Princess Peach

Princess Peach (ピーチ姫) (named Princess Toadstool in the English translations of the early games) is a character in Nintendo's Mario franchise. Originally created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Peach is the princess of the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, which is constantly under attack by Bowser. She often plays the damsel in distress role within the series and is the lead female. She is often portrayed as Mario's love interest and has appeared in nearly all the Mario games to date; with the most notable being in Super Princess Peach where she is the main protagonist.

Concept and creation
Princess Peach's initial appearance was drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto later asked Yōichi Kotabe to redraw Peach with his instructions. He had asked Kotabe to draw her eyes to be "a little cat-like" and that she should look "stubborn, but cute". With Kotabe's influence, Princess Peach changed considerably throughout her gaming system. Peach was not a playable character in New Super Mario Bros. Wii because it would require special programming on how the game handles her dress, however, she is the main protagonist in Super Princess Peach and is a playable character in most Mario spin-offs such as Mario Party, Mario Kart and also sports games.

Design and characteristics
Princess Peach has long, blonde hair; blue eyes; a tall height; an innocent figure; and a rosy complexion. In most games, Peach wears a floor-length pink court dress with a frilled collar, short puffed sleeves, a ruffled hemline, and a pannier-style overskirt. Her accessories are high-heeled pink dress shoes, opera-length white evening gloves, a sapphire brooch with gold trim, round sapphire earrings, and a heavy gold circlet adorned with sapphires and rubies.

In sports games, she wears pink shorts and a pink tank top with white bobby socks and red-and-pink tennis shoes. In the winter, Peach wears a pink jumper over a purple unitard with white ankle boots and white gloves. For swimming and gymnastics, Peach wears a light pink leotard. When riding on bikes in Mario Kart Wii, she wears a pink jumpsuit with biker boots and pink gloves.

Name
In Japan, the Princess's name has always been Peach (ピーチ姫). She was originally known as Princess Toadstool in the United States and other Western countries. The English translation of Yoshi's Safari (1993) marked the first usage of the name "Peach" outside of Japan; however, the name did not catch on at that time, as the game itself was not very popular. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, she went back to being called Princess Toadstool. It was not until the release of Super Mario 64 in 1996 that the name Peach became widely known outside Japan.

Personality
Peach's personality is generally kind natured and well mannered. In most games she is portrayed as selfless, perky and generous. Typically, she does not show an aggressive nature even when she is fighting (this is done by quick slaps, elegant high kicks, thrusts in the air, and other graceful fighting techniques, as seen in the Super Smash Bros. series) or confronting her enemies. This, however, varies slightly from game to game. One of Peach's most common traits during her playable appearances is her ability to temporarily float in the air with her large skirt, and later on, with her umbrella. This was first featured during Peach's first playable appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2. This ability has also appeared in Super Paper Mario and her playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series. However, in Super Princess Peach, she shows wild mood swings from Joy, Sadness, Happiness, and Anger each of which give her a special ability. These changes in emotion are most likely attributed to the "strange powers" of Vibe Island mentioned in the game's booklet. In Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, she does show Bowser that she is capable of taking care of herself.

Although often kidnapped by him, Peach has been shown to not hold any grudges at Bowser, and she even embraces the thought having him by her and Mario's side when a bigger threat menaces the kingdom. The Paper Mario series reveals that she can sometimes surrender to a more bratty behavior, though this often dissipates as soon as everything gets explained to her. Apart from Mario, who is her main love interest, she has occasionally shown a very friendly behavior towards Luigi. Peach's gameplay and cutscenes in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door suggest she may have harbored romantic feelings for TEC.

Voices
In her first voiced appearance in the 1986 Japanese anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission To Rescue Princess Peach), Peach was voiced by pop singer, Mami Yamase. In the OVA trilogy released in 1989, she was voiced by Miyako Endo. On the cartoon segments on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! from DIC Entertainment, Peach was usually voiced by Jeannie Elias. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 & Super Mario World cartoons, Princess Toadstool was voiced by Tracey Moore. In the CD-i game Hotel Mario, Peach was voiced by Jocelyn Benford. In Super Mario 64 and the English version of Mario Kart 64, Peach was voiced by Leslie Swan, a localization manager for Nintendo of America. Swan voiced Peach again for the release of Super Mario 64 DS in 2004 and in Super Paper Mario in 2007. In Mario Party, Mario Party 2 and the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64, Peach was voiced by Asako Kozuki. Starting with Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64, Peach has been voiced by Jen Taylor.

In 2005, Nintendo used a new voice for Princess Peach. Although Super Princess Peach and Mario Hoops 3-on-3 still used Taylor's voice, other games, such as Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Super Mario Strikers have a new Peach voice, Nicole Mills. The infant form of Princess Peach that appears in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Yoshi's Island DS, Mario Kart Wii and Mario Super Sluggers, known as Baby Peach, is voiced by Mills, though replaced by Samantha Kelly starting with Mario Kart Wii. However, in Super Paper Mario, Peach is once again voiced by Swan. Peach has been voiced by Samantha Kelly since Mario Strikers Charged. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Peach is again voiced by Taylor, although much is from sound clips recycled from previous Mario games. Likewise, if a player selects Peach in Brawl using a Wii Remote or classic controller, Peach's taunt from Melee (then voiced by Taylor) will sound over the Wii Remote's speaker if the volume is on.

Appearances
Peach is portrayed as the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, where she was born and currently resides. Within the palace are Royal Guards known as mushroom retainers. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario, a cabinet minister or chancellor is part of the Mushroom Kingdom government. Toadsworth, the steward of her palace is accidentally referred to as her grandfather. Her father, the Mushroom King, though mentioned in the instruction manual to Super Mario Bros., has never made an appearance in the mainstream games. Peach also has a grandmother who is a Toad and a grandmother who is a human, implying that she may be half-Toad.

Peach first appeared in Super Mario Bros. and has been kidnapped by the series' main antagonist, Bowser, many times since. (In at least one game, Toadsworth remarks that she is kidnapped, on average, every week.) In Super Mario Bros. 2, Princess Peach was a playable character. Peach, along with Mario, Luigi and Toad were called by the inhabitants of Subcon to save their dream land from the evil Wart. Peach's main ability was that she could hover for a limited time after jumping left or right. This skill allows her to easily make jumps over areas larger than other characters could. In Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser's children capture the seven Toadstool kings. Hearing of this, Princess Peach asked Mario and Luigi to rescue them, sending them items while they were on their quest and providing them with power-ups after completing each level. She is eventually captured herself and later saved by Mario. In Super Mario World, Mario, Luigi and Peach were having a vacation in Dinosaur Land when Bowser once again kidnapped her.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Peach was one of Mario's party members, along with Mallow, Geno and Bowser. Peach possesses healing/resurrection powers similar to Mallow. In Super Mario 64, Peach invited Mario to her palace for a cake, but before Mario arrived at the palace, Bowser came and took control of the Power Stars. He kidnapped Peach in the fresco over the entrance of the palace. In Paper Mario, Peach invites Mario to her palace, but as soon as he meets with her, Bowser lifts her palace into the sky and throws Mario out a window. She is a playable character in the scenes after Mario has rescued each of the seven Star Spirits. In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Peach, Toadsworth and an entourage of Toads went to Isle Delfino on Peach's private plane. However, Bowser Jr., in the disguise of Shadow Mario, had filled the island with graffiti. He then kidnapped Peach, claiming her to be his mother. Princess Peach was taken once again in New Super Mario Bros. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Yoshi's Island DS, "Baby Peach" (her infant form) makes appearances.

Super Princess Peach marked the second time that Princess Peach was cast as the main heroine in a video game. In a role-reversal, Princess Peach had to save Mario and Luigi from King Bowser. She has a talking parasol named Perry who transformed from a real boy and can be used as her weapon. In Super Paper Mario, Peach is forced by Count Bleck to marry Bowser against her will, in order to unleash the destructive Chaos Heart. She is later rescued by Mario and manages to convince Bowser to join their cause in stopping Bleck. In Super Mario Galaxy, Peach's castle was lifted into space by Bowser, who wanted Peach to rule the universe by his side. She was brought into Outer Space, along with Toads, and Mario had to go through different galaxies to save her. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Peach is kidnapped on the day of her birthday by Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings. She is later rescued by Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad. She is also in Super Mario Galaxy 2 when Bowser kidnaps her and puts her in the center of the universe. Mario and Peach then get the Grand Star, before the Comet Observatory from the first Super Mario Galaxy shows up, and Rosalina is heard thanking Mario for watching over the Luma that he had found. The Luma returns to the Comet Observatory, taking Mario's cap with him, before the Comet Observatory transforms into a comet and leaves. Eventually, Mario and his companions return to the Mushroom Kingdom, where a large cake stands in front of Peach's Castle and Starship Mario sits in the sky above. Princess Peach also has appearances in New Super Mario Bros. 2 as well as New Super Mario Bros. U.

Appearances in other games
Princess Peach has appeared in nearly all of the Mario spin-off titles. Since the first Mario Party, Peach has appeared in every single installment.

In the Mario Kart series (except Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64), she is in the medium category of characters with the fastest acceleration, the lowest top speed, and the best off-road ability to take the shortcuts on each course. Her special item in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! involves two hearts temporarily rotating around her kart, giving her whatever item they collide into. She shares her special with Princess Daisy, her best friend.

In the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, she is labeled as a "Technique" character and has one of the lightest hits. She is a captain in the games Mario Superstar Baseball, and Mario Super Sluggers and specializes in pitching. She is a playable character in Super Mario Strikers and its sequel, Mario Strikers Charged. Peach is fast, agile, and has good passing skills. Finally, she appears in the first Mario basketball game, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, for the Nintendo DS, and is a technical type (good at taking shots). She appears in the crossover sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, where she is a skill type character. She also appeared in Mario Sports Mix in 2011, where she is a playable character.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Peach first appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the second game of the series. She has the unique ability to float for seconds, much as she can in Super Mario Bros. 2, an advantage which is balanced by the fact that she is one of the lighter fighters and in Super Smash Bros. Brawl her killing ability has been decreased since Super Smash Bros. Melee and making kills in Brawl can prove to be quite difficult. However, Peach's Float is one of the main elements of her game, as it allows her to combo players from above and dodge horizontal attacks. It serves as an amazing horizontal recovery. Her attacks include the Peach Bomber (where she leaps forward, twirls and rams her hip into her opponent which causes an explosion); her forward grab (a massive slap that kills players at higher percentages); her parasol; using Toad as a human shield; using golf clubs, tennis rackets, and frying pans as melee weapons; and pulling turnips from the ground. Her Final Smash in Brawl is unique in that it does not kill opponents outright. Instead, it puts them to sleep and spawns peaches across the battlefield that restore Peach's health. Additionally, in the Subpace Emissary story mode, Princess Peach is a very prominent character, being present throughout most of the storyline.

Appearances in other media
In the cartoon series by DiC, she is always referred to as Princess Toadstool, since the name Peach had not been used in the western world, and she had red hair instead of blonde. (This may have been due to the original NES games depicting her with red hair, due to technical limitations). Unlike in the video games, she is occasionally seen using power-ups such as the Raccoon Leaf. She is voiced by Jeannie Elias in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and Tracey Moore in the two follow up series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

Other info- Princess Peach is described as being "an attractive young woman." She is also known to be the most attractive female in the series, as many people like her. Peach also holds a very special title that no other female video game character has: she has starred in the most video games, appearing in over 70 games. Peach is Mario's girlfriend and childhood friend. The two love each other deeply, much to Bowser's chagrin.

Cameos
Peach has made cameo appearances in non-Mario games as well. She is a playable guest character in the GameCube ports of the Electronic Arts games NBA Street V3 and SSX On Tour. Peach made a minor appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, in a painting in Hyrule Castle. A Princess Peach kart toy appears and can be driven in the Labrador and Friends version of Nintendogs. Peach made a cameo in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, appearing in a picture sent to Mr. Write from the goat in the animal village. The photo is of Peach with the name "Christine" written underneath the picture. She appeared at the King Dedede battle arena in Kirby Super Star, as well as in the mini-game Megaton Punch. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, she is once again seen at the Dedede arena. Her crown appears in Pikmin 2 as an item to be collected, although it is labeled "Unspeakable Wonder". She will make a cameo in an episode of The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, where she will be voiced by Jessica DiCicco.

Reception


Princess Peach received mostly positive reviews from critics. GameDaily described her as an “ideal woman that's as sweet as can be” in their list of "babes that should or shouldn’t meet your mom". The website ranked her forty-eighth in their list of Top 50 Hottest Game Babes claiming that she is “the quiet 'quick, come and rescue me' type, but in Mario Strikers Charged she's all action with a hot sports outfit and shows the boys who's boss”. IGN editor Matt Casamassina stated that Nintendo would be "taken aback" by her outfit, which he describes as more revealing than any outfit she's ever worn. IGN rated the character an 8 out of 10 in the worth saving index on their article “Mario’s Ladies: The Princesses of Mario Galaxy”. The New York Times claimed that Princess Peach had “grit as well as grace” and that her “peachiness did nothing to upset the apple cart of expectation: she may have been athletic, smart and strong, but she was also adorable”. The article claimed that Peach was what “once-unisex, postfeminist parents are shooting for”. S. Williams of Momzone magazine declared Peach "gaming's lone female role model," citing the character's unceasing humility and gutsy charm. Manolith listed Princess Peach as one of the characters on their "25 Hottest Female Videogame Protagonists" list, especially citing her Strikers outfit. In 2012, Peach was listed as the 50th hottest video game character by Complex. UGO ranked Peach 9th on their list of the "Top 11 Girls of Gaming".

In a poll conducted by the Official Nintendo Magazine, Princess Peach was voted by readers as the second greatest female character; the magazine stated that "some might view her as being a bit useless but we'll let her off as rescuing her is always so much fun". Peach was included on GameDaily's list of hottest blondes in video games; they cited her appearances in sports games such as Super Mario Strikers and SSX On Tour (in Mario Smash Football, she wears a pink midriff-baring crop top with pink shorts). They listed the "damsel in distress" as one of their top 25 video game archetypes, using Princess Peach as an example of this due to her frequent kidnappings. Despite this, however, Peach only managed a 'D' on Destructoid's Gamer's Red Carpet, who called her pink dress "awful", as opposed to Princess Daisy which got a B+ and Rosalina which got an 'A+'. IGN's US called Peach "all smiles and politeness", however, they also labelled her as the one of the weirdest Mario character, citing her constant kidnappings. IGN later stated that "when she's not staring blankly at nothing, she can be rather adorable", however the fact that "Mario can heroically collect 120 Power Stars all while saving Peach's kingdom and still get nothing but a cake in return makes us think this might be something of a one-sided relationship."

In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of $1 billion. She is ranked 10th in Electronic Gaming Monthly's Top Ten Video Game Politicians list.