Top Ten Mario Characters that Need More Development

The Top Ten
1 Toad Toad, known in Japan as Kinopio, is a major character in the Mario Bros. franchise. He assists Princess Peach in the Mushroom Kingdom and will do whatever it takes to help her. He first appeared in the classic game, Super Mario Bros. after being kidnapped by Bowser and his minions. Since then he has... read more

Maybe different-colored Toads could at least have distinct strengths and personalities. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Bowser's Inside Story featured a few more interesting examples, but they were only present for a fairly short time. There's no reason not to expand such individual traits to other Mario games as well.

I really love Toad, but I'll admit that he barely has any reason to be in every Mario RPG. Make each color a bit more varied in style. Green Toads could be faster, Blue Toads stronger, Red Toads smarter, etc. Or simply give him different clothes.

2 Toadette Toadette is a character in the Mario series. She is a female Toad who first appeared in the Nintendo GameCube video game Mario Kart: Double Dash.

Replace half of the Toads with Toadette. Toadette specifically could benefit from having her own game. Maybe Mario could rescue her for Toad, as Bowser learns of the Super Crown's powers and thinks Toadette would be an easier target. She could send letters for help.

It's sad that she's becoming the new Rosalina. At least Rosalina wasn't a damsel in distress and had a huge backstory. Toadette is bland, and she's often portrayed as a damsel.

Like Toad, Toadette hasn't shown anything that stands out from the other characters, despite becoming a part of the main cast.

3 Mario Mario, originally named Jumpman, is the main character of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, created by the creative director and video game designer at Nintendo of Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto. Mario has appeared in almost every Mario game, including games in spin-off series as a playable character, with... read more

Mario's character is in the same vein as most of Nintendo's protagonists. He's heroic, bland, and wants to stop the evil person. He's just the same as Link and Kirby.

Give him an anger streak or make him a bit more nonchalant. In Bowser's Fury, he didn't want to help Jr. and wasn't fazed by Bowser's yelling.

Ironically, Mario is probably the most underdeveloped character, because all I know about him is that he likes to jump... a lot.

4 Princess Peach Princess Peach is a major character in the Mario Bros. Franchise. She is the lead female of the The Mario franchise. She is usually the character who needs saved in most Mario Games, but also has appeared as a playable character in the Main-Series Mario Games, including Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario... read more

I wish there were more games where she's playable and has a major part in the story that isn't centered around being saved by Mario. Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario, and Super Princess Peach (all of these games are considered spin-offs) showed that Princess Peach has potential. However, we don't see this in the main Mario titles, which is kind of disappointing.

Despite being the main girl, Peach is almost a bland character. The only thing we typically see is the classic princess who gets kidnapped by a monster and is saved by a plumber. Nintendo should focus on other things, like exploring her powers or creating another game like Super Princess Peach.

5 Princess Daisy Princess Daisy is a fictional character in the Mario series of video games, in which she is the princess of the fictional region of Sarasaland.

Daisy debuted in Super Mario Land in 1989, after few other appearances she disappeared for nine years until she was brought back in Mario Tennis (2000).

Daisy... read more

She's a tomboy who is sporty and sassy... even though Peach is also sporty and sassy just as often. Her only real character trait is being a tomboy and loud. Mario Strikers 3 could probably help, as that was when she had her most defined characterization.

They should kill her off in Luigi's Mansion 3 so she can finally develop into something different than Peach 2.0, and so they can finally stop forcing her into everything.

Now, I know that being a tomboy is rare for a princess. Tomboy princesses like Daisy, Alena, and Lucina aren't very common in video games. Still, we need to learn more about Daisy's life in Sarasaland.

6 Pauline Pauline, also known as Daniella Verducci, is the original damsel-in-distress whom Mario must rescue from the eponymous ape in the original Donkey Kong.

Pauline was the first lady not only of Mario games but for Nintendo in general. Despite this, today she's too bland and unoriginal. Originally, she was called the Lady and represented a real lady without any particular traits. She was only kidnapped over and over by Donkey Kong and never really shown a personality.

Yup. We know nothing about her because Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina are all in the spotlight more.

7 Waluigi Waluigi is a lanky self-centered, brusque young lad as he is considered evil and the main rival of Luigi. Waluigi is shown causing local havoc in most games he appears in alongside his partner Wario. Waluigi is not instinctively evil or the antagonist (not counting DDR), as a matter of fact, he shows... read more

Put him at #1 now. This guy needs a story behind him. Why is he here, what does he want, and what is he even capable of?

He's part of the main cast, but we don't know anything about him - probably because he was created to be Wario's tennis partner.

Duh! He's been in nothing other than spinoffs, and he's basically a poor man's version of Wario.

8 Birdo Birdo is a dinosaur that is well known for her (or his) confused Gender. It was originally stated that Birdo was a male who believed he was a female, but this was changed in later games. Birdo is commonly referred to as a girl, however, they are in a relationship with Yoshi. Birdo first appeared in... read more

Nintendo didn't even fully confirm the gender. Enough said.

9 Yoshi Yoshi, once romanized as Yossy, is a fictional anthropomorphic dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Often appearing as a sidekick and helper to Mario, Yoshi is most known for his appearances in the Yoshi's Island and the Super Mario franchises.

We know a lot about his background, but can he just get a unique personality or something?

10 Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr., or sometimes simply Jr., is a video game character who appears in Nintendo's Mario franchise as the secondary antagonist. He is the youngest son of the series' primary antagonist, Bowser.

Bowser Jr. did get a lot of character development in Super Mario Sunshine, and we know his character motivation, so he doesn't really need to be on this list.

I thought Bowser Jr. was cool, but I just realized Nintendo is making him the 8th Koopaling. We need to see more unique things from him.

Bowser's Fury is on the right track to making him a more enjoyable character to talk about.

The Contenders
11 Rosalina Rosalina, known as Rosetta in Japan, is a major character in the Mario Franchise created by Nintendo. She first appeared in the 2007 Mario Game, Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii and later returned for the game's sequel in 2010. Since then, she has been featured in many main-series Mario Games... read more

Why do so many people on this site hate Rosalina so much?

I knew those Rosalina haters would come here. Idiots.

12 Baby Daisy Baby Daisy is the infant version of the major character in the Mario Bros . franchise, Princess Daisy . She is known for her appearances as a playable character in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 . She is also found as a playable character in Super Mario Sluggers for the Wii .

Here's why: Baby Daisy was created as filler, just like Baby Rosalina, and this isn't helpful for character development. However, unlike Baby Rosalina, she doesn't damage Daisy's character. In fact, she basically confirms that Daisy knew Luigi and Peach since they were babies (as hinted in Mario Super Sluggers), so we can definitely expand on that.

13 Pink Gold Peach Pink Gold Peach is a character who debuts in Mario Kart 8, where she appears as an unlockable playable character.

She was just thrown into Mario Kart 8 without any background or buildup. If Nintendo made another game where Peach was playable and she could use this form, then we might be able to see what potential it actually has.

Make her an evil Peach. I don't know.

14 Candy Kong

I hate Diddy Kong. They should give Candy Kong a chance - he always gets in the games, and it's not fair.

15 Bowser Bowser is the main antagonist of the Mario Bros. Franchise. From kidnapping Princess Peach to simply destroying a fun game between Mario and Friends in the Mario Party spinoff series, this king of the Koopas has set up a certain hatred towards himself amongst the large cast of Mario Characters. He first... read more

Make him a goofy villain who will still crush you if you underestimate him. He'd be similar to how he was characterized in the Mario & Luigi series.

16 Chief Chilly

A weird example, but he hasn't appeared since the DS era and deserves to be a Wario antagonist sometime, considering he captured him.

17 Baby Luigi Baby Luigi is the infant version of the major character in the Super Mario franchise, Luigi. He is known for his appearances as a playable character in various Mario games.
18 Luigi Luigi, originally a palette swap of Mario named Green Mario, is a major character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger, taller fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's unofficial mascot... read more
19 Toadstool
20 Wiggler Wigglers are a species of caterpillar in the Mario franchise. They have a segmented body and comically large nose and are yellow slowly moving when happy, but turn red and run angrily very quickly if they get jumped on
21 Shy Guy Shy Guys are an enemy from the Mario and Yoshi series that have been seen in many games, and they are masked because of their shyness.
22 King Boo In the Super Mario series, King Boo is the leader of all the Boos and a major antagonist. He is an ally of King Bowser. He is depicted as a large white Boo with a crown similar to that of Princess Peach... read more
23 Goomba King
24 Noki
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