| Birdo | |
| |
| Recurring Mini-Boss | |
| Class | Mini-Boss |
| Species | Dinosaur |
| Affiliation(s) | Wart |
| Original Appearance(s) | Super Mario Bros. 2 |
“Oh, I'm never gonna let ya go. You're just too... CUTE!”— Birdo, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Birdo is a pink dinosaur that originated in Super Mario Bros. 2, frequently encountered at the end of a regular level or as a mini-boss before a world boss. Since then, a singular female Birdo has shown up at multiple Mario sporting events, adventures, and party games, often paired with Yoshi.
History[]
Birdo first appeared in the 1988 NES game Super Mario Bros 2 (or the Japan-only predecessor Doki Doki Panic) as a mini-boss in nearly every level of the game. Birdos also come in three colors: pink, red, and green. Pink Birdos spit out eggs, which the player must pick up to throw back at them. Red Birdos spit out both eggs and fire, which can damage the player if touched. Green Birdos only spit out fire, meaning that the player has to find other objects, such as Mushroom Blocks or other enemies, to throw back at them.
Regardless of the color, the player fights Birdo by grabbing the regular eggs she spits and tossing them back at her. Doing this three times defeats Birdo and reveals a Crystal Ball to end the level, or, in some cases, a key that is needed to advance to the next area. A giant robotic version of Birdo called Robirdo appears as the World 3 boss in the Super Mario Advanced version (released for the GBA in 2001), replacing Mouser in both the original NES version and the SNES remake in Super Mario All-Stars (The 2nd Mouser fight replaces the 2nd Tryclyde fight in World 6 in the GBA version.).
Birdo has occasionally appeared in other Mario games, such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. She has also occasionally appeared as a playable character in the spin-off games, such as the Mario Kart series, the Mario Tennis series, and so on.
Role In MKF[]
In Mushroom Kingdom Fusion, Birdo's role reverts to that of her original role as a mini-boss. Her sole attack was to spit eggs at her enemies. However, she takes in a bit more damage before being defeated, as three times is not enough. Projectile-based attacks, such as Mario's fireballs, can also lower Birdo's health. Another difference between MKF and the original SMB2 game is that there is only one type of Birdo: the pink ones, as the red and green versions are currently absent. Also, Birdo in MKF can spit both eggs and fire, sharing this trait with the red Birdos from the original game, whereas pink Birdos could only spit out eggs.
Birdo can be found in the level Subcon Panic!, where she must be fought in order for the player to pass the end of the level, and defeating her reveals a key that the player uses to unlock the rest of the path.
At the end of The Fusionist's Lab, Birdo is trapped in a lab capsule along with a Cacodemon in a crystal. This combination is later revealed as the "Cacobirdo,", the World Boss of World 5, which not only shoots both regular and fiery eggs at the player in unpredictable patterns but also shoots explosive eggs that turn into smaller ones across the room, along with occasionally shooting a ball of plasma at the player, similar to a regular Cacodemon.
In Wart's Nightmare, there are Flood-fused versions of Birdo, which are even more durable and harder to defeat than a regular Birdo, since they shoot out eggs that turn into Flood-Infection forms at a rapid fire. In addition to that, the aforementioned Cacobirdo is also infected by the flood, which serves as the level's boss as the Flood Cacobirdo.
Trivia[]
- There was some initial confusion over Birdo's gender, as the Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction booklet referred to her as a guy who thought he was a girl. Later games simply refer to Birdo as female or as "gender indeterminate".
- In MKF, Birdo uses a custom sprite rather than what she appeared in the Super Mario All-Stars version of SMB2.
- When Birdo is defeated, the sound effect from the original NES version of SMB2 is heard.
- Birdo originally appeared as a mini-boss at the last section in older versions of The Grand Canyon, but was later removed.
- Birdo was originally a mini-boss who guarded a key in the 2nd area of Fever Las Vegas but was removed after the level was revamped in the v0.875 version of MKF.
Gallery[]
