We were once told by Nintendo that Yoshi is not a dinosaur, as we'd stated in a feature, but that he was simply a Yoshi. Once we'd dusted ourselves down from the polite but firm telling off, we felt indignant. He is a dinosaur, with boots, what's so wrong about that?
It is possible that down the road of such thoughts madness lies, we know, yet redemption may be at hand from a Nintendo Character Guide from the 1990s, which seems as likely a place as any. Console Wars author and all-round good egg Blake Harris has been reading this book from 1993, and discovered the following passage that provides the scientific name for Yoshi and, humorously, Mario.
Yoshi, properly known as T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas, had been held captive in an egg until Mario (homo nintendonus) bopped along and rescued him. Instantly, the young dinosaur and the plumber became fast friends. Together, they set out to rescue Yoshi's dinosaur pals from the wickedness of Bowser.
Now, let's be clear, Yoshi in this context is an entire species, so when we say "it's Yoshi" we may as well say "it's dog" or "it's anteater". Deeply impersonal and hurtful, perhaps, but those are the breaks for our maybe-a-dinosaur pal; we also believe we have an upper hand in the dinosaur debate as part of the name is Yoshisaur, so there. What does the T stand for, though?
It's certainly one for a pub quiz, though naturally it's hard to take it too seriously due to the comedic nature of these scientific terms, and the fact it's a creature making strange noises and wearing boots, being ridden by a moustachioed plumber who'll happily use him to jump higher and send him plummeting to his doom...
Let's just play a bit of Super Mario Galaxy 2 and not worry about it too much. If you do want to worry about it, there are a couple of polls below.
Is Yoshi a dinosaur? (451 votes)
- Yes
- No
- What on Earth are you talking about?
Please login to vote in this poll.
What does the 'T' stand for in Yoshi's name? (471 votes)
- The
- Tyrannosaurus
- T-Dog
- Terence
- Thierry0.4%
- Turok
- Tim
- Tupac
- Teapot
- Tetris
- Thingy-ma-jig
- No idea, it's the greatest mystery of our times
Please login to vote in this poll.
[source polygon.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 68
We all know the T. stands for teapot, of course... duh!
@Tsurii897 Dragons don't necessarily mean that they can spit out fire and fly as there are sea dragons and other types of dragons as well such as the ones from Dragon Ball...........i think.
Why do people bring "Science" to video games? It's weird, and it doesn't mix well.
If it has no relevance and can be offensive, it's just better to not post at all -Lz
Of course hes not a dinosaur, hes a yoshi !
A dog is not a cat, hes a dog
Also, the answer why hes "named" yoshi while yoshi is the name of his species ?
Look no further than pokemon. A Pikachu is both called pikachu and its species is pikachu.
And the whole dragon debate, lets just go with species and sub species:
Dragon is the main species, while yoshi is a sub species much like wyverns and such.
So science sais: Yoshis are a dragon sub species who are also called yoshi
On topic, @Azooooz says it all, there is no reason whatsoever to have a debate as to what Yoshi is, he's clearly a Yoshi! But those names are SO cheesy!! "Munchakoopas" xD
Thierry Yoshisaur Munchakoopas.
tupac? lmao
What the heck is Birdo ?
So, I guess Yoshi is a type of koopa then. That could explain the wings an fire-balls, since there are winged koopas and the koopa king himself breaths fire.
As for the name "Yoshi", its probably the same both singular and plural, like Pokemon and their numerous species. The yoshi we all know is just called by his specie's name, or rather named after it.
Timmy Yoshisaur Munchakoopas .."Timmyyy!"
@Zombie_Barioth Munchakoopa. As in eats koopas. They are not Koopas.
Terry
Thaddeus.
The T obviously stands for Tupac, duh didn't you guys know Tupac never died the Illuminati made a fake dead Tupac body and sent the real Tupac into super Mario world, there he protects the world from the apocalypse and he will be back with hard-core yoshi raps when we finally get a Decent Yoshi game Dawg
I think Yoshi is a dinosaur but that he is a particular kind of dinosaur... a Yoshisaur, as mentioned above. The T. probably stands for... Takeshi. It is Japanese afterall.
@PvtOttobot This.
@PvtOttobot we all actually love Sony (unless if you are a fanboy and refuse to accept that Sony is alright because you are blinded by love of Nintendo), and the gaystation was just a one console thing I thought?
Anyway, why isnt Turok getting the love? Turok was the best back on the ps2!
Yoshi is a name of omnivore species living in Dinosaur Land.
Tamagon from Devil's World?
http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Tamagon
Tamagon is a dragon who spits fire and hatches from an egg when he respawn.
Also Shy Guy came from the Devil's minions?
@headfirstslide
Probably, could be both though. Yoshi doesn't exactly care what they eat, so eating their 'cousins' isn't too far out there even by real-world animal standards.
Definitely stands for Tupac. No questions asked.
http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000079760909-ajjcsr-original.jpg
He was called a dragon in Super Mario World.
But yeah, to me, he's a dinosaur.
@Dark-Luigi Is.
@Captain-Falcon I was just kidding about that, I do actually quite like Sony, but I HATE Microsoft as their consoles (not all their GAMES) are hyper 'Americanised' with ads lacing the menu and deals with food companies and of course, that focus on the TV/entertainment, I prefer a console that is focused on the games! Yeah, I think is was a one time thing, but how does that affect my picture?
Troodon of course!?
The T. obviously stand for Tezuka
It's Tendo Yoshi. Another incarnation of Hamato Yoshi from TMNT. So obviously obvious....I used to have respect for this place but not now...
/sarcasm
Come on, guys. It's clearly Tupac.
T stands for "That's not my Yoshi!"
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/supermariogalaxy2/1/1
@PvtOttobot What does that have to do with the article at hand?... like at all... I don't mean to sound offensive, but couldn't you find a place to post that that actually was about the LGBT Playstation?
No. Yoshi is a Yoshi, as proven in the various Yoshi's Island games. Yoshi has also been shown to be part of a species of creatures called Yoshi. There you go.
I would gladly fund a scientific expedition into Yoshi's Island, though, and find out what these Yoshis are made of.
@sinalefa I don't normally do this, but WRONG!!
The 'T' obviously stands for "The Greatest Mystery of our Times."
I'd pay you $$1 million to either find out Yoshi's what Yoshi is, or take out Vash the Stampede. The choice is yours.
TIM Yoshisaur Munchakoopas is definitely NOT a dinosaur, but a Yoshi, as stated! And he's SO HAPPY!
The T obviously stands for Tetris.
Mario named Yoshi. Yoshi was named after the island he was found upon. Going by the Super Mario World instruction booklet.
My God, this is a major scientific discovery!...I think.
Yoshi is a dinosaur, and Blimp Yoshi is the greatest thing ever
Yoshi is a Yoshi. Kirby is a Kirby.
I prefer to think of Yoshi as a small dragon. I imagine these loyal beasts guarded the royal mushroom family long ago. When hunted to extinction on the mainland during the mushroom kingdom wars by Bowser's ancestors, the species found refuge on the island, and survived.
@TheWPCTraveler ha, I took Vash out… to lunch. We went to a donut place, he was pretty relaxed about it actually.
Pretty sure this was intended as a joke.
I think the T is for taramasalata.
@TheWPCTraveler
I will take the first one. If that guy was so certain as to state what his Yoshi is and isn't, then he has all the answers we need. Let's use your million to pay us a ticket to Japan. I can then fulfill my lifelong dream of meeting Miyamoto, Aonuma and Iwata.
"T" could stand for something ridiculously formal and non-affiliated with dinosaurs or koopa-eating, like "Theodore", lol.
Oh come on, the T obviously stays for Tiberius, surprised that wasn't an option
@SkywardLink98 I couldn't find a place to put it and I wanted to share my work so I'm not the only one who gets a laugh out of it. If you have a problem, report my post and go home.
Tupac, duh.
Answer: Yoshi is a reptile
Yoshi exists alongside humans (or at least pseudo humans) meaning he exists in our present or our future. Nothing is categorized as a 'thunder lizard' anymore, only reptile. Because his size is comparable to a human, and crocodiles are also reptiles and larger than a yoshi, we can only assume he would also be categorized as a lizard. Sorry Yoshi, you just can't recreate the category of 'dinosaur' on your own.
Oh, and if you want to argue that he evolved from dinosaurs, I have already solved that conundrum for you by mentioning crocodiles. He is a reptile, probably something like a chameleon due to the way he eats and because of his color changing nature.
It stands for Tfunyarinpa, the T is silent.
Maybe I'm missing something... You seem very focused on the YoshiSAUR while quote clearly contains the word DINOSAUR as well.
"the young dinosaur and the plumber became fast friends."
That's the upper-hand on the debate.
Turok
@Setrodox That is exactly what I was thinking when reading this article. Lol, seeing as the quote was taken straight from the character guide.
T is for Tupac because I said so
Why is Tupac not winning!?
The Japanese word for dinosaur is kyōryū, which can be read as "fear dragon"; therefore, dinosaurs are dragons anyway, meaning Yoshi could be considered both, either or neither, the latter because Yoshi generally isn't fearsome.
I love horses. :3
By the way, does anybody have any classic guides or manuals which specifically state that
Bowser's Minionsthe Koopalings are Bowser's children?! From what I recall the most recent manuals to state this fact are the ones for SMA2 and SMA4, so just a decade ago they were, at least in the west, Bowser's kids. So:Yoshi = Dinosaur? Yes.
Koopalings = Bowser's kids? Yes.
Waluigi = Related to Wario? Uh...I guess that one's still a mystery among mysteries.
Yoshi is at least related to Dinosaurs. If you read the opening from Super Mario World you'll see that Mario goes to "Dinasaur Land" to rescue Princess Toadstool.
"Mario went to Dinosaur Land to rescue Peach from King Koopa. On his way, he sees an egg. Curious, Mario opens it, only to reveal Yoshi. "
http://mario.wikia.com/wiki/Yoshi_(character)
The T stands for "Thomas Whitehead"
"...Together, they set out to rescue Yoshi's dinosaur pals from the wickedness of Bowser."
Good enough for me. He's a friggen dinosaur.
I'm sorry, but these "scientific names" are obviously fake: they are not properly capitalized.
Lol, Munchakoopa's! So that means that evolution-wise Yoshi was always destined to eat Koopa's! And I voted teapot, of course.
@Tsurii The "Dragon Coins" in Super Mario World have Yoshi on them, so that would imply he's a dragon.
Although the fact that he lives in "Dinosaur Land" (the non-mushroom kingdom world Mario & co. visit in Super Mario World) would seem to imply that he is a dinosaur. Many of the other "dinosaurs" in Dinosaur Land spit fire too (Dino Rhinos, Reznors, etc), so the fact that Yoshi can spit fire wouldn't necessarily rule out that he's a dinosaur (or at least the closest equivalent in the Mario-verse).
I think the most likely explanation is that Yoshi is supposed to be a dinosaur, and that "Dragon Coin" was a result of an inaccurate translation, and probably should've been "Dino Coin" to begin with.
@GamerZack87 It really bothers me in games where they forget the Koopalings exist and just have Bowser Jr. and Bowser co-existing. Bowser Jr. first appeared as "Baby Bowser" in Super Mario World 2: Yoshis Island, which of course is a prequel and Baby Bowser is just Bowser at an earlier stage in his life.
It's fine that they appear together in party and sports games, since Mario and Baby Mario also co-exist in those, but it's super weird in actual plot-based games like Mario Sunshine and the Galaxy games when Bowser and Bowser Jr. are just chilling together with no explanation.
The T in T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas is Theropoda
@DanElectrode Baby Bowser is not Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr is Bowser's son and Baby Bowser is young Bowser. That explains why they can appear together canonically.
@babadumbadum_YOSHI Yeah, I realize that's the official line, I just don't like it because Bowser Jr looks exactly the same as Baby Bowser, and I grew up playing Super Mario Bros. 3, where the Koopalings were referred to as being Bowser's kids, so suddenly scrapping them and having Bowser Jr. now be Bowser's only kid (who is basically just a smaller Bowser without as much individual personality as the Koopalings) was a weird move.
I've read that the Koopalings being Bowser's kids may have actually just been a mistranslation of the Japanese SMB3 instruction manual all along, where they were called something more along the line of "lieutenants" rather than being his children, but I do think there were quite a few other places that referred to the Koopalings as his kids semi-officially (Super Mario Advance instruction manuals as noted above, the Super Mario Adventures comics, etc), so it's still a little weird to just retcon them out of existence in the newer games.
I think I'm just not a fan of Bowser Jr. altogether, because all the cinematics with him in Mario Sunshine were annoying. I also don't like the way that every Yoshi now makes the "baby" noises from Yoshi's Story despite that being the only game where the Yoshi's were actually supposed to be especially young.
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