Warts and All

I’ve always felt that Winky the Frog was somewhat underrated as far as animal sidekicks go. She only appeared in a handful of stages and never got the same recognition that other animal buddies like Rambi the Rhino or Enguarde the Swordfish received, but Winky the Frog was arguably the most impressive animal in Donkey Kong Country. Winky’s jumping ability allowed her to reach places that would have been otherwise inaccessible to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, and she could also jump on a wider variety of enemies without getting hurt. Like Yoshi, Winky could even be sacrificed in mid-air to perform a double jump. Jumping great distances is a pretty common trait for a frog. Jumping great distances while a giant gorilla is sitting on your back is another story altogether.

Before the notorious Dr. Wily programmed him to take over the world, Toad Man was apparently intended to be used as an agriculture robot that could make it rain on command. By using his Rain Flush ability, Toad Man can actually make acid rain fall down from the heavens. This acid rain is guaranteed to hit Mega Man regardless of his position on the screen. Once Mega Man steals the ability, he can also use it to damage any enemy in sight. Like most respectable toads (and Robot Masters, for that matter) Toad Man also has incredible jumping abilities and can leap several meters into the air with the greatest of ease. Toad Man was only the second of many animal-themed Robot Masters (Snake Man being the first), but he still stands as one of the most memorable characters from the entire Mega Man franchise.

Prince Froggy resides over a fort in a large swampy area in Yoshi’s Island and serves as the mid-boss of World 3. Unlike most bosses from the game, Prince Froggy does not magically grow in size. Rather, Kamek uses his magic to shrink Yoshi down, and Prince Froggy then takes the opportunity to swallow him whole. Surrounded by dripping stomach acid and an influx of Shy Guys that Prince Froggy is apparently eating, Yoshi has to irritate Prince Froggy’s uvula before escaping through his intestines and reverting back to normal size. Prince Froggy is usually known for keeping his sly expression. Needless to say, crapping out a dinosaur took the smirk right off of his face. Prince Froggy somehow got over the whole ordeal (or should I say hole ordeal?) before showing up again in Tetris Attack.

An ancient guru with unmatched wisdom, Frogfucius resides over Tadpole Pond and teaches his many disciples the ways of the world. He appreciates the simple things in life – like jars of cricket jam. He also seems to be a fan of the theatre and, on one occasion, he makes use of Lakitu and some wires to make it look like he’s flying. Frogfucius played an important role as mentor, teacher, and grandfather to a cloud prince named Mallow. After finding the fallen nimbus, Frogfucius took care of the infant Mallow and raised him to believe that he was a normal tadpole. After revealing the truth to his adopted grandson, Frogfucius sent Mallow on a mission to find his real parents. Frogfucius remained in Tadpole Pond, but he continued to provide support and helpful advice to Mallow and his friends.

A longtime friend of Fox McColud, Slippy Toad is unquestionably the most annoying member of the StarFox team. He constantly gets himself into trouble and needs to be saved on a regular basis. His repeated calls for help wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that his voice is downright vexing. But what Slippy lacks in piloting skills, he makes up for with ingenuity. He serves and as the inventor and mechanic for the crew, and creates many useful devices for the team. A few irritating personality traits notwithstanding, Slippy is actually a pretty likable frog. He is always willing to lend a hand, he would never turn his back on his friends, and he makes an effort to boost team morale. Moreover, unlike some members of the StarFox team (I’m looking at you, Falco) Slippy is actually grateful when his life is saved.

After wreaking havoc on an Arabian family, Wart invaded the dreams of Mario. After being toppled by Mario and friends, Wart’s carcass was unceremoniously hauled away to the land of obscurity. In fact, aside from a brief cameo appearance in Link’s Awakening, Wart was never seen again. Granted, Mario 2 was set in a fantasy dream world, but that didn’t stop other characters like Birdo and the Shy Guys from appearing in other Mario games. Mario is willing to play a round of golf with Bowser and race go-karts with Wario, so I see no reason for him to completely shut Wart out of his life. Wart’s fall from grace is downright tragic, but I guess it was his own fault. If you are vulnerable to vegetables, it’s probably not a good idea to hang out near a machine that produces an endless supply of them.

Not only does Prince Fleaswallow have the funky flow regardless of the weather conditions or precipitation levels, but he is arguably the hardest working frog on this list. He has apparently been working in a flea market his entire life. In fact, he started working there when his mother was still a baby! That has got to be a gross violation of labor laws, but I digress. Working with the philosophy that all one needs is to be nice and friendly, Fleaswallow manages to sell everything from bottle caps to a skunk that will supposedly bring luck to the consumer. All that hard work has taught him the value of a dollar, and he is more than happy to pass down what he has learned in order to help PaRappa out when he finds himself in dire straits. I never dreamed that it would be like this, but Prince Fleaswallow is the number one ruler of the seven seas.

An obvious attempt to capitalize off the popularity of the Ninja Turtles, Battletoads was a classic beat ’em up starring three humanlike toads. The three toads in question were named Dave Shar, Morgan Ziegler, and Gordon Pie. Of course, they were better known as Rash, Zitz, and Pimple. Rash and Zitz looked very similar to one another, although Rash got to wear a pair of totally rad shades. Pimple was the largest of the Battletoads, but was given the unfortunate role of “kidnap victim” in the first game. All three Battletoads have the uncanny ability to transform their body parts into foreign objects (including anvils, cymbals, and drills) in order to dish out massive damage. I’m recognizing all three toads here simply because Battletoads was a notoriously hard game. These guys have to stick together!

Frogger is an arcade game that was developed by Konami, distributed by Sega, and subsequently ported to dozens of consoles and home computers. Several notable table top and LCD versions of the game were also made. Regardless of what platform you were playing, the basic gameplay remained the same. The game gave the player the simple goal of helping frogs cross a busy highway. The concept seemed to resonate with gamers, and the franchise continued to grow in popularity. In fact, Frogger was even featured in a Saturday morning cartoon! Much later, George Costanza and an episode of Seinfeld from 1998 helped immortalize the game forever. Frogger has been given many facelifts in recent years, but I’ll forever view him as the working class frog just trying to make his way home after a hard day’s work.

Frog was once a brave and gallant knight named Glenn who dedicated his life to protecting the queen and her kingdom. After witnessing the death of his mentor at the hands of the dark mage, Magus, Glenn was transformed into an anthropomorphic frog and began to refer to himself as… well, Frog. From this point on, Frog still acted as a noble defender of the kingdom and maintained his chivalric personality, but he was deeply scarred by what had happened. Blaming himself for his friend’s death, Frog mired in regret over his past and vowed to seek vengeance. One of the most significant events in Chrono Trigger gives Frog the choice of either defeating Magus or aligning himself with his arch enemy. After putting the ghost of his mentor to rest, Frog was able to regain his courage and clean his conscience.