Pauline

Pauline in Donkey Kong GB.
Pauline
Species	Human
Hair color	Brunette
Eye color	Blue
Voiced by	Unknown (2010)
Debut	Donkey Kong

Pauline was Mario's girlfriend in the original Donkey Kong game, and was the first damsel-in-distress Mario rescued onscreen. She was originally notable for being distinctly absent after her initial appearance outside of remakes, until she started making regular appearances again in the 2000s as a supporting character (and often damsel in distress) within the the Mario vs. Donkey Kong subseries.

Background

Pauline appeared in Donkey Kong (and the expanded Donkey Kong GB), where she had been kidnapped by the mad ape Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong held her at the top of each level, but Mario constantly chased Donkey Kong down. Eventually Mario defeated Donkey Kong and was reunited with Pauline in what seemed to be the Mushroom Kingdom. There Pauline tossed Mario what may have been his first Super Mushroom.

After a long absence, Pauline reappeared in Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis. She was described as "Mario's glamorous friend" and appeared as the guest of honor in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Super Mini Mario World. However, Donkey Kong instantly became infatuated with her and kidnapped her as he (or his ancestor) had done before. This time Pauline was saved by the Mini Mario toys. Donkey Kong kept her safely in a room atop the tower with presents, and after the Mini Marios rescued her, Donkey Kong felt remorse which led Pauline to kiss the Mini Donkey Kong toy in order to make him feel better.

She also appeared in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, which followed an altered version of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2's storyline; when Mario and the Mini Marios reach the top of the tower, Donkey Kong turned the lights off and ran off with Pauline again. The chase then continued, until the Mini Marios reached Donkey Kong and Pauline at the end. It was revealed that Pauline and Donkey Kong had only staged the whole kidnapping in order to test the Mini Mario toys. In Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, Mario and Pauline began giving away a hundred of the new Mini-Pauline toys for free. Donkey Kong arrived just in time to miss the last one and out of frustration, kidnapped Pauline once more while Mario pursued in a toy train. Eventually, Mario was able to placate Donkey Kong with a Mini-Pauline toy, at which point she and Mario rode the Ferris wheel together.

In Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, Pauline appeared in a supporting role, where she acted as a host for Mini-Land along with Donkey Kong. For once, she was not kidnapped at all.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Mario and Pauline also make a cameo appearance together in the Bonus Stage of the NES game Pinball.

Other Media

• Pauline appeared in the Donkey Kong segments of the Saturday Supercade cartoon. The cartoon version eliminated Mario and Donkey Kong's love triangle with Pauline by making Pauline Mario's niece. Pauline accompanied Mario in his hunt for Donkey Kong, but she wound up being saved by him several times. She was played by Judy Strangis.

Trivia

• In the original version of Donkey Kong, she had blonde hair. The Game Boy remake changed her hair color to brown, presumably to avoid confusion with the blonde Princess Peach.
• The Japanese version simply calls her "Lady". The name of Pauline probably comes from a 20's movie serial, "The Perils of Pauline", where the title character was constantly in distress. However, it is also said that she was named after Polly James, the wife of Don James, who was Nintendo of America's warehouse manager when the game came out.
• A sticker of Pauline being captured by Donkey Kong appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. She later appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. The American trophy description highlights the change in her look and posits that she may have wanted to look less like Peach.