Yoshi

Yoshi (ヨッシー, Yosshī) is a recurring character in the Mario series. He has made several appearances in these Mario games and his own game series. He is known to be either a dragon or a dinosaur but is a very friendly helper. He is a playable veteran in Super Smash Flash 2 and appears in one intro of A Super Mario World.

Character description
The concept of Yoshi began with Super Mario Bros. when Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, affirmed he wanted a dinosaur companion for Mario. This, however, wasn't possible until the release of the SNES, thus, Yoshi first appeared on Super Mario World. In the game, the player played as Mario or Luigi, and were able to find Yoshi eggs, which would hatch automatically, revealing a full-grown Yoshi. Later in the game, baby Yoshis could also be found. The player could grab these baby Yoshis and toss them around like they could with a shell. They could also feed the Yoshi 5 enemies, which would result in the Yoshi maturing, allowing the character to ride the Yoshi's back. Also in the game, 4 different color Yoshis were introduced, each with its own special abilities, depending on what color shell it had in its mouth. The green standard Yoshi was the most common found color Yoshi. He grew wings and could fly freely when he had a blue shell in his mouth. When he had a red shell in his mouth, he could spit fire. Lastly, when he had a yellow shell, he could stomp the ground when he jumped. The color of the Yoshi indicated what his special abilities were when they had a shell in their mouths, matching the colored shells. No matter what shell they had, the blue Yoshi could fly, the red Yoshi could spit fire, and the yellow Yoshi could always stomp the ground.

Yoshi then took the spotlight in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the SNES. As the main playable character, Yoshi kept all his previous moves (eating things, pounding the ground) and added a few new ones (using his tongue, egg tossing, flutter jumping). The game was a prequel of sorts to the Mario universe: Baby Luigi was captured by Kamek while being delivered by the stork, while a bunch of Yoshis discovers the missed Baby Mario and work to rejoin him with his brother.

Yoshi went on to become a mainstay in the Mario series, as well as his own spin-off series. In the Mario sports games, he is portrayed as the speedy type - he may not have that much power, but he can get from A to B faster than most others.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Yoshi makes an appearance in Super Smash Flash 2 as a veteran fighter (because he appeared in the official Smash games) with brawlified Yoshi's Island DS's sprites, though he was originally going to have sprites from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He has been added because of his absence in Super Smash Flash. His moveset is taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is the only character representation of the Yoshi universe, however, he is still a part of the Mario universe. He is ranked 21st place on the current tier list.