Mario Kart Character Ranking

Over the four-day weekend, I’ve been playing a lot more Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and watching a lot more videos on it than I usually do, and that got me thinking, what if I were to rank all 50 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe characters, so I did exactly that.

Starting at dead last we have Peachette at number 50, I really see no point in having ANOTHER peach skin, there are so many other characters that could be added than Peachette.

At 49th place is Pink Gold Peach, once again it’s just a reskinned peach.

The next set of characters are going to take slots 48-42 which are the Koopalings, honestly, I don’t have a strong opinion on them so I’m just going to rank them just on pure looks which would have to be  Wendy in 48th, out of all the Koopalings, I just don’t really like Wendy at all, Lemmy takes 47th, Iggy in 46th, Larry in 45th, Morton takes 44th place, Ludwig takes 43rd and finally Roy taking 42nd place.

In 41st and 40th place is none other than Cat Peach and Tanooki Mario, while I do think they are pretty cool they are just another Mario and Peach skin. And there are a lot of Mario and Peach skins already on the roster.

Taking 39th place is Baby Rosalina, I can get behind the other babies like Mario and Luigi as they actually appear in games but a baby Rosalina is just random.

In 38th place is Baby Daisy which I can kind of get behind as Daisy was in Mario Kart Wii which perfectly filled out the roster to an even amount of small racers.

In 37th place is Lakitu, overall I think it is pretty cool you can play as him but I doubt anyone would miss him if he wasnot in the next Mario Kart game.

Taking spot 36th is the wiggler, in all honesty, I’m just not a fan of the wiggler.

The Miis take 35th place. I do like the inclusion of the Miis but there’s nothing too special about them for me.

Next has to be Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl taking 34th and 33rd place just because well, they’re not in the Mario franchise so it feels unfair to rank non-Mario characters higher up Mario Kart.

32nd place is Metal Mario who ranks a bit higher than Pink Gold Peach because of the Super Mario 64 reference 

31st and 30th place belong to Villager Boy and Girl, I think if you’re going to add non-Mario characters at least make them more iconic rather than some random villagers.

29th goes to Isabelle, who is higher ranked than Villager Boy and Girl as she’s more iconic out of the bunch.

In 28th place is Link, who has to be one of the best characters out of the non-Mario characters.

In 27th place is Pauline, who we got recently from the booster course pack.

26th place has to be Baby Peach. Baby Peach is higher than some of the other baby characters because she was in Yoshi’s island.

Next, in 25th is Baby Mario, Mario was also in Yoshi’s island but he can’t be higher ranked because well it’s just a baby Mario. 

In 24th place is Baby Luigi, clearly the coolest out of the Yoshis island bunch.

In 23rd place is Koopatroopa, as iconic as he is he’s just kinda middle of the road for me.

In 22nd is Kamek, we love a good comeback but Kamek is just kinda there for me.

In 21st place is Mario, a hot take but I mean Mario is kinda the average here.

In the 20th spot is Princess Daisy, I think this spot fits Daisy as she’s not the coolest out there but she definitely deserves this spot being the most athletic out of the princesses. 

In 19th place is the Princess Peach, everyone has to love Princess Peach by now and she’s just too iconic.

At 18th is Luigi. I think by now everyone has to love Luigi. 

In 17th is Rosalina, perhaps Rosalina should be lower but I just love Mario Galaxy and am one of the biggest Rosalina stans she’s just too cool, I’m hoping in the next Mario Kart game they make Luma’s playable.

In 16th is Wario, Wario is definitely one of the coolest characters but it’s Wario, so that’s why he’s not getting ranked higher.

In 15th is Toad who I feel like needs no explanation, it’s Toad, okay?

In 14th is Toad’s counterpart, Toadette who’s just the female version of Toad but she’s just too cute to put lower.

In 13th place is Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong’s best friend and nephew.

In 12th place is Bowser, being able to play as Bowser himself has to be one of the coolest things ever.

In 11th is Waluigi, who is full of personality. Waluigi’s first-ever appearance was in the 2000s with Mario Tennis.   

In 10th place is King Boo which I think it is super cool that you are able to play as Luigi’s mansion’s main villain. 

In 9th place is Shy Guy. I love Shy Guy but I’ve always wondered what was under the mask?

In 8th place is Dry Bowser which is Bowser but dead which makes him way cooler therefore making him higher on the roster.

In 7th place is Golden Mario which I know I ranked Mario and his other counterparts way lower, but Golden Mario is one of the only characters you can unlock in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which is kinda a flex.

6th place has to go to Donkey Kong himself. Mario would be nothing with D.K.

In 5th place is Petey Piranha who I think is super cool as he appeared in Super Mario Sunshine.

4th belongs to the lovable and adorable Bowser Jr. Im so glad he was added thanks to the booster course pack he is one of my favorite baby characters 

3rd goes to Dry Bones, he’s such a staple for any Mario Kart series and I just think he’s super cool.

In 2nd is Funky Kong who is legit D.K but way cooler. We can also thank the booster pack for Funky Kong.

And finally in First Place is the cutie dino himself Yoshi, with a bunch of different colors Yoshi is by far the GOAT in my opinion. 

Of course, these are just my opinion and I am a little biased but those are my personal rankings of all the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe characters.

Graphic by Noelia Neal using Canva