Donkey Kong Bananza Just Confirmed the Pauline Theory

Donkey Kong Bananza has just confirmed that Pauline is back in the latest Nintendo Direct livestream. When Donkey Kong Bananza was first announced in April, fans quickly took notice of a mysterious girl accompanying DK on his latest quest to obtain the legendary Golden Bananas in some leaked key art. Many began to theorize that the game could actually be a prequel to 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey.

The girl in question looked suspiciously like Pauline, the damsel in distress who first appeared in the original Donkey Kong arcade game. Once Princess Peach took over as Mario’s primary love interest, who tends to get captured in each Mario game, Pauline started appearing less and less – that is, until Super Mario Odyssey, where she was reintroduced as the mayor of New Donk City. Since then, Pauline has shown up in spin-offs like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and the recently released Mario Kart World.

Donkey Kong Bananza characters and Bananza Powers

Donkey Kong Bananza Reveals Villains, Allies, and the Ability to Turn Into a Zebra

Donkey Kong Bananza’s new and returning characters are shown off in more detail ahead of the game’s release, along with the reveal of Bananza Powers.

Today, Nintendo revealed a wealth of new information about Donkey Kong Bananza in a special Nintendo Direct, including an official confirmation that the girl in the promotional artwork is indeed Pauline. More specifically, she is the strange, stone-like creature Odd Rock, who helps DK on his journey. At one point near the beginning of the new Donkey Kong Bananza trailer, her rocky shell breaks open during an encounter with a gigantic gorilla, revealing the young Pauline underneath.

Donkey Kong Bananza Trailer Confirms Young Pauline

The narration reveals that while DK is simply looking for a big banana horde in Donkey Kong Bananza, Pauline is trying to find a way home after being mysteriously transported to the underground world of Ingot Isle. Luckily for her, legend has it that anyone who reaches the planet’s core will have a wish granted, so she and DK embark on an adventure that will take them to the depths of the underground.

Most notably of all, Pauline is a child in Donkey Kong Bananza, while her previous appearances have depicted her as an adult woman. This seems to suggest that Donkey Kong Bananza is a prequel to these past games, with many fans already drawing new theories about how it will connect to those old adventures at the end. If this is indeed the case, then Donkey Kong Bananza could put a whole new spin on the original Donkey Kong and the rest of the series. Fans likely won’t know for sure how Donkey Kong Bananza relates to past installments until the game launches on July 17.