swallow another Yoshi and encase it in an egg; although it'll break out of the egg afterwards. Also in Super Mario 64 DS's multiplayer mode, a Yoshi can hold another Yoshi in its mouth, though this is a very rare occasion.

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 Yoshi's, the king was transformed into a Piranha Plant).
 * Strangely, a Green Yoshi can sometimes be seen on the Excess Express in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, making it the only cameo of a Yoshi in the game (although a Yoshi Kid joins Mario's party and has a stampede attack, both of which give extra Yoshi appearances).
 * 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.
 * Seemingly, Yoshis have 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, under the effect of dissapearing if this happens.

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.

Appearances in Other Media
Though Yoshi himself appeared in the Super Mario World animated series and Nintendo Adventure Books, the only other Mario-related media adaptation to feature Yoshis was in Nintendo Power's Super Mario Adventures comic.

In Super Mario Adventures, it is revealed that Bowser and his minions had been kidnapping Yoshis, hypnotizing them, and using them as slaves to prepare Bowser's wedding to a brainwashed Princess Toadstool. Eventually, these Yoshis were freed from the eggs they were sealed in by Yoshi and Luigi and aided them in crashing Bowser's wedding to Princess Toadstool and in defeating Bowser.

Notable Yoshi

 * Yoshi – ''Super Mario World
 * 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

Groups

 * Fearsome 5 – ''Paper Mario

Sub-Yoshi

 * Yoob – ''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

Trivia

 * A Yoshi Egg-like planet appears in the Good Egg Galaxy.
 * A planet shaped like a Yoshi's head appears in the Space Junk Galaxy.
 * 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.