When Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was first released on the Nintendo Switch three years ago, no one could have imagined that the rerelease of a kart racing game could captivate audiences as it has. However, due to franchise recognition, a promising new console, and all the DLC on the cartridge, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe became a must-buy game for anyone with a Switch.
Although the series has stuck with the Mario Kart for nearly thirty years, the most recent iteration has leaned towards celebrating Nintendo, rather than just the Mario franchise. For all you Nintendo fans, here are all the characters in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that are not actually from a Mario game.
6 Donkey Kong
Although many Nintendo fans know Donkey Kong as the lovable lead of the Donkey Kong Country franchise, he made his first appearance as a villain in the 1981 arcade game, Donkey Kong. While this technically is not the Donkey Kong of the present game, and rather our hero's grandfather, renamed Cranky Kong, the character in the 1981 game went by this iconic name. Since then, the Kongs have flipped sides and became some of Nintendo's most beloved mascots.
Over Donkey Kong's forty years in the spotlight, he has had dozens of games with his name in the title and has appeared in many other franchises. Although his first appearance had Mario as the playable character in the game, it is titled Donkey Kong, so we are going to count that as Mario appearing in the Donkey Kong franchise instead of vice versa.
5 Link
Arguably the hero of greatest Nintendo franchise, The Legend of Zelda's Link recently made his first appearance in the Mario Kart franchise. Since his first Nintendo game, Link has mostly battled his nemesis, Ganon, to save Princess Zelda. Over the years, the mainline Legend of Zelda games have garnered critical and commercial success, most notably in the recent installment of the franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was The Game Awards' Game of the Year in 2017.
Although Link and Mario were both created by Shigeru Miyamoto in the 1980s, and share many elements in the earlier games, the two have never crossed over in their flagship game series'. Link and Mario have, however, been in several games together, most notably the Super Smash Brothers series.
4 Villager Boy/Girl
Unlike many of the characters that lead flagship Nintendo franchises, the villagers are completely customizable in their respective games. First appearing in Animal Crossing, the villager is the playable avatar in the franchise. In each game, they can be male or female, depending on the player's preference. While the characters can not be altered in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo gives the option for players to choose a stock version of both the male and the female versions of the character. Much like many other entries on this list, the villagers are also playable in the most recent version of the Super Smash Brothers series.
3 Isabelle
Similar to the Villagers, Isabelle first made her appearance in the Animal Crossing series. Although she did not appear until the fourth game in the series, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Isabelle quickly became a fan favorite.
Since then, she has appeared in every follow Animal Crossing title, as well as, a few crossovers titles. While you can race with her in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, she is also playable as a fighter in the two most recent installments of the Super Smash Brothers series. In the newest game in the franchise, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, once she moves to the island, Isabelle greets players as they start up the game each day, usually giving the player an update or advice.
2 Mii
The Mii first started as an avatar for Nintendo accounts during the Wii era. However, the love for the creatable characters has spanned many console generations and games. While the Mii can be used in a variety of games created around its conception, the one that made it famous is Wii Sports, which , because it was bundled with the Wii, became one of the best selling games of all time. Since then, fans of the creatable characters have been able to bring their Miis with them on several games, such as Mario Party 8, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
1 Inkling Girl/Inkling Boy
While the Inklings have appeared recently in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the pair first appeared in Nintendo's third-person shooter, Splatoon. Originally released on the Wii U in 2015, Nintendo quickly released a sequel to the game two years later on the Switch. Unlike the original game, Splatoon 2 gave fans the much-requested single-player campaign. The Inklings are squid-like humanoids that can be customized to the player's preference. Although the customization component is missing in the games they cross over in, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gives a few variations on the characters for players to choose between. Recently, there have been rumors that Nintendo will be releasing the third installment in the Splatoon franchise.