Birdo

Birdo, known in Japanese as Catherine (キャサリン), 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 games in the series. Initially, she was depicted as an antagonist, but has since been depicted as an ally. Birdo has also made several cameos and playable appearances, particularly in the Mario Kart series and other Super Mario spin-off games.

The English manual for Super Mario Bros. 2 describes Birdo as a man who "thinks he is a girl" and would prefer to be called Birdetta. This led to Birdo being interpreted as 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 generally avoided her transgender roots; however, some games, such as Captain Rainbow, deal with her gender. She has received mostly positive reception in the Mario series, and she has been regarded as a transgender icon. However, the handling of her gender identity in the Mario series has been met with a mixed response. She has made several appearances in other media as well as in promotional material for the series.

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's name was mistakenly switched with another Super Mario Bros. 2 enemy, Ostro, both in the manual and in the end credits.

Birdo's gender identity has been a target of controversy and speculation. The Japanese manual for Doki Doki Panic, when translated into English, states her name to be Catherine and is a male who thinks of himself as female, adding that she likes to wear a bow and would rather be called "Cathy." In the first edition manual for the English North American release of Super Mario Bros. 2, Birdo is referred to by a text block that states "he thinks he is a girl" and would "rather be called 'Birdetta.'" She is considered the first transgender video game character. In later printings, mention of Birdo being male was omitted. Mention of this fact is further not included in most later games featuring the character. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Birdo is referred to with "it" pronouns. Birdo appears in the Wii Japan-only video game Captain Rainbow, which delves into Birdo's gender identity. It specifically depicts her being imprisoned for entering the women's bathroom, and the player is asked to locate proof of her femininity (her vibrator) to get her out. The character was given a female voice actor in Super Mario Advance, a remake of Super Mario Bros. 2. The Spanish language website for Mario Smash Football while describing Birdo suggests that the character's gender is indeterminate. The European website for Mario Strikers Charged Football refers to Birdo as a male character. In the British English versions of Super Mario Party, Birdo is referred to with male pronouns.

In Mario Tennis and Super Mario Advance (a remake of Super Mario Bros. 2), the character was given a high pitched female voice provided by Jessica Chisum and Jen Taylor, respectively. However, in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Birdo uses muttering noises that has been used in subsequent games provided by Kazumi Totaka. In the cut-scenes for the Japan-only, Satellaview pseudo-sequel of Super Mario USA (Japanese title for the Western version of Super Mario Bros. 2), known as BS Super Mario US, three "Super Catherines" were voice-acted by Jun Donna, Rika, and Akemi.

Appearances
Birdo first appeared in the Family Computer Disk System video game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and its Western Nintendo Entertainment System conversion Super Mario Bros. 2 as a boss. The Super Mario Advance remake of Super Mario Bros. 2 features a large robotic version of Birdo called "Robirdo." Since the character's appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2, Birdo later appeared in the video game Wario's Woods. Throughout Wario's Woods, Birdo's main role consisted of being the helper to Toad, as well as acting as the one giving Toad the bombs he needs to defeat enemies.

Birdo has since gone on to make frequent appearances in later Mario spin-off games, including Mario Tennis and Mario Golf Toadstool Tour. Birdo went on to appear in other games, such as Mario Kart: Double Dash, where Yoshi acts as her partner. The European version of the game's manual discusses Birdo's gender in relation to Yoshi. She later appeared in other games, such as Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Super Mario Maker, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Tennis Aces, Mario Kart Tour, Paper Mario: The Origami King, and Mario Strikers: Battle League. Birdo was featured in scrapped concept art for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, indicating that she was planned to appear at some point in development.

Birdo additionally appears in Captain Rainbow, where she is one of the many "B-List" Nintendo characters who inhabited the Rainbow Islands. In the game, Birdo is imprisoned for using the women's bathroom, and needs Captain Rainbow to retrieve her vibrator in order to prove that she is a woman. This is the last time Birdo's gender history was mentioned in a video game.

Reception
Birdo has received mostly positive reception, with many describing her as a fan favorite. She has been used in merchandising for the series, including as figurines, plush toys, and other collectibles such as a chess set. In a poll by Official Nintendo Magazine on its users, Birdo tied for eighth-best female character on a Nintendo platform along with Tetra and Kazooie. In the book Life on the screen: identity in the age of the Internet, author Sherry Turkle uses the pattern Birdo uses in boss battles as an example of something that, while complex, sustains the sense of a reassuring, rule-based world.

Birdo has been the subject of discussion relating to her gender identity and has been perceived as transgender. She has become a trans icon due to her perceived gender identity. She has been credited as an early transgender character in video games. The manual excerpt from Super Mario Bros. 2 about Birdo's gender did not receive attention until some time after the game's release. Writer Lorenzo Fantoni suggested that this was because few people read the manual or because no one cared about Birdo's gender at the time. Fantoni also compared the Captain Rainbow scene to the later bathroom debates regarding trans people. Fantoni also suggests that Nintendo does not know what to do with Birdo and that changes to Birdo's character are made to match present-day morals. Numerous petitions from fans have called for Nintendo to recognize the transgender status of the character. Jake Hall of TechRadar noted Birdo's ongoing popularity in online communities. He noted how Birdo's status as a transgender icon stemmed from the fact that Birdo served as a comforting character sought out by transgender communities in order to have a visible icon, stating that it helped to celebrate how transgender communities have always existed. The book 100 Greatest Video Game Characters noted Birdo's storyline in Captain Rainbow, analyzing how it represented the struggles of transgender people in real life for proper representation. They also noted that by showing how Birdo was accepted as female by the characters of the Mario universe, it emphasized hope for proper inclusion and representation in the real world. However, it criticized how, by proving Birdo was female in Captain Rainbow, and via how Birdo had to partake in stereotypically feminine actions in order to be accepted as female, it reinforced the concept of gender being a forced binary choice on transgender people instead of transgender people being allowed to make the choice of who they were for themselves.

Author Sam Greer was critical of Birdo's portrayal, stating that her gender had become a "running joke" and was the "subject of much derision and stereotyping." Stacey Henley of TheGamer noted how Birdo was a highly important character for transgender representation, as she represented the struggles and stereotypes of transgender people in real life. She noted how Nintendo seemed "ashamed of Birdo's past" and noted that despite her complicated history, she served as positive transgender representation in video games. Paste's Jennifer Unkle criticized Birdo as a caricatured trans person and as an example of Nintendo's poor handling of gender identity in general. Zackari Greif of Game Rant also criticized Nintendo's handling of the character, citing multiple occasions where Birdo was referred to with male pronouns instead of female ones, as well as how Birdo is constantly referred to as "Birdo" and not "Birdetta", which is stated to be Birdo's preferred name in the Super Mario Bros. 2 manual. He felt that Birdo needed consistent and proper respectful treatment as a trans woman in the games as a result. The book Queerness in Play noted how Birdo remained an important and iconic transgender character in video gaming, noting how the ignorance towards Birdo's gender in games served as a degree of transphobia. It compared Birdo to androgynous character Kirby, comparing how Kirby's lack of gender-related signifiers made him a comforting character who was "superior to humanity", while Birdo's embracement of them led to Birdo being viewed as "threatening mystery" due to being more human-like in how she expressed her gender. Due to a lack of acknowledgement towards Birdo's gender status, many speculated that the gender issue was retconned to make her a cisgender female, while video game developer Jennifer Diane Reitz suggested that she may have undergone gender-affirming surgery.