Nintendo’s official Japanese website forDonkey Kong Bananzahas confirmed how old Pauline is, and it only makes the game’s timeline even more confusing.
This week’s Donkey Kong Bananza Directmade it clear very quickly that the big guy shouldn’t be counted out any time soon. As surprising as it was tosee DK turn into different animalsand reunite with Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, the biggest surprisecame in the form of Pauline, who was finally confirmed to be in the game.
We knew as much thanks to Nintendo Korea leaking it months before the Direct, but it was still nice to see it officially shown in-game. The most interesting part about Pauline’s inclusion is that she’s been aged down significantly and now appears to be a child instead of the New Donk City mayor we all know.
Donkey Kong Bananza’s Pauline Is Older Than You Might Expect
But Still Much Younger Than We Know Her
As soon as Pauline was shown off in Donkey Kong Bananza, it raised a lot of questions. One of the biggest is just how old Pauline is supposed to be here, as she’s remarkably tiny and there’s no real obvious answer.Thanks to Nintendo’s Japanese website, we now know the answer for sure.
IGN recently pointed outthat the official Japanese website for Donkey Kong Bananza features a character profile for Pauline that confirms she’s 13 years old in Bananza. Sadly, we still have no idea why she’s that age all of a sudden and whether she’s been taken out of her timeline, but we do at least have a number now.
A 13-year-old girl who loves to sing. She used to live above ground, but for some reason she was brought to the underground world and transformed into a rock. - Nintendo Japan
We don’t know Pauline’s age in Super Mario Odyssey, but she’s clearly lost a decade or two in Bananza for whatever reason. That raises a lot of questions about lore and timelines,but most fans seem to agree that she’s been taken out of time and de-aged, rather than Bananza being a prequel to the other Mario games.
After all,Dixie and Diddy are both shown in Bananza, while Cranky Kong makes references to the original Donkey Kong game where Pauline appeared as an adult. It only makes sense that Pauline has been taken from a time in her childhood, as opposed to her just being that age in Bananza’s timeline. We’ll know for sure soon, I bet.
