Mario Characters Who Have Evolved The Most Over The Years

Despite its ever-growing roster of characters, the Mario series of games doesn’t exactly have much call for development among them. After all, any big waves between them would make the next Mario Party a much more awkward affair.

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But despite how Nintendo benefits from most of its characters remaining consistent, many of them have actually seen some substantial changes since their first respective appearances. You won’t experience any The Last of Us-level tragedies, but it’s still fun to look back and see their humble beginnings.

8

Toad

From Unnamed Aide To Hardcore Vocal Exercise

While his first official appearance is in Super Mario Bros. 2 as a playable character, Toad arguably shows up in the first Super Mario Bros. as well. In that game, he was potentially one of the many nameless Toads whose purpose was to tell Mario the Princess is in another castle and keep countless screen-printing shops in business for decades.

Nowadays, his loyalty to the Princess remains, but he’s absolutely got his own thing going. Whether he’s a playable character in a platformer or taking part in yet another sports title, he’ll be bringing the energy and shouting his gravelly helium voice to the heavens the whole way.

7

Birdo

From Poorly-Aged Representation To Absolute Vibes

Those who never read the manual for Super Mario Bros. 2 likely didn’t hear about Birdo’s unfortunate description until years later. Probably meant as a joke by the English localizers, the manual gives a blurb that resonates with some of the more well-known insensitive depictions of trans women in media. She’s a good miniboss, though.

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But fans embraced the positive, turning the poor joke around and embracing Birdo as trans representation even before Vivian. While Nintendo still hasn’t come out and confirmed anything, Birdo has transcended her original role as a simple egg-spitting enemy and plays up to the camera every chance she gets like the vibe queen she is.

6

Luigi

From Palette Swap To Anxious Icon

First appearing in the original Mario Bros. in arcades (though the Game & Watch version came out first), Luigi was little more than an excuse to make it a two-player game. This didn’t change much when he showed up in Super Mario Bros. on the NES, with his sprite once again simply being a recolored version of Mario.

For a while, not much changed. Sure, he got some adjustments to set him apart, making him a higher jumper than Mario. But it wasn’t until 2001’s Luigi’s Mansion that his much more timid and easily frightened personality traits finally took shape. He’s been like that ever since, and you would too if you somehow kept finding yourself trapped in haunted buildings.

5

Daisy

From Alternate Princess To Adrenaline Junkie

If you played Super Mario Land, back in the day, you may not have even realized that Mario was trying to find a completely different princess. You just saw him call her Daisy and might have even figured, ‘Oh, maybe that’s Princess Toadstool’s first name.’ The game didn’t help, since she had no personality to speak of.

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Thankfully, Nintendo reversed course and went full-throttle in the other direction with Daisy in the years since. Now, she’s the super energetic and driven princess who you don’t want on the other team in any sort of match-up. Her most recent voice actors have fully committed to keeping that energy high, with shouting lines aplenty.

4

Yoshi

From Chill Steed To Squeaky Legend

When Yoshi first showed up in Super Mario World as Mario’s dinosaur mount, he didn’t get many character traits beyond seeming super chill simply from his appearance and no other reasons whatsoever. Even the letter he wrote to Mario in the game had barely more personality than a ‘per my last email’ vibe.

Now, you won’t get many words out of him, but you’ll absolutely get some sounds. Yoshi spends more time doing his own thing than serving as a noble steed, belting out his adorable high-pitched voice the whole way. But when he’s not racing or competing, you can still often find him among his fellow Yoshis. A true man of the people.

3

Peach

From Helpless Target To Fearless Monarch

Princess Peach started her character journey early on. Despite originally appearing as a helpless damsel in distress in Super Mario Bros., the sequel saw her as one of the main playable characters, and arguably the best one due to her floating ability. Yes, it wasn’t the original version of Super Mario Bros. 2, but it’s canon now. You take what you can get sometimes.

While she unfortunately often still finds herself as the resident kidnapping victim to this day, she’s also been playable more often than not, and even got a couple really solid games of her own. Despite the aforementioned kidnappings, she’s still one to fight her own battles (when Nintendo lets her) and actually serves as a truly effective princess, or at least as good as one can in a land plagued by constant dinosaur turtle invasions.

2

Pauline

From Generic Damsel To Multitalented Government Employee

Pauline’s entire character in her first appearance can be boiled down to a single word: ‘help!’ True, you can’t expect much by way of character depth when you’re playing a classic arcade game like Donkey Kong. But she still deserved better. Thankfully, better is what she got, at least after a while.

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Following some bit roles and cameos, Pauline made some real waves when she was revealed as the Mayor of New Donk City in 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey. Fans were enamored once she showed off her vocal talents singing the endlessly catchy ‘Jump Up, Super Star!’ and she’s been a fixture in the series ever since.

1

Waluigi

From Quick New Villain To Self-Obsessed Meme Generator

Waluigi was always a little stinker. But back when he was first featured in Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64, he seemed almost adorably simple in his villainous vibe compared to how he’s turned out. Originally created to give Luigi a counterpart like Wario was to Mario, this lanky purple menace has evolved far beyond expectations.

While always full of himself like any good mustache-twirling villain, Waluigi has pushed that idea to magnificent heights in all of his best appearances since his introduction. His stylish demeanor clashes flawlessly with the rest of him, dancing and flourishing for any crowd while belting out a good ‘wah’ here and there. It’s no wonder the internet loves him, almost as much as he loves himself.

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