One of Mario’s most noticeable physical features, aside from hischarming mustacheand bright red overalls, is his height. Mario isn’t some big and burly main protagonist who can take on anyone that steps in his way with sheer might, as he’s actually pretty small and not exactly the most intimidating guy on the surface. Admittedly, though, there are many people in theMariouniverse who are on the shorter side, so it almost makes it feel like the characters have all been shrunken down to make the Mushroom Kingdom look even more gigantic in scale.
On the other hand though, there have also been some pretty tall individuals seen throughout theMariogames, some of them friends, but most of whom are enemies, or at least, were at one point in time. It’s time to take a look at the actual heights of these beloved characters to see who truly stands among them all as the biggest of the bunch.
Daisy first made her debut in the series inSuper Mario Landfor the GameBoywhere she was ruler of Sarsaland. Though some people may see Daisy as little more than a color palette swap of Peach, she’s actually quite different in her personality, being much more sarcastic and witty compared to Peach’s more passive attitude. She’s also known for being pretty tall, easily towering over the Mario brothers and most of their friends.
Since she first appeared, Daisy has become a recurring character in the games who has taken part in everything from golf, to soccer, all the way to kart racing. She’s a mainstay of the series, and though she prefers not to fight, she’s shown on numerous occasions that she’s also not afraid to throw-down if the situation calls for it, and will gladly use her larger stature to her advantage.
Standing only an inch taller than her counterpart, Peach is more or less considered a giant in the world ofMariowho can always be seen standing head and shoulders above most of her friends and allies. Out of the main crew, she’s the tallest by quite a larger margin, which can clearly be seen at the beginning of most ofthe 2D gameswhere she’s usually relaxing alongside the others before Bowser inevitably arrives to snatch her away.
Peach is also more than twice the size of her loyal Toad followers, with some fans even theorizing that the only reason they worship her at all is because of how awe-struck they are by her size, almost seeming like she came from an entirely different world. Even when Peach appears as a playable fighter in theSuper Smash Brosgames, she still manages to stand toe to toe with individuals like Samus and Captain Falcon, which gives a good idea of how tall she really is.
In all honesty, Birdo isa character who can be easy to forget about, despite the fact she’s appeared in more than a fewMariogames over the years. Before she became an ally of Mario’s in the later games, Birdo actually started out as an enemy inSuper Mario Bros 2, but over time, she seems to have grown closer to the main gang of heroes and decided to help them on numerous occasions. Part of the reason for this is probably because of Yoshi, whom she seems to share a particularly special bond with.
However, while Yoshi could already be considered fairly tall, in reality, Birdo is quite a bit bigger, mostly because of her natural height, but also due to the massive red bow which can always be seen on the back of her head. Though this probably isn’t a natural part of Birdo’s body, similarly to Shy Guy’s mask, Birdo can never be seen not wearing it, so whether she uses it to look a bit taller is unknown, but it certainly worked for her this time around.
Though Rosalina was only intended to be a one-off character forSuper Mario Galaxy, it didn’t take long for her to become a fan-favorite who Nintendo felt obligated to include in moreMariogames going forward. Part of what makes Rosalina so intriguing is how mysterious she is as a character. Though she resides in the Comic Observatory and is tasked with protecting the cosmos, she only reveals tiny tidbits about her backstory throughoutMario Galaxy.
As a result, many players assumed that she must be some sort of alien or even a goddess, not only because of how much authority she wields, but also due to her size. Rosalina is far taller than both of the Mario brothers, and though she’s not the tallest human in the game’s universe, she’s not far off.
It would only be a matter of time before Waluigi would show up on this list, as he is undoubtedly the tallest human in theMariouniverse by leaps and bounds. The simple reason for this is the fact that Waluigi has some of the longest legs ever seen in a video game. In fact, his legs alone are bigger than Toad, and almost as tall as Mario himself. This gives him an incredibly intimidating presence as it allows him to always look down on his enemies, both physically and metaphorically.
Waluigi also isn’t shy about putting his size to good use when he needs to. InMario Strikers Chargedfor example, he’s easily able to barge people into the electric fences due to his size, and is capable of pelting the ball at incredible speeds thanks to his long legs. How he manages to fit inside a car with eachMario Kartgame is unclear, but there’s no doubt if he was ever added to theSuper Smash Broslineup, he’d be a real force to be reckoned with due to his large frame.
Similar to Bowser, there was once a time when Donkey Kong was also one of Mario’s fiercest rivals, but over time, DK has started to warm up to the plucky plumber, and the two have worked together on numerous occasions. It’s a good thing he isn’t as antagonistic as he used to be, since Donkey Kong could easily crush Mario if he wanted to given just how massive he is in comparison.
At first glance, Donkey Kong may not seem that big, but this is often because he likes to rest on his knuckles, which allows him to move around his environment faster while on all-fours. When he’s standing upright, there’s barely anyone in the world ofMariowho can compare to his size, and like Bowser, this resulted in him being a strong and heavy type ofSuper Smash Brosfighter who relies on his heavy punches to get the job done.
Admittedly, Nintendo has played around with Bowser’s size multiple times, especially in theNew Super Mario Brosseries where he’s often depicted as a massive fire-breathing behemoth. For most of his appearances though, he’s not quite this big, but still very tall nonetheless, standing at well over 8 feet. It makes a lot of sense why Bowser would be depicted as so big, since he is designed to be theintimidating main antagonistof the games after all, but when standing side by side with Mario, it can honestly be quite frightening to see just how much bigger the King of Koopa’s is compared to his rival.
Because Bowser can sometimes be used for comic relief in the games, or in other forms ofMariomedia, making him this big also helps to remind players he’s still a dangerous villain who will gladly squash anyone who opposes him. Bowser’s large frame resulted in him becoming a heavy archetype character inSuper Smash Broswhere he’s able to use moves like a bellyflop and divekick to fling his opponent off the stage with little to no effort.
Alongside the Goombas and Koopas, another common enemy that Mario has encountered on more than a few occasions is the Piranha Plant. Most of these snappy guys look exactly the same, but there’s one who stands out among the rest for his strength and size, and that’s Petey. Unlike a lot of the characters on this list, Petey only makes brief appearances here and there, and wouldn’t exactly be considered a main character or enemy of the series.
When he does show up though, he’s capable of causing an incredible amount of carnage with his massive head and gigantic body. He originally showed up as a boss inSuper Mario Sunshine, but since then, he’s appeared in a few other games, such asMario & Luigi: Paper Jam, andMario Party: Star Rush. There’s long beena theory among the fanbasewhich claims that Petey is perhaps the leader of all the Piranha Plants, and if his size is anything to go by, it seems highly likely this could be the case.
