Yoshi

This article is about the character. For other uses, see Yoshi (disambiguation).

Yoshi
'Mario/Yoshi' character
File:Yoshi3.jpg Yoshi as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
First game	Super Mario World (1991)
Created by	Shigefumi Hino

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī, sometimes romanized Yossy in earlier Japanese language materials) (IPA: /ˈjəʊ.ʃi/) is a fictional dinosaur-like creature who appears in the Mario series of video games by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. He later had his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He has also appeared in many of the spin-off Mario games, such as the Mario Party, the Mario Kart series as well as in other various Mario sports titles.

Concept and creation

Yoshi was created by graphics designer Shigefumi Hino, in response to Nintendo's design staff expressing a desire for Mario to ride a dinosaur. His name may be derived from the typical Japanese interjection Yoshi!, the English equivalent of which would mean "great" or "good", reflecting his general upbeat nature. A Super Smash Brothers Brawl easter egg humorously points out that despite its ability to produce and lay eggs, the titular green Yoshi is offically male. Yoshi is afraid of dogs.

Appearances

Yoshi made his debut in Super Mario World as a native dinosaur that Mario could ride on in order to eat enemies and otherwise navigate the island. This game spawned a prequel entitled Yoshi's Island for the Super Nintendo on which the player could control Yoshi in order to protect Baby Mario from harm's way as they advanced through the game. This led to a spin-off series of games including Yoshi's Story for the Nintendo 64, Yoshi's Universal Gravitation for the Game Boy Advance, and a number of games for the Nintendo DS, including Yoshi Touch & Go, and Yoshi's Island DS. Although he was introduced on the SNES in 1991, Yoshi was also the star of two self-titled games for the original NES released in '92 and '93: Yoshi (knowns as Yoshi's Egg in Japan and Mario & Yoshi in Europe) and Yoshi's Cookie, respectively. Both of these games were released for the Game Boy as well, and Yoshi's Cookie received an update for its port to the SNES. His 3D Mario platformer appearances include Super Mario 64 as a hidden, but not playable, character. Super Mario 64 DS, the port of the previously mentioned game but now as a playable character, and Super Mario Sunshine where he could be ridden on in the same fashion as in Super Mario World, but could not enter any bodies of water and could harm villains by spitting out fruit juice that he had swallowed.

Other appearances

Yoshi has appeared in nearly all of the Mario sports and spin-off games. He appears in every game of the Mario Kart series as a playable character, where he drives karts that are usually bright green in color. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the kart he usually drives resembles himself. One of the tracks in Mario Kart Double Dash!!, Yoshi Circuit (brought back in Mario Kart DS), actually resembles Yoshi himself when seen from above. He also appears in every Mario Party game to date as a playable character, as well as in Mario Golf for the Nintendo 64 (where he makes a variety of noises when the four C Buttons are pressed), and in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games alongside characters from both the Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games.

Yoshi is a playable character in the original Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros., and its sequels Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. In the Subspace Emissary mode of Super Smash Bros Brawl, Yoshi and Link team up against a group of the Primid that invade the forest.

Yoshi appears at the top of the castle in the original N64 version of Super Mario 64. The castle rooftop can be accessed a variety of ways (most of which involve a hack or glitch of some kind), however by collecting all 120 power stars, a cannon nearby the castle will open, allowing Mario to reach the rooftop.

Yoshi has a few cameo appearances in Super Mario Galaxy; an image of his head appears as a wooden planet that Mario can visit in the Space Junk Galaxy, and his head is also able to be used as a marker for one of 6 playable files for the game. Yoshi also appears in Super Mario Brothers the movie (1993).

Yoshi also appears prominently in Mario is Missing! for the NES.

Yoshi is also found in secret locations in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

Yoshi is found in Wii Fit, as graffiti in the jogging exercise.

Appearances outside of video games

File:SMA-YoshiTranslation.jpg

A "translation" for Yoshi's language is given in Super Mario Adventures.

An animated series followed Super Mario World, bearing the same name, and was similar in plotline to the previous series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Brothers Super Show, but with a different setting. The show featured Yoshi as a regular character, voiced by Andrew Sabiston (who later provided the voice of Diddy Kong in the Donkey Kong Country cartoons). The cartoon portrays Yoshi with the personality of a very young child, and, therefore, he speaks like one, often in third person. It is often afraid of many things that young children would be afraid of, such as Boos and water. This may be based on his reactions to attacks by enemies in Super Mario World (he runs off when hit and will even run off of a cliff if Mario fails to chase after him) and/or the fact that Yoshi refuses to enter Ghost Houses, fortresses, or castles.

Due to its early cancellation, Yoshi was not featured in the Super Mario Bros. comic books published by Valiant Comics. However, he did appear in the Nintendo Adventure Books, which were somewhat based on them. There, his dialogue consists of words that rhyme with "orp", as he does not speak English there like in the cartoon. The games however, consists of some Yoshi that can speak English (including the main Yoshi himself), and others that only understand their native tongue. Yoshi is also featured prominently in the Super Mario Adventures comic serial printed in Nintendo Power. There, his dialogue consists mainly of his own name. (Incidentally, he talks this way in most Mario games since Yoshi's Story in 1998. But in a Japanese Mario Paint ad he does actually speak.) According to these comics, Yoshi is the Chairman of the Dinosaur Chamber of Commerce, who is searching for a group of missing Yoshi Villagers whom Bowser has captured. Yoshi also appears in the Super Mario Bros. movie. In the movie, Yoshi took the form of a realistic animatronic dinosaur, very much like a smaller version of Jurassic Park's velociraptors, instead of a live-action animated character. Although extremely different in appearance than his video game counterpart, he still shares some resemblance with a long tongue, friendliness and courage. He is also downsized to the point that he could not support Mario at all. His vocal effects were provided by Frank Welker.

Description

While green is considered the standard color for Yoshi, his brethren appear in different colors, including blue, red, yellow, brown, orange, pink, purple, azure, turquoise, navy blue, silver, bronze, and more rarely, black and white. Black and white Yoshis in the Nintendo 64 game Yoshi's Story have the distinct ability to digest chili peppers, which other Yoshis cannot. Black and white Yoshis also appear in the unlockable levels of Yoshi's Island DS. Generally, a Yoshi's shoe color is dependent on its color; red Yoshis wear blue shoes, for example. In Super Mario World for the SNES, different colors of Yoshi had different abilities, such as fire-breathing and flying. In Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi's color can be changed by eating different fruits into the colors purple, orange, and pink.

Yoshis can also make a variety of sounds. In Super Mario World, hopping onto Yoshi's saddle made one of a few sounds of affirmation; these were Yoshi's trademark noises until Yoshi's Story, when the character (voiced by Nintendo musician Kazumi Totaka) began muttering his name and unintelligible words, usually when idle or while jumping. Besides "hup", "gong", "tung" and "wah!", Yoshi, in various games, has said his own name. In Mario Kart 64, Yoshi also makes a "pat-pern" sound. Nonetheless, Nintendo 64 games like Mario Party, Mario Golf, and others, still feature Yoshi with the same sounds as in Super Mario World. Sometimes, in Mario Kart DS, he uses this noise when he is attacked. In the game Mario Strikers Charged, Yoshi can be heard saying "yay!", or "ya hi ya ho!". Unlike the majority of key cast members in the Super Mario franchise, Yoshi is one of the few central characters that still relies mainly on stock voice acting from older games, namely 'Yoshi's Story'. It is unknown if Yoshi can actually speak the English language, although in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario World he is seen talking normally.

Yoshis are shown in multiple games (including Yoshi's Story, Super Mario RPG, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island) living in villages with a few wooden constructions, implying that they are technologically undeveloped. Their social structure, however is shown as developed and organized, as they are shown as living together in organized settlements, having meetings, working together, and even creating floor plans. Yoshis inhabit many areas of the world, from the Mushroom Kingdom to Isle Delfino.

During the localization of Panel de Pon for the U.S., when the game was renamed Tetris Attack, Nintendo of America replaced the fairy-like characters with characters from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, with Yoshi stepping in for the Pon main character Lip.

Yoshi's appearances in video games, usually Mario sports games, typically portray him as an agile character. In the Mario Kart games, Yoshi has excellent acceleration, but is more likely to skid off the track than other characters. In Mario Golf, his shot is straight and average in height. In Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis, he is the fastest tennis player. In Mario Superstar Baseball, Yoshi is the speediest runner and can use his tongue to catch faraway balls. In Super Mario Strikers, Yoshi is a balanced captain. When he performs his Super Strike, green and yellow bubbles surround him as he kicks the ball into the back of the net, usually hitting the goalie in the stomach and taking him into the net with it. In the recent sequel, Mario Strikers Charged, he is once again a balanced captain. This time when he performs his Mega Strike, he flies up into the air, sprouting wings as he could have in Super Mario World if he held a blue shell in his mouth. He then draws in a lot of breath and as he breathes out, it creates a considerable force on the ball causing it to be fired into the net. In Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Yoshi is an all-around character, in contrast to his speedy nature in other sports games. His Special Shot is the "Flutter Dunk", performed by tapping an "M" pattern on the touch screen twice. At close range, he holds the ball as he hovers toward the hoop in typical Yoshi style, leaving a rainbow trail. When he is outside the three-point line, he throws the ball to another teammate, with another rainbow trail behind the ball. In most of these games, Yoshi is mostly teamed up with Birdo, although their relationship is unclear. In Mario and Sonic and the Olympic Games, Yoshi is a speed-type character. In the Super Smash Bros. series, Yoshi is somewhat of an anomaly, not fitting into a specific class, though he is fast. His signature attacks, usually involving eggs, are kept.

Physical appearance

File:Yoshi.jpg

Yoshi from Yoshi's Island DS (2006) carrying Baby Mario on his back.

Although having the same general appearance, Yoshi's appearance has slightly changed over the years. Originally, his features more resembled a dinosaur, with a long neck, small arms, and a wider back (conveniently for Mario to ride on) with small spikes running down it from head to tail. According to Satoru Iwata, Yoshi "ended up looking like a dinosaur... because something like a dinosaur was the shape which was allowed by the Super Nintendo's technical limitations."

The first game to have Yoshi's appearance altered was the SNES version of Yoshi's Cookie, with him being much shorter, chubbier, with larger arms and hands and a rounder snout. It is possible that this new look was originally intended to be his "younger" form. This theory is supported by the fact that in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Kamek makes a reference to the young age of the Yoshi carrying Baby Mario when he and Kamek encounter each other for the first time in Burt The Bashful's fort ("So you're still on the baby's side, Yoshi-Baby? Then take THIS!"). This design was used again in Yoshi's Story, which had much more noticeable changes to his new look due to the game being 3-D, as well as the addition of infantile hatchings. Since Yoshi's Story, he is depicted having much more human-like features (i.e., standing up straight instead of curved, swinging his arms while running.) Over time, Yoshi's spikes would become smaller and blunter.

This new look for Yoshi has been used for the remaining Mario games ever since. Games such as the Mario Party series, the Mario Sports series, and even the Paper Mario series used this new appearance, likely making this his permanent design. Yoshi's design was changed for Super Mario 64 DS from his original "dinosaur" look to his new shorter look (so that he looked similar to the other characters). He also inherited hovering and egg-throwing from the previous games, but he could only keep one egg with him as opposed to being able to carry many more (in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, for example, he was able to carry up to six eggs at once). But in some games, like Yoshi's Story, the color of the Shy Guy that Yoshi swallows is the color of the egg. Also the color of the egg can depend on the color of the Yoshi that swallowed the enemy.

One key anomaly about Yoshi is the red bump on his back. In Super Mario World, it was a saddle for Mario to sit on while he was riding Yoshi. However, Yoshi kept this saddle even in games where Mario didn't ride him, so it became a fundamental feature of Yoshi that later evolved into the "shell" design that's seen today, much like the shell of a Koopa Troopa. However, the shell idea was never a part of his original design.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi's fruit-eating ability made him a valuable asset to Mario in his quest to recover all 120 Shine Sprites. Many challenges in this game would require a team of Mario and Yoshi to have to spray juice or eat fruit in order to satisfy the requirements of that particular challenge. For example, in Ricco Harbor, Yoshi must first be fed a fruit that causes him to spray purple juice, as that makes platforms travel sideways, but later in the same level, he is required to eat a fruit that causes him to spray pink juice, as that will cause the platform to travel up. Without these specific requirements being met, the Shine Sprite at the top of the highest platform cannot be retrieved.

Species

Yoshis are described as dinosaurs, and sometimes dragons. They have long, sticky tongues which they use eat items or capture enemies. The captured enemy can be either spat out or encased in an egg. They are omnivorous and seem to enjoy tropical fruits. Each Yoshi has its favorite, but they all especially love melons as depicted in the game Yoshi's Story. In Super Mario Sunshine Yoshis can only be awoken by feeding them such fruits. In Super Mario World, he can eat berries off the bushes.

Their noses can detect fruit and other secrets buried underground as seen in Yoshi's Story. While the main Yoshi himself is depicted as green, they come in a variety of colors, spanning many colors, with black and white depicted as rare variants with special abilities in some games.

Some Yoshis have the ability to fly, breathe fire, and cause earthquakes by eating a Koopa shell in Super Mario World. In the game Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi can spit out a variety of fruit juices which he needs to survive. Different fruits were known to change its color. If Yoshi enters a body of water, some will disappear and return back to his egg, as they do in Super Mario Sunshine, but in other games like Yoshi's Story, Yoshi can swim as long as needed and even eat things underwater. In many games, one of Yoshi's trademark abilities is that of swallowing enemies and somehow encase them in a Yoshi egg. Both in the Super Smash Bros. series and Yoshi's Island, Yoshi is also able to throw similar eggs at enemies to subdue them.

In the more recent Mario sports games such as Mario Superstar Baseball and the Mario Tennis series, Yoshi is known for his speed and tongue capability. It is assumed by many that all other Yoshis are just as capable as this Yoshi, supported by the Yoshi's Island games, where different colored Yoshis have the same abilities throughout the game. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Yoshi's Final Smash is the "Super Dragon", where he grows wings, breathes fire and spits fireballs for a short time, a reference to past abilities from Super Mario World.

Speech

In most games, Yoshi does not actually talk. Either he has no voice or he says Yoshi! (e.g. in Super Mario World, although in the old Mario titles, he makes a "pat-pern" sound), says colors, or simply makes unintelligible noises and says his name, or the word "Nintendo". There have been a few instances, however, where he actually had a speaking part. In the Super Mario World cartoons, he is given a speaking part, as well as in the Paper Mario series. In these games, the Yoshi species in general possesses the ability to speak. More recently, Yoshi has been given speech in the game Super Mario Strikers, its sequel Mario Strikers Charged, and Mario Kart Wii.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Yoshi is the only one of his kind to be able to communicate with Mario, and acted as an interpreter so Mario could speak to other Yoshis. At the end of Super Mario 64, after the player has collected all 120 stars, Mario can talk to Yoshi, who is standing at the top the castle. After this, he gives Mario 100 lives and an upgraded triple jump. This is one of the few instances that Yoshi actually speaks normally like other characters.

In some games, various buttons can be pressed to make Yoshi talk. For example, in Mario Golf (for Nintendo 64) the four C Buttons can be pressed to make him taunt his opponents, and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the 1 and 2 buttons on the Wii Remote make Yoshi do a variety of things, including talk. Also, in Mario Party 8, Yoshi taunts his opponents. Yoshi speaks two things when the Wii Remote is shaken or pushed while others are playing on the party board.

External links

• Description of Yoshi