One of the largest drawbacks to the
Battletoads series was that the
origin of the 'toads changed quite frequently. The original
Battletoads game for the
NES depicted the 'toads as mighty space heroes that partied their way around the universe.
However, the Nintendo Power comic strip than ran around the time of the game's release explained that the Battletoads were once normal computer-programming humans that were sucked into an interactive video game that had been tampered with by the demented Silas Volkmire and then transformed into large toads.
To make matters more confusing, the Battletoads cartoon pilot that ran on Thanksgiving Day 1992 explained that the 'toads were once normal sloppy teenagers that were sprayed with Toad Essence by Professor T. Bird and transformed into toads. The comic book that ran parallel to the (unproduced) series was consistent with this origin story.
So who are the Battletoads really? We may never know.