Pop quiz time. Please read the following sentence: I can state with great confidence that gamers and non-gamers alike all love the one and only Mr. Yoshi, Super Mario's egg eatin' dinosaur pal! Anything odd jump out at you? Because here's the thing, if you read the previous sentence without thinking "wait a minute, that thing was rife with inaccuracies" well then guess what, bub, you don't know you some Yoshi! In fact, there are tons about Yoshi that remains hidden beneath the surface, just waiting for die hard fans of the Mario franchise to unearth!
Yoshi is so much more than just a green animal that pops out of an egg for the first time in Super Mario World, and even with all we know about him, his backstory is one filled with mystery and intrigue. In actuality, the fact that Yoshi will gleefully devour more or less anything he comes across is one of the tamest facts about the green galloper. There's really no other character in the Mario universe anything like Yoshi, and that's part of what makes him one of the most beloved video game characters of all time. So if you crave knowledge like Yoshi craves the soft flesh of water dwelling mammals, read on (that'll make sense later in the list, promise). This is 15 Crazy Things You Never Knew About Yoshi!
Did we miss any of your favorite Yoshi tidbits? Drop us a comment and let us know!
15 Yoshi Can Speak Actual English
Most of the time when Yoshi speaks, he just makes little grunting noises, or says his own name (which begs the question: is Yoshi a Pokémon? Another article for another day). But there have also been times where Yoshi has displayed a total mastery over the English language. In Super Mario 64 for example, Yoshi speaks to Mario in full paragraphs, and in Super Mario World, Yoshi pretty much launches into a monologue after being first rescued. Makes you wonder: why doesn't Yoshi speak more? One theory posits that Mario can speak Yoshi's language and the only reason we can understand what he's saying is because Mario does. Another theory is that Yoshi is a Pokémon. Did I say that already? Can't remember. Pretty sure I did, though.
14 "Yoshi" Is A Nickname
Yes, it's true. Yoshi isn't actually Mario's green pal's full name. According to a Nintendo published character guide, Yoshi's full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchikoopas. I don't know about you, but this bugs me on a number of levels. First of all, if you're going to give gamers Yoshi's full name, then give us the full name, not his first initial! What does the "T" stand for? Tom? Terry? Triumph? That's like saying Batman's real name is B. Wayne. No good. Also, Yoshisaur?! I thought we established earlier he wasn't a dinosaur! But he literally has "saur" in his actual name? What are we doing here, Nintendo? Finally, Munchikoopas? I mean, that just feels very on the nose. That'd be like if my last name was "Eatsaramenallthetime." Is it accurate? Yes. Is it clever? Jury's still out.
13 Yoshi Is So Hot, He Comes With An Oven
Nintendo has done some pretty strange things in the past, but right up there would have to be licensing Yoshi's image to Panasonic to help promote their Kuruppon Oven. Not only was Yoshi's likeness associated with the product, but he also appeared in a special game that was included when purchasing the oven. Only available in Japan, the game, entitled Yosshī no Kukkī: Kuruppon Ōbun de Kukkī, was essentially Yoshi's Cookie with a few additions, including a mode where Yoshi taught gamers to bake treats found in the game, like heart and flower shaped cookies.
Today, the game is considered a collector's item and it can go for prices in the thousands on auction websites. The oven can be found probably in some garbage cans behind Japanese single family homes. Win some, lose some.
12 Will The Real Yoshi Please Stand Up?
So, wait, exactly how many Yoshi's are there? Well, in Super Mario World, Yoshi could be red, blue, yellow, or green. But it's unclear whether these are actually separate Yoshis, or if they're the same one using a power up. However, at the end of the game, we see Princess Peach riding a green Yoshi followed by a trail of yellow Yoshis. Then, they find a red, yellow, and blue Yoshi. The eggs all hatch, and suddenly, there's tons of Yoshis! So clearly, there's more than one Yoshi.
However, this means it's technically incorrect to refer to Yoshi as Yoshi, right? It would be like calling all dogs "dog." If only the Yoshi we know and love actually had some sort of surname to set him apart. More on that later...
11 Yoshi's Gender Remains Unclear
Whether Yoshi is male or female has been a topic of confusion for some time. Often, throughout Nintendo history, Yoshi is referred to as a "he," yet we also know that Yoshi lays eggs, a distinctly female quality. So what is Yoshi's true gender? Good news: we have no definite answer one way or the other. Shigeru Miyamoto himself has actually weighed in on the subject, saying:
"If I answer, “Probably a boy,” then they say, “So a boy is laying eggs? But the moment I say Yoshi lays eggs so Yoshi must be a girl, they’ll say, “Then Yoshi’s voice needs to sound more like a girl’s!” But I want to make video games without having to worry about such background info. Take the animated series Popeye, for example. In old cartoons like those, the roles of the characters were different every time."
So there you have it: Yoshi has no gender because of Popeye. Checks out.
10 Yoshi Has Over 40 Game Appearances
Far and away one of the most popular characters of the Super Mario franchise, Yoshi has a plethora of appearances under his belt. While best known as Mario's right-hand man (nobody tell Luigi) in games like Super Mario World and Super Mario 64, Yoshi has also taken center stage in a number of games, Yoshi's Cookie, Yoshi's Safari, and Yoshi's Island DS just to name a few. In addition, Yoshi has made cameos in a number of other Nintendo titles, including Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest and in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening as a prize for winning the Trendy Game in Mabe Village. There's even a Yoshi figure on Otacon's desk in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.
9 Yoshi Debuted On The SNES, But That Wasn't Always The Plan
Most people can tell you Yoshi's Mushroom Kingdom debut came in 1990's Super Mario World. From the first time the green tongue lasher popped out of his egg, Mario fans knew he'd be a staple of the series for years to come. But what a lot of people don't know if that wasn't always the plan. In fact, Miyamoto originally wanted Yoshi to appear in the original Super Mario on the NES. Having some kind of mount for the Mario Brothers was an idea he became hooked on, even trying again to get Yoshi in Super Mario Bros. 3. Regrettably, the NES just wasn't powerful enough to make the idea work. But that didn't stop Miyamoto from continuing to push the idea as hard as possible. In fact...
8 Mario 3's Wearable Costumes Wish They Were Yoshi
You know the frog and raccoon suits Mario can wear in Super Mario Bros. 3? As it turns out, these were actually put in the game as hold overs to take the place of Yoshi until he could be properly put into the game. Included by Nintendo developer Takashi Tezuka, the reasoning seems to have been that if an additional character was too much for the system to handle, they would just add power ups that would modify the already existing character, in this case, Mario or Luigi.
You have to admire Miyamoto's persistence with this. Clearly, this was an idea he believed in and refused to back down on. Although I have to imagine it drove his developers completely insane. "He won't leave us alone on this! You know what? Just make Mario turn into a frog, or something. That'll get him off our backs." And guess what? That actually worked.
7 Yoshi's Ancestors Battled With Satan
As we learned, the stars of the Nintendo universe are no strangers to doing battle with the forces of hell. And Yoshi's ancestry is no exception. Yoshi is actually very likely based on Tamagon the Dragon, a character Shigeru Miaymoto created previously for a Japan only game called Devil World. The game's main character was a little green dragon, who, from overhead, bears a striking resembles to Yoshi. The gameplay is not terribly different from Pac-Man, in that it's a maze game where the goal is consume pellets. One major difference however, is that the object of this game is to enter hell and take on Satan head on (I don't even think that happens in Jr. Pac-Man!). Tamagon hasn't made many other appearances in Nintendo games, other than as a hidden trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Maybe those days of chasing Satan finally caught up to him.
6 Saddle Or Shell?
So, what exactly is Yoshi sporting on his back, a red saddle or a red shell? While it certainly seems more like a saddle in games like Super Mario World, over time Yoshi's look has evolved and the red item on his back has shifted more into a shell-like shape. In fact, Nintendo has confirmed it is a shell, and not a saddle. Which makes sense. Look, in the Mushroom Kingdom, you can't be too safe. A shell is more or less the MK equivalent of always having one in the chamber. I mean, that's kind of dark for an article about Yoshi, but you get what I mean. If he needs to, at any point, Yoshi can just take that sucker off and throw it at whoever gets in his way. Must be kind of uncomfortable for Mario to have to sit on it though. Maybe Yoshi's trying to tell him something.
5 Yoshi Is Not Above Eating Baby Mario
This makes me so happy. There's a magical, wonderful glitch in Yoshi's Island that allows you to actually consume the infant version of Nintendo's mascot. You can only do it in one specific place in the game, but it gives us quite a lot of insight into Yoshi's actual feelings on his diaper wetting companion. Hey, don't act like you weren't trying to do it for the entire game. The kid never stops crying. I mean, I know he grows up to be the savior of the Mushroom Kingdom, but as a baby, no thanks.
Speaking of weird Yoshi glitches, has anybody else notices that Yoshi's eyes disappear when Mario rides him in Super Mario RPG? What's that about? Like, if he has a rider he just retracts his eyes? There's still so much about you we may never understand, Yoshi.
4 Yoshi Is Not A Dinosaur
Whoa! One fact into this list and your mind has already been completely blown, am I right? Yes, you read that correctly, Yoshi is NOT a dinosaur! It's actually not that surprising when you think about it. After all, how many dinosaurs do you know of that swallow enemies whole and turn them into fireballs? If you said "not many," you're right! So what is Yoshi? The answer is even more confusing. According to the Nintendo of Europe Kids Club website, "Yoshi is not a dinosaur, but simply a Yoshi!"
Wait. What?!
This raises way more questions than it answers! Does that mean "Yoshis" are a whole separate species? Are they endangered? I AM SO CONFUSED. There is nothing simple about Yoshi "simply" being a Yoshi.
3 Yoshi's Live Version Ain't So Cuddly
Not a lot went right with 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie. The movie was a massive flop and struggled to find an audience, with its live action Blade Runner feel alienating children and leaving adults confused as to what they were watching. In retrospect, it was the first time a video game had been adapted for the big screen, and maybe some growing pains were inevitable. That said, Yoshi's appearance in the film failed on a number of levels. First of all, he's a dinosaur, which we know from earlier in this list is just not correct. Secondly, the animatronic Yoshi puppet apparently took over 100 hours to build and needed nine puppeteers just to control. Today, of course, Yoshi would have just been done with computer animation. Like everything in every movie these days. I could go on, but I'm going to stop, because this list is about Yoshi and not my cinematic opinions. Quick question though, you think Yoshi is a Pokémon?
2 Yoshi Doesn't Care What's In His Tuna
Obviously, one of Yoshi's best-known qualities is his undiscerning palate. Yep, your green pal will scoop up most anything and swallow it down without a second thought. Even happy, friendly dolphins. That's right, in the Japanese release of Super Mario World, Yoshi would pluck the ocean's friendliest mammal out of the sky and devour it before you can say "isn't this cruel and unnecessary?" Interestingly enough, this was dropped in every version of the game with the exception of the Japanese one. Because, you know, he's eating dolphins. It's not like Yoshi's turning them into fireballs or anything. He's just eating dolphins. I guess when you never know when Mario's gonna jump off you to get across a cliff, you gotta eat what you can, when you can.
1 Yoshi's Best Game Is One You've Never Heard Of
Beyond any shadow of a doubt, the best game Yoshi appears in is 1995's Tetris Attack. Interestingly enough, while this game has "Tetris" in the title, it actually bears little resemblance to the famed Russian puzzler. Rather, Tetris Attack is a match three game, in many ways similar to Candy Crush or the millions of puzzle quest clones that have popped up today on smartphones (without the need to constantly pour more money into the game, of course). What makes Tetris Attack so special is that it is a multiplayer game. The two-player mode is a head to head mode where the more tiles you match, the more bricks you send over to your opponent's side of the screen. When one player runs out of space, the round ends. Like all the best games, it's easy to learn and incredibly difficult to master. If you've got an SNES and two controllers, Tetris Attack is among the best purchases you can make.