Toad
I've been ready for this. I don't think you are though.
Let's begin: What is a Toad.
This little mushroom man is Toad.
Toad has been a staple of the Mario series since it began, and prior to Yoshi appearing was without a doubt the fourth most important hero of the series. Pre-N64 Toad did many amazing things.
He was faster than Mario, Luigi and Peach. He was stronger than them too. In fact Toad basically left the others in the dust when it come to overall combat skills in SMB2. See that Veggie Pluck Peach does? She was actually the worst at it. The best at it? Toad.
In fact Toad's only real weakness in that game was his lackluster jump, which was easily overcome by the use of the Super Jump Crouch:
Look at him fly! This particular skill was usable by all of the heroes in SMB2, but was notably more useful for Toad due to the insane difference in made to his jumping skills.
So what else did Toad do pre-N64 era?
Well he did quite a few things, including defeating a **** ton of impressive enemies in the puzzle game; Wario's Woods, his first(and currently only, bar the SNES remake) starring role as the lead protagonist.
Here his job was to bump off the many monsters that were invading the Mushroom Kingdom's forests under Wario's command. For the uninitiated it was a fun puzzle game that combined elements of Tetris and Bomberman into one addictive puzzle game with a platforming edge; Toad could interact with the monsters and bombs that his friend Wanda would drop in, but he'd have to take himself into account whilst shifting them.
Toad here displayed the impressive strength again, easily lifting five times his weight and proved himself to be a dab hand with explosives(it's impossible to blow yourself up...death only comes from Wario's hand as he slowly tried to crush Toad under a huge Thwomp) but this wasn't the only unique ability that was given to Toad.
Toad can run up
walls in this game.
I mean really, who needs to freaking jump at all when you can run up walls? That's a pretty damn awesome ability there.
Did I mention the villains this shroom faced? Aside from having faced Wart, whom most of you are familiar with now and Wario, he also had to deal with this rogue's gallery;
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So there you go; Toad gets to do a whole bunch of cool things in the NES and SNES era...
Unfortunately the N64 era was less kind shoving Toad in NPC roles of hosting party games, refereeing golf matches and only occasionally joining in with sports; Toad's only appearance in the Mario Tennis games as a playable was in Mario Tennis for the N64, after that he was cut so we could have characters like...9 different coloured Yoshi's in Mario Tennis Open. I'm a Yoshi fan before a Toad fan believe it or not, but even I can't stomach THAT much Yoshi.
The Gamecube eras if anything were even worse; Toad was now pushed to the back, and seemingly replaced by Toadsworth for Mario Sunshine as Peach's steward even. He made his Super Smash Debut; as a meatshield, a position it looks that he'll likely hold for a long time. Why; even in Mario Kart, Toad's staple series, he was reduced to an unlockable character, and was no longer a playable character in Mario Power Tennis(seemingly planned and then cut, despite getting a partner in Toadette). The Gamecube was indeed not kind to Toad.
Unfortunately it is the N64 and Gamecube generation now whom are growing up, and thus they have skipped Toad's adventures as a bomb wielding, monster destroying, glass cannon who could run circles around the brothers(literally thanks to his speed; or he could if 3D was a thing back then). As a result Toad is seen by many of the people on this board as a sniveling coward; a husk of what he was during the period of time I grew up in; the NES and SNES years.
Luckily for Toad; the Wii years were far kinder; Mario Sports Mix basically threw dozens of Toads and Yoshis at the players all in various colours, and Toad retook his placement as the lead Toad in Mario Galaxy, renamed Captain Toad. He also returned as a standard starter for Mario Kart, and two Toads(notably not The red capped, blue jacketed Toad) also starred alongside the Mario Brothers in the first simultaneous multiplayer game; a game seemingly designed to tear friendships apart.
The Toads continued to be a part of New Super Mario Bros. multiplayer games, starring in three and racing into the Wii U era. During this time they got their chance to fight against Bowser for the first time, the Koopalings, Kamek and fellow rival for Smash Mario newcomer; Bowser Jr.
Now in 3D World, Toad returns as Captain Toad(seemingly a staple character now) and has returned to puzzling. Admittedly far simpler puzzling than Wario's Woods, and he certainly doesn't seem to be unaffected by gravity anymore. Boo.
Still, Toad's future is looking far better as he and his brethren continue to make playable appearances in the main Mario games. Hopefully this will continue
Chance: 100%. As meat shield again. Goddammit.
Chance: 3% as playable.
At a push. MAYBE DLC. MAYBE. But I won't hold my breath.
I'm far more hopeful for Toad in Smash 5(or 6, if 3DS counts as 5). With Rosalina being added to rep Galaxy by the looks of things, and Brawl Mario representing Super Mario Sunshine(which honestly was the best time to add Jr.) it means that there's a better chance for Toad, or Blue Toad, next time to rep 3D World.
Want: 100%
I've wanted Toad for 15 years, a feat only one other character has matched him in(Meowth).
I got some relief last year when I discovered Super Smash Bros. Crusade, but I'd love to see the day when Toad finally kicks Peach away and uses HER as his B move. Maybe he'll use the vibe sceptor as his down and B.
I mean she'd be better with it than he would, but it's only a fair trade.
Moveset wise Toad's no where near as limited as people make out. Look at all these options for Up + B's for example:
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Add to that a mixture of being able to manipulate the arena by plucking up Wario's Woods monsters(thus sculpting the landscape), a selection of bombs(depending on victim each colour could do differet damage ala Wario's Woods), his spores(which were actually around since Mario Tennis), his ability to spawn mushroom platforms(See Mario Sports Mix for his specials) and the potential to be able to run up walls and we have a character that can fit a lot of roles.
It's just a shame everyone fobs him off as generic, or only capable of being a Mario/Peach combo semi clone.
Cripes, sorry about that. Probably the biggest Rate Their Chances post ever, eh?
