It’s an unspoken rule that every Nintendo hero needs to have a quirky sidekick along for the ride — from Cappy in Super Mario Odyssey to Navi in Ocarina of Time. So when Donkey Kong Bananza popped up at the Switch 2 reveal, sure enough, the big ape himself had a sentient purple rock joining him. But that sidekick might also be the biggest secret of Bananza, if an accidental leak can be believed.
The weekend after the Switch 2 reveal, a few Nintendo fans noticed something was off on the Korean site for the Switch 2. A new piece of art for Bananza popped up, featuring not the rock seen in the trailer, but what appeared to be a young version of Pauline. The art has since been removed from the site, but it’s all over the internet at this point.
If you’re not sure who Pauline is, you might remember her best as the mayor of New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey. Since then, she’s also popped up in other games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Tennis Aces. But Pauline’s history actually goes back much, much further — back to the original 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong. Before Princess Peach was ever created, Pauline was the damsel-in-distress Mario kept trying to save.
She’s appeared in various games, cartoons, and comics over the years — namely the Mario vs. Donkey Kong franchise. But the Switch has really given Pauline her second chance in the spotlight, and fans seem to love her — hence why she’s been added to the likes of Mario Party. Considering how Nintendo uses characters, it also seems like Young Pauline would be a shoo-in for crossover games like Mario Kart World.
But her inclusion in Donkey Kong Bananza has some potentially huge implications in terms of story. Could this be the game where we learn about how Donkey Kong and Pauline met? Does this mean Mario himself might pop up in Bananza? Both those things seem entirely possible if Pauline really is in this game. It would also tie in with Donkey Kong’s redesign, as he now looks much younger and more expressive than the original design.
Even more interesting, however, is one particular detail in the Pauline art. If you zoom in on her wrist, she’s wearing a bracelet with purple rocks that look suspiciously similar to the sidekick character we’ve already seen so much of. This would suggest that the purple rock and Pauline are one and the same, and somehow the girl has been transformed into the rock — or will transform at some point.
We know the rock rides on Donkey Kong’s back during the game, and works as a kind of guide to point Donkey Kong toward objectives as he destroys everything in sight. But if Pauline is being featured in artwork, will she ride around on DK’s back at some point? And will that change gameplay in any way? There’s no way to know right now, but if Pauline is on artwork it seems likely she’s being featured in some kind of prominent way.
Another interesting wrinkle here is that we don’t actually know who’s developing Bananza, and Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has said we’ll have to wait even longer for that info. Many have speculated that it’s the same team that developed Super Mario Odyssey, due to the similarity in the vibrant world design and unique mechanics. Of course, Odyssey gave Pauline a pretty prominent role in the story, and if it’s the same team, it’d make sense they want to do more with the character. But frustratingly, we’ll simply have to wait until Nintendo is ready to say who’s making the game.
At the very least, it shows that we may have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Donkey Kong Bananza — and Nintendo has a lot more up its sleeve. We’re entering a new era for the company, and it’ll be interesting to see how games like Bananza put twists on beloved characters.
