Why is Nintendo so afraid of showing us Yoshi from the front?

Character Select screen from a Super Mario game
(Image credit: Nintendo/Future)

Ah, Yoshi. He's (she's?) (it's?) one of the cutest residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, and arguably almost as big a star as Mario himself. But have you ever noticed that Nintendo is only keen on showing the green dinosaur's face from certain angles?

Fans have noticed that even on character select screens in which everyone else is shown front-on, Yoshi is still coquettishly tilting his head towards the camera. It means we're always viewing him in some kind of side profile – and it might be because Yoshi from the front looks somewhat cursed. (Looking for inspiration? Check out the best character design tips.) 

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Daniel John
Senior News Editor

Daniel John is Senior News Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.