Pauline

Pauline (initially known as Lady or the Lady in Japan) was Mario's girlfriend and the original damsel-in-distress in the arcade game Donkey Kong who was captured by the original Donkey Kong. She is one of the few damsels in the Marioverse who is not a princess, but a simple woman.

First Rescue
Upon her kidnapping, Mario climbed up the building to save her from Donkey Kong, along the way collecting various articles Pauline had dropped, such as her purse or umbrella, for bonus points. However, after this appearance, she was suddenly dropped as damsel and love interest to Mario, in favor of Princess Peach (possibly due to the fact that Mario and Luigi suddenly ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom).

Prolonged Absence and Reappearance
Pauline did not make any more appearances, with exception to a cameo in Pinball and remakes of the arcade game. Twenty-five years after her debut, though, she appeared with little explanation in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, in which she was once again captured. Mario saved her with the help of the Mini Mario Toys. The relationship status of Mario and Pauline went unmentioned in the game, and the manual stated that they are now simply good friends. She has also recently cameod in Tetris DS.

Physical Description
Pauline is depicted as having blue eyes that are somewhat lighter in color to Mario's, however due to here sparse appearances in Mario games it is unknown if this color was intentional or will be reoccurring, her hair is of a dark brown color with what appears to be under tones of burgundy in some official art; Pauline's hair is styled high to show her forehead and is of similar length to Princess Peach's. Pauline wears noticeable more make-up then Peach or Daisy her choice is violet eye shadow, red lipstick and nail polish, also her eyebrows are noticeably more defined then the two princesses. Pauline's bust also appears to be noticeable larger then that of the princesses.

Her attire consists of gold earrings that appear to be small circles with odd shaped ovals hanging from them, with a matching gold bangle/ bracelet on her left arm, she wears a tight red dress which so far has only been seen ripped at the bottom so the type of trim it may have or true length is unknown, Pauline wears black high heels with a strap securing them in some art of Pauline they appear to be somewhat higher heeled then Peach or Daisy's ( Pauline has appeared in red shoes in her depiction on the box art of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, however in other official artwork for this game and in game graphics she is wearing her regular black shoes).

Appearances in Other Media

 * In the Super Mario Bros. movie, there is a character named Daniella. Like Pauline, she is Mario's girlfriend with no royalty status.
 * Pauline appeared in the CBS series Saturday Supercade in 1983, but as Mario's niece rather than girlfriend. She was voiced by Judy Strangis.
 * Interestingly, Pauline appeared in the Nintendo Monopoly. However she only had a very small cameo.

Trivia

 * Pauline was named after the movie serial The Perils of Pauline. Much like her video game counterpart, the movie character Pauline would constantly find herself kidnapped.
 * In Japan, Pauline was first called Lady. She was renamed to Pauline in American ports, similar to Jumpman being renamed Mario. In Japan she was renamed to her American name starting with the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong.
 * In the Nintendo Comics System comic "Cloud Burst", Mario mentioned having an ex-girlfriend whom he compared to Princess Toadstool and Luigi compared to Bowser. It is possible (though unconfirmed) that this ex-girlfriend was Pauline.