Donkey Kong Bananza is finally here, as is some clarity about where it might fit into the Donkey Kong timeline and why Nintendo’s original damsel-in-distress Pauline appears as a much younger version of herself. But questions still abound about how, you know, the events of 1981’s Donkey Kong fit into all this.
And while Bananza’s connection to recent Mario games like Super Mario Odyssey are made clear, there are still important unknowns to address — like how does Bananza connect, if at all, to the events of the Donkey Kong Country games and, more importantly, is this even worth expending brainpower on?
[Ed. note: Spoilers for Donkey Kong Bananza follow.]
Here’s what we do know for certain: Donkey Kong Bananza is a prequel to Super Mario Odyssey. The latter, of course, notably features an adult-age Pauline as the mayor of New Donk City. More than just an elected official, Pauline is a popular singer. As the ending of Donkey Kong Bananza reveals, Pauline and DK emerge from the planet’s subterranean layers and wind up in New Donk City, where she tries to achieve her dream of becoming a musician. In a piece of post-ending artwork, we see teen Pauline busking on the streets of NDC, implying her rise to fame and public office.
The events of Bananza also provide a little color to something Pauline says in Super Mario Odyssey, which now has new context. In one of her questions used to quiz Mario in Odyssey, Pauline asks if he knows about an event from her past, in which she was “captured by [an] ape.”
“I knew you’d remember!” Pauline says, if the player gets that question right. “It was traumatic at the time, but it helped make me the person I am now.”
Her response originally seems to imply that she was referring to the events of Donkey Kong (and other Donkey Kong games) in which she was (seemingly) kidnapped by Donkey Kong. But her “captured by ape” comment may instead refer to her abduction by VoidCo’s Void Kong, one of the main antagonists of Bananza.
Given the events of Donkey Kong Bananza, in which DK acts as friend and occasional father figure to Pauline — right up until his unquenchable hunger for Banandium kicks in — maybe there’s an argument to be made that Donkey Kong has never actually “kidnapped” Pauline. Maybe his position as father figure to Pauline was engaged when Mario showed up, and her cries of “Help!” in Donkey Kong were directed at her giant ape protector. After all, Mario can be kind of a dick, and maybe Donkey Kong knows that she could do better. In Donkey Kong, was he simply protecting Pauline from a toxic relationship? Mario’s longstanding obsession with Princess Peach, who certainly sees the plumber as a Very Good Friend, a pal, like a brother to her, might support the theory that women should stay away from him. Thus, Donkey Kong is very wise.
Exactly how the Bananza-to-Country timeline works out, however, and whether Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong, and whatever else happened across multiple Rare-developed games of the ’90s ties into the modern-day Donkey Kong lore is still pretty muddled. But at least now we have a better sense of how Donkey Kong and Pauline came to know each other, and that ultimately, they’re good buds, not enemies.
