Now thatDonkey Kong Bananzais finally in our destructive hands, fans think that they’ve figured out what’s going on with the timeline and why Pauline is so young.
You wouldn’t think that a new 3D platformer starringDonkey Kongwould cause any confusion at all, but that hasn’t been the case with Bananza.Not only have fans been confused that we’re not getting the obvious sequel to Super Mario Odyssey, but they’ve also been scratching their headsat the implied changes to the canon.
Spoilers for Donkey Kong Bananza’s ending to follow, as well as some interesting easter eggs and potential lore drops.
Although all of thegame’s Kongs don’t seem to have aged a day and even reference older games in the series, the confusion comes from the inclusion of Pauline,who is a 13-year-old in Bananza. This is strange considering we last saw her as a grown-up mayor in Odyssey, and it’s even been suggested that she’s been around since the original Donkey Kong arcade game.
Why is Pauline young in Donkey Kong Bananza? Fans might have figured it out
But that’s just a theory… a DONKEY KONG theory
All of these facts combined seemed to suggest that something weird is going on with Bananza’s story, and that we might get confirmation in the game itself. That isn’t really the case, though, as it’s never explicitly said why Pauline is so young and whether it’s a time-travel story of sorts.
That leaves us with some interesting theories about it all, with my favourite and most believablecoming from Redditor TheHeavyClaw on the Donkey Kong subreddit. They suggest that Bananza’s story supports the theory that there are a few different generations of Mario and Donkey Kong characters.
The first is, of course, Cranky Kongwho has been confirmed as the original DK in the past. The theory suggests that Lady and Jumpman are actually the grandparents of the current Mario and Pauline, since young Pauline constantly talks about her grandmother in Bananza and Lady’s items can be found as collectibles from “days gone by”.
Another relic also confirms once again that Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong, as if there was any doubt.
The only part of the theory that is a little confusing is all the stuff regarding Mario, since Nintendo seems adamant that he’s the original Jumpman and somehow hasn’t aged since taking on Cranky Kong. With the Mario movie showing us his dad, though, Nintendo could have relaxed a bit on that rule, so it’s not too far-fetched.
Overall, all of the theories that I’m seeing so far suggest that Bananza is a prequel to Odysseyand that most of the DK games take place before any of the Mario ones. Of course, that’s implying that Nintendo even cares about a Mario timeline and that it matters at all, but that hasn’t stopped fans from figuring it out on their own.
