Valentina
| Valentina | |
|---|---|
 Valentina from Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) | |
| First appearance | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023) |
- “My beauty simply shines forth like the sun!”
- —Valentina, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Valentina, transliterated as Margarita on one occasion,[1] is a major boss who appears in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and the 2023 remake. After Prince Mallow disappeared from Nimbus Land, Valentina locked King Nimbus and Queen Nimbus in a room in the palace. Valentina lied to the townsfolk, saying that the king is sick and may die soon, in a plot to take control of the kingdom. She also sent her minions to guard the palace as well as the beanstalks leading up to the clouds where the kingdom lies, and fired much of the royal staff. As a final precaution, Valentina instructed Beezo to block the pipe leading to Nimbus Land by causing Smilax to grow in it.
History
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Valentina's next plan is in motion as Mario, Mallow and their friends arrive in Nimbus Land, having overwhelmed Smilax as well as the enemies guarding the beanstalks. Valentina passes her assistant Dodo as the lost Prince Mallow. Dodo then "proposes" to Valentina, which would legally make her queen. The two then return to the palace. Having learned the truth about Mallow's heritage from Garro, Garro disguises Mario as a statue to sneak him into the palace. Valentina then enters the room they are in to praise the golden statues made in her likeness, only to notice Mario and question Garro about it. He describes Mario as his latest masterpiece, making her display Mario within the palace. As Mario is about to explore the rest of Nimbus Castle, Valentina commands Dodo to polish her statues. Beezo eventually informs Valentina that Mario is within the palace. After being told what Mario looks like, Valentina realizes the statue Garro brought shares the same description. Once she realizes Mario is in the room with her, she escapes the castle. She circles around back to Nimbus Land's plaza, but she gets surrounded by Nimbus who all ask her questions. She voices her frustrations as Mario arrives to battle her.
At the beginning of the battle, Valentina calls Dodo to carry away the middle party member. That member must then fight Dodo alone. When Dodo is damaged enough, he retreats, the ally gives chase, and the battle returns to Valentina. Valentina can cast nine spells, the most out of any boss, and has a large amount of health, but has low defense. After a few turns, Dodo and the kidnapped party member return to join their respective side. The duo then retreats once Valentina receives enough damage, leaving behind the key required to rescue Mallow's parents. After this, her minions disappear from the castle, as well as several statues of her being replaced with King Nimbus ones.
If Mario returns to the top of Booster Tower and goes to the balcony where Princess Peach was held captive, he finds Valentina questioning why she should marry Booster. He then whispers something into Valentina's ear, causing her to fall in love with him. When Valentina approaches him, Booster tries to distance himself from her, but she approaches him once more. Viewing the scene afterwards show them standing together. During the ending, the pair are wed in Marrymore with Dodo presiding over. When Valentina tries to get closer to Booster, he flees from the chapel, prompting Valentina to pursue him. During the credits, Valentina is carried by Dodo.
Super Mario-kun
Valentina appears in Super Mario-kun as the main antagonist of chapter 13 of volume 51. Instead of plotting for the Nimbus Land throne, she now runs an illegal toll for the royal bus stop, asking for 100 quadrillion coins per passenger. Outraged by it, Mario and his group protest, and Peach insults Valentina by calling her "old lady" (おばさん, oba-san). This angers Valentina and she starts attacking the heroes: first she uses Diamond Saw, almost decapitating Mario with it; denies a Chain Chomp attack from Bowser and puts him to sleep with Light Beam; and turns Mallow into a Scarecrow.
Mario attempts to stomp on her, but she uses Dodo to parry the attack. She then uses Water Blast to send Mario flying into a treasure chest containing a Lazy Shell that helps Mario land a hit on Valentina, but due to its weight, he ends up sinking and getting stuck into the cloud terrain. Valentina approaches with murderous intent, but hearing Peach calling her "old lady" again, she directs her rage towards her, but Peach equips the Super Slap and smacks her hard in the face. The blow is so powerful that her personality changes to become kinder and more emotional, hugging Bowser and constantly asking him if she is beautiful even with all those bruises. The group then takes the royal bus, leaving Bowser behind.
Characteristics
Physical appearance
Valentina appears as a pink-skinned woman who wears an iridescent cream-colored dress, which moves during her battle, red stilettos, teal eyeshadow, thick mascara, and bright red lipstick. She has a somewhat amphibian-like face (most closely resembling that of a captive leucistic axolotl) and a parrot on her head in place of hair; according to the game's monster designer, Kazuyuki Kurashima, the parrot is an homage to Squawks from Donkey Kong Country.[2] During her battle, she carries a martini glass which has no effect on the gameplay.
Many elements of Valentina's design are based on conventional western beauty standards, humorously exaggerating these to highlight her vanity. In addition to her apparel, she is considerably taller than other characters and possesses large breasts (which shake during her hurt animation, an effect which is toned down in the remake), large hips, and an extremely skinny waist, parodying the "hourglass figure" seen in idealized depictions of women. The shape of her torso additionally resembles a martini glass, tying in with her Japanese name of "Margarita".
Personality
Valentina is shown to be an extremely bossy and domineering person who seems to treat her henchmen and just about everyone else around her with as little respect as possible. Despite the blatant disrespect she shows toward her underlings (especially towards Dodo), as well as the apparent hatred they have toward her (as shown in Birdy's thought), they remain loyal to her regardless. Valentina is also vain and cruel. The former is shown when she thinks highly of herself, believing herself to be beautiful beyond compare, as well as a refined "art buff", while the latter is illustrated by her harsh treatment of her subordinates, who consequently regard her with contempt. In the Nintendo Switch remake, Valentina's abusiveness is most prominently illustrated in Dodo's Monster List entries, which indicate that she took advantage of him imprinting on her and uses the fact that she raised him to keep him servile.
While Valentina is still in the palace, her loud laughter can be heard as part of the background music. The particular laugh (an "oh-ho-ho-ho-ho") is commonly associated with royal or otherwise high-status women in Japanese media.
Profiles and statistics
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
- Player's Guide (Who's Who): Swaggering around in a high-fashion dress with a cocktail in hand, Valentina sure looks like she might be a birdbrain. Don't be deceived by appearances, though. Behind that pretty face lurks a cunning master of palace politics. Valentina has tossed the king and queen in prison and hornswoggled the trusting folk of Nimbus Land into believing that Dodo is really Prince Mallow. Valentina is an unusual tyrant in that she fancies herself something of an art buff. She's ordered the castle guards to admit no one except the renowned sculptor Garro when he's bringing statues. Hmmm. Valentina's refined taste might offer Mario a chance to sneak into the palace, but he'll have to keep a stiff upper lip![3]
| Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valentina | |||||||||
|
HP | 2000 | FP | 250 | Speed | 200 | |||
| Location(s) | Nimbus Land | Attack | 120 | Magic attack | 80 | ||||
| Role | Boss | Defense | 80 | Magic defense | 60 | ||||
| Bonus Flower | None | Yoshi Cookie | None | Morph rate | 0% | ||||
| Evade | 10% | Magic evade | 0% | Spells | Petal Blast, Aurora Flash, Light Beam, Solidify, Drain Beam, Diamond Saw, Water Blast, Blizzard, Crystal | ||||
| Weak | None | Strong | Ice, Fear, Poison, Sleep, Mute, Critical | Sp. attacks | None | ||||
| Coins | 200 | Exp. points | 120 | Items | None | ||||
| Psychopath | "I tell ya, he's NOTHING!" | ||||||||
Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
| Super Mario RPG enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valentina | |||||||||
|
|
HP | 2000 | Weak Elements | N/A | Drops | N/A | |||
| Exp. | 120 | Weak Statuses | N/A | Rare Drops | N/A | ||||
| Found in | Nimbus Land | ||||||||
| Monster List profile | She knows enough about food to pronounce "pizza" in the traditional way. Her favorite candy is those Valentine's message hearts, chalky as they are. | ||||||||
| Thought Peek | "He's a small man who puts on a big front." | ||||||||
| Animations | |||||||||
Gallery
Concept artwork
Artwork from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Field sprite
Valentina laughing
Battle sprite
Mario engaging Valentina in combat
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | マルガリータ[4][5] Marugarīta |
Literally means "Margarita" (a type of cocktail, most likely because of the martini glass she holds, as well as a Spanish feminine name) | |
| マルガリ・マルガリータ[6] Marugari Marugarīta |
Margari Margarita (full name),[7] from「丸刈り」(marugari, buzzcut, lit. "round cut") because she is hairless under the parrot on her head | ||
| Chinese (simplified) | 玛格丽特[?] Mǎgélìtè |
Margarita; from the Japanese name | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 瑪格麗特[?] Mǎgélìtè |
Margarita; from the Japanese name | |
| Dutch | Valentina[?] | - | |
| French | Valentina[?] | - | |
| German | Valentina[?] | - | |
| Italian | Valentina[?] | - | |
| Korean | 마르가리타[?] Mareugarita |
Margarita; from the Japanese name | |
| Spanish | Valentina[?] | - |
Notes
- The Player's Guide of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars misspells Valentina's name as "Valentia" at one point.[3]
- Although Valentina is named Margarita in the Japanese version, in her official artwork her martini glass appears to have a cherry inside. In the Nintendo Switch remake, it is replaced with a slice of lime, making it resemble an actual margarita.[8]
- Valentina's thought quote outside of international releases, "He's just a show-off. He's a small man," quotes a line from Ritsuko Akagi in Neon Genesis Evangelion.[9] This reference is retained in the Switch remake.
- In the original version, Valentina's breasts jiggle and the parrot flinches when she is attacked. This was changed in the Switch remake to make her chest's movement less exaggerated and have the parrot remain still.
References
- ^ November 1995. Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 38. Page 70.
- ^ @kurashimakaz (June 23, 2023). https://x.com/kurashimakaz/status/1672059029865263104 This is a homage.. Twitter (English). Retrieved June 23, 2023. (Archived June 23, 2023, 08:44:03 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ a b Pelland, Scott and Kent Miller (1996). Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 85.
- ^ Super Mario RPG 1995 Top Sun trading card
- ^ Super Mario RPG 1996 Bandai Namco trading card
- ^ From Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version track.
- ^ @JiroMifune (November 12, 2023). Her full name is Margari Margarita. This comes from the fact that under the head bird is a skinhead. (In Japan, skinheads are referred to as 'margari/丸刈り.'). X (English). Retrieved November 13, 2023.
- ^ Supper Mario Broth (June 21, 2023). In Super Mario RPG, Valentina's Japanese name is "マルガリータ" (Margarita), referring to a cocktail often served with a lime slice. However, in her original artwork, she was holding a drink with a cherry in it. In the remake, her model was updated to correctly hold a margarita.. X (English). Retrieved July 5, 2024.
- ^ Mandelin, Clyde (June 29, 2020). The Pop Culture-Obsessed Monsters in Japanese Super Mario RPG. Legends of Localization (English). Retrieved July 31, 2021.
