Geno

Geno (, Geno) is a character from the universe. Unlike most characters from this universe, he was not originally created by Nintendo but instead by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) for the 1996 title .

Origin
Geno is one of the two original party member characters from , the first Mario RPG title. Geno is a warrior from Star Road who allies himself with Mario, Princess Peach (known then as Princess Toadstool), Bowser, and on their quest to defeat. Geno's true form is enigmatic, represented in-game by a small star; as an agent of the Star Road, he is implied to be an angel-like being who claims to serve "a higher authority." His true name is given as "♡♪!?" (which he describes as "hard to pronounce"), so he suggests using "Geno", the name of the doll that he has chosen to possess.

During Mario and Mallow's visit to Rose Town where it was besieged by the Smithy Gang's lieutenant,, the two heroes arrived at the Toad Inn where Mario witnessed a Toad child named Gaz playing with his dolls of Mario, Toadstool, and Bowser. Agreeing to Gaz's mom's request to play with her son, Mario pretended to be Bowser while Gaz pretended to be his favorite doll, Geno. Gaz played too roughly, however, when Gaz used Geno's "Super Star Shot" to hit the Bowser doll, but ended up hitting Mario instead, knocking the plumber unconscious.

That evening, ♡♪!? appeared at the inn in his star form. Spotting the dolls, ♡♪!? chose to inhabit the Geno doll as he appeared the strongest out of the dolls. Possessing the doll, ♡♪!? assumed Geno's identity. Geno initially had trouble walking, running into a wall before he left the inn.

The next morning, Gaz told his mother that he saw the living Geno walk out of the living room. While Gaz's mom did not believe him, Mario and Mallow explored the Forest Maze to find the animated Geno doll. Geno entered the Forest Maze to challenge Bowyer and retrieve the green Star Piece found by Bowyer's minions. Mario and Mallow decided to join Geno in his battle against Bowyer, and together, they defeated Bowyer and retrieved the green Star Piece. After defeating Bowyer, Geno reveals his origins as the warrior from the Star Road and assumed his Geno form to fight the Smithy Gang. He also explained that without the seven Star Pieces, the Star Road could never be repaired, and everyone's wishes would never come true. Geno then joins Mario and Mallow in their quest to defeat Smithy, recover the seven Star Pieces, and repair the Star Road.

When Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser, and Princess Toadstool collected the seven Star Pieces and defeated Smithy, Geno left his doll and returned to his star form. Geno brought the seven Star Pieces to repair the Star Road, returning the power of wishes returned to the world.

Due to Super Mario RPG having been developed by Squaresoft, its original characters are owned by them rather than Nintendo despite the fact these characters were created for the Mario series and not for any other franchise. As a result, they have made very few appearances in other media. The only non-Smash game appearance of a Super Mario RPG character since its first release was a brief cameo role for Geno in  in the minigame, with a quick mention of Square Enix as the copyright holder in the game's credits; notably, this cameo was removed in the game's 3DS remake, presumably for licensing reasons. However, Geno would later see a major reappearance in a remake of Super Mario RPG, alongside a  theme made to promote it.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
While Geno does not appear in Brawl, Sakurai considered him for potential inclusion as a fighter since he knew about the character's popularity and felt he could easily fit in the game. However, this consideration fell through, presumably due to him being owned by Square Enix rather than Nintendo.

In Super Smash Bros. 4
Geno serves as the basis of the Geno Hat and Outfit DLC Mii Costume for the s. The Geno set was released alongside the other Wave 5 Mii Fighter costumes on December 16, 2015. Nintendo also released a QR code for those who wish to have the exact Mii used in the costume's advertising.

During the reveal trailer, the Mii Gunner representing Geno is first seen on the Town and City stage, referencing Ivy Town. The Mii Gunner is next seen battling on the Mario Galaxy stage's Ω form, with Ganondorf likely representing Smithy, the main antagonist of Super Mario RPG, while the stage references Star Road, the celestial realm where ♡♪!? originated from. The track "Beware of Forest Mushrooms" from Super Mario RPG was used during the trailer although it does not appear in-game.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Geno appears as a profile icon in the game's online mode.

As a costume
The Geno set returns as a DLC Mii Costume. It was revealed during the  presentation on December 17, 2020.

During the reveal trailer, the Mii Gunner representing Geno is first seen after using the Warp Star on a set of blocks in the Living Room stage, referencing how Geno was a star before inhabiting his doll body, with the stage referencing the interior of the Rose Town Inn where the Geno doll is introduced. Next, the Mii Gunner is seen battling and, each representing the  and  enemies, with the  stage referencing  due to the block platforms. The ending image features and  standing with the Mii Gunner, recreating a possible in-game party lineup in Super Mario RPG, with the Garden of Hope stage referencing the Forest Maze where Geno is first encountered. The track "Beware of Forest Mushrooms" from Super Mario RPG was used once more for the trailer.

Geno was released alongside the other Round 8 Mii Fighter costumes on December 22nd, 2020.

Spirit
Geno also appears as a Legend-class primary spirit.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, Geno is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. Geno's spirit is located in the outer space section of The Light Realm.

Geno uses a puppet fighter and is fought on the Mario Galaxy stage's Battlefield form, referencing the Star Road. He is fought along with the, , , and puppet fighters, who represent the primary cast from Super Mario RPG, with Kirby representing Mallow. During the battle, the player's fighter must defeat at least two of the minion fighters to fight Sheik in two-and-a-half minutes, while Mario starting off with a Green Shell references Mario's NokNok Shell, Peach's Autoheal ability references Princess Toadstool's healing spells, and Sheik starting off with a Super Scope and the Star Rod item references his built-in blaster weapons, including the star-shooting Star Gun. Also, early on in the battle, the Warp Star item appears, referencing Geno's true star form.

Geno can be summoned using the cores of, , two Attack types, and a Neutral type.

Trivia

 * Due to Square Enix's ownership of the character, as well as any character created for Super Mario RPG, Geno is the first third-party character in the  series to hail from a first-party universe. The reverse is true for Dr. Wright.
 * Geno was tied with Mallow as the 8th most requested Mario series character for a potential sequel to the original Super Smash Bros., according to a poll on the Japanese Nintendo website.
 * The gun in Geno's Mii costume is based on the one seen in-game, mostly for the special attack Geno Beam, rather than the artwork for the weapons used in regular attacks.