The Mario franchise has its fair share of strange-looking characters, from Yoshi and Bowser being some kind of dinosaur beings to Mario and Luigi's oddly proportionate bodies compared to other humans from the Mushroom Kingdom. Easily one of the strangest and most recognizable characters, however, is Toad, the mushroom man.
Being an instant fan favorite since his debut, Toad has been a mainstay across the mainline Super Mario games as well as many of its spin-off titles, but that popularity doesn't mean that fans know everything there is to know about this loyal toadstool.
10 Debuted In Super Mario Bros.
Like most of the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad made his debut appearance in Super Mario Bros. for the NES in 1985. As a single part of a larger race of identical-looking beings, his species comprise the bulk of the inhabitants of the world, making them an easy target for Bowser to turn into various items in the world. The main Toad was lucky, escaping from being turned into just another pipe or brick for Mario to slide through or break, instead being relegated to informing the player that "the princess is in another castle," but never telling them exactly which one.
9 Has Had Many Different Voices
Unlike Mario, who has had the same voice actor since his first vocal appearance, Toad has had many different actors play his part over the years. John Stocker played his role in the animated series, Jen Taylor, better known as Cortana from the Halo series, voiced his video game appearances from 1999-2008, and Samantha Kelly has taken over the role since Taylor's departure from the Mario franchise.
8 His Live-Action Appearance
The Super Mario Bros. live-action film, starring Bob Hoskins in the lead role, made some strange artistic choices when it came to the real world depictions of otherwise cartoony characters. While Mario and Luigi appeared very roughly like what their video game counterparts looked like, Toad was one of the many that didn't, and was portrayed by Mojo Nixon in human form.
His role in the film was fairly minor, being a street musician that was turned into a Goomba for speaking out against the King Koopa, and his appearance in the film is a far cry from his video game and animated series look.
7 Has One Solo Game
Despite being relegated to being a major side character in the Mario franchise, Toad has managed to score a solo game for both the NES and SNES. Wario's Woods is a puzzle game that was released in 1994 and plays in much the same way as Dr. Mario, with some slight changes to differentiate it from its predecessor. Toad's first and only solo game is also the only time that Wario appeared in an NES title, with most of his early appearances being on the SNES or Gameboy.
6 The Mushroom Was Once Depicted As A Hat
In the DIC cartoons, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Toad is one of the main characters and fulfills the same role he does in the video games, as a close personal assistant to Princess Peach. During the show's run, it is revealed that Toad's signature mushroom head is actually a hat, and he makes reference to it being one multiple times, even taking it off entirely on a few occasions.
5 He's Bald Underneath That Hat
It appeared that Toad had a good reason for always wearing such an eye-catching hat all of the time. Reminiscent of Homer Simpson's signature hairstyle, Toad is almost completely bald, save for a few pathetic strands of hair that stand straight up.
This could be why he spends so much time with Mario and Luigi, who both sport luscious mustaches that Toad could only dream of growing on his own face.
4 The Mushroom Is Actually Part Of His Head
To completely contradict the previous two entries, in a YouTube Q&A session with Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi, it's revealed that Toad's mushroom is actually his head, and not a hat as it has been previously shown. He also states that there could be something hiding inside the mushroom, possibly alluding to his previous depictions that show his weird shaped head underneath the polka dot hat.
3 Named Kinopio in Japan
As with many of the Mushroom Kingdom characters, Toad has a different name in his country of origin than he does in the west. Named Kinopio, from the Japanese word for mushroom, kinoko, and the Japanese spelling of Pinocchio, Pinokio. These two words together roughly mean "a real mushroom boy," a callback to Pinocchio's wish to become a real boy in his own story. This begs the question of whether Toad is a natural being or made by some mad scientist of the Mushroom Kingdom, given his Japanese name's connection to the toy puppet.
2 His Blue Spots Are A Callback To The NES Era
In several of his video game appearances, Toad has been shown to have blue spots on his hat/head rather than his signature red spots. This began in the NES era of some of his appearances, where the color restrictions in video games meant that he sometimes had to be shown with blue colorations instead of red. Since the advancement of gaming technology has removed this restriction, there are several times when he is shown in his blue outfit as a callback to the NES era of gaming, including Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii U.
1 His Signature Outfit Appeared In Tekken
It's not uncommon for Nintendo to add their own characters' looks into third-party games, as they have added Link's Breath of the Wild outfit, the Hylian Shield, and the Master Sword to Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on the Switch port. When Tekken Tag Tournament 2 came to the Wii U, they decided to add some of their characters' costumes to the roster of customizable items, allowing certain characters to dress as different Nintendo licensed characters. Each fighter had access to limited outfits, meaning that only Feng, Jinpachi, Lei, and Tiger could dress up as the mushroom man.