Summary
- Mario Kart World, releasing in 2025, debuts previously unplayable characters like Cheep Cheeps and Conkdors.
- Popular characters like Piranha Plants and Goombas are becoming playable racers.
- The game includes unique additions like Pianta and Moo Moo, making their karting debut.
Mario Kart World will be released on June 5, 2025, as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2. It will introduce several new features and characters to the Mario Kart franchise. Several of these new characters have appeared in previous games as background characters, marking Mario Kart World as their playable debuts in both the Mario Kart and Super Mario franchises.
Possibly due to the new 24-player races, 20 new characters have joined the roster. These characters come in a range of shapes and sizes, friend and foe, usually seen in the background or as a supporting cast. The following is a list of the most exciting and surprising additions set to appear in the upcoming Mario Kart World, ranked in terms of who we can't wait to race as.
20 Coin Coffer
The Moneybags Replacement
Coin Coffers are enemies from Super Mario 3D Land, they look like a cross between a coin purse and a frog. They react similarly to the Moneybags from Super Mario 64, running away from the player and spitting coins out.
Coin Coffers are only playable to a certain degree, and they can be encountered and captured in Super Mario Odyssey. It only makes sense to include this character in Mario Kart World because of how much coins matter in various Mario games.
19 Conkdor
Dipping Bird Ostriches
Conkdors are comically disproportionate bird enemies that first appeared in Super Mario 3D World, idly standing on the ground and attacking by slamming their heads forward like a dipping bird toy. They appear as obstacles in various minigames from the Mario Party series, or as background characters in other games, but never in a Mario Kart game.
In the grand scheme of things, the Conkdor is a relatively new addition to the franchise. Mario Kart World will solidify its presence in the franchise and make a fun appearance as a racer.
18 Snowman
No Longer A Frosty Obstacle
The Snowmen were introduced back in Super Mario 64, living in the Snow World and Snowman’s Land. In the Mario Kart series, these Snowmen appeared as obstacles in snowscape courses, first appearing in Frappe Snowland in Mario Kart 64.
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These snowmen pop up in a variety of other materials released by Nintendo, and often serve as background characters or props. Mario Kart World will introduce the Snowman as a playable character; no longer an obstacle, but a legitimate, albeit armless racer.
17 Sidestepper
The Original Scuttlers
The Sidesteppers, or Crabs, first scuttled about in the original 1983 Mario Bros. Game, and typically appeared as simple cameos. They usually appear on the roads in the Mario Kart series after Mario Kart 64, walking sideways and pinching the air.
Driving into the Sidestepper makes the players’ kart spin, but now it seems the Sidestepper will get behind the wheel themselves.
16 Cheep Cheep
The Winged Pufferfish
Cheep Cheeps are the pufferfish-like creatures that first appeared in Super Mario Bros. In the underwater levels, known for their jumping behavior. They come in a variety of colors, including orange, green, blue, and more, but the red with a white patch on the stomach is most common.
Cheep Cheeps appear in almost every Mario game and in a lot of Nintendo materials, and the closest to playing them is in Super Mario Odyssey. Now, instead of swimming and bouncing around like obstacles, they will be driving around alongside the other racers.
15 Fish Bone
Cheep Cheep Bones
Fish Bones are underwater enemies that first showed up in Super Mario World (1990), implied to be the reanimated bones of dead Cheep Cheeps, similar to the Dry Bones counterpart of Koopa Troopas. In the Mario Kart series, they first appeared in Mario Kart 7 and were found in Wario Shipyard, where racers could collide with them and lose speed.
Aside from finding hints of Fish Bones in the background of Mario Kart 8 in the underwater section of Twisted Mansion, they typically appeared in artwork, as minor enemies, and as background NPCs in the Mario Party games.
14 Peepa
The Goofy Extroverted Boos
Peepas are the less shy counterpart of Boos, with a silly signature buck-toothed face and happier eyes. Peepas appeared first in Super Mario 3D Land, acting as obstacles that remain either in place, or circling an area.
In the Mario Party series, Peepas appear in a few minigames as enemies or barriers. Now these mischievous spirits will race alongside Boo and the others in Mario Kart World.
13 Stingby
The Buzzing Bee Foe
The Stingbies made their debut in Super Mario 3D Land, a creature that feels like an instant classic already fitting into the franchise. This bee with a stinger on its face made a few other appearances as foes in a Mario Kart 7 battle course and as enemies in Paper Mario: The Origami King.
The Stingby is caught buzzing by in the Mario Kart World trailer in a kart that matches its character design. There appear to be more unique karts themed after each character in terms of color and style.
12 Cataquack
The Catapulting Duck
Cataquacks are duck-like enemies that first appeared in Super Mario Sunshine, and are known for aimlessly wandering Gelato Beach until sensing Mario and charging at him and catapulting him in the air.
Cataquacks are encountered in Super Mario Galaxy as well, and are a general nuisance in the Mario Kart series. This time, instead of blocking items on the track or slowing racers down, the Cataquack is returning as a playable character.
11 Para-Biddybud
Colorful Ladybugs With Feathered Wings
The Parabiddybuds are the winged variant of Biddybuds, resembling multicolored ladybugs and first appearing in Super Mario 3D Land. They show up as cameos in the background of Mario Party: Island Tour and Super Mario Party Jamboree.
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They’ve never appeared in a Mario Kart game, but Mario Kart 8 features a kart designed in their image, known as the Biddybuggy. The Mario Kart World trailer shows a Para-Biddybud driving a kart that looks like them, an altered design from the one seen in Mario Kart 8.