Between the three characters from the Donkey Kong arcade game: Mario, Pauline and Donkey Kong, Pauline has way sporadic appearances. By contrast, Mario has a productive career ever since his 1981 game, while Donkey Kong is a titular character (albeit as a villain) so he naturally had the spotlight until Donkey Kong Country, where Donkey Kong is now a hero and made regular appearances.
When you look back, the game that made Mario a global icon was Super Mario Bros., which eschewed the city setting that came before for a never-before-seen fantastical setting that contains medieval ideas, most notably the fact that a dragon is a villain which the hero must overcome, in order to save a princess. In case you can't already tell, the "dragon" in this case is Bowser and the "princess" is Peach. Because of how famous Super Mario Bros. was, the characters starred in those games will go on to become staples in the Mario universe, which effectively meant that Peach replaced Pauline as Mario's leading lady. This is best seen in the Game & Watch Gallery 2 and 4, where the Modern rendition of Donkey Kong used Peach as the damsel in distress rather than the original Pauline (Donkey Kong is still present). To a lesser extent Bowser replaced Donkey Kong as a main villain but it was not an overhaul since Donkey Kong is still a cultural icon (which made his transition to main character smooth). The main point is: Pauline is more or less forgotten because Peach eclipsed in the same role for Mario.
So here's a hypothetical question that would probably upset a few people: what would happen if in the original Super Mario Bros., Pauline is still used as the person Mario had to rescue, rather than creating a new princess for the purpose? This effectively means reusing a previously established character rather than making a new one. On one hand, Pauline was already established as somebody who wasn't able to do much against a big brute so needing to be rescued is justified. Also, Pauline would have enjoyed a longer period of fame since she would be part of a larger series of popular games. On the other hand, it is easy to identify a classic tale of a dragon kidnapping princess if a princess character were used, so a more regular lady would be difficult to relate to. It's also clear that princesses seem to be enjoyed by a lot of people, if the Disney Princesses are of any indication.
I would like to stress out that this is not about replacing Bowser, not about replacing Daisy or even the Toads. It's basically Pauline replacing Peach only.
Thank you for reading...
...and I apologise for bringing up this hypothesis, especially to those who loves Peach as a character.
When you look back, the game that made Mario a global icon was Super Mario Bros., which eschewed the city setting that came before for a never-before-seen fantastical setting that contains medieval ideas, most notably the fact that a dragon is a villain which the hero must overcome, in order to save a princess. In case you can't already tell, the "dragon" in this case is Bowser and the "princess" is Peach. Because of how famous Super Mario Bros. was, the characters starred in those games will go on to become staples in the Mario universe, which effectively meant that Peach replaced Pauline as Mario's leading lady. This is best seen in the Game & Watch Gallery 2 and 4, where the Modern rendition of Donkey Kong used Peach as the damsel in distress rather than the original Pauline (Donkey Kong is still present). To a lesser extent Bowser replaced Donkey Kong as a main villain but it was not an overhaul since Donkey Kong is still a cultural icon (which made his transition to main character smooth). The main point is: Pauline is more or less forgotten because Peach eclipsed in the same role for Mario.
So here's a hypothetical question that would probably upset a few people: what would happen if in the original Super Mario Bros., Pauline is still used as the person Mario had to rescue, rather than creating a new princess for the purpose? This effectively means reusing a previously established character rather than making a new one. On one hand, Pauline was already established as somebody who wasn't able to do much against a big brute so needing to be rescued is justified. Also, Pauline would have enjoyed a longer period of fame since she would be part of a larger series of popular games. On the other hand, it is easy to identify a classic tale of a dragon kidnapping princess if a princess character were used, so a more regular lady would be difficult to relate to. It's also clear that princesses seem to be enjoyed by a lot of people, if the Disney Princesses are of any indication.
I would like to stress out that this is not about replacing Bowser, not about replacing Daisy or even the Toads. It's basically Pauline replacing Peach only.
Thank you for reading...
...and I apologise for bringing up this hypothesis, especially to those who loves Peach as a character.
