Nintendo confirmed the age of Divey Kong Kong Bananza Pauline, which raises questions about the juvenile character’s time axis and how the story of Banana will have the organization of previous titles – such as the original Mario arcade game, in which DK was presented as a villain, and Pauline was his grate.
In the profile of the character found on the Japanese side Donkey Kong Banana, Nintendo states that Pauline is a “13-year-old girl who loves to sing. She used to live above the ground, but for some reason she was brought to the underground world and transformed into a stone.”
Yesterday’s disclosure of this younger Pauline, during Donkey Kong Bananza Nintendo Direct, definitely suggested that she was the same loving music version of the character seen in the Nintendo Switch Super Mario Odyssey platform, where adult Pauline serves both the mayor of New Donk City and the main singer of the popular band.
Nintendo fans quickly emphasized what this could mean for the overall time axis of Pauline-and the fact that the amiable DK and Pauline team in Banana is a completely different atmosphere than the usual relationship of the kidnapper and the victim. Did something happen to DK, turning him to the wrong? Or maybe during these years we confused Pauline and DK friendship?
Donkey Kong Banana sees two characters working together to support teenage Pauline return to the surface to realize their dream of becoming a celebrated singer. Pauline’s appearance as a singer in Odyssey suggests that she really does it.
But although Banana looks in terms of history to be a prequel Odyssey, the exact timeline is a bit unclear. Nintendo never found the age of Pauline in Odyssey or in any of her other performances, so it is not known how long before these events banana takes place.
But by combining the figure in these games through Pauline’s musical ambitions, he also emphasizes the fact that Pauline Odyssey is about to kidnap it by DK – something that he describes as “traumatic”.
For years, Pauline was kidnapped by DK. Most importantly, it is saved from DK claws in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, but then is re -abducted in various entries in the Mario vs series. Donkey Kong 2.
In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis Pauline is kidnapped by Donkey Kong after you dare to choose a gift from Mario instead of DK. In Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, Pauline is again kidnapped by an enraged DK, nervous that he missed the opening of the amusement park.
Later entries in the Mario vs. series Donkey Kong paints Pauline’s interactions with DK in a lovely delicate, for example in Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Mov, where both the band to organize a mini-grę, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Warta Stars, where the couple plans Mario at a surprise party.
Did something happen to DK and Pauline relations at the end of Donkey Kong Banana, changing the monkey from the ally to the kidnapper? Will we see events from the original Donkey Kong arcade game, maybe in Banana, and Mario will come to save the day? Or maybe we were wrong for all these years?
Some fans suggested that Banana would reverse the universe of Mario on his head, revealing that DK and Pauline are friends – and that Mario was a villain all the time, effectively stealing Pauline when she was just meeting her friend.
I hope that everything will be revealed when Donkey Kong Banana arrives as another huge premiere of Nintendo Switch 2 July 2025.
Tom Phillips is the editor of Ign. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on BlueSky @tomphillipseg.bsky.Social
