Birdo

Birdo, known in Japanese as , is a character in the Mario franchise. Her first appearance was as an enemy in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which was localized for English-language audiences as Super Mario Bros. 2. Since then, Birdo has been a recurring character in various franchise spin-offs. Initially, she was depicted as an antagonist, but has since been depicted as an ally. Birdo has also made several cameos, particularly in the Mario Kart series and the Japan-only Wii video game Captain Rainbow. The English manual for Super Mario Bros. 2 refers to Birdo as a male "who thinks he is a girl" and would prefer to be called "Birdetta." Some interpret that as Birdo being transgender, which would make her the first transgender video game character. Later releases of Super Mario Bros. 2 removed all mentions of her favored nickname. Starting with Mario Tennis, Nintendo has treated Birdo as a female gender without any more mention of her perceived transgender roots. Birdo is also depicted as being romantically involved with Yoshi. The character has received mostly positive reception in the Mario series, although her appearance and perceived gender identity have received mixed reception. She has made several appearances in other media, including the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, as well as promotional material such as figurines and plush toys. Concept and creation Birdo is a pink, anthropomorphic dinosaur creature who wears a red hairbow and has a round mouth that can fire eggs as projectiles. Birdo also wears a large diamond ring. In the early version of Birdo, the character had an orange tone. Birdo's name was mistakenly switched with another Super Mario Bros. 2 enemy, Ostro, both in the manual and in the end credits. The mistake persisted in the version of Super Mario Bros. 2 included in the Super Mario All-Stars compilation, but was corrected in the Game Boy Advance re-release titled Super Mario Advance.