Peach Toadstool

> I'm going to be more than a princess.
>
> -Peach (to Daisy)

**Peach** is a main character in the Mario Lore series. She is based on Princess Peach from the Mario franchise.

**Backstory**

Peach was formerly the princess of an unnamed kingdom. Her kingdom, however, was rather poor and unimportant, so her parents raised her to be wed to King Boo so that she could take the throne of the Mushroom Kingdom instead. It is heavily implied through what little we see of them that her parents saw her only as a tool to increase their own influence, subsequently teaching her to value power over anything else.

Before leaving her home to join the court of the Mushroom Kingdom as the wife to Prince Bowser, Peach had a handmaiden named Toadette, whom she asked to accompany her in her new home. Though it hasn't been shown outright in the series, we also know that she and her cousin Daisy have been friends since they were young, and she has had codependency issues from a very young age.

**Role in the Mario Lore series**

Pushed into doing so by her parents, Peach pursued King Boo, who initially rejected her advances as he saw through her and could easily tell that she was only after his crown due to her own kingdom's failings. He instead advised her to marry his younger brother, Prince Bowser.

Despite her apprehension, her parents also encouraged her to marry Bowser and use her status as the prince's wife to pursue the throne. The two met at a ball, and Bowser quickly fell for her; despite not wanting to marry him at first and denying her feelings to Daisy, she also grew to genuinely love him as well. However, it didn't take long for things to turn sour due to his anger issues and her manipulative, power-hungry nature.

Regardless of how she felt towards the prince, the king- and more specifically the throne- was still her ultimate goal, and she and King Boo began an affair together. She informed her cousin Daisy about this, who warned her that Boo would not marry a mistress, and she needed a better plan if she wanted to become queen. At some point during the affair, Peach seemed to developed real feelings for him, but he remained emotionally distant towards her due to knowing her true reasons for pursuing him.

Eventually, after previously ignoring their questionable behvaior around each other, Bowser caught them in the act. Boo was quick to
end things with her after this, assuring her that he would never marry her if she and Bowser divorced. This turned their relationship into an extremely hostile one.

\*\*Spoilers for Youtube viewers\*\*

Peach's resentment and ambition came to a boiling point when Bowser, furious at his brother for both the affair and his plan to reclaim parts of Koopa territory, came up with the plan to poison him.

Peach, of course, was thrilled at the prospect of Bowser killing Boo and allowing them to ascend to the throne. However, despite purhasing a special poison from the Shy Guy Organization, Bowser ended up backing out of the plan at the last minute and disposing of the poison. Unbeknownst to him, Peach anticipated this and kept a small vial of it on her person. She met with Boo privately under the pretense of wanting to put their past behind them and go back to being friends, slipping the poison into his drink. Unfortunately, the dose wasn't enough to kill him on its own, and Peach instead took advantage of his weakened state to choke him to death.

After the murder and her ascension to queen, Peach confided what she did in Toadette, her loyal handmaiden. Toadette assisted her greatly in covering up her role in Boo's death, cleaning up evidence she had left behind and starting rumors that Bowser was the one who had murdered his brother.

At some point after Boo's funeral, Bowser confronts Peach, knowing she was the one to kill him; she says she won't allow him to cost them their crown. The investigation the murder that followed was heavily centered on her and Bowser as they had the most to gain from the king's death and were the closest to him. Due to a combination of Toadette's interference, the kindgom's subjects already distrusting Bowser due to his "curse", Bowser's own feelings of guilt and responsibility for Boo's death, and Peach proving to be the better liar, her husband is found guilty. As queen, she is asked to decide his punishment, and chooses to banish rather than kill him due to her own feelings of guilt.

After Bowser's banishment, the power Peach was so desperate for quickly turned out to have a hefty price. Since Boo died painfully and traumatically, his unstable spirit remained. Boo's ghost tormented her, sometimes appearing to her with romantic intentions, other times swearing revenge and deepening her fears that her subjects will grow to realize what she's done and despise her.

Others in the palace began to take notice of her deteriorating state, and Toadette, whom she told about her experiences with the ghost, sent for an exorcist. However, Luigi quickly seems to learn more from the ghost than Peach had anticipated- when he calmly asks her if she was the one to kill Boo, she flies into a fit of rage and fires him on the spot.

Peach meets Luigi's brother, a mercenary named Mario, sometime after this; he questions her on Luigi's whereabouts, but she gives him very little information to work with. When discussing the attempted exorcism with Daisy, she loses her temper and threatens Luigi, causing Daisy to call her out by pointing out she claimed she would be a good queen and was losing her way. It becomes apparent that Peach is beginning to isolate herself in order to enable her own self-destructive behaviors, as she is seen talking to Toadette about Daisy's criticism of her and declares that she doesn't need her or any other friends.

At some point during her reign, Peach learns that Bowser has become King of the Koopa Territory, and the two begin exchanging letters frequently, growing to miss each other despite the various hardships that plagued their relationship. She eventually goes to visit him in his castle and stays with him. He suggests that they unite their kingdoms and rule together as king and queen, which Peach is conflicted by, enticed by the offer but not wanting to share her power. As he becomes more desperate in pursuing this plan so he doesn't lose her again, Peach pulls away more and more from him. After Peach has been in Koopa territory for a month and sent no letters, Toadette worries for her safety and hires Mario to retrieve her. Mario questions what Peach is doing there, and she claims Bowser kidnapped her, asking Mario to "save" her and return her to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Bowser is enraged when he discovers that Peach claimed he kidnapped her, disregarding his banishment to confront her about it on castle grounds. Because of this, she hires Mario to threaten him into leaving her alone- though this isn't how he interprets her request. Mario develops feelings for Peach after she hires him, though it doesn't seem she returns his affections.

Likely after her return from Koopa territory, Peach meets Rosalina, the Queen of the Celestial Kingdom, a former friend of King Boo who has come to the Mushroom Kingdom to pay her respects and wish the new queen well. However, this poses a problem for Peach, as Rosalina possesses powers that grant her visions of the past and future. Peach seems weary of her because of this, questioning what her visions have revealed to her. Rosalina tells Peach that she saw Bowser strangling the former king- it is currently unknown whether Peach believes her or not, but she plays things off rather convincingly.

**Gallery**

Peach's wedding dressPeach's Mushroom Kingdom dressPeach as the Princess of the Unnamed Kingdom