Princess Peach

This article is about the princess from the Mario series. For the video game starring her, see Super Princess Peach.
Princess Peach Toadstool

Peach's current appearance, as depicted in Mario Party 8
Game series Super Mario Bros. series
First game Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Created by Shigeru Miyamoto
Voiced by Jeannie Elias (TV) (1989-1990)
Tracey Moore (TV) (1990-1991)
Jocelyn Benford (Hotel Mario)
Leslie Swan (VG) (1996-1999; 2004; 2007)
Asako Kozuki (Mario Party and Mario Party 2)
Jen Taylor (VG) (1999-2005; 2006; 2007)
Nicole Mills (VG) (2005-2006)
Samantha Kelly (VG) (2007-present)

Princess Peach (ピーチ姫 Pīchi-hime?) is a character in Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. series of video games. She is the princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the "damsel in distress" role in the adventure series.[1][2] She was known as "Princess Toadstool" outside Japan until late 1996, when the name "Peach" was added in Super Mario 64, later solely becoming "Princess Peach". In 2008, Princess Peach landed on Forbes Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of $1 billion.[3] She is ranked tenth in Electronic Gaming Monthly’s list of the top ten video game politicians.[4]

Contents

Appearances

Peach is portrayed as the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. King And Queen Toadstool, her mother and father, rule the kingdom which she is now 23 years old. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the princess's grandmother is shown (she has a grandmother), and the Mushroom Kingdom government is ruled by a chancellor and the mushroom retainers. Although, no higher monarchy has been shown in any game.

Peach first appeared in Super Mario Bros. and has been kidnapped several times by the series' main antagonist, Bowser.

In Super Mario Bros. 2, players could go through the game as Princess Toadstool. Toadstool, along with Mario, Luigi and Toad, were called by the Subcon to save their dream land from the evil Wart. Toadstool's main ability was that she could hover for a limited time after jumping left or right. This makes her a popular choice amongst players, since her jumping skills allow her to easily make jumps over larger areas than other characters.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser made a new attempt on capturing the princess. Hearing of it, Princess Toadstool asked Mario and Luigi to rescue the Mushroom Kings, sending them items while they were on their quest and providing them with power-ups after completing each level.

In Super Mario World, Mario, Luigi and Toadstool were having a vacation in Dinosaur Land when Bowser once again kidnapped her. This time, she was held captive in Bowser's Castle in the Valley of Bowser. Bowser had brought her inside his Koopa Clown Car for the final battle against the brothers. Toadstool was helping Mario in the final battle by throwing mushrooms at him right before Bowser retreated after being hit three times. In the end, Toadstool was rescued by Mario, and she gave him a kiss.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Toadstool was one of Mario's party members, along with Mallow, Geno and Bowser. Toadstool possesses healing/resurrection powers similar to Mallow.

In Super Mario 64, Peach invited Mario to her castle for a cake, but before Mario arrived at the castle-side, Bowser came and took control over the Power Stars. He sealed Peach in the fresco over the entrance of the castle.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Peach, and Toadsworth went to Isle Delfino on Peach's private plane. However, Bowser Jr., in the disguise of Shadow Mario, had filled the island with graffiti. The crimes were blamed on Mario, and he was sentenced to clean the entire island with FLUDD. Eventually, Bowser Jr. kidnapped Peach while Mario was away, and took her to Pinna Park, where he revealed his true identity. Bowser Jr. claimed that Peach was his mother and that the evil Mario had kidnapped her. After Mario destroyed Bowser Jr.'s Mecha-Bowser, in which the princess was held captive, Bowser Jr. used a balloon to take the still intact head of the Bowser robot to Corona Mountain, with Peach still inside. Later, Mario made his way to the top of the active volcano and found Peach forced to battle with Bowser and Bowser Jr. in a pool of green acid. This was described by Bowser as a "family vacation". Mario managed to rescue Peach, and later they were able to enjoy their vacation together with FLUDD.

Princess Peach was kidnapped once again in New Super Mario Bros. However, as in Super Mario Sunshine, the culprit was not Bowser but his son, Bowser Jr.

In Paper Mario, Peach invites Mario to her castle, but before he can get there, Bowser lifts her castle into the sky, and Mario has to collect star power in order to defeat Bowser, save her, and return her castle to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Super Princess Peach marked the second time that Princess Peach was cast as the main hero in a video game. In a role-reversal, Princess Peach had to save Mario and Luigi from King Bowser.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Peach's castle was lifted into space by Bowser, who wanted Peach to rule the universe by his side. She was brought into Outer Space, along with some Toads, and Mario had to go through different galaxies to save her.

Appearances in other games

Princess Peach has appeared in nearly all of the Mario spin-off titles.

Since the first Mario Party, Peach has appeared in every single installment, including Mario Party Advance. However, like all Mario Party games, she has nothing outside appearance and voice to set her apart from other characters. An exception to this is Mario Party 7, in which both Peach and Daisy can use the Flower Orb as their special orb (that is, no other characters can receive it at orb spaces or shops).

In the Mario Kart series, she is in with the medium category characters with the fastest acceleration, the lowest top speed, and the best off-road ability to take the shortcuts on each course. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, her special move involves flying hearts surrounding her kart, and any item that hits them becoming hers to use. She shares her special with Princess Daisy who is supposedly her cousin as stated in the Mario Kart Wii official guide, but nonetheless, she is still her best friend, and appears in a few games in the Mario series, including Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.

 In the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, she is labeled as a "Technique" character and has one of the lightest hits. She is a captain in the games Mario Superstar Baseball, and Mario Super Sluggers and specializes in pitching. She is also a playable character in Super Mario Strikers and its sequel, Mario Strikers Charged. Peach is fast, agile, and has good passing skills. Finally, she also appears in the first Mario basketball game, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, for the Nintendo DS, and is a technical type (good at shooting). She appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario crossover sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, where she is a skill type character. Her crown appears as the "Unspeakable Wonder" in Pikmin 2.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Peach first appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the second game of the series. She has the unique ability to float for a number of seconds, much as she can in Super Mario Bros. 2, an advantage which is balanced by the fact that she is one of the lighter fighters. Peach is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Some of her attacks include the Peach Bomber where she leaps forward, twirls and rams her buttocks into her opponent, her parasol, using Toad as a human shield, using golf clubs, tennis rackets, and frying pans as melee weapons, and pulling vegetables from the ground.

In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Peach has red hair instead of her now-standard blonde (although this may have been due to the original NES games depicting her with red hair, due to technological limitations).

Cameos

Peach has made cameo appearances in several non-Mario games. She is a playable guest character in the GameCube ports of the Electronic Arts games NBA Street V3 and SSX On Tour.[5][6] Peach also made a minor appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, in a painting in Hyrule Castle. A Princess Peach kart toy appears and can be driven in the Labrador and Friends version of Nintendogs. Peach also made a cameo in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, appearing in a picture sent to Mr. Write from the goat in the animal village. The photo is of Peach with the name "Christine" written underneath the picture.

Appearance and Wardrobe

Princess Peach has long yellow hair, sparkling azure eyes, fair pink skin, rosy cheeks, pink lips, and a statuesque figure. The only makeup she wears is pink lipstick and pink nail polish. She wears a pink princess gown, red high heeled shoes, white princess gloves, a sapphire pendant, sapphire earrings, and a gold crown, with sapphires and rubies. Peach wears pink princess panties trimmed with white lace as an undergarment as can be seen in the Super Smash Bros. series. In sports games, Peach usually wears a pink minidress or shorts with a pink top, white bobby socks, and pink tennis shoes. Oftentimes she also wears a pink thong along with her minidress which can be seen in SSX On Tour and Mario Power Tennis. She wore various dresses, skirts, and tops in Mario Party 2. In Super Mario Sunshine, Peach wore a pink summer gown, red high heeled shoes, and jewelry. She also carried a white parasol decorated with pink lace. In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, when she is possessed by the Shadow Queen, Peach wears a black dress, black dress shoes, long black gloves, a black cape, a ruby pendant, ruby earrings, and a pointed gold crown with rubies. She wore a pink midriff baring crop top and shorts in Super Mario Strikers. In Mario Strikers Charged, Peach wears pink midriff baring battle armor. In Mario Kart Wii, when riding a bike, Peach wears white trousers with pink accent, a white jacket with pink lining, pink boots, a pink scarf, pink gloves, and a pink belt with a white buckle. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Peach's dress took on a more Victorian appearance.

Voices

In her first voiced appearance in the 1986 Japanese anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission To Rescue Princess Peach) Peach was voiced by Mami Yamase, a pop singer. On the cartoon segments on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Peach was usually voiced by Jeannie Elias. In the CD-i game Hotel Mario, Peach was voiced by Jocelyn Benford.

In Super Mario 64 and the English version of Mario Kart 64, Peach was voiced by Leslie Swan, a localization manager for Nintendo of America. Swan voiced Peach again for the release of Super Mario 64 DS in 2004.[7] and in Super Paper Mario in 2007

In Mario Party, Mario Party 2 and the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64, Peach was voiced by Asako Kozuki.[8]

Starting with Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64, Peach has been voiced by Jen Taylor.[9]

In 2005, Nintendo used a new voice for Princess Peach. Although Super Princess Peach and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 still used Taylor's voice, other games, such as Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Super Mario Strikers have a new Peach voice, Nicole Mills.[10] The infant form of Princess Peach that appears in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Yoshi's Island DS and Mario Kart Wii, known as Baby Peach, is also voiced by Mills. However, in Super Paper Mario, Peach is once again voiced by Swan.[11] Additionally, Peach was voiced by Samantha Kelly in games such as Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Party 8, Mario Strikers Charged, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Peach is again voiced by Taylor, although much is from sound clips recycled from previous Mario games. Likewise, if a player selects Peach in Brawl using a Wii remote or classic controller, Peach's taunt from Melee (also then voiced by Taylor) will sound over the Wii Remote's speaker.

References

  1. Princess Peach analysis Nintendoland.com. URL Accessed April 22, 2006.
  2. Super Smash Bros. Melee Princess Peach character analysis Gamefaqs.com. URL Accessed April 28, 2006.
  3. "#15 Princess Peach - Forbes.com". Forbes.com. Retrieved on 2008-09-17.
  4. Scott Sharkey, “EGM’s Top Ten Videogame Politicians: Election time puts us in a voting mood,” Electronic Gaming Monthly 234 (November 2008): 97.
  5. NBA Street V3 information Amazon.com. URL Accessed April 28, 2006.
  6. SSX On Tour information Amazon.com. URL Accessed April 28, 2006.
  7. Leslie Swan actress summary Imdb.com. URL Accessed April 23, 2006.
  8. Asako Kozuki actress summary Imdb.com. URL Accessed April 23, 2006.
  9. Jen Taylor actress summary Imdb.com. URL Accessed April 23, 2006.
  10. Nicole Mills actress summary Imdb.com. URL Accessed April 23, 2006.
  11. "TMK | Reference | Game Credits | Super Paper Mario". Themushroomkingdom.net. Retrieved on 2008-09-17.

External links