Pauline (Nintendo)

Pauline
Mario and Donkey Kong character
Pauline, as seen in Super Mario Odyssey
First game	Donkey Kong (1981)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Designed by	Shigeru Miyamoto Yōichi Kotabe Shigefumi Hino
Voiced by	Various Jo Belle Yonely (1983; Donkey Kong Cereal commercials)[1] Judy Strangis (1983–1984; Saturday Supercade) Kate Higgins (2017–present; Super Mario Odyssey onwards) Aimi Mukohara (2017; singing voice in Super Mario Odyssey, Japanese version) Jessica DiCicco (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Portrayed by	Sally Klein (Donkey Kong ColecoVision commercial)[2]
In-universe information
Origin	New Donk City

Pauline (Japanese: ポリーン, Hepburn: Porīn, pronounced [poɾiːɴ]) is a character from the Donkey Kong and Mario video game franchises by Nintendo. She was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and debuted in Donkey Kong (1981) as the girlfriend of Mario who must rescue her after she is kidnapped and held captive by Donkey Kong at the top of a large construction site.

She is one of the earliest examples of the damsel in distress archetype in video games, a trope that persisted in the following decades. Pauline was replaced by Princess Peach as Mario's love interest in the Super Mario series, though she continued to appear as Mario's friend in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. In 2017, she reappeared as a supporting character in Super Mario Odyssey with a new role as the mayor of New Donk City, and she has since appeared as a playable character in various Mario spin-off games, such as Mario Tennis Aces, Mario Golf: Super Rush, Mario Strikers: Battle League, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.