Princess Daisy

Princess Daisy's official artwork for Mario Kart Tour.

> "Fair warning, folks: try all you want, but I'm still gonna win. Princess Daisy always comes out on top!"
>
> Princess Daisy, Fortune Street

**Princess Daisy** (***デイジー姫*** or ***Deijī-hime*** in Japanese) is a prominent supporting character in the Mario franchise. First appearing in 1989's *Super Mario Land* as the lead damsel-in-distress, Daisy has had a robust career in the spin-off Mario games, such as Mario Party, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis and more.

Unlike a majority of the main cast, Daisy does not hail from the Mushroom Kingdom. She originates from the world of Sarasaland. After the events of *Super Mario Land*, Daisy have moved into the Mushroom Kingdom and is a consistent participants in events held there.

Princess Daisy is well-known for her strong association with flowers, having floral-themed outfits, designs on her clothes, and floral abilities.

## History

*Super Mario Land* was a launch title game for the Game Boy handheld console. The developers wanted the game to be set away from the Mushroom Kingdom. So to match the new setting, Sarasaland, the game was given a new damsel-in-distress as a replacement for Princess Peach. Her exact creator is unknown but it's thought to have been the game's producer Gunpei Yokoi.

Before the events of the game, Daisy was kidnapped by the mysterious alien Tatanga and Mario goes on a quest to rescue her. At the end of the game, Daisy is saved. She thanks Mario and gives him a kiss. In this game, Daisy had virtually no differences from her counterpart in the Mushroom Kingdom, but she's described as a "tomboyish, full-of-spirit princess". Though she did not exhibit these traits in *Super Mario Land*, they would eventually become her defining characteristics.

After making minor appearances in *NES Open Tournament Golf* and *Super Mario Bros. Print World*, Daisy made her first playable appearance in 2000's *Mario Tennis*. Daisy's resurgence was spurred by Camelot wanting more human Mario characters in the game. Her next playable appearance in *Mario Party 3* (in all modes but Story Mode). Daisy made her Mario Kart debut in 2003 with *Mario Kart: Double Dash !!* and continued to make appearances in spin-off Mario games.

Despite making her first appearance in a mainline Mario game, she didn't make an appearance in another for almost 30 years with *Super Mario Run* featuring Daisy as an unlockable character who you can unlock Level 30 of Remix 10. One of Daisy's biggest achievements was making her playable debut in the Super Smash Bros. series in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* as an Echo Fighter for Princess Peach.

## Design

The name of Daisy's kingdom Sarasaland is derived from the word "sarasa", a term used for calico textiles imported by Portuguese traders from India to Japan. These textiles often had floral designs. This led to the Sarasaland princess getting her name, Daisy. As her name would suggest, all of Daisy's designs are based on the color palette of the flower daisy, using whites and oranges.

In physical terms, Daisy has evolved a lot in the past. In artwork for *Super Mario Land*, Daisy looked relatively very similar to Peach. Both princesses had hair that extend to their back, cat-like eyes, a feminine physique, big earrings and a long gown. For her playable debut in *Mario Tennis*, Daisy was redesigned to have tan skin and a darker shade of red hair. This redesign was kept in *Mario Party 3* but *Mario Party 4* introduced Daisy's most iconic design.

This redesign gave Daisy a few differences from Peach. Her Rapunzel-esque hair was changed into a long layered hairstyle to differentiate their silhouettes. Her dress was also given very subtle differences from Peach's such as the width because of Daisy's short stature and wider hips. Her crown is no longer red but is now a bright gold.

*Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020* gave Daisy's current design an update. When she isn't wearing any gloves she was given light purple nail polish with a pink tint. When Peach and Daisy's lipstick colors are scanned, Peach has a Geraldine shade of Pink which is an Antique Pink while Daisy has a Mandy shade which is very close to red with a pink undertone. It is the most visible nowadays like it was for her model in *Mario Party 3*.

## Personality

From the very beginning, Daisy’s been described as a whip-smart and energetic tomboy. However, she didn’t exhibit any overtly tomboyish characteristics in the first few appearances. In fact, she plays stereotypically feminine auxiliary roles in *Super Mario Land* and *NES Open Tournament Golf* .

In *Mario Tennis*, Daisy’s depicted as soft-spoken and enthusiastic to the point of being clumsy. In her celebration animation after winning a game, Daisy throws her tennis racket into the air and has to run to catch it. When accepting her trophy after winning a tournament, Daisy jumps up and down in joy then falls off the stage by accident.

In the Story Mode of *Mario Party 3*, Daisy is portrayed as a spoiled and wealthy brat. She’s boastful of her looks, manipulative, temperamental and whiny. When Daisy loses to her competition, she runs bursts into tears over her loss and runs away.

Today, Daisy’s tomboyish traits are a bit more pronounced, especially in comparison to Peach. Whereas Peach will join a sporting event or party and bring a sense of elegance and class, Daisy brings unbridled enthusiasm to every event she is present for, not even bothering to put a regal front. Daisy is also very sassy, often posing with her hands on her hips and making snarky remarks. Both princesses can be very dramatic, sharing a tendency to fall to the floor and bury their faces in their palms when they lose.

One of the essential facets of Daisy’s character is her duality between masculinity and femininity, as she's often noted to be "**a bit** of a tomboy" or "tomboy**ish**". While Daisy enjoys competing in sports and is portrayed as more proactive and less girly than most of her female companions, Daisy often wears frilly gowns with flower motifs and has very feminine interests such as shopping and dining at fancy restaurants.

Daisy’s confidence is a big part of her character. Many of her quotes express her certainty in winning the event she’s participating in. With most of her appearances being in sports, Daisy is naturally a competitive character.

Some aspects of Daisy’s character in past games have been retained. Daisy’s still portrayed as clumsy from time to time, a natural extension of her cockiness. Her arrogance from *Mario Party 3* is also a consistent flaw of hers, seen in many games.

*Super Mario Strikers* and *Mario Strikers Charged* dial up Daisy's sass to match the gritty feel of the series. When Daisy makes a goal, she'll do things like jump and down in celebration or fall to the floor in joy. She takes a turn for the dramatic whenever she loses, crossing her arms and stomping her feet, growing so enraged that her teammates become scared.

*Fortune Street* arguably did a lot for Daisy’s personality, with the game’s vast amount of dialogue. Daisy expresses confidence in her win and makes sure no one forgets. Though she can be very domineering in her dialogue, she’s also very genial, making lighthearted jokes with her competitors.

In the Story Mode for *Mario Tennis Ace*s, it’s shown that Daisy can be very trepidacious in uncertain and serious situations but still brave and fiery.

## Voice

Daisy has been voiced by three different voice actresses over the years:

* Kate Fleming, who voiced her in *Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64*.
* Jen Taylor, who voiced Daisy in *Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4* and *Mario Party 5.*
* Deanna Mustard, who began voicing Daisy in *Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour* to Mario Strikers Battle League.
* Giselle Fernandez who started voicing her since *Super Mario Bros. Wonder*.

In Daisy's first voiced appearance, *Mario Tennis,* Daisy had a feminine and realistic sounding voice. She expressed her enthusiasm in a very placid way. From *Mario Party 3* to *Mario Party 5*, Daisy and Peach shared a voice actress, Jen Taylor. While the two had nearly identical lines, Peach's voice was more squeaky while Daisy's had a more mature voice that still sounded very cutesy. When Mustard debuted as the voice of Daisy in *Toadstool Tour*, she immediately changed the direction of the character's voice. Daisy's voice was filled with zest and much more brash than Peach. As Daisy's appearances in the Mario series continued, her voice grew louder and louder. Daisy is prone to shouting whenever she scores a win, boasting when accomplishing something and groaning upon losing. Around the time of Nintendo's Wii U Era, Daisy's voice was toned down to be less high-pitched, but still enthusiastic.

## Reception

Princess Daisy has a very juxtaposed reception among Super Mario fans. Ty Davidson perfectly summarizes these opposing views, saying:

> *"*Arguably, Princess Daisy is one of the most controversial Nintendo characters in recent years, and lately, the toxicity surrounding her has reached a fever pitch. While those on “Team Daisy” think that the character fills an essential role within the Mario universe, a majority of fans seem to believe that she is a shallow and boring character who is force-fed to players through kart racing, partying and tennis."
>
>

In recent years, Princess Daisy has gained more popularity and become something of an Ensemble Dark Horse. In Daniel Alvarez's article on TheGamer, Alvarez expresses a love for Daisy's character and a desire for her to join the mainstream Mario series.  Mitchell F. Wolfe considers Daisy a solid character and expresses disappointment with her lack of presence in non-spin-off games.

Voice actress Deanna Mustard enjoys playing Daisy because of how loud the character is and the physical movement she uses when recording.

## References

1. ↑ *"Peach missed female companionship until this girl with orange hair moved into the Mushroom Kingdom."*

- Daisy's Bio, *Mario Party 7*
2. ↑ [1] Daisy's description on the character section of the Mario website.
3. ↑ [2]"A tomboyish, full-of-spirit princess."

- Daisy's bio on the ''Super Mario Land'' website.
4. ↑ "The preppy princess of Sarasaland is having a blast at the Olympic Games! In her downtime, she plans to chow down at fine restaurants and maybe get a little shopping in with Peach."

- Daisy's Flag Description, *Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games*.
5. ↑ Davidson, Ty (March 3, 2016), Women's Month: Hi I'm Daisy: The Great Debate
6. ↑ Alvarez, Daniel (August 30, 2019), Princess Daisy Deserves Better
7. ↑ Wolfe, Mitchell F. (October 17, 2017), Actually, Daisy is the Best Mario Character
8. ↑ Deanna Mustard interview by ForeverDaisy09, Super Mario Wiki:

*Q| Is there anything you tend to say/do when portraying Daisy?*
*A| i have a little hook i use to get back into the voice when we go into recording. i tend to get a little physical in the sound booth. it's a lot of fun. i love playing daisy. i think she is a bit more loud than peach, and probably more outspoken. i especially enjoy the mario strikers games for that reason.*