I'd like to also note that regular Toad has more in common with Bandanna Waddle Dee. Captain Toad is a unique member and his own game meant to be a puzzle game. Regular Toad is meanwhile a slightly different colored version with his own abilities, playable, and meant to represent the 4th player in his own way. That's what Bandanna Waddle Dee generally does.
How so? When I picture Toads or just regular Toad specifically, this comes to mind:
Unless that is considered the
main Toad. I thought there was more than one with that coloration.
I've been a low-key Toad fan since Melee but he's been shot down time and time again, despite even starring in several of his own games and actually appearing in more games than Luigi, Bowser, and Peach. That being said, what differentiates Bandana Dee from Toad?
I feel like with Toad and Bandana Waddle Dee, they do have their fair share of similarities. However, what separates Toad from BWD is just the Mario universe itself. It is always changing and does not stick to a regular formula, which the Kirby series does. With Kirby, you can say that the main three-four characters are Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle, and nobody would really give you a second glance. But try naming the main four Mario characters. Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi? Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser? Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Toad? The point is, there isn't really a set standard when it comes to Mario games. They are pretty different from each other because Mario tends to have different series inside his larger franchise, so the only real main Mario character is Mario himself.
It's a lot different with Kirby, as I stated above. Kirby is typically consistent with him, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and more recently Bandana Waddle Dee. He's been treated as the
consistent fourth player for a bit of time now, and I feel like that differentiates him from Toad. Yes, you can make the argument that with more recent games like the New Super Mario Bros. series Toad has been treated as players 3-4, but overall as a series, Toad is just one of many side characters, but with Bandana Dee it's different because
he's been consistently treated as the player 4.
But Captain Toad? That's a whole different can of worms...