Princess Peach Toadstool (ピーチ姫 Pīchi-hime?) is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of $1 billion. She is ranked tenth in Electronic Gaming Monthly's list of the top ten video game politicians.
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.
Design
Princess Peach has long and layered yellow-blonde hair, sky blue eyes, a tall height, a slender but curvy figure, and a rosy complexion. Peach's makeup is black mascara, pink lipstick, and pink nail polish. She wears a pink gown with a dark pink ruffled collar,and a dark pink hem, short puffed sleeves, and dark pink panniers. Her accessories are red high heels, white opera gloves, a sapphire pendant, sapphire earrings, and a gold crown with sapphires and rubies.
Name
In Japan, the Princess's name has always been Peach (ピーチ姫 Pīchi Hime?, Princess Peach). 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.[citation needed] In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, she went back to being called Princess Toadstool (the character Belome says that she "tastes peachy" when eating and cloning her in battle, referring to the original name.) 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 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 gracious 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. She was one of the more popular character choices in this game since her ability made navigating across platforms easier (though her own jumping was rather short). 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.
Relationships with other characters
Mario is shown to be Peach's close companion since childhood. Mario saves Peach quite often and she usually will bake him a cake or kiss him upon her rescue. Since Peach's debut appearance, the two have always been shown to be in a romantic relationship. This is confirmed in the official European Mario website, in which Peach is listed as Mario's girlfriend.
In Luigi's Mansion, she sends Toad to help Luigi search for his brother, and in Mario Party 5, Peach and Mario are called "Cutest Couple". They also share chemistry together in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, as they are "buddy players". Mario Power Tennis even goes as far as showing Mario himself telling Peach of his love for her in Peach's victory scene. Peach responded with a smile and blew a kiss. Also, in Mario's victory scene in Mario Power Tennis, Peach gives him a small kiss on his cheek. They both show deep devotion to each other as depicted in many of the games, especially in the Paper Mario series. Mario and Peach are the Secret Staff Ghosts for Rainbow Road in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The official guide describe them at this: Aw, isn’t that cute? Mario and Peach are together again, zipping down the Rainbow Road and leaving you coughing up their dust.
In the comic "Warios Weihnachtsmärchen", published in the German Club Nintendo magazine, it is even revealed that they spent their graduation ball in school together, and that Peach decided in favor of Mario and against Wario.
In the first Paper Mario, one of the Toads tells Mario to take Peach on a date to Shooting Star Summit. For the official guide of Yoshi's Island DS, in the description for Baby Mario and Baby Peach: Dynamic Duo, Nintendo mentioned that before the "romantic entanglements" in their adult lives, they teamed up as babies to stop evil. Also the official guide for Mario Party 8 stated that Peach is apple of Mario's eye. Rosalina in Super Mario Galaxy even referred to Peach as Mario's 'Special One'. Also the two are seen holding hands toward the ending. In Mario Kart Wii, while racing with the Wii Wheels Peach and Mario playfully bump each other.
Rosalina- Peach and Rosalina haven't met officially, but in Super Mario Galaxy Rosalina refers peach as Mario's special one. At the end of Super Mario Galaxy 2 when Rosalina reveals herself to Mario and Peach, Peach agrees with Rosalina of how it was their destiny to see each other.
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 Mami Yamase, a pop singer. In the OVA trilogy released in 1989, she was voiced by Miyako Endo. On the cartoon segments on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Peach was usually voiced by Jeannie Elias. In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon from DIC Entertainment, 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. In the Annoying Orange episode Super Mario she was voiced by Catrefic.