Nintendo confirms Mario is an abusive Yoshi-puncher!

September 29th 2017, 1:05pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

So here's something to ruin your morning (it sure did mine). I guess there's been an ongoing argument that I have not been previously privy to involving SUPER MARIO BROS. lore, where Nintendo fans have debated if Mario was punching Yoshi in the head to get him to stick his tongue out, or if he was simply pointing in a direction while shouting an order. As someone who just began his article foreshadowing morning-ruining news, and who also didn't want to think of Mario as a monster, I assumed the latter and not the former. Obviously I chose wrong.

During an interview with long-time SUPER MARIO BROS. developers Takashi Tezuka and Shigefumi Hino on the Nintendo official website, Hino dropped this fist-shaped bombshell:

Lots of people think that while Mario is pointing his finger forward, he’s saying ‘Go,’ and Yoshi’s tongue comes out…However, the set-up that I drew was that when Mario punches Yoshi in the head, the character’s tongue shoots out in surprise…What’s more, there’s an added ‘bop’ sound. However, it seemed like people would say ‘Poor Yoshi,’ so that’s why it became that Mario is saying ‘Go.’

Here's the sprites to confirm:

As for the origin of Yoshi, Tezuka recalled the story of Shigeru Miyamoto (the mastermind behind SUPER MARIO BROS.) wanting Mario to ride something in the games, saying:

I think [Miyamoto] likes horses…When we were making [Super Mario Bros. 3], he drew a picture of Mario riding a horse and had put it up on wall next to where he sits. When I saw that, I thought, ‘I guess he wants Mario to ride something.’ So, when we were making Super Mario World, we had this ‘dinosaur land’ concept, and I had Hino draw reptile type art.

And these are the original Yoshi sprites Hino made on the right:

You can see that he was definitely more reptilian-looking, before being given a more cute bubbly look we know and love today – which makes Mario's betrayal even more hurtful! I mean, this article doesn't even cover the act of jumping off Yoshi to his doom to get to a higher platform! Mario is now officially the worst.