Mario Kart has been a core part of the Nintendo family for over 30 years, first appearing on the SNES with Super Mario Kart, and the popularity of the kart racing series has seen it expand to 11 games across consoles (and mobile), with Mario Kart World launching alongside the Switch 2.
The games have vastly expanded since those nostalgic ’90s days, going from only eight characters and 20 tracks, to the vast roster and open world of the latest entry.
There have been some constants over the years, though. The notorious blue shell, for instance (which debuted in Mario Kart 64), and being flagged to ‘Go!” or fished out of the water by Lakitu on his little cloud. And they both feature on the following list of classic Mario Kart character coplayers. Enjoy!
10. Mario Group
Cosplayers: Luigi: @marvellous_cosplay. Toad: @liormora_cosplay, Mario & Donkey Kong: @astrocyte_cosplay
Photographer: sightfxphotography
Mario Kart is all about having fun with friends, and what better way to continue that fun than by bringing everyone’s favourite video game characters to life in a cosplay group. Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Toad are four mains that Nintendo fans have loved since the start. As well as being some of Nintendo’s oldest avatars, they appeared as four of the eight original playable characters in the SNES original (although Donkey Kong was represented by his father, Donkey Kong Jr., in the first game).
Australian cosplayers Marvellous_cosplay and liormora_cosplay have crafted many costumes of their favourite characters over the years. They love to play the Mario Kart games together, and so decided to put together their own versions of Luigi and Toad.
As well as putting together the costumes, they also assembled the karts using cardboard, paint, and plenty of hot glue. Cosplay couple astrocyte_cosplay joined the group as Mario and Donkey Kong with their own outfits and handmade karts for the group to race around their local convention.
9. Toadette
Cosplayer and photographer: CandiceBCosplay
Toadette’s first appearance was as a playable character and cute companion to the Mushroom Kingdom’s better-known Toad in Mario Kart: Double Dash. The pink pigtailed ‘ette has appeared in multiple games from the series since her debut, finally making it as a default, dont-need-to-unlock character in Mario Kart World. As well as the kart racing games, Toadette has shown up in many Mario Party and Mario Sports games, not to mention several Mario platformers, but she got her start in a kart!
US cosplayer CandiceBCosplay captures Toadette’s playful side perfectly in her cosplay made to pair up with a friend’s Nintendo cosplay at a convention. Attending conventions since 2018, Candice wanted to make a character that is rare to see on the con floor. Toadette’s signature style includes her pink spotted head, which CandiceB said was her favourite part of the costume to make.
8. Princess Daisy
Cosplayer: Anthea_time
Photographer: hahex.arw
Daisy is one of the three main princesses in the Mario franchise, each being a ruler of a different kingdom. Reigning over Sarasaland since 1989, Daisy has arguably been seen to have more of a tomboy and adventurous nature than Peach or Rosalina.
It is that difference in Daisy that has given German cosplayer Anthea a love of the character since childhood. The lack of pink resonated with Anthea, and Princess Daisy helped her to feel secure in herself and about not liking stereotypically feminine things as a child. Daisy was always Anthea’s main pick, so her racing suit had been on her list to make for a long time.
This cosplay was Anthea’s first attempt to make a bodysuit, and the extra touch of the racing flag really adds to it.
7. Waluigi
Cosplayer: Quinnjob
Photographer: mallorymariephoto
Waluigi is the mysterious bad-boy counterpart to Luigi that originally appeared as Wario’s double partner in the Mario Tennis games. He is quite often seen as the sidekick to Wario, with his first kart-driving appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash.
Waluigi appealed to Quinnjob because of that mystery behind the slender villain. Not knowing much about him and his adventures, he recognised that Waluigi has a sizeable fan base. Quinnjob added prosthetics and makeup to the cosplay that really emphasised the character’s troublemaker side.
Quinnjob also does vinyl wraps professionally, so as part of the cosplay he did a custom Waluigi kart vinyl wrap to take it one step further. The next stage for Quinnjob is to get a full group of Mario Kart cosplayers together.
6. Lakitu
Cosplayer and photographer: Cosplays_from_trash
Lakitu is a classic Mario Kart character who appears throughout the series. Being the real MVP of the games, Lakitu not only tells everyone when they can go, but also plops you back on track when you’ve gone off course. This cloud-riding Koopa has appeared in every Mario Kart game since the start, and even gets behind the wheel himself in the more recent entries.
Cosplay_from_Trash hates waste and uses his platform to champion creativity, sustainability, and community in-person and online. He has had an appreciation of Lakitu since MK64 and thought it would be an easy cosplay, but found making a cloud that stays around your waist and a backpack in the shape of a shell more difficult than expected.
He made the backpack base from a bucket, and the cloud base from elastic and a tightly bunched comforter. His favourite part of the cosplay is the cloud batting from the inside of the comforter.
