Birdo

Birdo, known in Japan as Catherine (キャサリン Kyasarin), is a recurring character in the Mario franchise. Her first appearance was as an enemy in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which was rebranded as Super Mario Bros. 2. Since then, she has appeared in various spin-off series of the franchise, and her original role as an antagonist has gradually been scrapped in favor of a newer role as an ally. Birdo has also been merchandised into figurines and plush toys.

Birdo is part of an entire species, of which other members appear in several works where the central character Birdo does not, including the Mario Strikers games and several episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Physical description

Birdo is a member of the species of the same name, a race of prehistoric birds with funnel-shaped mouths and a body structure similar to a Yoshi, though slightly shorter and with a row of three spikes on the tail, not the head. In several early illustrations, she is depicted as being orange instead of pink, and on the cover of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, she is depicted with distinct nostrils midway up her snout and what appears to be a tongue in her mouth, though neither of these traits has ever been shown again. In the various iterations of Super Mario Bros. 2, her snout ends with a small hole and is somewhat barrel-shaped, inverting while it is open; later games, however, use the latter shape in all situations, likely due to looking that way in her original artwork.

Birdo is mostly pink, with a rounded belly, red tail spikes and purple spots on her cheeks. She has purple eyes, each of which is framed by three long, thin eyelashes. She does not have hair, and instead wears a big red bow atop her head, which is usually her emblem. She has small but pointed claws, with four fingers on each hand and three toes on each foot. More recently, a large diamond ring set in gold is occasionally depicted on her left hand. She has a white belly like a Yoshi, as well as white-padded feet.

Since Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Birdo commonly wears purple eye makeup. In her team name, "Birdo Bows", from Mario Super Sluggers, she wears lipstick, which is odd because she does not use lipstick during the game, nor in most of her other appearances.

Personality and traits

Birdo displays great determination and confidence in all aspects of her life. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Birdo revealed her goal of becoming a Superstar. Birdo has tackled a wide variety of sports and was the first known Birdo to emerge in the public spotlight in Mario Tennis.

Birdo is somewhat vain, as she perceives herself to be very beautiful and feminine, and often strikes eccentric poses to show off her appearance. Also, she is portrayed to be very friendly, and enjoys being with the whole Mario crew. She also exudes charm and elegance as shown in many games whenever she wins or appears on-screen, where she waves and blows kisses frequently. Additionally, Birdo always wears a massive diamond ring on her finger. In Mario Party 7 and Mario Party 8, when Birdo gets a Star, she shows off this ring during one of her poses. According to Play Nintendo, Birdo's favorite things are (in no partcular order) friends, big red bows, and sparkly things.

Powers and abilities

In addition to eggs, Birdo has also shown the ability to utilize her snout in a manner similar to a vacuum, using it to suck things closer to herself or even swallow them; Birdo displays this ability in both Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the latter of which also has her leeching away the health of those she sucks up. On occasion, Birdo has enveloped people, including herself, in large eggs, in order to increase defense. She is often classified as all-around in sports games, where she has a great deal of strength. She also has shown this strength when angered in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, when, after discovering that Popple did not actually love her, she knocked him right through a wall, indicating she has super-strength, as well in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers where her strongest stat is batting.

In Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, hitting a nice shot while playing as her will cause a rainbow to form similar to Yoshi, but rainbow abilities have since then not been seen. Birdo also has some hints of heart based power similar to Princess Peach as shown in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour in her victory cut-scene and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 in her special shot. However, they are not as strong or as useful as Peach's hearts. This often has comedic results, such as when they only succeed in charming Birdo's Golf trophy into the air for a short time until it fell down again, to its owner's great surprise.