Pauline

*“I like music that brings people together and gets them moving!”*
—**Pauline**, *Super Mario Odyssey*
**Pauline** (originally known as **Lady** or the **Beautiful Girl** and also referred as **Mayor Pauline**) is the damsel-in-distress in the arcade game *Donkey Kong*, the installment that marked her debut in both the *Donkey Kong* and *Mario* franchises, along with Mario and her titular kidnapper (confirmed in later games to be a younger Cranky Kong). She was Mario's first love interest.

Pauline reprises her damsel-in-distress role in the *Mario vs. Donkey Kong* series. In *Super Mario Odyssey*, she plays a prominent supporting role singing the theme song of the game, "Jump Up, Super Star!"

Pauline is stated by *Game Over*, a 1993 non-fiction book by David Sheff, to be named after Polly James, wife of Nintendo of America's warehouse manager, Don James, a fact later confirmed by Don James himself at Nintendo's E3 2018 Treehouse Live event.

Her current appearance is brown hair with her long red dress whereas, her old appearance was blonde hair with a pink dress in Donkey Kong. After the New York Tour, Pauline is gainable in any pipe as a High End Driver. Her item is Lucky Seven. After the Holiday Tour, Pauline became a more regular High End driver like Peachette, Metal Mario and Dry Bowser.

## Daily Life

Pauline likes to sing. She sometimes plays with Peach, Daisy and Rosalina. She has sang with others.

## Quotes (Official)

* "*Donkey Kong, those guys are criminals! That was a prison break, not a health class!*" - *Saturday Supercade* episode "The Great Ape Escape"
* "*Mario, come back here! Donkey Kong's getting away!*" - *Saturday Supercade* episode "How Much is That Gorilla in the Window?"
* "*Oh, uh, nice rhino...good rhino...bye, rhino! DONKEY KONG!*" *Saturday Supercade* episode "Hairy Parent"
* "*Oh Mario, my hero!*" - *Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!*
* "*I'm sorry, I really don't have enough time to chat right now. I need to figure out a way to save my city. Things have been utter chaos since that Brutish Monster showed up. And he has the nerve to be advertising this wedding of his all over New Donk City?! A bit tasteless, is you ask me."* - *Super Mario Odyssey*
* "*New Donk City really means the world to me... I just can't thank you enough for all of your help, Mario!*" - *Super Mario Odyssey*
* "*Go Mario! Jump, man!*" - *Super Mario Odyssey*
* "*I'm a 1-UP Girl!*" - *Mario Kart Tour*
* "*Not too shabby!*" - *Mario Kart Tour*

## Trivia

* Although she has since undergone a massive redesign starting with the Game Boy *Donkey Kong* game, her original "Lady" design nonetheless managed to make a cameo in *Super Mario Odyssey* as part of some graffiti art and on various billboards. The Super Mario UK Twitter account implied that the "Lady" graffiti was meant to connect New Donk City with the events of the original *Donkey Kong* game.
* Pauline was originally going to appear in the canceled Famicom game *Donkey Kong no Ongaku Asobi*, where she would presumably act as the second player using a mallet to play the piano, and as the lead singer in the Donkey Band group (which would have utilized the microphone option for the Famicom). Although the game was canceled, traits of this game, including Pauline being a singer, were included in *Super Mario Odyssey*.
* One of the dances Pauline does during her "Jump Up, Super Star!" performance mimics her sprite animation from the original *Donkey Kong* game.
* Pauline currently holds the record for the most years between her original debut in *Donkey Kong* and her eventual first playable appearance in *Mario Tennis Aces*, with nearly 38 years apart between both games.