List of Mario franchise characters

The Mario franchise is a series of video games developed and published by Nintendo. The franchise features an extensive cast of characters.

For the main characters that appear under the franchises of spinoff series Donkey Kong and Wario, please refer to list of Donkey Kong characters and list of Wario characters.

All protagonists, supporting characters, antagonists and anti-heroes are listed in alphabetical order.

Protagonists

Mario

Mario (Japanese: マリオ, Hepburn: Mario, [ma.ɽi.o]) (English /ˈmɑːrioʊ/; Italian: [ˈmaːrjo]) is an Italian plumber and the main host of the series.

Luigi

Luigi (Japanese: ルイージ, Hepburn: Ruīji, [ɽɯ.iː.dʑi]) (English /luːˈiːdʒi/; Italian: [luˈiːdʒi]) is Mario's twin brother and is also a plumber. He is the official 'Player 2' of the series.

Princess Peach

Princess Peach Toadstool (Japanese: ピーチ姫, Hepburn: Pīchi-hime, [piː.tɕi̥ çi̥.me]) is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Yoshi

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī, [jo.ɕːiː]) (English: /ˈjoʊʃi/ or /ˈjɒʃi/), once romanized as Yossy, is an anthropomorphic dinosaur.

Toad

Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio (キノピオ), is a mushroom-like humanoid character.

Supporting characters

Baby Luma

Baby Luma (ベビィチコ, Bebi Chiko) is Mario's main companion in Super Mario Galaxy and its direct sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2.

In Super Mario Galaxy Baby Luma first finds Mario sleeping in the planet that houses the Gateway to the Starry Sky after he has been blasted out of the Mushroom World, and joins him at the request of Rosalina, aiding him in his quest to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser by allowing him to use the "Spin" move, which he can use to break crystals, attack enemies and further his jumps, among other things. In the ending of the game, Baby Luma sacrifices his life along his brethren to save the universe from a black hole.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Baby Luma is found by Mario while he was on his way to Princess Peach's Castle and they join forces to rescue the town from a new attack by Bowser, only to be sent out in a new adventure. In this game Baby Luma often receives letters from Rosalina, who remains anonymous for most of the game. He is also called Young Master Luma by other Lumas.

Birdo

Birdo, known in Japan as Catherine (キャサリン, Kyasarin), is a pink, anthropomorphic creature who wears a red bow on her head, and has a round mouth that can fire eggs as projectiles.^[1] Her first appearance was as an enemy to Mario in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which was localized for English audiences as Super Mario Bros. 2. Since then, Birdo has been a recurring character in various franchise spin-offs. Initially, she was depicted as an antagonist, but has since been depicted as an ally. Birdo has also made several cameos, particularly in the Mario Kart series and the Japan-only Wii video game Captain Rainbow. ^[1]

Birdo first appeared in the Family Computer Disk System video game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and its Western Nintendo Entertainment System conversion Super Mario Bros. 2 as a boss. The Super Mario Advance remake of Super Mario Bros. 2 features a large robotic version of Birdo called "Robirdo".^[2] Birdo/Catherine was prominently featured in the cut-scenes for the Japan-only, Satellaview pseudo-sequel of Super Mario USA (Japanese title for the western version of Super Mario Bros. 2), known as BS Super Mario USA. In this version, three "Super Catherines" were voice-acted by Jun Donna (Pink, described as "slightly mischievous"), Rika (Red, "whose finances are always in the red"), and Akemi (Green, described as "cultured and affluent"). The voices were that of gay men or transgender women.^[3] A Japanese advertisement for Super Mario USA also showed a costumed actor as Catherine lounging on a bed, with a low male voice.

Since the character's appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2, Birdo has made several cameo appearances, including an early one teaching players the rules of the video game Wario's Woods. Throughout Wario's Woods, Birdo's main role consisted of being the helper to Toad as Birdo provided encouragement to him as Toad attempted to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Wario's clutches. Aside from her brief appearance in Wario's Woods, she has not entered any other Mario mainstream game since Super Mario Bros. 2.

Birdo has made frequent appearances in later Mario spin-off games, including Mario Tennis, Mario Party 8 and Mario Golf, first appearing in the Mario sports games with the Nintendo 64 Mario Tennis. Though, Birdo was to be included in the Virtual Boy video game Mario's Tennis.. Birdo returned again in Mario Golf World Tour this time she is unlockable. Birdo also made her first appearance in the Mario Kart series with Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, where Yoshi acts as her partner. And reappeared in Mario Kart Wii. Birdo has also made appearances in the Mario Party series, first appearing in Mario Party 7 And later in Mario Party 8 and Mario Party 9. Birdo also makes appearances in multiple Mario role-playing games, including Super Mario RPG as a minor boss in Valentina's castle and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as a decoy for Princess Peach, and later Popple's rookie partner. Recently, Birdo appeared in the Wii video game Captain Rainbow, which makes reference to the gender non-conformity. Birdo appeared in both Super Smash Bros. Meleeand Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the form of collectible items (known as trophies). Birdo has also appeared in Mario Superstar Baseball for Nintendo GameCube and Mario Super Sluggers and Mario Strikers Charged for Wii. She also appears in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games as a rival, and returns in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games once again as a rival.

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong (ディディーコング, Didī Kongu) is a friend of Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング, Donkī Kongu) (DK) is an anthropomorphic gorilla appearing in the Donkey Kong and Mario video game franchises.

Pauline

Pauline (ポリーン, Porīn) is the damsel in distress from the original Donkey Kong,^[4] as well as the 1994 Game Boy game of the same name.^[5] She also appeared in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!.

In the original Donkey Kong, she is held captive by Donkey Kong and it is Mario's objective to climb up the construction site and rescue her.^[4] Along the way, the player can collect feminine articles (a hat, purse, and parasol) belonging to Pauline for bonus points. Pauline was originally known as Lady (レディ, Redi).^[6] The name Pauline was first given to the character in the Donkey Kong animated segments shown in the television series Saturday Supercade and then used for the NES version of the game, although print ads for the Game & Watch version of game referred to her as Louise.^[7] After Donkey Kong, Pauline made cameo appearances in two other NES games, Pinball and Famicom BASIC.^[6] Princess Peach, introduced in Super Mario Bros., supplanted Pauline's original role as damsel in distress in the Mario games.

In the 1994 Game Boy version of Donkey Kong, Pauline was given a radically different design. While the original Pauline was portrayed as a blonde in a pink gown, this new version of the character was a brunette who wears a red dress.^[6] Because of her different design, the Pauline in the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong was initially considered in certain Mario media a separate character from the original incarnation of the character (who was still known as Lady) featured in the arcade and Famicom versions, with the two versions of the character being given separate profiles in Shogakukan's 1994 Mario Character Encyclopedia book.^[8] However, later games and sources (most notably the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS) acknowledge that Pauline and Lady are meant to be the same character.^[9]

She then officially returns in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, using the same character design as in the remake. She is a guest VIP at the grand opening of the "Super Mini Mario World", a theme park based on Mini-Mario toys, where she is kidnapped by Donkey Kong. She also appears in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! for the DSiWare, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem for the DS, where she is once again kidnapped by Donkey Kong.

Pauline was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and other developers for the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong. She is the earliest example of a female with a speaking role in a video game, and is cited as a famous example of a damsel in distress in fiction.^[10][11][12]

Princess Daisy

Princess Daisy (Japanese: デイジー姫, Hepburn: Deijī-hime, [deː.dʑiː çi̥.me]) is the princess of the region of Sarasaland. She first appeared in Super Mario Land as the game's damsel in distress, a role usually reserved for Princess Peach. Since her appearance in Mario Tennis, she has become a staple playable character in the Mario spin-off games, in which she is often paired up with Peach. It is often speculated that she is Luigi's love interest.^[13][14] Her official description for Mario Party 4 states that she and Luigi have a rumored mutual attraction, more so from Luigi; but Waluigi likes her too, which may cause trouble.^[15]

As of 2016, Daisy has appeared in 56 games, in most of which she is a playable character. Her first appearance in a main game of the Mario series is in Super Mario Land, released in 1989 for the Game Boy. Daisy is the princess of Sarasaland, a world outside of the series' usual setting of the Mushroom Kingdom, who is kidnapped by the tyrannical alien, Tatanga,^[16] who intends to marry her in order to gain control of her realm. Mario must traverse the four kingdoms of Sarasaland in order to track down Tatanga and rescue Daisy. She next made a small appearance in NES Open Tournament Golf in 1991 as Luigi's caddy. She did not appear in another game for nine years until 2000's Mario Tennis by Camelot Software Planning on the Nintendo 64, in order to introduce more human characters into the game.^[17]

Daisy then became a regular playable character in the Mario sports games. She appears in all of the Mario Party series since Mario Party 3 except Mario Party Advance, and all of the Mario Kart games since Double Dash!! except the Arcade GP series. She also appears in the Square Enix games Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street. In all four games in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, she is a member of team Mario.

Professor E. Gadd

Professor Elvin Gadd (Professor Oya Mā (オヤ・マー博士, Oya Mā Hakase) in Japan), more commonly known as E. Gadd, is a scientist who, with his various inventions, helps Luigi save Mario and save the mansion. His nickname is a pun on the Japanese interjection Oyamā! (おやまあ！, "Good heavens!") and he is also named after Nintendo game designer Yoshiyuki Oyama.^[18] He first appears in Luigi's Mansion, in which he investigates the mansion that mysteriously appeared by his house. To help him study the ghosts in the mansion, he uses the "Poltergust 3000", a high-powered vacuum cleaner that can suck in and capture ghosts, and the "Game Boy Horror", an invention for tracking and detecting objects such as Boos. He lends it to Luigi and helps him on his quest. His voice is played by Kazumi Totaka, who also played Yoshi.

He is mentioned in Super Mario Sunshine but not seen but his inventions: a Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device or "F.L.U.D.D." and Magic Brush were used by Mario and Bowser Jr. respectively. E. Gadd also creates a Time Machine in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and various inventions as rewards for making bean coffees at the Starbeans Cafe in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

In Mario Party 6, E. Gadd is featured on a party board called E. Gadd's Garage. He made an appearance in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon in a remodelled lab to assist Luigi again with his "Poltergust 5000" and a "Dual Scream", which replaces the Game Boy Horror.

Super Mario Maker features E. Gadd as an unlockable Mystery Mushroom costume, made available through an update.

Rosalina

Rosalina, known as Rosetta (ロゼッタ, Rozetta) in Japan, is the adoptive mother of the Lumas and also watcher of the cosmos. She debuted in Super Mario Galaxy, where she acted as a major non-player character who resides in the Comet Observatory, the game's hub world. In the game's storyline, the Comet Observatory was attacked by Bowser, leaving her stranded in space without a source of power. In return for Mario's help in collecting Power Stars and repowering the Observatory, Rosalina agrees to help Mario rescue Princess Peach, whom Bowser had kidnapped. Rosalina has since appeared as a player character in subsequent Mario games, including the Mario Kart series since 2008's Mario Kart Wii, 2013's Super Mario 3D World and 2014's Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The character has received generally positive reception, with praise being directed at her character development and in-game story, as well as her physical appearance.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach by removing her castle from the ground with Peach still inside, and also attacks the Comet Observatory, where Rosalina lives with her adopted Lumas, and steals its main source of fuel: Power Stars. Rosalina asks Mario to retrieve the lost Power Stars; in return she promises to help him save Princess Peach. Once Mario retrieves enough Power Stars, Rosalina is able to turn her Comet Observatory into a comet and drive Mario to the center of the universe, where Bowser keeps the kidnapped Princess Peach. After Bowser is defeated by Mario, Bowser's galaxy at the centre of the universe turns into a supermassive black hole, devouring Princess Peach's castle and Rosalina's Comet Observatory. All of Rosalina's Lumas throw themselves into the black hole in order to stop it. After this, Rosalina appears to Mario, explaining to him about the cycle of life and the death and rebirth of stars; it is implicit in her explanation that the universe and all the Lumas are to be reborn. Afterwards, Rosalina is gone and Mario, as well as Bowser and Peach, wake up back in the Mushroom Kingdom again. Once 120 Power Stars in the game are collected, Rosalina delivers a thank you message to the player, promising to watch over them.^[19] In a backstory which is unlocked gradually as the game progresses, it is explained how Rosalina was a young girl who went off in a spaceship in order to help a lost Luma find its parents, hiding the fact that she herself had lost her own mother. As Rosalina starts to feel lonely, numerous other Lumas soon come to join her, and she comes to know about their purpose in life to eventually transform into other things. Rosalina decides to build a house for her new family, which soon became the Comet Observatory.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, throughout the game, a shadowy form named the "Cosmic Witch" or "Cosmic Spirit", strongly resembling Rosalina, appears to help in levels where the player has died multiple times.^[20] Rosalina herself appears after Mario defeats Bowser and rescues Princess Peach in the final cutscene before the credits play. Rosalina also appears late in the game as well (by collecting 120 Power Stars), telling Luma the story of the "Green Stars", which opens the Green Star missions (additional optional missions in the game), and finally, with the game completed, she appears on the game's hub and thanks Mario.^[21] Later, Rosalina was featured as an unlockable fifth character in Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U. She possesses the ability to perform the Spin Attack that Mario could in the Galaxy games, using it as both an attack and a second jump. When asked why Nintendo chose Rosalina over other Mario characters, 3D World director Kenta Motokura responded, "I was thinking about what would be pleasing after the ending and wanted to bring in another female character in addition to Princess Peach. Rosalina has a following among the Super Mario Galaxy fanbase, and she's appeared in Mario Kart recently, so I think she's well known."^[22]

Rosalina appears in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, and in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX as a playable character. She also appeared in Mario Kart 8 (as an unlockable character^[23]) Official Game Bio: "Making her debut on the track, Rosalina shows her experience of space travel translates well to rocketing round the race course. With a friendly Luma by her side, Rosalina is right at home on the track!". Nintendo.^[24] Rosalina also has a namesake racing track in Mario Kart 7 called Rosalina's Ice World.^[25] Joystiq commented on her appearance, saying that it was nice to see that another "Nintendo character join the obscenely large roster of folks showing their faces in the game."^[26] She also appears as a playable character in Mario Golf: World Tour, available via downloadable content.^[27] Rosalina was confirmed as a newcomer fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, where she fights alongside various colored Luma, as well as being in Mario Party 10.

Toadette

Toadette (キノピコ, Kinopiko) is Toad's female counterpart; she appears as a playable character in various Mario spin-off games, such as those in the Mario Party and Mario Kart series. She first appeared as Toad's partner in Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ as a character, and later appeared in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as an instructor when Mario receives upgraded boots and hammers. Since Mario Party 6, she has regularly appeared in the Mario Party series as a playable character, with the exceptions of the handheld games, where she acts as a non-player character, and in the rest of the series in which she does not appear at all, until 2015's Mario Party 10, as an unlockable character.

Other playable appearances include Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8; in those games, she must be unlocked. She appeared in Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix as the owner of a hotel Mario and Toad must rebuild. She has made a cameo appearance in the introduction of Super Mario Galaxy. She was voiced by Jen Taylor in most of her appearances; however, in Mario Party 8 onwards, she was voiced by Samantha Kelly. She also appears Mario Party DS as a non-playable character who needs help to get rid of a Hammer Bro. that has been damaging her musical instruments with his hammer. In this game, Toadette has a number of collectible musical items, such as her trumpets. She appeared as a playable character in Mario Golf: World Tour, available via downloadable content. Toadette also appeared in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker as a playable character along with Captain Toad. She appears in Super Mario Maker as a Mystery Mushroom costume through an update, with her appearance based on Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Toadette is a mushroom like girl. She has the regular mushroom cap, except hers is pink with white spots, contrary to the usual white with colored spots. She has a reddish-pink vest lined with gold over her lighter pink dress. She wears white bottoms and brown, padded shoes. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, she is depicted as wearing an orange dress. In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, she creates papercraft modules for the gang to fight off Bowser and Paper Bowser's modules. In most games, she has pink, balled "braids".

The relationship between her and Toad varies between sources. Their team name in Mario Party 6 indicates that they're good friends. The official Mario Kart Wii guide from Prima names her as Toad's sister, though this is unconfirmed by Nintendo itself.^[28] Additionally, the two Toads can be seen holding hands on the ending screen of Mario Kart Wii while she winks at the camera.

Toadsworth

Toadsworth (キノじい, Kinojii) is an elderly Toad and Princess Peach's longtime steward, first appearing in Super Mario Sunshine, when he comes along with Princess Peach and Mario to Isle Delfino. He makes a brief appearance in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga at the beginning (where he presents Mario and Luigi with a suitcase) and end of the game. Paper Toadsworth accompanies Paper Princess Peach on her trip to Rogueport during Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, keeping Paper Peach very close to him, but ends up losing her. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he is with Mario and Luigi when Princess Peach takes an experimental trip back in time. He is also included in Super Princess Peach where he gives Peach a parasol named Perry in the cinema and is seen as a lead guitarist of the band called Peach Hit Five in the music room. He also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, where he was inhaled by Bowser. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Toadsworth appeared as the gang went on a vacation in Pi'illo Island.

Toadsworth makes a brief appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash when the player wins a cup. He acts as an umpire in Mario Power Tennis for the GameCube as well as in the remake for the Wii, in which Toadsworth reprimands the player when a foul shot is made. In Mario Party 7, he is a host of the boards. He finally becomes playable in both Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers. Toadsworth is voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi.^[29] N-Philes criticized Toadsworth's voice in Super Mario Sunshine, calling it "laughable", "comical", and "utterly pessimistic".^[30]

Antagonists

Bowser

Bowser (クッパ, Kuppa, "Koopa") or King Koopa is the leader and most powerful of the turtle-like Koopa race, and has been the greedy nemesis of Mario ever since his first appearance, in the game Super Mario Bros. He is the main antagonist of the series, his main goal being to kidnap Princess Peach to take control of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr. (known as Koopa Jr. (Japanese: クッパＪｒ., Hepburn: Kuppa Junia) in Japan), or sometimes simply Jr., is the son of the series' primary antagonist, Bowser. Since his debut in Super Mario Sunshine (initially disguised as "Shadow Mario"), Bowser Jr. has been a recurring character in the Mario series, and has been made playable in several spin-offs, such as Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Strikers Charged, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He wants to do nothing more than his father's will (kidnap Princess Peach and defeat Mario).

Boom Boom

Boom Boom (ブンブン, Bunbun) is the henchman and faithful servant of Bowser. He first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 as one of the main antagonists of the game, where he often fights with Mario or Luigi by chasing him flailing his arms, jumping high and flying at them. Boom Boom returns in Super Mario 3D Land 23 years later, where it introduces his new partner, Pom Pom. He resides in various airships where he encounters Mario. In New Super Mario Bros. U, he reprises his old role from Super Mario Bros. 3, guarding the fortresses and towers. After beating him in the first world, Boom Boom has Kamek supporting him by lending him some of his powers. He also returned in Super Mario 3D World.

In four episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Boom Boom appears as a silent powerhouse who often cause troubles to Mario and Luigi.

Fawful

Fawful (ゲラコビッツ, Gerakobittsu), is a recurring antagonist in the Mario & Luigi series. The character is considered to be "insane," often serving as or the sidekick to the main antagonist in the games.

Fawful first appeared in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where he was the sidekick to the primary antagonist, Cackletta. Fawful assisted Cackletta by helping her steal Princess Peach's voice in order to awaken the Beanstar, a magical item capable of granting wishes.^[31] After Cackletta is brutally defeated by Mario and Luigi, Fawful revives her by transferring her soul into the body of Bowser, possessing him.^[32] The Mario brothers later defeat Fawful and kill Cackletta.

In the first sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Fawful works as a shopkeeper in the basement of Princess Peach's castle, continuing to plot his revenge against Mario and Luigi.

In the next sequel, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Fawful served as the primary antagonist and villain, assisted by his sidekick Midbus. In this game, he causes Bowser to inhale Mario and Luigi into his body and infects the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom with the "Blorbs" disease, caused by poisonous mushrooms. He absorbed part of the power of an evil entity called the Dark Star with his robotic helmet, but Bowser interrupted the process, causing the weakened Dark Star to go in his lung to read his DNA. Mario and Luigi defeated the Dark Star and destroyed its body, which turned it in dark dust. The Dark Star left Bowser's body and created a new body called Dark Bowser from Bowser's DNA. However, Fawful absorbed part of Dark Bowser's force. Bowser and Dark Bowser searched for Fawful while Fawful searched for Dark Bowser to gain all of its power. Bowser found Fawful first and defeated him, reducing him to a black, spider-like blob, but he escaped from Bowser. Dark Bowser then found Fawful and inhaled him to regain his full power. Later, Bowser battled him, but after being defeated, Fawful, now stronger from the completed dark powers, heals him and makes him grow larger. The only way to defeat him was by punching Dark Bowser's belly, making him spit out Fawful. After Bowser inhales him in the battle, Mario and Luigi battle Fawful in Bowser's body. After being defeated, Dark Bowser destabilizes and is easily defeated with several punches from Bowser. Dark Bowser combusts in colorful sparks and Fawful is unable to move or act. He blows himself up in an attempt to take Mario and Luigi with him, but the brothers survive the explosion.

Kamek

Kamek (カメック, Kamekku) (English pronunciation: /kəˈmɛk/ or /ˈkæmək/) is a Magikoopa who acts as Bowser's caretaker during his childhood^[33] and one of his high-ranking minions afterwards. He is Yoshi's archenemy and the primary antagonist of the Yoshi series. He can perform various feats of magic, such as self-duplication, teleportation, shooting magical blasts, and changing the size of other creatures.^[33] He first appeared in Super Mario World. His second appearance is in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where he plays the main antagonist which has him trying to abduct Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, who he foresees as causing trouble for the Koopas in the future.^[33] Succeeding in only capturing Baby Luigi, Kamek and his minions, the Toadies, try to steal Baby Mario from the Yoshis throughout the game; before every boss battle, Kamek will appear and enhance an enemy for fighting Yoshi.

After his appearance in Yoshi's Island, Kamek appears in several other games. Tetris Attack features him as the penultimate boss and the one who brainwashed the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island. Super Princess Peach includes him as a boss character. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (As Baby Kamek), he is a henchman of Baby Bowser. In Yoshi Touch & Go, he kidnaps the babies once again. Yoshi's Island DS features him as a main antagonist. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he is the main villain alongside Bowser, and assists the Koopalings against Mario. He is responsible for reviving Bowser in the final boss fight. He supports Boom Boom and Boss Sumo Bro. Instead in New Super Mario Bros. U. Kamek also appears throughout the Mario Party series. Kamek's most recent appearances were as a boss in Paper Mario: Sticker Star (As Paper Kamek), Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (in the Dream World... 3 times), Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (Alongside his counterpart; Paper Kamek), Paper Mario: Color Splash (As Paper Kamek) and Yoshi's New Island, where he captures the baby Bros. once more.

GameDaily listed Kamek as the 16th best Mario enemy, describing him as both a "wise dude" and a "crafty opponent".^[33]

In Japan, the character shares his name with his species, Kamek (which are known outside Japan as Magikoopas), which can lead to confusion surrounding his appearances. This will sometimes lead to a literal translation, as in Super Princess Peach where a boss is described as "A Kamek made huge by magic." Some Japanese sources such as the guide for Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island call him "Fang" to distinguish him from regular Magikoopas.

Kammy Koopa

Kammy Koopa (カメックババ, Kamekkubaba) is an elderly Magikoopa who acts as an adviser and babysitter for Bowser in the first two Paper Mario games. She possesses the usual Magikoopa powers, and is primarily distinguished by her ability to summon yellow blocks, which she has used to both impede and combat Mario. She first appeared in Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64, helping Bowser by leaving enemies in Mario's way, transporting Bowser into the Star Spirit Sanctuary, and augmenting his size and power in the final battle. After being defeated by the Star Kid, Twink, she continued to work for him. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, she acted as Bowser's second-in-command. Generally, her position is very similar with Kamek who appeared earlier than her, which possibly means why she is replaced by him in the following Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

IGN rated her as one of the weirdest Mario characters.^[34]

King Boo

King Boo (キングテレサ, Kingu Teresa) is the primary antagonist of Luigi's Mansion and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and the archenemy of Luigi. He plays minor roles in various other Mario games, including the Mario Kart and Mario Party series. King Boo's First major role is as the final boss of Luigi's Mansion, where he disguised himself as Bowser. King Boo is a member of the Boo species. He is much larger than the average Boo that appear in games after Luigi's Mansion. He dons a crown with a large ruby in Luigi's Mansion, and a regular crown in all other appearances.

Previously, a similar character named "Big Boo" appeared as an enemy in Super Mario World and as a boss in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 64 DS.

As well as appearing as the main antagonist of Luigi's Mansion, King Boo also appears in Super Mario Sunshine, Super Princess Peach, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

He is also an unlockable playable character in several sports games in the series and in the Mario Kart series.

In Mario Party 9, he is one of the twelve bosses in the game, with his minigame entitled "King Boo's Puzzle Attack".

He returned as the main antagonist in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. In all games he appears in, King Boo is voiced by Toru Asakawa.

Koopa Kid

Koopa Kid (called Mini-Bowsers in PAL Territories, Mini Koopas in Japan, and Baby Bowsers in the first three Mario Parties) are minions of Bowser that have so far only appeared in the Mario Party series. He first appeared in the first installment of the series and appeared in every other game after that, up until after Mario Party 7. In the first Mario Party, they had to be dueled on the Eternal Star board to win stars by rolling a dice block for 20 coins.

In Mario Party 2, they had a much bigger role, appearing on every board in the game. He appears in one spot on most boards (similar to Toad), and he would steal five coins from whoever passed him (although occasionally he'll mess up and give five coins to the person who passed him). There is also a Koopa Kid who runs the shady Bowser Bank, who'd give anyone who passed him a five-coin loan, and would keep track of the total coins he loaned to the players. If anyone landed directly on the Bank Space, Koopa Kid will force the player to pay back all the coins he loaned out right from their own pocket. If the player had no coins, he would steal a star instead (provided the player has one). Another one ran its own item shop in Bowser Land, where they would force the players into buying random items, usually costing 12-20 coins. If the player has less than Koopa Kid wants, he'll take whatever they have (unless the player has zero coins).

In Mario Party 3, he ran his own item shop again, this time without forcing the players to buy anything.

In Mario Party 4, he would occasionally take Bowser's place when someone landed on a Bowser Space. In the Bowser minigames, two of them were seen as Bowser's servant; one is seen fanning him, while the other explains the rules of which one of the three Bowser minigames the players are going to play. He also holds the dart board and gives out the total score for each player in "Darts of Doom".

Koopa Kid became playable for the first time in Mario Party 5 (though not in Story Mode).

In Mario Party 6, he was playable again, and also gained his own space. They can be seen working for Bowser in Mario Party Advance.

In their final appearance, Mario Party 7, he was no longer playable, and his own space returned again. He was seen aiding Bowser in that game, like the other Mario Parties. Whenever a player landed on his space, he would do random things, like give the player a cursed mushroom, divide the total number of coins in the game equally among the players, or swap the positions of everyone. Koopa Kid also appeared in all three multiplayer Bowser minigames.

Koopa Kid disappeared in Mario Party 8, and did not appear in any Mario Party game after that.

Bowser Jr.'s debut in the Mario Party series is Mario Party DS, and made a reappearance in Mario Party 9, Mario Party: Island Tour, Mario Party 10 and Mario Party: Star Rush so it is likely that Koopa Kid retired in favor of him.

In Mario Party 4, Koopa Kid called Bowser "Dad", but in later Mario Parties it was adjusted to be "Mr. Bowser". According to Mario Party 7, Koopa Kid says "Another job well done! I bet Mr. Bowser will totally give me a raise after this!", which possibly means that he's employed by Bowser instead of being his child.

Koopalings

The Koopalings (コクッパ, Kokuppa) are a group of seven fictional, childlike characters in the Mario video game franchise by Nintendo. Their individual names are Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Morton, Roy, and Wendy. Originally depicted as the children of the series antagonist Bowser, they first appeared as boss characters in the 1988 game Super Mario Bros. 3. They have since appeared in subsequent Super Mario games and spin-off Mario titles.

They have made several appearances in other media, most notably in the cartoon The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, which featured entirely different names for the Koopalings due to them not having official names at the time of its production phase.

Petey Piranha

Petey Piranha, known as Boss Pakkun (ボスパックン, Bosu Pakkun) in Japan,^[35] is a large, powerful Piranha Plant, and the result of a mutation. Whereas normal Piranha Plants usually grow from pipes, Petey's leaves and roots have grown into foot-like and arm-like appendages, which allows him has to use objects such as tennis rackets and golf clubs. He can also use his leaves to fly around in the air. Furthermore, Petey sports a pair of white-spotted red shorts. Although Petey does not speak, he communicated by making growling, drooling, and licking noises, which translate into actual words.

He first appeared as the primary boss of Bianco Hills in the game Super Mario Sunshine.

He has since appeared as a boss in several Mario games such as Super Princess Peach, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, New Super Mario Bros., Super Smash Bros. Brawl,^[36] Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

He has also appeared as a playable character in many spin-off Mario games, such as Mario sports games, and Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ where Petey was paired up with King Boo.

Pom Pom

Pom Pom (プンプン, Punpun) is Boom Boom's partner, female counterpart, and fellow minion of Bowser, who debuted in Super Mario 3D Land. In the game, she serves as an Airship boss, where she flips around the arena, throwing Boomerangs with pink bows on them at Mario or Luigi. The arena is different in each boss fight. In the game's seventh world, she fights alongside her partner Boom Boom. Pom Pom is depicted as malicious towards the player, though she is seen winking in a flirty way before every battle.

Pom Pom returned in Super Mario 3D World, though her boomerang appears to be replaced by some sort of shuriken.

Tatanga

Tatanga is an alien villain. His first appearance is in Super Mario Land, in which he the main antagonist. In the game he invades Sarad and kidnaps Princess Daisy. Mario has to travel across Sarasaland in order to reach him and in the end defeats him with his plane in a dogfight with Tatanga's spaceship and rescues Daisy.

Later, Tatanga returns in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as a boss and henchman for Wario. But again, Mario was able to defeat him. Tatanga has not appeared in video games since, but is mentioned in some games that Daisy appears in.

Wart

Wart is an anthropomorphic frog king who debuted in 1987's Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, where he plays a role of a main villain and final boss of the game. The game was converted into 1988's Super Mario Bros. 2 for its North American release, and Wart remained the game's antagonist (in lieu of Bowser). In both versions, Wart creates his own monsters with a device known as the "dream machine", appoints himself ruler of the land, and enslaves its inhabitants.^[37] Based upon this storyline, Wart and his cohorts recur in various television and comic book series within the franchise, including a cameo appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.^[38] Games journalists have called for Wart's inclusion in the Super Smash Bros. series^[39] and placed him among the weakest characters in the Mario franchise.^[40]

Anti-heroes

Waluigi

Waluigi (ワルイージ, Waruīji, [w͍a.ɽɯ.iː.dʑi]) (English /wɑːluːˈiːdʒi/) is a fictional character in the Mario franchise. He is Luigi's arch-rival.

Wario

Wario (ワリオ, Wario, [w͍a.ɽi.o]) (English /ˈwɑːrioʊ/) is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series who was originally designed as an arch-rival of Mario.

References

External links

• Characters of the Mario series at Super Mario Wiki