Birdo

History:

Birdo was once a General in the Grand 8 Bit Army of Wart, an evil presence to attempted to wrest control of the Kingdom of Subcon, a world that may interact with the Mushroom Kingdom through Dreams, tho there is a Physical Secret Passage between worlds. Wart attempted a few more insurrections but has never recovered the power he once had and hasn't been a presence in Subcon for the past decade. In his absence Birdo has branched out on her own and found a niche in some of the Sports Events of the Mushroom Kingdom. Naturally getting close to the only other Dinosaur, Yoshi, she has partnered with him a few times and he even gave her a Racecourse, the Dry Dry Desert. Considering her Apparent Gender Crisis, Yoshi's flirtation with her is all the more alarming.

Double Dash:

Birdo first appeared as a Regular Character in Double Dash, teamed up with Yoshi. Her Kart is Unlockable, though. Double Dash put more importance on Karts that players would choose rather than the characters. Birdo is a Middleweight and basically the same as Yoshi except that her Special Item is a Pink Birdo Egg rather than the Green Yoshi Egg. These Special Items were also the only difference between Characters.

Birdo's Ride is the Turbo Birdo. As Middle Karts go it's one of the worst Offroaders, and it's also one of the Bounciest Karts in the game, meaning that for courses with Big Jumps it loses a ton of speed. It also doesn't have great Acceleration tho at 14th overall it beats the Mario Bros. Karts. It succeeds in a decent 57 mph Top Speed and is the 5th Heaviest Kart in the game, #1 among Middle Karts. All in all it's really not that great, there are better options to choose from.

Birdo's Item is the Egg, and it has the same effect as Yoshi. It's beneficial in that 2nd or 3rd Place position because it will seek out the Kart ahead like a Red Shell. When it hits, three Random Items will pop out that could have beneficial or disastrous consequences. The Items range from Shells to Mushrooms to Stars and Bob-ombs. If one of the negative Items emerges and devastates a competitor, all the better. Likewise if you can time it to receive a Star close to 1st place. The opposite may also be true, however. Your competitor could get Mushrooms and Stars after being hit and you end up with a Bob-omb in your face. It's a gambit using this character, it can be pretty good or turn out awful.

Double Dash had Secret Staff Ghosts to be unlocked in Time Trials. Birdo takes the Lead on Dry Dry Desert with a time of 1:50:755. She reverses with Yoshi and sits in the back during his Yoshi Circuit a bit later, with a time of 1:59:886. Both use the Turbo Yoshi. This is the only Staff Ghost of Birdo Ever.

Wii:

How is there debate over what this thing is

Birdo doesn't come back again until Wii, and she's still pretty useless. She's one of the easier characters to unlock, but there's no reason to ever really use her. Wii took Kart-Specific stats a step further and implemented Six Custom Bikes and Six Custom Karts for Eight Characters in each Size Class. Birdo is in the Middle Class, giving her access to some Cherry Rides. Each Character also got added Bonuses in each stat, making the game very individualised. Birdo gets a small Weight and Offroad Bonus but a hefty Mini-Turbo, meaning she's ideal for timing Drifts to cut Offroad Corners. Her biggest Bonus is identical to Diddy's though, who with a Drift and Acceleration Bonus as well, makes him more suited for Driving how Birdo should drive. Also, who can pick Birdo over Diddy? Birdo also shares similar but superior stats to Bowser Jr. Here are her Specific Stats for Each Kart and Bike available to her:

Her best Vehicle is probably the Zip Zip. Birdo, amazingly is the only Character in Wii not to have any Staff Ghosts. None. At all. She has no signature track, no signature vehicle, how did she get in this game anyway?