Mario Kart World’s First DLC Character May Be as Plain as the Mustache on Mario’s Face

Mario Kart World has enjoyed a successful month since its release on June 5. As the latest entry in Nintendo’s beloved kart-racing series, Mario Kart World has garnered positive reviews and a Metascore rating of 86. Though that’s six points lower than its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the game has still been a smash hit among the Nintendo Switch 2 community.

With major innovations such as Dash Food, open-world exploration, a massive roster, and new game modes, it comes as no surprise that Mario Kart World is still garnering a significant amount of attention. The game is only a month old, but that hasn’t stopped players from looking to the future. One character seems like an obvious pick to headline the first wave of DLC: Young Pauline, who takes center stage in Donkey Kong Bananza.

Mario Kart World Map Highlights the Open-World’s Roads

Following the release of Mario Kart World, one player creates a detailed map of the open world’s many roads and other pathways.

Mario Kart World DLC Should Seize a Golden Opportunity

Pauline’s Significance in the Mario Franchise

Set to release on July 17, the new Donkey Kong game has faced some criticism as a platformer that may be taking precedence over a fresh 3D Mario title. However, Donkey Kong Bananza will have several exciting features, including a younger version of Pauline. According to the Japanese website for the game, she’s a 13-year-old music-loving girl who is joining the adventure as player two.

Based on the available information, it appears that this is the same Pauline seen in Super Mario Odyssey, released in 2017. Beyond serving as the mayor of New Donk City and a former damsel in distress, she’s also the lead singer of the band The Super Mario Players. Most notably, she performed the game’s theme song, “Jump Up, Super Star!”

Nintendo confirmed during a recent Direct that the sidekick in Donkey Kong Bananza is indeed Pauline, though the reason for her younger appearance hasn’t been explained yet. Some fans have speculated that this is a prequel to Super Mario Odyssey, and hypothesize that Mario will ultimately become the main antagonist. This role-reversal theory is based on the original Mario arcade games, where Donkey Kong was the villain and Mario played the role of the rescuer.

Young Pauline Is the Perfect Fit for Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World‘s roster expands to 50 characters. This includes several main characters, such as Mario, Bowser, and Luigi, as well as several creature racers, including the Cow, Goomba, and Monty Mole. Unsurprisingly, the kart-racing game continues the tradition of including baby versions of the characters, with racers like Baby Daisy, Baby Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Peach all playable characters. As such, Young Pauline, arguably better referred to as Baby Pauline in this instance, would be a perfect fit.

Hopefully, free DLC will add Baby Pauline, particularly since the older version of the character is already a default playable racer in the game. Some fans have theorized that Mario Kart World will capitalize on Donkey Kong Bananza‘s hype by giving both Donkey Kong and Pauline an additional unlockable outfit. This would be especially notable, as both currently only have one, and in comparison, characters like Baby Rosalina have four.

Perhaps an expansion will launch alongside Donkey Kong Bananza‘s July release, featuring new skins for both characters and introducing Baby Pauline as a new racer. Interestingly, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe didn’t receive major DLC for several years, with only minor additions early on. The Booster Course Pass launched in 2022, with Wave 1 arriving nearly five years after the base game’s release, and the final wave landing in late 2023. As of now, Mario Kart World’s producer has only mentioned the possible addition of 200cc in a future update, with no official DLC announced at this time. Regardless, even if an expansion hasn’t been made public, the timing would make perfect sense.