Yoshi
Yoshis are the famous companions of Mario, Luigi, and the rest of the gang. Dinosaurs native to Yoshi’s Island, they serve as comrades, mounts, and potentially even beasts of burden for the nearby kingdoms. But after thinking about it, things started to feel off to me to the point where I just have to ask: are Yoshis people?
They wear shoes, they rescue baby Mario and form an advanced plan to ferry him all the way to his brother and face of against baby Bowser in the process, they emote and gesture to make themselves understood, they even play sports and do parkour. By all means these guys are just as smart as any other Toad, Koopa or Human, and yet their society, if it could even be called that, is distinctly animalistic in nature. Every Yoshi we’ve seen so far, without exception(as far as I know), has shown themselves to be at their most happiest when frolicking in the woods eating fruit, carrying people on their backs, wearing collars and working as draft animals for the more standard humanoid species’ that have colonized the rest of the world. They chuff and chirp and yip and yap, they wag their tails and snuggle up with each other in leaf nests when night falls. By all means, these guys seem to be completely sentient and sapient people who simply, whether by custom or by instinct, wish to live as animals. Even when actively moving into and partaking in larger societies, they live in stables and fields and make a living serving a master in return for food and affection. All of this begs the incredibly important question:
