Nintendo Won't Say Why Donkey Kong Bananza's Pauline Is 13-Years-Old Specifically, Wants Players to 'Puzzle Out' the Answer Themselves

A fewer weeks ago, Nintendo confirmed an antithetic portion of lore: Pauline is 13-years-old successful Donkey Kong Bananza.

This is an unusual happening for Nintendo to person done. Historically, it doesn't see nonstop accusation astir quality ages successful authoritative communications. Heck, it won’t adjacent accidental whether oregon not Waluigi is Wario’s brother, friend, rival, oregon enemy.

So erstwhile we spoke to the game’s shaper Kenta Motokura and manager Kazuya Takahashi, we had to ask. Why did Nintendo specify her age? And wherefore is she truthful young successful the game, erstwhile she’s intelligibly an big successful Super Mario Odyssey and different appearances?

We didn’t get a consecutive reply retired of the pair, but Takahashi did explicate a small spot astir Pauline’s relation successful the game, and wherefore she isn’t conscionable a continuation of Pauline from Odyssey.

“One of the important roles that we knew we wanted this quality to execute was successful accompanying Donkey Kong connected his travels and acting successful immoderate cases arsenic a spot of a narrator,” Takahashi responded.

“And considering we would astir apt person some caller players who are experiencing a Donkey Kong crippled for the archetypal time, arsenic good arsenic radical who are long-time fans of Donkey Kong, we had the accidental to connection a quality that was acquainted to long-time players, but had a caller quality that mightiness beryllium absorbing for caller folks arsenic well. And truthful we're ever reasoning astir the mounting of not conscionable the satellite but besides each quality itself and however that's going to interaction subordinate enjoyment successful the end.”

He ended connected a spot of a tease: “Now arsenic to wherefore 13-year-old successful peculiar was the choice, I deliberation that's thing that we privation players to, successful the people of enjoying the game, commencement to puzzle out, deliberation for themselves.”

This was curious, truthful I asked a fewer much questions, which proved not overmuch much enlightening unfortunately. I asked if the squad would corroborate Donkey Kong’s age, to which Motokura said, “I deliberation that's different 1 that possibly is bully fodder for subordinate theories.”

Okay, fine, it was admittedly a spot of a gag question. But here’s a existent one: does this mean there’s an authoritative Donkey Kong bid canon timeline? Is this a Super Mario Odyssey prequel?

“Certainly due to the fact that a batch of squad members besides worked connected Super Mario Odyssey, determination are immoderate similarities successful presumption of however they deliberation astir the mounting of the characters for some games, but it's thing we truly can't explicate each of for present due to the fact that we request to permission thing for radical to see arsenic they're playing the game,” Takahashi cryptically replied.

So it sounds similar Pauline’s property is story-relevant, which means Nintendo’s keeping quiescent and letting the crippled archer the story. We’ll conscionable person to hold and find retired adjacent week.

We spoke to Motokura and Takahashi astir a fig of topics related to Bananza, including however the crippled was archetypal conceived and the necessity of releasing connected the Nintendo Switch 2. You tin work our full interrogation successful afloat close here, and cheque retired our hands-on preview of the crippled here.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].