Main characters: The Mario Brothers | Allies (The Princesses) | The Koopa Kingdom (Bowser — Bowser Jr. — The Koopalings — Other High-Ranking Subordinates — Bosses) | Assorted Nasties
RPG characters: Super Mario RPG | Paper Mario (64 — The Thousand-Year Door — Super — Sticker Star — Color Splash — The Origami King) | Mario & Luigi (Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser)
Spinoff series: Yoshi's Island | Luigi's Mansion | Mario Golf | Mario Tennis | Super Mario Maker | Donkey Kong series (Kongs) | Wario series (Wario and Waluigi)
Crossovers: Punch-Out!! | Super Smash Bros. | Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games | Skylanders | Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Other media: The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach! | Super Mario Bros. (DiC) | Super Mario Bros. (1993) | The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The character page for Yoshi's Island and its related games.
Of all the Mario Spin-Off franchises there is, Yoshi's Island is perhaps the one that resembles its mother series the most gameplay and story-wise, with many of the characters featured here having prominent roles in the main Mario games as well. In any case, the Yoshi games still have quite a few characters that are heavily (if not, exclusively) tied to them.
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Good Guys
The Yoshi Clan
A tribe of cartoony, colorful dinosaurs who stumble into Baby Mario after the latter falls from the sky (due to a mid-flight kidnapping attempt from Kamek while the stork was flying over by Yoshi's Island) and onto the back of an unsuspecting member of the group. Noticing that Baby Mario seems to know where his kidnapped twin brother is being held, the Yoshis decide to journey towards the Koopa Kingdom with the intention of reuniting the two baby brothers so they can be safely delivered to their parents. Even in games where Baby Mario isn't involved though, the Yoshis still have to deal with Baby Bowser's evil, childish whims that usually target them.
You can check their full profile here.
Baby Mario
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
The infant form of our hero, Mario. Separated from Baby Luigi while being delivered by the stork, Baby Mario appears to be mysteriously able to pinpoint where his younger twin brother is being held. He's too young to do anything by himself though, leaving it to the Yoshis to protect and watch over him while following his guidance.
- Badass Cape: Wears one to signify his invincibility and increased capabilities as Superstar Mario. It even doubles as an Improvised Parachute.
- Big Brother Instinct: Despite being just an infant, Baby Mario is instinctually driven to reunite with his younger brother.
- Childhood Friends: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time reveals that he and Peach were close even as toddlers.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: As adorable as Baby Mario is, once he's separated from Yoshi, he begins wailing as loudly as possible.
- Fragile Speedster: If playable in the spin-offs, he tends to be one on account of his smaller size compared to his adult self.
- Goo-Goo-Godlike: As Superstar Mario, Baby Mario is invincible to enemies and hazards (except Bottomless Pits), can run up walls and even glide around with his cape.
- My Future Self and Me: Often appears in the extended Mario universe spinoffs alongside his adult self. This becomes an actual plot point in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, where the baby Bros. and adult Bros. must team up to save the past from the Shroobs, and Yoshi's New Island, where adult Mario, in disguise as Mr. Pipe, provides the Yoshis with items to ensure that they succeed in their quest.
- Super-Speed: In Yoshi's Island DS, he allows Yoshi to run faster.
- Twin Telepathy: Baby Mario seems to know the exact location of where Baby Luigi is being held, something that the Yoshis attribute to this.
Baby Luigi
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
The infant form of our other hero, Luigi. He was kidnapped by Kamek mid-flight and taken to Bowser's Castle in the Koopa Kingdom.
- Demoted to Extra: Luigi was playable just fine in Super Mario World, but he's unfortunately out of luck in this game, or even the series as a whole. He doesn't even get to be "playable" in Yoshi's Island DS, which features Baby Peach, Baby Wario and even Baby DK as partners for the Yoshis.
- Distressed Dude: Baby Luigi has to play the role of rescue victim since Baby Peach isn't around (notably, this is true even when Baby Peach is around). Outside of Sports and Kart spin-offs, this gets averted in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, where he finally gets a piece of the action.
- Fragile Speedster: If playable in the spin-offs, he tends to be one on account of his smaller size compared to his adult self.
- My Future Self and Me: Often appears in the extended Mario universe spinoffs alongside his adult self. This becomes an actual plot point in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
Poochy
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Poochy ain't stupid.
Yoshi's dog, a creature that has a head similar to a Piranha Plant and a ball for a tail. He's completely invulnerable and is able to walk across lava and spikes, serving as a mount for Yoshi or reveal special items. Since Yoshi is already used as a mount by humanoids, Poochy is proportionately gigantic.
- Assist Character: From his first appearance onward. Most prevalent in Yoshi's Woolly World, where not only does he fulfill his traditional role of assistance, Poochy is able to sense hidden secrets and bark to let you know where to look, and can even fetch flowers for you and speeds up the 100% Completion of the game.
- Author Appeal: Shigeru Miyamoto is a huge fan of dogs, and had Poochy's design on the backburner for years before he included him in the first Yoshi's Island.
- Big Friendly Dog: He's bigger than Yoshi (big enough for Yoshi himself to ride on) and extremely friendly.
- The Bus Came Back: Big time from 2014 onwards. After being brought back in New Island, he not only came back for Woolly World in 2015 and Crafted World in 2019, but also got top billing in the former's Nintendo 3DS rerelease Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World and was introduced to the wider Mario series in Super Mario Odyssey, and was Promoted to Playable in Mario Kart Tour.
- Canis Major: As noted, larger than Yoshi, who's already the size of an average adult man.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Was absent from Yoshi's Island DS. In early images, was apparently going to play a role in the first Paper Mario before being cut. He returned in Woolly World, Crafted World, and even having a minor role in Super Mario Odyssey and then appearing in Mario Kart, first as a cameo in 8 Deluxe, on the Yoshi's Island course on the mailbox and then became playable in Tour.
- Dumb Muscle: So powerful that not only is he indestructible, he'll destroy most mooks just by running over them... but isn't one for subtle commands, and will rush headlong in the direction Yoshi's facing, even if it will send you all off of a cliff. All in all, they don't say Poochy ain't stupid for nothing.
- Informed Species: Looks more like a Cartoon Creature than a dog, but he at least has the personality and friendliness of one.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: His head looks like a Piranha Plant, but with eyes. The rest of him is canine enough.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: He's completely indestructible and can just plow through most enemies. In Super Mario Odyssey, you can even fish him out of poison.
- The Noseless: He's drawn without a nose, yet he can still sniff out fruit in Yoshi's Story.
- Overly-Long Tongue: Like master, like pet; Poochy's tongue is pretty long. Although unlike Yoshi's, Poochy's tongue usually droops from his mouth and doesn't serve any gameplay purposes.
- Planimal: His head makes him look similar to Mushroom Kingdom flora.
- Power Up Mount: For someone who already serves as one.
- Promoted to Playable: In Tetris Attack alongside Grinder and Mario Kart Tour.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Was featured on the cover of Yoshi's Woolly World and can appear in every stage of that game. Even more so in the remake, where he actually gets top billing in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Particularly in the first Yoshi's Island, where he would play with Yoshi's eggs, and in Woolly World.
- Satellite Character: As a sidekick to a sidekick. He does appear briefly in Super Mario Odyssey, in a few murals, can be fished out of Bowser's Kingdom, and is the one implied to be burying the Power Moons everywhere. He also cameos in 8 Deluxe in the Yoshi's Island course and is a playable character in Tour.
The Stork
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
The stork responsible for delivering Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to their parents. While it's captured alongside Luigi in the original Yoshi's Island, the stork returns as a supporting character in subsequent games.
- Ascended Extra: While completely irrelevant in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island gameplay-wise, the Stork becomes more important in Yoshi's Island DS, where it's responsible for switching the babies (and thus abilities) for Yoshi.
- Delivery Stork: Natch.
- No Name Given: It doesn't really have a personal name, so it's always referred by the name of its species. The Japanese version credit it as "Mr. Stork", which is not much better.
Mr. Pipe
Debut: Yoshi's New Island
- Animate Inanimate Object: Subverted. It's actually Mario in disguise.
- Canon Character All Along: It's-a him, Mario!
- Identity Concealment Disposal: You only learn of Mr. Pipe's identity after the credits roll.
- Mercy Mode: Mr. Pipe effectively functions as a character version of this, considered he outright gives you broken items like the Golden Flutter Wings.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Implied to be the reason it helps Yoshi and Baby Mario beat tough levels since it's actually adult Mario.
Blockafellers
Debut: Yoshi's Crafted World
Friendly cardboard characters that are responsible for opening new levels in Yoshi's Crafted World, should Yoshi refuel them with enough collected Smiley Flowers.
- Balloonacy: Crumples, the Blockafeller elder, moves around with balloons tied to him.
- Cash Gate: Every world diorama requires a Blockafeller to open it, and they're usually out of energy to do so. Smiley Flowers act as their fuel source, giving you an incentive to explore levels in order to collect them.
- Organic Technology: They're robots with flowers growing out of their heads. It doesn't really matter much since they're made of cardboard.
Bad Guys
Baby Bowser
Voiced by: Dolores Rogers (2005-2006), Caety Sagoian (2007–present)
Baby Bowser (also known as Baby Koopa) is just that: Bowser Koopa as an ill-tempered young tot. Even as a youngster, Baby Bowser was often up to no good, causing lots of trouble for the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island. He’s the main antagonist of the Yoshi’s Island series, and has appeared as a major antagonist in other Mario games like Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Not to be confused with his future son, Bowser Jr., whom he greatly resembles.
For his adult self, King Bowser, see here.
Tropes associated with Baby Bowser:
- Alliterative Name: Baby Bowser.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: He grows to gigantic proportions in his iconic boss fight in the original Yoshi's Island. He also does this in the other games you fight him in, but not nearly as big as his first go around.
- Baby Talk: He seems to have an inconsistent age throughout the games he appears in, as in some games his speech pattern sounds normal, like in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and other games it's more babyish, like in Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's New Island.
- Black Bead Eyes: Like most baby characters, Bowser had these, his true eye color (red) not becoming apparent until adulthood.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Spoiled to the core, Baby Bowser is just as egocentric as his adult form, constantly demanding things and throwing tantrums the moment he doesn’t get his way. He even insults his older self at several points, calling him a fat old geezer who should have taken over the world by now.
- Breath Weapon: In contrast to his future son, Baby Bowser is skilled at breathing fire in every depiction he's in, and in Yoshi's Island DS it's even his special ability when selected.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He's so obsessed with being evil that at one point he only drinks a glass of milk when he's told it was taken from an "evil cow".
- Divergent Character Evolution: Zigzagged. Though they've always looked more similar than different, Baby Bowser used to have a few noticeable differences from Bowser Jr. Starting with Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, he's redesigned to look almost exactly like Bowser Jr., except for his blank white bandanna, and his voice clips are even recycled from Bowser Jr. This was reverted in Yoshi's Island DS, but in Yoshi's New Island he again uses Bowser Jr.'s exact in-game model except he lacks the bandanna. They diverge a bit in Yoshi's Woolly World, however, with Baby Bowser reverting to his older body proportions and posture, only for Yoshi's Crafted World to go back to him looking exactly like Junior.
- Dub Name Change: Along with the usual "Koopa/Bowser", he is also an indirect case: In Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Woolly World, the final stages are named "King Bowser's Castle". However, this is only the case in the English versions with the Japanese level names simply calling him "Baby Bowser" or just "Bowser".
- Enemy Mine: He briefly teams up with Yoshi in Yoshi's Island DS to fight against his future self.
- Enfante Terrible: Even when he was a baby, Bowser was just as nasty as he would be as an adult.
- Establishing Character Moment: Foreshadowing their future relationship, Baby Bowser is first introduced in Partners in Time when he's trying to kidnap Baby Princess Peach.
- Evil Prince: Since he's just a kid, he's usually addressed as Prince Bowser (particularly in Partners in Time). It's unknown who the current King of the Koopas is, or if there even is one.
- Fiery Redhead: Bowser had an even worse temper as a child than he does as an adult.
- Generation Xerox: Though he prefers brute force over his future son's more tricky approach, they look identical and share many personality traits.
- Gold Fever: Baby Bowser loves treasure, and whenever he finds some he declares that it's all 'his' and thinks anyone else getting near him wants to steal it.
- Greater-Scope Villain: While he's the overall Big Bad of the Yoshi's Island series and generally leaves most of the work to Kamek, Baby Bowser is in this role for much of the original Yoshi's Island. There's no clear indication that he sent Kamek to mess with the stork, even though it's clear Kamek did it to ensure that Bowser would have no one to oppose him later in life.
- Ground Pound: One of his primary attacks in the original Yoshi's Island and in Yoshi's New Island.
- Hypocritical Humor: He scolds the baby Mario Bros. for stealing food after he literally just ate a bunch of cookies that he stole.
- My Future Self and Me: He's met his older self in two separate series. The two successfully team up together in Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time, with neither of them realizing they're the same person. In the Yoshi's Island series, his older self actually kidnaps him, causing Baby Bowser to become adult Bowser's enemy. And in Yoshi's New Island, the adult Bowser shows up out of nowhere to fight Yoshi after Baby Bowser's defeat, though why he does so remains completely unknown.
- Parental Substitute: He has no known parents to speak of, and is largely raised and cared for by Kamek.
- Royal Brat: Unlike his adult self, who is generally kind to his minions, Baby Bowser isn't beyond stomping on them out of annoyance, insulting them, and having them slave over his every need.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: A recurring theme is that he really wants to ride a Yoshi, which he calls a 'Gween Donkey', a wish that does eventually come true for him in Yoshi's Island DS.
- Vocal Evolution: Most of the games when his voice would be heard have him similar to Bowser Jr.'s voice. However, in Yoshi's New Island, Baby Bowser's voice clips are pitched higher to make him sound more baby-like.
Kamek
Baby Bowser's caretaker and the Yoshis' most recurring opposition. Kamek has knowledge of the future, where his master frequently has his evil schemes foiled by a certain pair of brothers. As a result, Kamek desperately attempts to change fate by kidnapping the Mario brothers while they're still infants, although he usually only manages to capture one of them.
You can check his full profile here.
Kamek's Toadies
Species: Magikoopa
Debut: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Kamek's personal henchmen. Weird-looking Magikoopas(?) that usually act in groups of four, always being ready to snatch Baby Mario away when the opportunity presents itself.
- Airborne Mooks: Toadies are always found in mid-flight.
- Bandit Mook: There's a pink variant of Toady that will go after Baby Mario the moment Yoshi gets hit. There's also a green variant that outright attempts to steal Baby Mario directly from Yoshi's back. Note that they can't take Baby Mario away like Kamek's red-clad ones, so the player is still able to rescue Baby Mario before the countdown reaches 0.
- Demoted to Extra: In Yoshi's Story, they only show up to carry a fallen Yoshi to Bowser's Castle (and later, carry Baby Bowser away after his defeat). They can't be found as actual enemies and their direct superior Kamek is nowhere to be seen.
- Evil Minions: They're Kamek's direct minions, and in fact rarely partake in combat themselves.
- Heli-Critter: They have propellers above their heads, akin to Fly Guys.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: They wear big, round specs with spirals in them.
Yoshi's Island Bosses
Burt the Bashful
- Blush Sticker: When his pants come off, he blushes.
- Defeat by Modesty: He deflates, and leaves when his pants are pulled down.
- Dub Name Change:
- His Chinese name is 大海碗/Dàhǎiwǎn, which means "big bowl".
- His French name is "Gros Bélixo" (Big Bélixo).
- His German name is "Xilébo".
- Sdrawkcab Name: His German name is "Xilébo", which is Obélix backward.
- Shout-Out: In some translations, his species' name is changed to sound like "Obelix". This is because he has a round design and wears striped blue and white pants.
Salvo the Slime / Big Slime
- Asteroids Monster: Shooting eggs causes pieces of slimes to fall off him, which only give you more eggs to hit him with.
- Degraded Boss: Played with. He shows up in Bowser's Castle with no new tricks, but he's fought in a room where there's no way to refill your eggs, forcing the player to find a new strategy to beat himnote or use up items.
Bigger Boo
- Balloon Belly: It starts off the battle inflating, and with each hit it gets bigger.
- King Mook: This applies to most of the bosses but especially noted here because he's BIGGER Boo. And he only gets bigger with each hit until he explodes.
- "Pop!" Goes the Human: He pops when defeated.
Roger the Potted Ghost
- Advancing Boss of Doom: Thanks to the pair of Shy Guys who push him forward.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: He can attack you via spitting out fire.
- Green and Mean: He's a villain who, due to having plants atop of his head, has some green.
- Ring-Out Boss: You have to push him out, which gets easier with every Shy Guy defeated.
Prince Froggy
- Burp of Finality: Prince Froggy burps after eating Yoshi, which kicks off the boss battle. Played straight if you lose, though subverted if you do manage to Kill It Through Its Stomach.
- Extreme Omnivore: He eats Yoshi, and Baby Mario.
- Green and Mean: Prince Froggy is villainous and has a lot of green.
- Heel–Face Turn: If one counts Tetris Attack as part of the Yoshi series, he's considered part of Yoshi's friends, having to be saved from Kamek's brainwashing.
- Kill It Through Its Stomach: Yoshi has to defeat it from inside its stomach, and attacking his uvula.
- Promoted to Playable: In Tetris Attack where he's partnered with a Claw-Daddy.
- Womb Level: The entire boss battle takes place inside his stomach.
Naval Piranha
- Attack Its Weak Point: To defeat her, Yoshi must throw eggs at her large, bandaged navel.
- Boss-Altering Consequence: If you swim into her lair but not far enough to close the way behind you, you can shoot an egg at her ungrown normal form, killing her instantly. This doesn't work in Wooly World where she just gets tied up by the yarn ball and the fight proceeds anyways.
- The Bus Came Back: Reappears as a boss in Yoshi's Wooly World and then as an obstacle in the special level of World 5.
- Combat Tentacles: Two of her vines end in small Nipper buds; she uses these to try to hit Yoshi from below and to block his movement.
- Dark Action Girl: She's evil and is in the boss section for a reason.
- Green and Mean: A Dark Action Girl with green.
- Man-Eating Plant: She's a large, mobile, killer Piranha Plant.
- Mook Maker: She can spit three seeds that drift down and become Nipper plants that chase Yoshi around.
- Ramming Always Works: Her main attack is a fast charge that ends when she slams into the opposite wall. She can fake you out by ending it early, though, which can lead to either jumping on her head, her thorny neck, or one of her two attack vines while trying to jump over her to dodge the charge.
- Red Is Violent: She fights you and has some red.
- Say It with Hearts: In Tetris Attack, she punctuates her sentences with these.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: For newcomers, Naval Piranha can be challenging to many levels: her charge attack requires a precise timing to be dodged, and she can trick you by stopping in the middle; if you lack eggs, you must study the fall of Nippers seeds with precision to not touch anything before they reach the ground, and when you finally have eggs to throw, reaching her navel requires a precise knowledge of the ricochet mechanic.
Marching Milde
- Asteroids Monster: The second boss in the game to be such, except they all have to be ground-pounded until small enough.
Hookbill the Koopa
- Flipping Helpless: Yoshi has to flip Hookbill over and then Ground Pound his stomach in order to defeat him.
- Verbal Tic: St-st-st-stutters in Tetris Attack.
Sluggy the Unshaven
- Advancing Boss of Doom: If you don't attack him, he'll push you into the abyss. However, he moves verrrrry slooooowly.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Despite Kamek claiming he has no weak spot, it's obviously his heart.
- Psycho Pink: A male example; he's villainous, has a pink heart, and has no issue fighting you.
Raphael Raven
- Dark Is Evil: He's got black feathers and he's evil. Inverted in Paper Mario 64; while he still has the former, he's one of Mario's allies.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Played straight in Paper Mario, in which he helps Mario while still having black feathers.
- Demoted to Extra: In Yoshi's New Island, he's only in Eggstraordinary Terrain, seen circling a moon like the other Ravens, and is treated as a generic enemy.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Paper Mario 64, Raphael is an ally to Mario, though this is subverted with The Reveal in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam that the Paper Mario series is in-universe fiction in the main Super Mario universe, meaning that the Raphael in Paper Mario 64 is not the same one who attacked Yoshi and Baby Mario in Yoshi's Island. Also if one counts Tetris Attack as canon, he serves as one of Yoshi's friends now, having to be rescued from Bowser's and Kamek's brainwashing.
- Promoted to Playable: In Tetris Attack alongside several Shy Guys.
- Puzzle Boss: Out of all the bosses in the game yes, considering you have to wait until he's exactly on the OTHER side of the battlefield in order to slam him from underneath.
- Species Surname: A raven with the surname "Raven". Though occasionally he's called Raphael the Raven.
- Stellification: After being defeated, he flies off into the sky and becomes a constellation.
- Turns Red: Each time he's damaged, Raphael gets: redder, faster, and angrier.
- Unexplained Recovery: It's never explained how he recovered from becoming a constellation.
- Villainous Breakdown: He gets madder the more damage he takes.
Tap-Tap the Red Nose/Tap-Tap the Golden
- Advancing Boss of Doom: When he reappears in Bowser's Castle in Golden form, he cannot be killed and will pursue Yoshi throughout the stage, even jumping out of pits when he falls into one. All the player can do is knock him back and run to the exit.
- Degraded Boss: Downplayed, as described above he appears in Bowser's castle as an enemy, but cannot be defeated, and continues to chase Yoshi until the stage is over.
- Depending on the Writer: The GBA and Japanese material state that Tap-Tap the Golden is a revived Red Nose but the SNES guide says they're different.
- Implacable Man: He's completely invulnerable to everything in Yoshi's arsenal, and is only defeated by destroying the blocks covering the lava pit and knocking him into it. And then once he pops up in Bowser's Castle, even knocking him into pitfalls doesn't stop him.
