Mario character Toad doesn't identify as a gender

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Nintendo has revealed that long-serving Super Mario ally Toad, assumed to be male, is in fact genderless, and possibly not even a mushroom.

Despite there also being a Toadette in the Mario universe, which would imply the pair are male and female, Nintendo director Koichi Hayashida said they never really considered the video game characters' genders.

Ahead of the release of new game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, he told Gamespot: "This is maybe a little bit of a strange story, but we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances.

"But I think what I can say is that Toadette and Toad are not siblings – perhaps it would be more accurate to say they are adventure pals. And that’s certainly true here [in Captain Toad]."

Hayashida also revealed that Toad isn't necessarily a mushroom (despite having a massive bloody mushroom for a head), nor a toad.

Of the character's species, he added: "This particular riddle might stay unsolved. That’s one of the great mysteries of the Mario universe."

That, and where he found that fabulous azure blue waistcoat.