Romance is a scary thing forNintendo. Despite sending Mario on adventures to save Peach for several decades now, it still seems like the company is afraid to depict the two characters as a couple. You may see an occasional kiss on the nose or a lighthearted ‘thank you’, but beyond that, they’re just best friends of the opposite gender. Fine, that’s cool, but rarely has it been framed this way.
Writing in a recent update to theNintendo Todayapp, Mario and Peach are described as a pair of “good friends” who “will help each other out however they can” instead of describing them in romantic terms like so many of us have come to assume. This caught a bunch of us by surprise, because even if the two characters have never gotten together on-screen, I think we all just assumed they were an item. But nope, good friends it is.
Are Mario And Princess Peach A Romantic Couple?
According to Nintendo, no they aren’t. Despite Mario constantly saving Peach over the years and Bowser kidnapping her with explicit romantic intentions, it appears both characters have been riding solo for decades. This raises a lot of questions, both for the two iconic Nintendo mascots and how exactly it views the canon of its biggest franchise.
Mario might have saved Princess Peach countless times over the years, but he doesn’t do it with romantic intentions; instead, I believe he’s just a stand-up dude. Heck, maybe he’s also a dense romantic and has no idea the Princess has been head-over-heels for him for years. There is something weirdly refreshing and progressive about Nintendo casually not putting a strict definition on their relationship, instead of demanding they be romantically involved.
Besides, this perspective is also backed bySuper Mario Odyssey, a game in which we see Princess Peach dressed in a wedding dress as Bowser tries to force her into marriage. King Koopa is obviously in love with the Princess, but what about Mario? Even if he is, the game’s final moments cement that Peach simply isn’t interested. After escaping from the moon and arriving back home, Peach leaves both of them behind to go on an adventure across all the levels you’ve already visited. Sorry boys, this girl doesn’t need a man. It’s a liberating switcheroo and is likely where this ‘good friends’ definition came from, considering it’s the most recent mainline Mario title.
You must also consider that confirming that Mario and Peach are romantically involved is a line in the sand you may’t erase. Once Nintendo depicts them in that light, fans will view it as gospel until the end of time, regardless of how different games might change things. It views Mario as a company mascot, who can begin each new adventure from a simple place with familiar characters, locales, and ideas that it can take to different places each and every time. Instead of committing to something, it remains vague and allows us to do the rest.
But What About Link And Zelda?
The current predicament surrounding Mario and Peach can be applied to Link and Zelda, yet another duo of characters who, for decades now, have beenon the verge of romance. Given I am a disgusting creature who loves to read and write fanfiction, I have been rooting for these two sinceBreath of the Wildlaunched back in 2017. These iterations of both characters are the most narratively significant we’ve ever seen, linked (wahey) together through destiny across two games in which they grow closer as each narrative progresses.
Zelda even moves into Link’s old houseand writes in her diary about him, which is so, so cute and hints even further at small nuggets of romance.
I even spoke withZelda voice actor Patricia Summersettfollowing the release ofTears of the Kingdomin which we talked about the potential romantic link between both characters. After daring to even broach the topic of romance, our conversation went viral and people spent an entire week speculating on what exactly their relationship could be defined as.
“As a voice actor, looking at the overall relationship between Link and Zelda over the ages, I personally love the ambiguity and that if there is something there, it’s left to us. I guess in my own life, I can respect and celebrate relationships that aren’t conventional,” Summersett told me at the time.
She continues: “It also dodges the ending, and you’re always wondering what may occur which keeps the relationship active. There’s a tension in that, and this defiance of a definition is something really nice. I always come back to that, and I really love it as both an actor and as a human. Those relationships are super important to portray too, and I think they’re the best relationships we have in life, whether it be friendship or something that doesn’t have to fit a definition. I know that [Link and Zelda] are in a relationship with each other; it’s active, there’s a lot of care and a lot of listening, and I just love that about it.”
Even Summersett favours a level of ambiguity in relationships like this, preferring to read between the lines and respect the beauty of such an approach rather than be definitive. I don’t think Nintendo is of the same mind and has other motives for not committing to any romantic relationships within its own franchises, but it’s fascinating to think about. Just like Mario and Peach, the second you acknowledge that Link and Zelda are in love or could be together, you can’t undo such a development. You will come to live with it, fans will come to expect it, and every iteration of these characters moving forward will be burdened by it.
We have come to assume these relationships are romantic throughout Nintendo’s history, but I’m not sure if it’s ever been defined. Players are left to make up their own minds, and I’ve come to respect that ambiguity, even if committing to something concrete, could be special in its own way.
