The Toads are a species from the Super Mario Brothers series. While in some games they act as damsels and dudes in distress, Super Mario 64 features them as little helpers, providing Mario with tips about various ingame actions and events. Sometimes they even give him a star which can't be achieved otherwise.
The Toads stay stationairy throuhout the game. This means one specific Toad will always be found at the same location, no matter how far the player has progressed ingame.
Gallery
Peach and two Toads as they appear in the ending.
The same Toads (with Peach and Mario) from another angle.
Peach thanks Mario for recovering all 120 stars and saving her while the Toads hop in place.
At the end they all wave the player goodbye.