Princess Peach

Princess Peach as seen in Super Mario 3D Land.
Peach
Species	Human
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Voiced by	Leslie Swan (1996-1999; 2004; 2007) Jen Taylor (1999-2005; 2006) Nicole Mills (2005-2006) Samantha Kelly (2007-Present)
Debut	Super Mario Bros.

Princess Peach (originally localized as Princess Toadstool) is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom who appears as one of the main characters throughout the Super Mario series. She is most well-known as the damsel-in-distress of the series, as her role in a a majority of the adventure games is to be kidnapped by the evil Bowser (who at first just wants her kingdom, but later wants to marry her) and ultimately rescued by Mario (often with the help of his brother Luigi). However, she has also proved her own and helped to save the world several times, having a playable presence in some of the platformer and RPG games as well as being a constant presence in the various spin-off games. She has been featured in only one solo title, 2005's Super Princess Peach.

Background

Early Years

Peach as a baby.

She seemed to have first met Mario as a baby when she and several other babies were kidnapped by Kamek and a future version of Bowser during Yoshi's Island DS. As her special ability, she was able to use her parasol to allow Yoshi to catch air currents. The Yoshis worked with Peach and the other playable baby characters in order to rescue Baby Luigi and other captured babies. Afterwards, she was known to play with Baby Mario and Baby Luigi at the castle where she lived, as seen in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. She was watched over by Toadworth (and briefly his future counterpart) since that young age.

Baby Peach has also appeared as a playable character in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (as a downloadable character), Mario Super Sluggers (as an unlockable character), Mario Tennis Open, Dr. Mario World (as Dr. Baby Peach) and Mario Kart Tour. In the latter two games, she had to be unlocked through the game's gacha mechanic, and she was made available in Dr. Mario World starting in September 2019. In Tour, a variation of Baby Peach dressed as a cherub was also made temporarily available as part of the Valentine's Tour in February 2020.

Adult Life

The NES Era

The princess was captured by Bowser in Super Mario Bros.. Bowser's initial motive for capturing her was said to be because only she could break the shape-shifting spell Bowser had placed on the Toads. Most later games indicated that Bowser kidnapped her in order to gain political power or due to having romantic interest in her. Peach was held in the eighth castle until she was rescued by the Mario Brothers at the end of the game. She was then captured and rescued in exactly the same manner in The Lost Levels.

Peach joined the Mario Bros. on an adventure for the first time in Super Mario Bros. 2, as one of the game's four playable characters. In this adventure, she helped liberate Sub-Con from Wart. The ending indicated the adventure was a dream being experienced by Mario, although Sub-con was described as a dream world to begin with. It is possible that all four characters traveled there in their dreams. In Super Mario Bros. 3 she instructed Mario to help rescue several kings in the surrounding lands of the Mushroom World, but just as the brothers succeeded at this, she too was kidnapped. This time, Bowser held her in his personal fortress, until she was again rescued by the brothers.

She also appeared in Dr. Mario as Dr. Mario's nurse.

The Super NES Era

In Super Mario World, while vacationing with the brothers in Dinosaur Land, she was kidnapped by Bowser and held within the Valley of Bowser. This time when the Mario Brothers battled Bowser, Bowser rode his Koopa Clown Copter with Peach being kept on board. Peach was only able to emerge from the craft at one point in the battle to toss Mario a Super Mushroom. Bowser was defeated once more, and Peach resumed her vacation with the brothers and the addition of Yoshi.

Peach was also captured by Bowser in the beginning of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, this time while she was visiting Mario's house. Just as Mario defeated Bowser and was about to rescue Peach, a giant sword called Exor crashed into Bowser's Keep and sent the three of them flying in various directions. Peach landed on the balcony of Booster's Tower. Booster, the eccentric owner of the tower, saw Peach as a princess from the sky and intended to marry her, regardless of her own thoughts on the matter. Mario and Bowser were ultimately able to intervene and convince Booster that Peach did not want to marry him. Peach was then returned to the castle, and the Chancellor insisted that she remain there in order to protect her from enemies despite Peach wanting to help Mario on his adventure for a change. Peach was able to sneak out of the castle after convincing her grandmother to pose as her, and she then joined up with Mario for the remainder of his adventure in defeating the extraterrestrial machine monster Smithy. After peace was again restored through Smithy's defeat, she returned to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Peach briefly appeared in Yoshi's Safari, where she set Mario and Yoshi to Jewelry Land to save it and her friend Prince Pine from Bowser. She also gave them the Super Scope for use in battling Bowser and his minions. In Mario & Wario, Peach was one of three playable characters (the others being Mario and Yoshi) who could have a bucket or some other object dropped on their head by Wario. It would then be up to Wanda to guide the temporary blinded Peach to Luigi, who waited at the end of each level to remove the object from their heads.

The Nintendo 64 Era

Peach later invited Mario over to her castle for cake in Super Mario 64. However, by the time he arrived, Bowser had captured Peach and the other Toads. With a variation on his usual plans, Bowser had used the Power Stars to imprison Peach and the Toads within the walls and portraits of Princess Peach's Castle. Mario (along with Luigi, Yoshi and Wario in the DS version) then explored the castle and recovered the Power Stars. Peach was restored after Bowser's defeat and prepared that cake for her savior(s).

In Paper Mario, Bowser captured Peach's entire castle by lifting it onto the sky atop his own airborne castle. Peach was imprisoned in her room after she witnessed Mario being defeated by Bowser, who had used the powers of the Star Rod to make himself invincible. While Mario underwent efforts to save the Star Spirits in order to undo Bowser's invulnerability, Peach (in playable segments that occurred between chapters) attempted to help Mario out in her own way by sneaking around the castle. Peach recovered items for Mario and discovered locations of Star Spirits for him as well. She was aided in her endeavors by Twink, a young star child who befriended Peach. During the final battle with Bowser, Peach used her prayers to empower the Star Beam as a Peach Beam, allowing Mario to defeat Bowser. They then returned to the Mushroom Kingdom for the ensuing parade.

The Gamecube/GBA Era

Despite not being physically present, she did send a Toad (or several) to look after Mario and Luigi during their exploration of the old mansion in Luigi's Mansion. Peach later embarked on a vacation with Mario and her Toad attendants, including Toadsworth, in Super Mario Sunshine. During their time there, a mysterious Shadow Mario made several attempts to capture Peach and was ultimately successful. Shadow Mario revealed himself to be Bowser Jr., who believed that Peach was his mother. Peach was taken to Corona Mountain, where Bowser was waiting. Mario arrived as usual and rescued Peach again after defeating both Bowser and his son. Afterwards, Mario and Peach were able to enjoy the rest of their vacation.

Peach was later alerted beforehand that Cackletta would attempt to steal her voice in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. It was believed that only the voice of someone with a pure and noble soul could awaken the Beanstar and wish upon it, and Peach was considered to be the only such person around in the modern age. She was able to replace herself with a decoy when Cackletta made her move and laid low until the truth was discovered. Mario and Luigi, who had not been made privy to the ploy, traveled to the Beanbean Kingdom with Bowser (who claimed he also needed her to have her voice back so that he could properly capture her) in order to hunt down Cackletta and rescue Peach's voice.

After the Beanstar was shattered and Cackletta was believed dead, Peach traveled to the Beanbean Kingdom by airplane in order to go sight-seeing with the Mario Bros, and they decided to go on a trip to Little Fungitown, although the brothers had to undergo great trouble to protect her from monsters in the Teehee Valley. Peach was soon captured by Bowletta (Bowser possessed by Cackletta's ghost), but the Mario brothers were able to trick them into releasing her by disguising Luigi as Peach and tricking Bowletta into thinking she had captured a decoy. Bowletta later launched an all-out assault on the Beanbean Kingdom to get the real Peach, but she was safely evacuated to Little Fungitown and kept there until Bowletta's defeat, at which point they returned to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Peach in paper form.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door while vacationing with Toadsworth, she found a treasure map which contained the locations of the Crystal Stars. She sent it to Mario so that he could help her find the Crystal Stars, but she was then captured by the X-Nauts. At their hidden base, she befriended the computer TEC and once again provided Mario with extra information throughout his quest through e-mails sent by TEC, although Grodus eventually found out about this and erased TEC's memory. After the Thousand-Year Door was opened with the Crystal Stars, Grodus released the soul of the Shadow Queen, which possessed Peach, who then battled Mario and his companions. The real Peach did take control at one point in order to supply Mario with the last of her strength. Peach was restored to normal after Mario and his comrades forced the Shadow Queen out of Peach's body and destroyed her. She then gave special thanks to Mario's companions for helping to save the world from darkness. Some time afterwards, Peach visited Mario again to give him a new treasure map in hopes that it would lead to real treasure.

In Mario Pinball Land, Mario and Peach visited the Fun Fair together. However, when she decided to try out the Air Cannon ride, a pair of Goombas redirected it so that it fired her directly into Bowser's castle, where she was held captive until Mario (in pinball form) defeated Bowser to rescue her.

The DS/Wii Era

Peach and Perry going into action

A variation on the normal kidnapping scheme occurred in Super Princess Peach, when Bowser attacked the castle while Peach was out on a walk. Using the Vibe Scepter, Bowser was able to easily capture Mario, Luigi and a variety of Toads. Peach then took it upon herself to rescue them, after all the times that they had rescued her. Entrusted by Toadsworth with a talking umbrella named Perry, together they made their way through the island and eventually rescued the Mario Bros. after Peach defeated Bowser herself. She was back to being kidnapped New Super Mario Bros., where she was captured by Bowser Jr. and carried across eight worlds before she was finally rescued by Mario.

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, she tested out E. Gadd's new time machine with a pair of Toad assistants, traveling back to the time when they were babies. However, they arrived in the midst of a Shroob invasion. Peach was captured by the Shroobs, but not before imprisoning the Elder Princess Shroob within the Cobalt Star (the time machine's power source) and scattering its pieces. The younger Princess Shroob then disguised herself as Peach in order to fool the Mario Bros., although her charade was eventually undone. The Cobalt Star was accidentally reunited, but Mario and Luigi were able to defeat both Shroob Princesses and returned to the present with Peach.

Both Peach and Bowser were captured by Count Bleck in the beginning of Super Paper Mario. He forced them into marriage in order to open a Void that would consume all worlds. Peach did not agree to the marriage until Nastasia used her super-hypnotism to force her to. Peach later attempted to escape from Bleck's castle with the aid of a Hammer Bro. Although she was caught, she made a jump and wound up in Flipside. Feeling responsible for the Void's existence, she joined with Mario's party in order to stop Bleck and the Void. Peach thus became one of the four heroes destined to stop Bleck's Void. The group was temporarily split apart between Chapters 6 and 7, when Dimentio sent them all to the Underwhere. Peach made her way to the Overthere Stair, but she fell into a deep slumber after accidentally eating a forbidden golden apple. Mario and the others were able to revive her by feeding her a Black Apple when they found her in Chapter 7-3. Peach then rejoined the group. She had a one-on-one battle with Mimi in Chapter 8-2: The Crash. Afterwards, she stayed behind to help Mimi, even though the castle was collapsing. She said that she didn't like Mimi but had a need to help other people. Peach and Mimi soon took a fall after the floor collapsed, but their fall was broken by Bowser. Peach rejoined Mario for game's final battles, and afterwards she comforted Merlon about the loss of Tippy.

Peach invited Mario to her castle once again in Super Mario Galaxy, but this time it was during the Mushroom Kingdom's Star Festival and with the pretense of having a gift for Mario. This plan was disrupted when Bowser chose that moment to launch a violent attack on Toad Town with his fleet of airships, which had grown to include spaceships. Bowser once more airlifted Peach's castle with Peach inside, and this time he took them to the center of the universe. There, Bowser was using the power of the Power Stars and Grand Stars to build his own galaxy that he would use as the first stepping-stone in establishing a galactic empire with Peach as his reluctant queen. Mario was able to make his way to Bowser and the two battled while Bowser Jr. held Peach. After Bowser was defeated, they were all returned to the Mushroom Kingdom by Rosalina and the Lumas.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Princess Peach held an emergency meeting at her castle regarding a recent epidemic in the kingdom known as The Blorbs. However, they were interrupted by Bowser's presence, and although he was soundly defeated by Mario and Luigi again, he soon returned under the influence of Fawful's Vacuum Mushroom. This caused him to inhale everyone in the room, including Peach. Peach was separated from the others and trapped in the Flab Zone, where she was captured by a group of Kretins just as Mario and Luigi found her. They managed to rescue her, but she was almost immediately snatched out of Bowser's body by Fawful, who needed her to find the Dark Star. After retrieving the Dark Star, Fawful drained power from Peach to power the Dark Star. The Dark Star later came to life and took on the form of a Dark Bowser, and it swallowed Peach in a vain attempt to gain its lost power. After Dark Bowser (and the Dark Star in general) was destroyed, Peach was freed and cheered Mario and Luigi on as they took on Bowser in battle. She also felt sympathetic towards Bowser for the help he had provided and sent him a cake out of gratitude.

Princess Peach celebrated her birthday with Mario, Luigi and several Toad attendants in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. However, one present, a giant cake, turned out to actually have Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings hiding within. They proceeded to trap her in the cake and carried her away to Bowser's castle in an airship while Mario and Luigi pursued them as usual, with two Toads possibly along for the adventures. At the castle, Kamek was set up in a dress as a decoy, but Mario and company saved the real Peach after defeating Bowser's giant form. Mario and Peach went on to take a hot air balloon together while Peach told Mario about the hidden ninth world.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Princess Peach invited Mario to her castle during the Star Festival for cake. However, Bowser attacked in giant form and kidnapped Peach. She was taken to his Galaxy Reactor and remained there until Mario came to rescue her, while occasionally sending out letters containing 1-Ups in the meantime. Mario eventually defeated Bowser and rescued Peach with the final Grand Star. They then returned to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Peach prepared a large cake for all of them.

The 3DS/Wii U Era

Peach was again captured by Bowser in Super Mario 3D Land. Mario would receive postcards at the end of each world which depicted Peach's distressed predicament in the form of an animated photo. Some letters also showed Peach defying convention with failed attempts to escape from Bowser. At the end of World 8's first castle, Peach's cage was found empty, which seemed to imply another escape attempt. It was soon shown that Bowser had grabbed her and set up a cardboard cutout of her on the roof to fool Mario. He took her to his second, more advanced castle and tied her to a flagpole. Once Mario defeated Bowser again, he leaped onto the flagpole which set Peach free. He and the Toads proceeded to don Tanooki Suits, and Mario flew Peach back home. There, they relaxed on the branch of the bare Tanooki Tree. After the Special Worlds were completed, Peach was captured again, and World 8's second castle had to be played through nearly the same as before, although this time Luigi could be the one to rescue the princess. This unlocked a new postcard of Peach wearing a Tanooki Suit with the other Toads.

In both New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U, Peach was captured by the Koopalings for Bowser, and she was rescued by Mario and company. In the latter game, she gave a kiss to whoever defeated Bowser (which could have been Mario, Luigi or one of two Toads, or Toadette in Deluxe). She later invited Mario to attend the Sticker Fest in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Bowser attacked and, empowered by the power of a Royal Sticker, he captured Peach. Ultimately, Mario was able to defeat Bowser and save Peach. She saw that everyone's wish for a peaceful kingdom had come true, and the Sticker Fest was able to transpire. Peach later returned to being a playable ally in Super Mario 3D World. Accompanied by Mario, Luigi and Toad, she found out that Bowser had taken over the Sprixie Kingdom and captured the Seven Sprixie Princesses. So the four of them went on an adventure through the Sprixie Kingdom and eventually managed to defeat Bowser.

Accompanied by her entourage of Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth and assorted Toads, Peach answered an invitation to visit Pi'ilo Island in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. After hearing about the island and its hidden treasure, she accidentally activated a rocket-powered platform that stranded her and Toadsworth within the castle's hidden ruins. They were soon found by Mario and Luigi, and they found that Luigi was able to open a portal to the dream world by sleeping on a Pi'ilo. However, Peach was sucked into the dream world and held captive by Antasma, who intended to drain her power. She was eventually saved from the dream world by the brothers, but at the same time Bowser had entered the picture and teamed up with Antasma. Peach spent some time staying at the Pi'illo Castle with Toadsworth, but at some point she was captured and replaced with a disguised Kamek. She was held captive in the castle until Mario and Bowser confronted Bowser, who wielded the powerful Dream Stone, for the final battle. Peach and Starlow were able to combine their power to destroy the stone. Bowser still managed to absorb its power, but the Mario and Luigi were able to defeat him and drive the power out of him. After they returned to safety, Peach was apologetic about destroying the Dream Stone, but it was soon restored in the form of the Dream Coin. With the danger passed, Peach went on to enjoy the rest of the vacation with Mario and company.

In Super Mario Maker, Peach appeared in the 10-Mario and 100-Mario Challenges, where Mario had to save her after she was captured by a group of Goombas. Peach could only be truly saved at the end of a 100 Mario Challenge played on Normal or higher; in other instances, it would end with Toad saying that the princess is in another castle. Within the game, the appearances of Peach and Cat Peach were also among the costumes available for Mario to transform into when using a Mystery Mushroom. Peach's costume could be unlocked as a random prize for clearing a 100 Mario Challenge on Normal or harder, or by scanning an amiibo of her. Cat Peach's costume was unlocked through a special Event Course known as Cat Peach's Course.

During the events of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, various Paper Mario versions of characters were accidentally released from a storybook that was kept in the attic of Peach's castle. This included Paper Peach. The two versions of the princess were soon captured by Bowser and Paper Bowser, who left them under the watch of both versions of Bowser Junior. Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario went on a quest to save them. At one point, a Papercraft of Peach was constructed by Toadette, which Mario's group used to defeat the Papercraft Bowser Junior. At one point, the princesses were able to outsmart and escape their captors, but this was only temporary and they were recaptured. They were ultimately saved when the Bowsers were defeated, and Paper Peach said her farewells before returning to her own world.

In Paper Mario: Color Splash, Peach brought Mario to Prism Island in order to investigate a drainage of color that had occurred on the island. She stayed at hotel room in Port Prisma and could heal Mario's HP for him, but she was later captured by Black Bowser and kept in his castle. She still sent a number of Holo-Peaches to Mario giving him information about Bowser's plans, until Black Bowser found out about this and had Peach's color drained. After Black Bowser was defeated and restored to normal, Mario recolored Peach and they escaped. She proceeded to try to cheer him up about the fate of Huey.

Peach also appeared in Super Mario Run, with an unlockable playable appearance. In this game, she invited Mario over for cake, only to be captured by Bowser again. She was rescued by defeating Bowser at World 6-4 of World Tour mode, and she thanked her rescuer with a cheek kiss. This also unlocked Peach as a playable character, and she retained her traditional ability to float slightly through the air. Completing 6-4 again with Peach would cause her to rescue Toad instead. Peach was also playable in several individual courses of Remix 30, regardless of whether or not she was officially unlocked at the time.

The Switch Era

In Super Mario Odyssey, Bowser kidnapped her once again. This time, he teamed up with a group of wedding planners called the Broodals to help with arranging a forced marriage between himself and Peach. He also captured a Bonneton named Tiara and forced her to act as Peach's crown. Bowser managed to defeat Mario during his initial rescue attempt, and afterwards Peach was dragged along as Bowser and the Broodals went from kingdom to kingdom, stealing various items for use in the wedding ceremony. Finally, Bowser brought her to a chapel on the moon to set the ceremony into motion. Mario and Tiara's brother Cappy intervened and defeated Bowser in the caves below the church. The caves started to collapse, so Mario used Cappy to possess Bowser and get all of them out of the collapsing tunnels safely.

In the aftermath, Mario and Bowser both tried to make moves on Peach at the same time and presented her with flowers (Bowser's bouquet was actually of miniature Piranha Plants). Peach seemed annoyed at both displays of affection and turned them down. She then went back to the Odyssey and prepared for it to leave without them, but she then proceeded to beckon them over to the ship. Mario managed to make it on board in time while leaving Bowser behind. Peach returned to the Mushroom Kingdom, but she did not remain there long. She packed up her things and left with Tiara, as she decided that she wanted to explore the different kingdoms on her own terms. Mario could find her in any of the kingdoms, where she was shown to be enjoying her vacation and would give Mario a Power Moon that she happened to find in the kingdom in question. She also wore a different outfit in each kingdom, and throughout her trip she learned more about other kingdoms. She felt enlightened about making others happy and invited people from those kingdoms to visit the Mushroom Kingdom when she returned. Upon her return, she was found at the balcony of her castle with Tiara. She wore her traditional dress initially and then switched between her alternate outfits each time Mario saw her.

In Super Mario Maker 2, Peach appeared upon the completion of Story Mode to congratulate Mario and the others for building her castle. She kissed Mario on the cheek to thank him. She then made an 8-bit appearance in the credits, and afterwards, jobs from Peach would become available from Taskmaster Toad. The rewards for her jobs included a costume and wig of her for Miis to wear. Her 8-bit form also made a cameo appearance when starting Endless Mode in Online Play. In Dr. Mario World, the Mushroom Kingdom was overrun by Viruses that infected her subjects. Out of a desire to protect her people, Peach donned a labcoat and helped various others to fight the Viruses as Dr. Peach. After clearing the first ten stages as Dr. Mario, the player could choose between Dr. Mario, Dr. Peach and Dr. Bowser as the primary playable character. If she was not chosen, Peach would have to be unlocked at random through the game's Staffing feature. Dr. Peach's special gameplay ability was to clear one column on the screen at random. A Fire Peach variant was also made available in January 2020.

Peach later appeared in Luigi's Mansion 3. Luigi had won a free stay at a hotel called The Last Resort, and Peach was one of the guests who he brought with him, along with Mario and three Toads. Peach brought many pieces of luggage with her, which her mostly carried by the Toads. She got her own room in the hotel, but the entire thing turned out to be a trap set by Hellen Gravely. In the middle of the night, they were all attacked by ghosts and trapped in individual portraits. Only Luigi was left to free them. Peach was the last person to be freed. King Boo brought her portrait to the rooftop and left it there. Mario brought Luigi there, and Luigi was able to free her from the portrait. Their reunion was short-lived, as King Boo launched his attack and tried to trap everyone in the same portrait. Peach and Mario were caught again along with everyone else save for Luigi. After Luigi defeated King Boo, Peach and everyone else were set free for good. Peach proceeded to help everyone else in building a new hotel over the remains of the old one. Despite her royal status, she took a direct role in the construction work. Afterwards, they all departed on the bus that they had arrived on.

In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Princess Peach had organized an Origami Festival to be held at Toad Town. Ahead of the festival, the castle was attacked by a living origami being named King Olly. Olly had Peach folded into an origami version of herself who was loyal to Olly and shared his belief that origami beings were perfect. When Mario arrived at the castle, Peach confronted him with several questions related to becoming origami and its apparent superiority, and she had Mario dropped through a trap door to be folded. She made several more appearances in service of King Olly, until Olly had Princess Peach's entire castle folded into his Origami Castle. Peach's origami form was folded into one of the walls of the castle, and she showed no signs of sentience in this form. At the end, Olivia used the wish granted for folding 1,000 paper cranes to reshape everything to its original form. This included restoring Peach and her castle to their original forms. Peach proceeded to hold the Origami Festival. There, she expressed her gratitude for Olivia's help, and they released origami lanterns into the sky in her honor.

Personality

Peach's usual reward for Mario.

Peach is characteristically defined as being the nicest person you could hope to meet. Although her kingdom may lack in fundamental things such as a real military force, the people in it are generally prosperous and there is very little hardship. Though she has been kidnapped by Bowser multiple times, many of those times she has made some effort to assist Mario and Luigi in some way (whether it's throwing a Super Mushroom from the Clown Copter or sending intel she found). She has also done some work in helping other kingdoms, even if it's just sending the two plumbers to help, such as in 'Yoshi's Safari' when she sends them to help Jewelry Land. She also has large celebrity fame on the level of Mario (if not more). She has many fans and admirers around the world. Her voice itself is also considered to be exceptionally pure, so much that only hers could awaken the Beanstar. Like most of Mario's friends, she's an active racer and enjoys tennis and golf.

Her relationship with Mario (and to a lesser extent to Luigi) appears to be friendship, but is occasionally hinted at being somewhat romantic, although little more is shown other than Peach kissing Mario on the cheek sometimes when he rescues her. Surprisingly, this is addressed directly by Luvbi in Chapter 7-3 of Super Paper Mario when she asks if Peach is Mario's girlfriend. Any of the available characters (Mario, Luigi and Bowser) will immediately deny this, with Luigi saying that it is hard to say but Peach dos not seem to be Mario's girlfriend. This leads Luvbi to assume that Mario's relationship with Peach is a one-sided crush. Years later, the ending of Super Mario Odyssey also has Peach turning down Mario making a romantic gesture at the same time as Bowser, being annoyed by both of their advances.

Abilities

Among her magic, is her ability to cast healing spells, status magic, and others. Though she is not often seen with a weapon, she does prefer a frying pan or parasol above other things. Her jumping ability is also top-notch, nearly as much as Mario's. Not only that, but she is able to suspend herself in air for a few seconds by floating.

In Super Mario RPG, Peach's weapons that can be equipped throughout the game are the Slap Glove, Parasol, War Fan, Super Slap and Frying Pan. Her exclusive armors are the Polka Dress, Nautica Dress, Fuzzy Dress, Fire Dress and Royal Dress. She is also the only character who can equip the expensive B'tub Ring found in Marrymore, which will halve the damage caused by most special attacks. Her special moves in the game, which she learns as she levels up, are primarily magical attacks and are the following:

• Therapy- Peach will heal the HP and status of one teammate.
• Group Hug- Peach heals the HP and status of the entire party.
• Sleepy Time- Peach summons a flock of sheep that fall on the enemy and put it to sleep, and depending on how well the player does with the control pad a whole group of enemies can be put to sleep.
• Come Back- Peach will revive a fallen ally.
• Mute- This attack "mutes" the enemy and prevents them from using special attacks.
• Psych Bomb- In her only special moves that can cause actual damage, Peach will toss a series of bombs at enemies.

In Super Princess Peach, Peach is able to use several special emotionally-themed powers due to the nature of Vibe Island. The following are her abilities:

• Joy: Peach's joy causes her to float through the air, and when not moving she produces a cyclone around her that can clear away toxic gas and other enemies.
• Rage: Peach's fury causes her to be surrounded by flames, making her temporary invulnerable, and this Vibe can take out almost any enemy immediately. She also becomes heavier with this, with her stomps being capable of flipping over enemies and setting off switches. This Vibe also powers hot air balloons.
• Gloom: Peach begins crying, with the waves of tears having a variety of uses such as growing plants that Peach can climb, powering waterwheels or freezing over certain platforms in snow levels. Additionally, Peach can run much faster when this Vibe is activated.
• Calm: Peach's calmness will slowly restore Peach's health.

In the Super Smash Bros. games that she is playable in, Peach has a variety of moves based primarily on her abilities in Super Mario Bros. 2. She can also attack with a tennis racket, golf club (in reference to her appearances in the sports games) or a Frying Pan (in reference to her weapon in Super Mario RPG).

• Standard Special Move: Toad- Peach whips out a Toad which she uses as a shield to defend against attacks.
• Side Special Move: Peach Bomber- Peach lunges herself at the enemy and strikes them with her hips, causing a small explosion to occur.
• Up Special Move: Peach Parasol- Peach whips open her parasol, which is primarily used to glide through the air and acts as her recovery move. The parasol itself causes a small amount of damage when it makes contact with an enemy.
• Down Special Move: Vegetable- Based on the vegetable-plucking ability in Super Mario Bros. 2, Peach will pluck a vegetable from the ground, which she can use to attack enemies. There is also a chance that she will pluck out a Bob-Omb, Mr. Saturn, Beam Sword or a special vegetable with a different face (which causes more damage) instead.
• Final Smash: Peach Blossom- Peach's bizarre final smash (exclusive to Brawl) causes the screen to be bordered by stylistic artwork while Peach dances and all players on screen fall asleep. Peaches will fall from the sky that can be consumed for health.

Sports and Other Mario Spin-Offs

Despite her regal bearing, Princess Peach still takes part in a wide variety of sports, kart racing and other recreational activities, appearing in nearly every one of those spin-off games.

Peach's soccer outfit.

• Golf: Peach appeared as Mario's caddie in NES Open Tournament Golf. She later appeared as a playable character in Mario Golf 64, Mobile Golf, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario Golf: Super Rush. She also makes a non-playable appearance in Mario Golf GB.
• Kart Racing: Peach has appeared as a playable character in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (where she was partnered with Daisy), Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Kart Arcade GP VR and Mario Kart Tour (unlocked through the game's gacha mechanic or the in-game shop).
  • In Tour, several variations of Peach (some of which utilized her outfits from Super Mario Odyssey) were also temporarily made available during certain tours: a kimono (originally in the Tokyo Tour), a vacation outfit (Paris Tour), Pink Gold Peach (Winter Tour), a wintertime outfit (Ice Tour, later made regularly available in Holiday Tour 2021), her wedding dress (Peach Tour), a Halloween outfit (Halloween Tour 2020), an explorer outfit (Sunset Tour, later made regularly available during the Singapore Tour), Cat Peach (Cat Tour 2021, available in all tours), her wedding outfit (Peach Tour), a happi (Mario vs. Peach Tour), a yukata (Samurai Tour) and Dr. Peach (Peach vs. Bowser Tour).
• Tennis: Peach was playable in all games. She appeared in Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis 64, Mario Tennis GBC, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Mario Tennis Open, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Mario Tennis Aces. In Mario Tennis GBC, Mario and Peach were the final opponents of Doubles Mode, and beating them would unlock Peach as a playable character.
• Baseball: Peach is a playable captain in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers.
  • In Mario Super Sluggers, Peach is captain of the Peach Monarchs based in the Peach Ice Garden stadium, as well as the overall ruler of the Baseball Kingdom. Within the Challenge Mode, Bowser Jr. attempts to take over the Baseball Kingdom. He captures Peach at one point, but after Mario rescues her by defeating Bowser Jr.'s team in a baseball game, Peach is recruited as a playable character and can be used to recruit the other members of her team.
• Soccer: Peach was also a playable captain in Super Mario Strikers, Mario Strikers Charged and Mario Strikers: Battle League.
• The Olympics: Peach was playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
• Other Sports: Peach is playable wan Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Mario Sports Mix and Mario Sports Superstars.

A variation of Peach known as Pink Gold Peach was also introduced in Mario Kart 8 as an unlockable character. She is a pink gold metallic version of Peach (similar to Metal Mario) and is classified as a heavyweight character. She has since appeared in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (as a default character), Mario Kart Tour (as a temporarily unlockable character, as mentioned above) and Mario Sports Superstars (unlocked by completing the Ring Challenge in Training Mode on Hard).

Peach also has a playable presence in every game of the Mario Party subseries. Within the Story Mode of Mario Party 3, she was associated with the Star Stamp of Love.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the NES version of Tetris, Peach made a cameo appearance on the congratulatory screen for completing the Type B mode, along with other Mario and Nintendo characters. While most of the other characters were playing instruments, Peach was seen clapping her hands.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, a talking goat named Christine wrote a love letter to Mr. Write and included a photograph of Princess Peach that she passed off as one of herself. In the Switch remake, the original image was replaced with a modern render of Peach with her parasol.
• In Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, Peach appeared as a playable character starting in the third episode.
• She was playable in Yakuman DS.
• Peach was included as a playable character in crossover board game titles Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street. In the latter game, she was the only hidden Mario character and was unlocked by placing first or second at Peach's Castle in Tour Mode.
• She appeared in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Edition as a helper character who could be unlocked by completing World 8, and a more powerful version called Super Peach was unlocked by completing Special World 8.
• In Yoshi's Woolly World, a Yoshi design based on Peach's appearance could be unlocked by scanning an amiibo of her.
• The Super Mario Mash-Up Pack available for Nintendo releases of Minecraft includes playable skins for Peach and Cat Peach.
• Peach appeared as a playable character in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, as did a Rabbit dressed as Peach who was known as Rabbid Peach. Within the game's story, Peach initially stayed by her castle as an NPC, but she then arrived to join the party for the boss battle of the second world, Sherbet Desert, and she then stayed with the party for the rest of the adventure.

Super Smash Bros.

Peach appears as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Her special moves include tossing vegetables (from the American Super Mario Bros. 2), using Toad as a shield and using weapons such as golf clubs and frying pans (referencing Mario Golf and Super Mario RPG, respectively).

In Ultimate, she had to be unlocked by awakening her in Adventure Mode (where she is found within the Molten Fortress) or through the game's variable-based character unlocking system. Her personal Classic Mode route in that gam was called "No Damsel in Distress" and pitted her against opponents with histories of kidnapping others. The final boss of her route was Master Hand (joined by Crazy Hand on higher difficulties).

Peach's Crown (which also included a copy of her hair) was also included as headgear for Mii Fighters in the 3DS/Wii U game and Ultimate.

Trophies/Stickers/Spirits

She has three unlockable trophies in Melee. In Brawl, she has five trophies, with one normal trophy, one of her Final Smash, and trophies for Paper Peach, Wedding Peach (which is Peach in her wedding gown from Super Paper Mario) and Baby Peach. There are also stickers of Peach from Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Superstar Baseball, Super Princess Peach and with Daisy from Mario Party 7. In the 3DS/Wii U games, she has two standard unlockable trophies shared between the different versions. Beyond that, the 3DS version also has trophies for Paper Peach, Baby Peach, Peach in her Tennis outfit and Peach with the Birthday Girl kart, while the Wii U version has trophies for her Final Smash, Peach in her Baseball outfit and Peach with the Daytripper kart. Her tennis trophy description jokingly acknowledges the problems with the space-time continuum that should come with her playing alongside her infant self.

In Ultimate, Peach has a personal Fighter Spirit that is unlocked by completing Classic Mode, and there are also Spirits for Baby Peach, Cat Peach, Peach in her wedding gown (from Odyssey) and the Shadow Queen-possessed Peach, as well as Pink Gold Peach appearing in the art used for the Badwagon's Spirit. Additional Spirits were added through Spirit events that were held after the game's release, to promote the release of other related games: Peachette in May 2019 and Peach's origami form from The Origami King in August 2020.

Brawl: The Subspace Emissary

Within Brawl's "The Subspace Emissary", Peach was initially seen overlooking Mario's match with Kirby in the Mid-Air Stadium alongside Princess Zelda at the beginning of the game. After the Subspace Army attacked, the princesses were held in cages by Petey Piranha. Depending on which one Kirby freed, Peach was either turned into a trophy by Wario and taken away, or accompanied Kirby for a while before being turned into a trophy by Bowser and taken away as well as having a shadow clone of her formed to attack Link and Yoshi. Either way, both princesses ended up imprisoned within the Halberd until Meta Knight, Lucario and Solid Snake arrived to free them late in the game. After defeating shadow clones of Peach and Zelda, the princesses were freed and made their way to the deck of the Halberd by themselves. Peach then served to soften hostilities between Zelda and Fox McCloud by offering both tea. Then after the battle with the massive Duon, Peach restored Mr. Game & Watch and let him play with her umbrella. Afterwards, the group joined up with the main party for the final battles in Subspace.

Other Media

• Peach appears in the anime movie The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, where she is first seen emerging from Mario's television when he is playing a video game, explaining her predicament and pleading with her to save him just as Bowser captured her, in hopes of forcing her into a marriage. At the end of the movie, the brothers defeat Bowser and rescue Peach, who is shown to have a boyfriend known as Prince Haru from the Flower Kingdom.
• She also appears all three of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. Amada shorts, which are adaptations of Japanese folklore. In the first, she is the granddaughter of two Hammer Bros. who is captured by Bowser but Mario is born from a peach to rescue her, succeeding in doing so. In the second, she befriends the miniature-sized Mario and after he defeats Bowser for her, she makes him normal-sized by hitting him with a Magic Mallet that Bowser left behind. In the final short, Peach assumes the role of Snow White, but is revived by a potion rather than a kiss. At one point Bowser takes Peach hostage, but Luigi comes in from nowhere to defeat him.
• She appears as a main character in the American cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! as well as its follow-up series The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. In these series, she constantly sought a way to defeat Bowser and was often captured by him.
• Peach also appeared throughout the Nintendo Comics System comics focusing on Mario.
• She also appears throughout the Super Mario-Kun manga which present slapstick adaptations of the Mario games from Super Mario World to the present games.
• In the Super Mario Adventures comic, Peach is shown as being somewhat more independent than most interpretations, as she escapes Bowser's castle when he kidnaps her to marry her by himself, single-handedly defeating the seven Koopa Kids in the process. When Luigi enters Bowser's castle dressed as Peach as part of a ploy, Peach winds up in Luigi's clothing and storms the castle with a series of Bob-Ombs to help the Mario Bros. escape. However, she is soon captured by Bowser again, who uses a Magikoopa's hypnosis to make Peach willing to marry her. However, before the marriage can finish, Peach is freed from the spell when the Yoshis destroy the magic wand that cast the spell, and Bowser is defeated. She also appears in the second Mario Vs. Wario comic, which acts as a follow-up, in which Mario and Wario attempt to switch birthday gifts for Peach with each other when each thinks that the other has bought the sold-out Samus Aran toy that Peach wanted, but each of their gifts turns out to be trick jack-in-the-box gifts that startle Peach, and Luigi is ultimately shown to have gotten her the Samus doll.

Canceled Appearances

• In the canceled game Diddy Kong Pilot, Peach was shown as one of the playable pilots in one build of the game.

Trivia

• She was initially called "Princess Toadstool" in the English localized games and in the American-produced media. Her original Japanese name of Peach was first used in am English localization in Yoshi's Safari, most likely due to an oversight. It was not until Super Mario 64 was released that Peach was brought into regular usage. Peach has since become her official international name, with the implication that "Toadstool" is a surname.
• Her father, the Mushroom King, is mentioned in the manual of Super Mario Bros. but has never officially appeared or been referred to outside of that. The Mushroom King has only been depicted in the live action movie and the comics published as part of the Nintendo Comics System.
• She is not the original character to play a "damsel in distress" role in the Mario games. She was preceded in this role by Pauline, who had to be resced in Mario's original game, Donkey Kong.
• When rescued in Super Mario Bros. 3, she says "Sorry, but you're princess is in another castle... haha! Just kidding" as an injoke reference to what the Toads say when rescued in Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels.
• Peach tastes like peaches, according to Belome.
• In New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the Switch remake of New Super Mario Bros. U, Toadette can transform to resemble Peach using a power-up known as the Super Crown. This form is known as Peachette. In the form of Peachette, Peach becomes temporarily playable, while the real Peach remains in her storyline role as Bowser's captive.