I want to write about a queer and trans icon in the Nintendo mainstream. Her style is iconic, her big red bow is always shining, and her pink snout would make Miss. Piggy quake with insecurity. I’m talking about the baddest bitch in Mario, someone who curiously isn't included in many of the main games, but has developed a dedicated cult following from the LGBTQIA+ community. Of course, this is… Birdo!

Birdo doesn’t talk - she serves glorious looks and makes divine honking noises. Her huge, over-the-top lashes make her giant diamond ring pop. She’s become a beacon for queer and questioning folks to turn to because of her vaguely translated biographies from Japanese magazines that dub her a woman sometimes and a man others. Whether you’re playing Mario Party or Mario Kart, it’s always a better experience when Birdo is a playable character.

Beginnings of Birdo

Birdo arrived in 1988 as a random background enemy in Super Mario Bros 2, but after a while, she re-emerged as Yoshi’s go-to partner. Their relationship isn’t clear, probably because they’re both lowkey treated like animals in their universe, but it’s clear Yoshi and Birdo serve as a power couple. If you recall Mario Kart Double Dash paired the two and gave quirky kids like me options beyond the binary. While Yoshi’s, and especially Birdo’s, gender identity was never explored in the canon (Nintendo’s lore), she’s still cemented herself as a trans legend.

Old game magazines from Japan referred to Birdo as someone “He thinks he is a girl... he'd rather be called 'birdetta'”, which could be chocked up to a weird translation BUT members of the queer community have reclaimed Birdo’s innocuous gender description and revamped it to be a trans origin. Birdo’s hype supports the counterculture against gendered video games and their characters. For example, Pokemon games always make you choose between one of those two genders, really forcing kids to choose a side at a young age. But with Birdo’s inclusion in Mario Kart Double Dash, you were able to dip your toe in or fully swim in the waters of playing as someone perfectly different.

Birdo was a way for closeted boys like me to experiment playing with characters who were *traditionally* girly- someone pink with a big diamond ring, but it wasn’t too whack because she is a dinosaur. It was a magenta smokescreen for sensitive boys like me to play as her- be her. It was weird to play as Birdo but nowhere near as outing as playing as Princess Peach. Thankfully new Mario games include female-identifying characters instead of just relying on the plumbers to get the job done. I did a playthrough of Mario Wonder as Toadette and had a blast! I wish Birdo was available to play as in the game, maybe she’ll be added to the next one.

Birdo's inclusion in more Mario games was a great thing. People registered her as a respected woman in the Mushroom Kingdom just like Peach or Toadette, even though Birdo was never given any dialogue. Just a lot of honking noises. But even wordless, she’s able to kick ass in so many Mario Games. She was the first DLC addition to Mario Kart 8 and is considered one of the best racers due to her stats. The Birdo revolution is upon us and it’s beautiful.

What We Can All Learn from Birdo

I think characters like Birdo, who aren’t explicitly labeled as trans but give kids the freedom to infer it, should be embraced by Nintendo. Birdo’s inclusion is a sign that trans folks can play with everyone and be an exciting person to root for. Next time you play a game and see Birdo, be sure to tell your friends about her vague origins and the path she’s carving for the Mario franchise. Could video game movies be the new MCU? Since they announced a live action The Legend of Zelda movie, tons of people are requesting Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, A Ballad of Songbird and Snakes) to play Zelda in a live-action Link film. Casting an icon like Hunter, who has been pushing boundaries as a proud trans actor and model, would be an incredible casting choice regarding representation for the LGBTQ+ community. Regardless of future casting decisions, just support trans characters and actors who deserve respect.

There is an ongoing joke that diverse queer characters are never human, which diminishes the ‘authentic representation’ companies are pandering for. The Other Two had an amazing moment of it that I’ll link, where Disney’s first gay character was… a green blob named Globby. Kind of hard to have a momentous moment when the ‘gay’ character isn’t even humanoid. Birdo isn’t a soulless cash grab like Globby, nor is she a perfect representation of the trans experience. I just think she is a character we need to vocally root for and show Nintendo they should embrace her trans identity. Right now Birdo’s excluded from a lot of merch, even finding a stuffed animal of her is difficult. Make noise online to cheer Birdo on so she gets her own game one day.