Boshi



"What're YOU lookin' at? If you wanna challenge me, you have to bring Cookies!"

- Boshi

Boshi is a blue Yoshi with an attitude. He was also the rival of Yoshi. Boshi is a loner who likes to wear sunglasses and a spiked collar around his neck. He (along with many other Yoshis) lives on Yo'ster Isle, home of the famous Mushroom Derby races.

One fateful day, Boshi defeats all the other Yoshis in a race and becomes the champion of the Mushroom Derby. Boshi then declares himself boss of the Yoshis. Under his reign, the races of the island are cancelled. In fact, the only one allowed to use the racetrack is Boshi himself. Although the other Yoshis disliked Boshi's rule, they felt obligated to obey the champion of the derby.

During the events of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Mario travels to Yo'ster Isle via the Pipe Vault. Once there, Mario meets up with his old friend Yoshi. The green Yoshi delivers the bad news of Boshi's reign, and Mario decides to help free the island. Fortunately, Yoshi recognizes that Boshi has a weakness for Yoshi Cookies. Yoshi asks a friend to loan him some cookies and Yoshi and Mario confront the boss of the island. If Yoshi can win a race against Boshi, then he will become the new champion of the Mushroom Derby (as such, Boshi will lose his authority). Boshi, who would never decline a wager with Yoshi cookies on the lines, agrees to a race.

During the race, Mario rides on Yoshi's back, helping his old friend defeat Boshi. To beat the blue Yoshi to the finish line, Yoshi has to move to the beat of the derby's music. As the music plays, the player must alternate between the A and B buttons with the music's tempo. If the player presses the buttons too fast, Yoshi will not move. Unfortunately, as the song plays, the beat may stop or change. However, the player must continue pushing the buttons to the original beat, not the new beat. Additionally, if Mario has any additional Yoshi cookies, he can feed them to Yoshi, giving the green dinosaur a boost of speed.

Ultimately, the race is close but Yoshi proves to be the victor and becomes the champion of the Mushroom Derby. The other Yoshis congratulate the champion and demand that he become the new boss of the island. Yoshi, as humble as ever, declines the offer, stating that the races should be free for everyone to participate in, not controlled by a boss. Yoshi's words even reform Boshi, who agrees to participate in fair competition.

Boshi, ever the loner, still likes to stick to himself, but he has learned to enjoy the spirit of competition. Proving he is still a good runner, Boshi manages to win a race every once and a while; however, he is not the dominant racer he made himself out to be.

The ending cinematic of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars seemed to show that Boshi had befriended the crocodilian theif Croco after the latter had apparently moved to Yo'ster Isle.

Trivia

 * Boshi, like many other Yoshis, can only speak the Yoshi language. Luckily, Yoshi is bilingual and can translate Boshi's words for Mario.


 * In Japan, Boshi's name is Washi (i.e. "Bad Yoshi"), created by combining the word "Yoshi" with the Japanese word for bad, "Warui". As such, Boshi is to Yoshi as Wario is to Mario, or Waluigi is to Luigi.


 * Boshi's Western name is likely a portmanteau of the words "Yoshi" and "blue" (as he is a Blue Yoshi), and it may also be derived from the name "Bo", also spelled as "Beau". Additionally, the Y in Yoshi is the second-to-last letter in the English Alphabet, while the B in Boshi is the second letter in the English Alphabet.