Toad

"Toad Settles The Spore!"

Toad is a recurring protagonist in the Super Mario franchise - While he shares his name with the Toad species which debuted in 1985's Super Mario Bros., the Toad character would debut in 1988's Super Mario Bros. 2.

He is also a playable character in Nexed.

Real-World History
The Toad species debuted in 1985's Super Mario Bros. under the name of Mushroom Retainers in the West. They played a minor role in their debut appearance; The manual states that several objects in the game are actually Toads having been transformed by the Koopa Troop's black magic, while a normal Toad appears at the end of the first seven castles to inform Mario of the princess' whereabouts.

During the development of the Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2, the developers had to find characters from the Mario series to replace the quartet found in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, the game that it was built off of. The selected characters included Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and a blue Toad. This Toad would go on to be identified as the "main" Toad character that would represent the species, with him gaining his now-standard coloring in Super Mario 64.

While Toads as a whole appear in a variety of Mario games, Toad is the standin for the species in spinoff titles (albeit with the occasional option to play as differently colored Toads). As far as the mainline series goes, Toad is known for hosting Toad Houses in various games, as well as playable appearances in Super Mario 3D World and Super Mario Run.

Gameplay Information
"The Toads are a humble, joyful species who live in the Mushroom Kingdom under the rule of Princess Peach. While they have a strong love and devotion towards their princess, they tend to panic whenever trouble is stirred up by Bowser. However, one Toad has made it his duty to help the Mario brothers on their adventures in any way he can, being dubbed the official attendant and ambassasdor of Peach!

As a matter of royal security, Toad signed up for the Nexus Tournament alongside Peach. While his focus is on ensuring the safety of his princess off of fighting grounds, he's estatic to to see the worlds and people the multiverse has to offer!"

Toad is an unorthadox take on a grappler, having great speed unfitting for that of the archetype's traditonal mobility. Despite this, he is able to perform just as well as most grapplers, having strong throws and a versatile command grab Down Special. Setting up for these moves is aided by Neutral Special, making Toad a beginner-friendly take on the archetype.

However, Toad is also surprisingly lightweight for a grappler. In addition, he has low jump height. The combination of these factors, in addition to Toad's horizontal-focused Up Special, makes him suspectible to poor recoveries and early KOs. As such, a Toad main's game plan should be to play aggressively and exploit openings with his high speed and setups.

Moveset

 * Wall Jump: Toad can jump off of walls.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: Toad throws a stubby punch.
 * Dash Attack: Toad trips over himself, performing an unintentional headbutt dive.
 * Forward Light: Toad swats his arms forward in a panic, dealing multiple hits of damage. This is a slight nod to Toad's running animation from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * Up Light: Toad throws an arcing headbutt.
 * Down Light: Toad plucks a small turnip out of the ground, slightly launching opponents upward.
 * Forward Strong: Toad swings a Super Hammer from left to right.
 * Up Strong: Toad performs a corkscrew jump, dealing multiple hits of damage.
 * Down Strong: Toad faces the screen as he drops a POW Block, creating a shockwave around himself. This is his best kill move.
 * Counter: Toad sprays spores from his mushroom cap, launching the opponent forwards.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: Toad performs a brief midair spin, resembling a similar move from the New Super Mario Bros. games.
 * Forward Air: Toad performs a corkscrewing headbutt forwards, dealing multiple hits of damage.
 * Back Air: Toad throws a dropkick behind himself.
 * Up Air: Toad throws a headbutt straight upwards.
 * Down Air: Toad stomps downwards with both feet, being able to spike opponents.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: Toad grabs the opponent with both hands.
 * Pummel: Toad headbutts the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: Toad lifts the opponent over his head before throwing them forwards, resembling his throw animation from Super Mario Bros. 2. This is his best kill throw.
 * Back Throw: Toad performs a giant swing with the opponent.
 * Up Throw: Toad throws the opponent upwards before headbutting them.
 * Down Throw: Toad raises the opponent over his head before slamming them into the ground. This is his best combo throw.

Stage Intro
Toad steps out of a Toad House, which vanishes as he stretches and enters his battle stance.

Taunts

 * Toad waves to the camera with a smile and a cheer, resembling a common pose for his key art.
 * Toad claps excitedly.
 * Toad hops up and down before posing, resembling his 1st place animation from Mario Party 9.
 * Toad jumps upwards, but slips and falls on his bottom, standing back up with a laugh.

Victory Animations
Toad's victory animation is the course clear fanfare from Super Mario 3D World.
 * Toad flips on-screen, landing on the ground and spinning before leaping upwards and posing, resembling his flagpole animation from Super Mario 3D World.
 * A group of Toads carry Toad around and repeatedly toss him into the air.
 * Toad performs a headspin, clumsily tipping over and ending up in a seated position. He then rubs his head with a sheepish expression.

Colors / Costumes
  Toadette is a recurring character in the Mario series, debuting with the 2003 release of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as Toad's racing partner. Known for her cheerful persona, Toadette appears in various spinoff games, often being paired with Toad or playing the role of a NPC.

As an alternate costume for Toad, Toadette sees little visual differences outside of her model. However, the announcer refers to her by name, and she gains unique voice clips provided by Samantha Kelly.

Trivia
TBA

Credits

 * Charj: Toad's splash text.