Birdo: Difference between revisions

{{about|Birdo, the character and species seen in several games|the ostrich creature mistakenly labeled as "Birdo" in the ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' cast roll|[[Ostro]]|the song by Horse the Band|[[List of Mario references in music#Birdo|List of Mario references in music § Birdo]]}}

|first_appearance=''[[Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic]]'' ([[List of games by date#1987|1987]], overall)<br>''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'' ([[List of games by date#1988|1988]], ''Mario'' franchise)

|latest_appearance=''[[Mario Strikers: Battle League]]'' (version 1.3.0) ([[List of games by date#2022|2022]])

'''Birdo''', also self-referred to as '''Birdetta''' and once by the shorthand '''Birdie''', is a recurring character in the [[Mario (franchise)|''Mario'' franchise]]. She is a prehistoric dinosaur,<ref>"''This prehistoric pink creature can be spotted all over Sub-Con, the setting for the hit Super Mario Bros. 2.''" - M. Arakawa. Nintendo ''Mario Mania'' Player's Guide. Page 14.</ref><ref>''[https://imgur.com/a/UvABP Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten]''. Page 60. Birdo's「{{hover|種族|しゅぞく}}」(tribe) is listed as「{{hover|恐竜族|きょうりゅうぞく}}」(dinosaur clan).</ref><ref>"''A dinosaur that spits eggs from her huge mouth. Birdo is very particular when it comes to fashion, though her reliance on the color pink is a bit limiting. Her bow and ring are her pride and joy. Birdo's mouth has massive suction that can even catch a ball by sucking it in.''" - Birdo's ''Mario Superstar Baseball'' bio.</ref><ref>Birdo's Baller Name is "Diamond Dino" in ''Mario Hoops 3-on-3''.</ref> identified in some early sources as a bird,<ref name=InsideOut>"''If you want to beat this bothersome bird, catch the eggs he launches at you and wing ’em back.''" - ''Super Mario Bros. 2 Inside Out'', Part I. Page 7.</ref><ref>"''Inside is a giggling bird with a bazooka beak. Birdo’s idea of fun is shooting high-powered eggs at her playmates!''" - Pelland, Scott, and Kent Miller. ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' Player's Guide. Page 87.</ref> with a funnel-shaped mouth from which she can spit [[egg]]s. Her first appearance was as an enemy in ''[[Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic]]'', which was rebranded as ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]''. She is considered one of the first {{wp|transgender}} video game characters.<ref>Loguidice, Bill, and Matt Barton (2009). ''Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time''. Focal Press. Page 280. ISBN 978-0-240-81146-8.</ref>

Since her first appearance, Birdo appeared in various spin-off series of the franchise, with her original role as an antagonist being ostensibly scrapped in favor of a newer role as a more neutral character. However, she continues to be occasionally classified as an enemy, as is the case with the [[Super Mario Trading Card Collection|''Super Mario'' Trading Card Collection]] and her being grouped with typically antagonistic characters in the driver list of ''[[Mario Kart Tour]]''. She usually helps whoever catches her interest at that moment and is sometimes displayed as a counterpart to [[Yoshi]]. Birdo has also been merchandised into figurines, plush toys, and [[amiibo]] [[List of Mario Sports Superstars amiibo cards|cards]].

While Birdo is often portrayed as a individual character in spinoff titles, there have also been many appearances of multiple Birdos that come in different colors and that sometimes have different characteristics. In most cases, these are depicted with the same feminine characteristics as the main Birdo.

Birdo generally walks back and forth, facing the player character and spitting three projectiles at a given time. To defeat her, the player has to [[jump]] on her eggs or another object and throw them back at her. However, if Birdo is green, the player is required to throw [[Mushroom Block]]s instead. Birdo often holds a [[Crystal Ball]], with three exceptions: Pink Birdo's appearance as a standard enemy in [[World 4-3 (Super Mario Bros. 2)|World 4-3]], and two Red Birdos in [[World 7-2 (Super Mario Bros. 2)|World 7-2]], one of which relinquishes a [[key]] needed to get to the [[Mask Gate]] leading to Wart. Birdo is shown physically holding the ball in the NES version of ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' and in ''Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic'', although this is harder to see in the latter due to the crystal ball not having the animated red line. In remakes of ''Super Mario Bros. 2'', it instead flies from her snout upon defeat. If the player walks away from the Mask Gate after opening it instead of entering it, Birdo will respawn without the Crystal Ball.

[[File:SMM2 Birdo Cameo.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Birdo's cameo in ''Super Mario Maker 2'']]

Birdo makes her first reappearance in the ''Mario'' franchise since ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' in ''[[Wario's Woods]]'', a puzzle game released for both the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] and the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]. Birdo serves as a primary heroine in the game as she assists [[Toad]] and the [[Sprite]]. Throughout the game, the trio go up against [[Wario]] as he sends out the monsters of [[Wario's Woods (location)|Wario's Woods]].  

Birdo appears as a boss in ''[[Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]''. Birdo is first seen in an egg named [[Shelly]] found in [[Nimbus Land|Nimbus Castle]] (while the stronghold was under the control of the usurper queen [[Valentina]]). The egg is cared for by a [[Beezo|Shy Away]], who intended to use the newborn Birdo as a weapon. When the Shy Away sees Mario, he quickly abandons his post and flees, leaving Shelly exposed. Mario could then speak to the Birdo inside Shelly, who would request for Mario to play with her. If Mario complies, a battle between his party and Shelly would begin.

 

Although Shelly never attacks or performs any malicious moves toward Mario and friends, the group could gradually split the egg open to reveal Birdo. She then would introduce herself and start attacking. After suffering more attacks from Mario and company, Birdo would also raise her attacking methods, beginning to shoot out the explosive [[Eggbert]]s rather than normal eggs.  

 

Depending on a turn, in which Birdo shoots out, Eggberts would actually fling the explosive eggs back into Birdo's nest, where they could be attacked so that they would explode and deal massive damage to Birdo herself. Despite the pain and anger she shows ambiguous signs of going through, Birdo eventually gives up mid-battle due to the fact that she found Mario and his friends too cute to destroy. After being defeated, she gives the key to Mario. Birdo remains within Shelly and Mario gets to the back door of Nimbus Castle.

The Mushroom Kingdom II stage from ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' returns in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', and by extension, Birdo reappears as well in her original sprite from ''Super Mario All-Stars''.<ref name=UltimateStages>[https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/stage/index.html Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Stages]</ref> Birdo also appears as an online profile icon and Ace-class Grab-type primary [[Spirit (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)|spirit]], taking up two support slots. The spirit can be summoned using a [[T-Rex]] and [[starfywiki:Starly|Starly]] core. Birdo's spirit artwork is from ''Mario Party 7''.

Birdo is not playable in ''[[Mario Kart Arcade GP 2]]'', but she makes a cameo in signs and in the crowd when the player receives a trophy.

Although no Birdos themselves physically appear in ''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' or the base game of ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', a picture of Birdo along with [[Princess Peach|Peach]] and [[Princess Daisy|Daisy]] appears on some of the [[List of sponsors in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe#Women of Racing Organization|Women of Racing Organization]] banners seen on {{classic-link|N64|Royal Raceway}}. She is also mentioned on the speakers in [[Sunshine Airport]].

 

Birdo appears as a playable character as of Wave 4 of the [[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass|''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' – Booster Course Pass]] and, similarly to Yoshi and Shy Guy, she has multiple color variants. Art of Birdo also appears on banners in {{classic-link|Tour|Sydney Sprint}}.

Birdo (including color variants) will appear as a playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass.

After an 11-year hiatus of not physically appearing in the ''Mario Kart'' series, Birdo returns as a playable character in ''[[Mario Kart Tour]]'' from the start of the [[Holiday Tour (2019)|2019 Holiday Tour]] on December 18, 2019, along with the [[Turbo Birdo]]. She is classified as a Super character, and her [[Special Item (Mario Kart series)|special item]] is the Birdo's Egg; while functionally identical to the Yoshi's Egg, it now uses a white, spotless design. Some of her voice clips are reused from ''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!'' and ''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour''. Like all other unique characters, she has her [[Birdo Cup|own cup]]. Several alternately colored Birdos also appear in the game.

 

A light-blue Birdo, yellow Birdo, black Birdo, blue Birdo, white Birdo, and orange Birdo appear as playable characters available from the [[Vancouver Tour]], [[Yoshi Tour (2020)|2020 Yoshi Tour]], [[Yoshi Tour (2021)|2021 Yoshi Tour]], [[2nd Anniversary Tour]], [[Yoshi Tour (2022)|2022 Yoshi Tour]], and the [[Winter Tour (2023)|2023 Winter Tour]] respectively. All the Birdos are Super drivers except for black and white, who are High-End drivers. Birdo, Birdo (Light Blue), Birdo (Yellow), and Birdo (Orange) use the Birdo's Egg as their special item, while Birdo (Blue) uses the [[Dash Ring]], Birdo (Black) uses the [[Bob-omb Cannon]], and Birdo (White) uses the [[Triple Mushrooms]]. The Turbo Birdo also returns, now with several colored variants themed after each of the colored Birdos, being the [[Light-blue Turbo Birdo]], [[Yellow Turbo Birdo]], [[Black Turbo Birdo]], [[Blue Turbo Birdo]], [[White Turbo Birdo]], and [[Orange Turbo Birdo]]. There is also a [[Mii|Mii Racing Suit]] themed after Birdo that debuted in the 2022 Yoshi Tour.

The colors of the colored Birdo variants are usually the same of the colored Birdos in the audience of older games like ''[[Mario Sports Mix]]'' and ''[[Mario Strikers Charged]]''.

In ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'', Birdo makes her first appearance on the baseball field. She is a balanced character, who has a slightly above average batting stat, but is below average in other stats. Her special pitch/hit is the [[Weird Ball]]; when the player purchases the [[Pink Egg]] in the store from the Challenge Mode, Birdo is able to use her special move. Her other special moves include [[Suction]], which allows her to catch balls distances away from her, much like [[Yoshi]]'s [[Tongue Catch]], and [[Body Check]] which allows her to attack players on the base when timed right. She is found on Yoshi's team as a unlockable sub-captain, and can also be chosen as a captain in Exhibition Mode. Her alternate names are: '''Birdo Models''', '''Birdo Beauties''', '''Birdo Bows''' and '''Birdo Fans'''. Birdo shares good chemistry with Yoshi, [[Shy Guy]], and [[Petey Piranha]], and she does not share bad chemistry with anyone.

====''Mario Party Fushigi no Challenge World''====

Birdo also appears in the Japan-exclusive arcade game based off of ''Mario Party 9'' called ''[[Mario Party Fushigi no Challenge World]]'' as a playable character.

In the original ''[[Super Mario Strikers]]'' tournaments, teams of Birdos can be selected by certain high-profile captains to help them achieve victory. When compared to the other species involved, Birdos are the most aggressive, scoring the hard hits against opponents necessary in the sport. Birdos are also shown among the spectators.

[[File:MSBL Birdo artwork.png|thumb|right|200px|Birdo's art for ''Mario Strikers: Battle League'']]

Birdo returns in ''[[Mario Strikers: Battle League]]'', now selectable as a captain, via the version 1.3.0 update alongside [[Bowser Jr.]] Her team number is 4, which is [[Petey Piranha]]'s number in ''Mario Strikers Charged''. She is an Offensive type player and has the strongest shooting ability out of all playable characters. Like in the previous game, she carries the ball in her snout when running with it. Unlike in the previous installments of the ''[[Mario Strikers (series)|Mario Strikers]]'' series, the player cannot have multiple Birdos on their team, like with Yoshi, Toad, and [[Shy Guy]], nor does her skin color change depending on the team she is in, though Birdo's bow will change color.

Birdo, along with [[Donkey Kong]], [[Silver the Hedgehog]], and many others, were [[List of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games pre-release and unused content|originally]] going to appear as playable characters in ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)|Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games]]''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090702071659/http://forums.x-cult.org/topic/3891-mario-and-sonic-first-memory-approaches/ Birdo in ''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games'']</ref>, but were scrapped from the final product for unknown reasons.

[[File:Birdo and Mario MaSatWOG screenshot.png|thumb|right|Birdo in ''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games'']]

Birdo appears in ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games]]'' as a rival in the [[Legends Showdown]] mode. Birdo is found in Area 1, and faces off against the player, alongside three other Birdos, in [[Ice Hockey (Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games)|Ice Hockey]]. Birdo's theme from the [[Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii)|previous installment]] returns, as well as her Mii costume.

Birdo appears in the [[Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U)|Wii U version]], but she is not playable, instead appearing by the sand statue where the Heroes Showdown multiplayer mode can be chosen. Her Mii costume also reappears. Her stats are the same as in the 3DS version, but her power has weakened and her speed has went up. Birdos appear as selectable goalies in [[Football (Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Wii U)|Football]] and [[Duel Football]].

[[File:Tokyoredbirdo.png|thumb|right|Birdo's head icon in ''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020'']]

Birdo does not make a physical appearance in ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020]]'', whether as a playable character or a background character. However, her color scheme is erroneously used for the head icon of the away team's Birdo goalie. In-game, the red team uses a general species of Birdo with a red body with a pink bow, the opposite color scheme of the character.

[[File:MSS NinUK 21.png|thumb|right|Birdo participating in horse racing]]

Birdo makes an appearance as a spectator in the minigame "Megaton Punch" from ''[[wikirby:Kirby Super Star|Kirby Super Star]]''.

Birdo is featured as one of the ''Mario''-themed character skins in the Super Mario Mash-up, available in versions of ''[[Minecraft]]'' released on Nintendo systems.

Birdo is mostly pink, with a rounded belly, red tail spikes and purple spots on her cheeks. She has purple eyes, each of which is framed by three long, thin eyelashes. She does not have hair, and instead wears a big red bow atop her head, which is usually her emblem. She has small but pointed claws, with four fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. More recently, a large diamond ring set in gold is occasionally depicted on her left hand. She has a white belly like a Yoshi, as well as white-padded feet.

Since ''[[Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]]'', Birdo commonly wears purple eye makeup. In her team name, "Birdo Bows", from ''[[Mario Super Sluggers]]'', she wears lipstick, which is odd because she does not use lipstick during the game, nor in most of her other appearances. In the Japanese commercial for ''Super Mario All-Stars'', she wears a white stole, a very expensive-looking black dress adorned with a black necklace with many pearls, and a very elegant fan<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjU_EEtB79o Japanese ''Super Mario All-Stars'' commercial]</ref>. Overall, however, Birdo's looks have not changed as drastically as many other characters have through the ages.

|[[File:Birdo - MaSOG (red).png|75px]]

|[[File:Birdo - MaSOG (green).png|75px]]

Birdo is somewhat vain, as she perceives herself to be very beautiful and feminine, and often strikes eccentric poses to show off her appearance. Also, she is portrayed to be very friendly, and enjoys being with the whole ''Mario'' crew. This is shown when losing a round of 18 in ''[[Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]]'' and ''[[Mario Golf: World Tour]]''. She also exudes charm and elegance as shown in many games whenever she wins or appears on-screen, where she waves and blows kisses frequently. Additionally, Birdo always wears a massive diamond ring on her finger. In ''[[Mario Party 7]]'' and ''[[Mario Party 8]]'', when Birdo gets a [[Star]], she shows off this ring during one of her poses. Birdo appears to enjoy the spotlight, as shown in the ''[[Paper Mario (series)|Paper Mario]]'' series, where she occasionally puts on a singing or theatrical performance in front of Mario and other characters. Her penchant for singing is also alluded to in ''[[Mario Kart Tour]]'', where she is shown on banners advertising the Sydney Music Festival in [[Sydney Sprint]]. According to [[Play Nintendo]], Birdo's favorite things are (in no particular order) friends, big red bows, and sparkly things.<ref>https://play.nintendo.com/activities/activities/favorite-mario-characters-fun-poll-survey/</ref>

[[File:SMAS SMB2 Birdo Shooting Eggs Sprite.gif|thumb|right|Birdo's signature ability is shooting [[Birdo's Egg|eggs]] from her mouth.]]

In addition to eggs, Birdo has also shown the ability to utilize her snout in a manner similar to a vacuum, using it to suck things closer to herself or even swallow them; Birdo displays this ability in both ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'' and ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', the latter of which also has her leeching away the health of those she sucks up. On occasion, Birdo has enveloped people, including herself, in large eggs, in order to increase defense. She is often classified as all-around in sports games, where she has a great deal of strength. She also has shown this strength when angered in ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'', when, after discovering that Popple did not actually love her, she knocked him right through a wall, indicating she has super-strength, as well in ''Mario Superstar Baseball'' and ''Mario Super Sluggers'' where her strongest stat is batting.

In ''[[Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]]'', hitting a nice shot while playing as her will cause a rainbow to form similar to Yoshi, but rainbow abilities have since then not been seen. Birdo also has some hints of heart based power similar to Princess Peach as shown in ''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour'' in her victory cut-scene and ''[[Mario Hoops 3-on-3]]'' in her special shot. However, they are not as strong or as useful as Peach's hearts. This often has comedic results, such as when they only succeed in charming Birdo's Golf trophy into the air for a short time until it fell down again, to its owner's great surprise.

[[File:MK8-WomenofRacing1.png|thumb|right|200px|Birdo on a "Women of Racing Organization" banner in ''Mario Kart 8'']]

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|Jap2=オストロ<ref>[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/ja/pdf/CLV-P-HAADJ.pdf ''Super Mario USA'' instruction booklet,] page 29.</ref><ref>''Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten'', [https://i.imgur.com/lVHkZlH.jpg page 225.]</ref>

|Jap2M=[[Ostro#Names in other languages|Ostro]]

|Spa=Birdo

|SpaM=-

|FraM=-

|Ita=Strutzi<br>Draghella

|ItaM=From ''struzzo'' (ostrich, ''struzzi'' in the plural), probably because of the infamous mistake in the cast roll.<br>From ''drago'' (dragon) and the endearing female suffix ''-ella''.

|Por=Birdo

|PorM=-

|Swe=Birdo

}}

[[Category:Mario Sports Mix characters]]