Ever since Donkey Kong Bananza was first revealed, Nintendo nerds like me have had a big question: who is Pauline? I mean, yes, she shares a name with the character who serves as the mayor of New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey, who in turn seems to be the same lady that Mario rescues in the original Donkey Kong, but the ages are all messed up. And the full game, with all its narrative twists and Easter eggs for long-time Nintendo fans, doesn't really provide a final answer.
So, when my colleague James got the opportunity to interview producer Kenta Motokura and programmer Tatsuya Kurihara at the Game Developers Conference, I needed him to ask about Pauline's true identity. James was willing to pass along my question, but unfortunately, the devs weren't willing to offer an answer.
"I have to apologize to Dustin," Motokura tells us via translator, "but we're going to have to leave that to his imagination for now."
Alas, both my imagination and yours will have to cling to our respective headcanons, but at least I get to enjoy the dubious honor of a half-joking apology from Donkey Kong Bananza's producer for the time being.
Truth be told, I always hold some doubt about whether Nintendo generally gives much care to established 'canon.' As much as I love The Legend of Zelda and all the bizarre ways its labyrinthine lore smashes together, you don't get something like a three-way timeline split as a result of careful story planning.
With that in mind, maybe there isn't really a true answer about Pauline's identity. But still… Donkey Kong Bananza does pay a fair bit of respect to prior DK games, offering deep cut character cameos targeted right at us 30-somethings with nostalgic memories of Rare's Donkey Kong Country trilogy, and even the divisive Donkey Kong 64. And young Pauline is a fairly well-developed character in Donkey Kong Bananza, with frequent bits of dialogue referencing her family, teasing out possibilities for her relationship to the adult Pauline we already know.
Well, hey, we're still debating how, exactly, Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong are related to this day, and Pauline's identity might be the same way. I guess some mysteries, however maddening they might be, are more fun without answers.
Here are the upcoming Switch 2 games we'll be playing as we distract ourselves from the wider mysteries of Donkey Kong.
