Snoorlax on 15 July 2014
Back in the NES days Nintendo needed some western stereotype of avatar to appeal to western audiences. Mario was supposed to be this Italian American born in New York with an Italian accent, but in Yoshis Island they totally threw that out the window, unless Yoshis actually live in New York. Not to mention most enemies Mario faces are based of Japanese myth monsters like the kappa which appears in many Japanese games and animations.
Just like with Donkey Kong, they basically took an already famous giant monkey changed his name and looks and made him stupid but kept the familiar kidnapping of the woman he loves.
