| abstract
| - Game series 'Mario'First game Super Mario Bros. (1985)Created by Shigeru MiyamotoVoiced by John Stocker (TV) (1989-1990)Mojo Nixon (Film) (1993)John Fifer (Film) (1993)Isaac Marshall (VG) (1997-2002)Jen Taylor (VG) (2002-2005)Kelsey Hutchinson (VG) (2007)Samantha Kelly (VG) (2007-present) Toad (Kinopio) is a humanoid mushroom in games of Nintendo's Mario franchise. Toad is the general collective name of the "Mushroom People" found in the Mushroom Kingdom, who are a sapient, anthropomorphic mushroom race, with a peaceful, human-following monarchistic culture. Like other characters in the Mario games, such as Yoshi, Toad is both a unique character and a specimen of an entire, homonymous race. The Toad species first appeared in Super Mario Bros.. They were seven guards that serve Princess Peach, called Mushroom Retainers. In games prior to Paper Mario, which featured an entire race of Toads inhabiting Toad Town, the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, manuals referred to them as Mushroom People, which is derived from the Japanese name. However, certain comics called them Toads even before Paper Mario. The unique character Toad is also the chief retainer to the Mushroom Kingdom. ==In video games==Toad plays a rather minimal role in the original Super Mario Bros. He appears at the end of every fourth stage after Mario or Luigi defeats Bowser. Instead of meeting Princess Peach (also known as Toadstool), however, these earlier levels reward the heroes with the infamous message: "Thank you Mario/Luigi! But our princess is in another castle!" In Super Mario Bros. 2, a character named Toad made his first appearance as one of the four playable characters. He was the fastest and strongest character, but had the weakest jump. Apart from Super Mario Bros. 2 and the Mario Kart series, where he is a light, high acceleration driver, Toad is seldom a playable character or protagonist — more often officiating, such as in the earlier Mario Party games, or helping other characters. He is a playable character in later Mario Party games, starting with Mario Party 5, and again in Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, and Mario Party 8. Toad was the main character and star in Wario's Woods; his partners in this adventure were Birdo and Wanda. Toad was a playable character in Mario Tennis 64 as a technique player. When the later Mario Tennis game, Mario Power Tennis, came out, Nintendo decided against bringing Toad back into the game alongside Birdo, Baby Mario and Donkey Kong, Jr., though he did appear as a cameo with Toadette in the opening movie. Toad is a playable racer in every Mario Kart and Mario Party DS. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games he is a referee along with Cream the Rabbit, among others. Toad appears in Super Paper Mario in four aspects of the game. He appears in the intro, telling the Mario Brothers that Princess Peach has been kidnapped once again. He also appears in the arcade mini-game Mansion Patrol. In it, the player must defeat the Boos in a dark location resembling Luigi's Mansion. Some of the Boos hold Toads, and by shooting the Boos holding them, the Toad will drop to the ground and give the player a power-up before running away. The downside to it, however, is that if the player shoots the Toad rather than the Boo, they will lose points. Additionally, Toad is one of the two hundred fifty-six Catch Cards in the game. Finally, if the player does a stylish move on an enemy, he appears as one of the members of the audience, along with Shy Guy, Koopa Troopa, and Goomba. In Super Mario Galaxy, many Toads (as well as Toadette) appear at the beginning of the game, and later on, several Toads (but not Toadette) appear as the "Toad Brigade", helping Mario on his quest to defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach. A running gag in the game is that the yellow Toad is almost always asleep. It is rumored that the Red Toad (leader) is in fact Toad because of his actions and behaviors and Toad Brigade is actually a group of Toads previously seen in Super Mario Sunshine. ===Voice===Toad's voice is first heard in Mario Kart 64, which featured actor Isaac Marshall. He sounded particularly chipper and spoke with a high-pitched voice. Subsequently, Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine ran a feature inquiring about the character's gender — even using his possession of a rainbow-decorated tennis racquet in the Nintendo 64 installment of Mario Tennis as proof of his ambiguous gender. However, the appearance of Toadette in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! suggests that Toad, in general, is male. Also, in Super Mario Sunshine, Toadsworth refers to two Toads as "boys". Jen Taylor continued to provide the voice of Toad until 2005, when Kelsey Hutchison and Samantha Kelly took over for games such as Super Mario Strikers and Super Mario Galaxy. ==Cultural impact=====In other media===As with the games, Toad played a major supporting character in other forms of media starring Mario, starting with the animated series ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'', in 1989. Although he usually tagged along with Mario and Luigi in cases where King Koopa had kidnapped Princess Toadstool, he sometimes got captured as well. Toad remained a regular on the show when it spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. As with the previous series, he accompanied the Mario Bros. on their adventures, and apparently was allowing them to live in his house. Princess Toadstool would often hug Toad and he would make a squeaking noise (similar to a rubber duck) when squeezed. Due to his absence in Super Mario World, he was also absent in the third and so-far last Mario cartoon, with the caveboy Oogtar, an original character, taking his place. Toad also regularly appeared in the Super Mario Bros. comic books published by Valiant Comics. In these comics, Toad often followed Mario on some of his adventures, seemingly replacing Luigi as the hero's sidekick. He was also a regular companion for King Toadstool, and even indulged in some of the King's activities. Toad the character is the only Mushroom Retainer whose look is directly from the game artwork — the other Mushroom People were depicted as anthropomorphic toadstools with orange hats. Other print media and the cartoons, however, had all the Mushroom People looking and/or dressing just like Toad himself. Played by Mojo Nixon, Toad appeared as a street musician in the non-canon Super Mario Bros. movie. In the film, Toad is arrested for singing a song that badmouths Koopa, who punishes him by having him turned into a Goomba. Despite his transformation, the Goomba-fied Toad (portrayed by John Fifer) still manages to serve as a protagonist by helping Princess Daisy escape and distracting the other Goombas by playing his harmonica. After Koopa's defeat, though, it is not shown if he ever returns to normal. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats and Kaki King have an upcoming tour exclusive EP entitled The Black Pear Tree, which includes the song, "Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is in Another Castle", sung from the perspective of Toad. In an episode of Jetix's Yin-Yang-Yo!, one of Yang's video games has a reference to Toad in which the Princess says "Thank You, But Your Princess Is in Another Castle".
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