Rosalina

"May the stars shine down on you."

- Rosalina

Rosalina is a recurring character that debuted in Super Mario Galaxy, first appearing in the Gateway Galaxy. She is a very powerful figure, as her duty is to watch over and protect the cosmos, while also serving as the adopted mother of the Lumas, and commanding the Comet Observatory.

Rosalina's back-story is chronicled in her storybook told by her in the Comet Observatory's Library in Super Mario Galaxy. Nine chapters are unlocked throughout the game, and the last is unlocked by completing the game.

Background
Rosalina's story begins when she meets a young Luma in a rusted spaceship, where they rebuild spaceship to go search for the Luma's mother. They traverse through the space, encountering comets, asteroids, and Star Bits. Rosalina then starts to miss her mother, but the two begin to build a new home that would eventually become the Comet Observatory. As she and the Luma build the home, Rosalina takes more Lumas under her wing. After they see their 100th comet, Rosalina looks back at her home planet, which then causes her to feel greatly upset and homesick, and then comes to terms with the fact that her own mother is dead. The young Luma who traversed with Rosalina tells her that her mother is always part of her, and then transforms into a comet that can traverse to Rosalina's home planet. Rosalina then declares that she and the Lumas are her family now, and goes back to her home planet every once in one hundred years.

Super Mario Galaxy
During one of her centennial visits to the Mushroom Kingdom, the Comet Observatory is attacked by Bowser, who steals the observatory's Power Stars and Grand Stars. Rosalina later appeared to Mario/Luigi after Peach is kidnapped. In order to aid Mario/Luigi she gives him Luma, the same one seen with Peach at the Star Festival. Once Mario/Luigi collects the first Grand Star, she explains to him that Bowser stole the Power Stars and requests that he help get them back. As more Power Stars are returned, she appears in the library, where she reads her storybook to Mario/Luigi and some Lumas. After Mario/Luigi collects enough stars to power the ship, Rosalina flies the observatory to the center of the universe for the final confrontation with Bowser. After the Lumas sacrifice themselves to stop the giant Black Hole created by Bowser's sun, Rosalina appears to Mario/Luigi and explains the "cycle of life" to him before he awakens at Peach's Castle. If the player collects all 120 Power Stars, Rosalina thanks the player, and tells them that she will watch over them from beyond the stars. She then proceeds to transform the Comet Observatory into a comet, and shoots off into the stars.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Rosalina appears during the ending sequence of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Lubba reveals at this time that he and Rosalina had met before, but the details of their meeting remain unknown. Rosalina also frequently sends letters to the Baby Luma that's with Mario, but she does not reveal her identity in them.

When the player manages to get 120 Power Stars and beats the final boss again, a scene is shown after the ending credits, showing Rosalina and her Lumas in the Library, revealing that she was telling the story of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Then, she decides to narrate how Mario (and Luigi) collect every Green Star to her Lumas. If Mario, Yoshi, and Luigi manage to collect every single star in the game, and survive the Grandmaster Galaxy's Daredevil Comet, Rosalina will thank and join them on Starship Mario.

Players can also use Rosalina to represent their file on the file select screen. However, the Rosalina avatar can only be used on save files in which the player has collected 120 stars, and unlocked the Green Star Prankster Comets.

This game also features a cosmic entity that highly resembles Rosalina, known as the Cosmic Spirit.

Super Mario 3D World
Rosalina appears as a unlockable playable character in Super Mario 3D World. She is unlocked after the player has completed : Super Galaxy, which is unlocked after : Rainbow Run is completed. She controls just like Luigi but also has the ability to use the Spin attack, similar to that of Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario Galaxy games and has normal traction. She is, however, slower like Princess Peach. This is also the first time Rosalina is playable in a Mario platformer. As with the other characters, she can use all the power-ups in the game, but when she gets one (except the Double Cherry and the Super Star), she loses her Spin attack.

If the player beats Meowser in World Bowser after Rosalina has been unlocked, she will be seen with two Lumas in the end credits, at the end of the first split of the Clear Pipe, replacing three Sprixie denizens. Additionally, Rosalina's Comet Observatory can be seen in the background of the game's expanded key artwork, the final scene after the credits, and : Super Galaxy.

Mario Kart Wii
Rosalina makes her first playable appearance in Mario Kart Wii, where she is a Large-sized unlockable character. Here, the player must win 1st Place with at least 1 Star Rank in all Mirror Grand Prix Cups, have a Super Mario Galaxy save file and play 50 Races, or play 4,950 Races. Rosalina rides in Large vehicles, and is the first female character to ever be in this class due to Rosalina's tall height.

While racing, a Luma orbits around Rosalina. Rosalina's racing symbol is a Grand Star. Like Peach and Daisy, Rosalina appears in a biker suit while racing on any of the motorbikes, only that the color scheme is different to the overall color scheme of her main dress. Her signature bike is the Shooting Star and her signature kart is the Honeycoupe. Rosalina is the staff ghost character for Rainbow Road.

Mario Kart 7
Rosalina returns in her second Mario Kart game appearance in Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS. She is a Cruiser-type character, along with Donkey Kong and Wiggler, and this time, she appears without a Luma accompanying her in the races. Rosalina has an advantage bonus for the weight, along for speed. Just as in Mario Kart Wii, Rosalina is an unlockable character, which the player must win the Star Cup of the 150cc class to unlock her. In this game, she has her personal racecourse called Rosalina's Ice World, a track that makes allusion to the Super Mario Galaxy series, where she has appeared prominently. When Rosalina uses the Peach Parasol for a glider, it becomes turquoise to match her color scheme. Likewise, her Birthday Girl kart is colored blue.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Rosalina appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, following an update to the game. She is classified as a heavyweight character, meaning she has exceptional speed, but poor acceleration and handling.

Mario Kart 8
Rosalina returns as an unlockable playable racer in Mario Kart 8. She retains her motorbike gear from Mario Kart Wii when riding a bike or an ATV, but she wears her signature dress only for karts. In addition, her infant counterpart, Baby Rosalina, debuted in this game. Much like in Mario Kart 7, her Peach Parasol glider is turquoise.

Rosalina is one of the lighter heavyweights, sacrificing some speed and weight to boost her acceleration, handling, and traction stats a little. She shares these traits with Donkey Kong, Waluigi, Roy Koopa, and Link. Rosalina is the staff ghost for Sunshine Airport.

Super Mario-Kun
Rosalina appears in volume 38 of the Japanese manga, Super Mario-Kun. After Bowser uses a flyswatter to knock Mario away to a planet, Mario loses his motivation, despite Luma's efforts to get him back. Rosalina sends a hologram of a Giant Goomba for Mario, thus making him use his Star Spin technique to make it disappear (much to Mario's surprise). She later helps him on the adventure.

Mario Party series
Rosalina makes her first appearance in the Mario Party series in Mario Party: Island Tour, for the Nintendo 3DS. She is a non-playable character on the space themed board, Rocket Road, where she waits at the end of the board for the winner, and also appears in the celebration for a victory on this board.

Rosalina appears as a playable character in Mario Party 10; her first playable appearance in the series. She has her own amiibo board, the Rosalina Board, where it is unlocked if the player places a Rosalina amiibo on the GamePad. Her board is based upon the space themes in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. On a side note, Mario Party 10 is the very first Mario title to have Rosalina as a starting character.

Mario Golf: World Tour
Rosalina makes her first appearance in a Mario Golf game as a downloadable character in Mario Golf: World Tour as a part of the Star Pack. Unlike Peach and Daisy, Rosalina does not have a change in outfit for this game. She is one of the strongest characters, losing only to Bowser in distance. She also has a fade, meaning that her ball curves to the right. She has the highest shot in the game, which means that she can easily hit over trees, but the ball is affected by wind more.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Rosalina was announced to be the fourth newcomer fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U on December 18th, 2013 during Nintendo Direct, alongside Luma. A variety of her abilities use a Luma, particularly to aid in combos. Rosalina is a very lightweight fighter. In fact, she's one of the lightest fighters in the game, only being heavier than Kirby, Mr. Game & Watch, Mewtwo, and Jigglypuff. For Equipment, Rosalina uses Staffs to boost offense, Dresses for defense, and Pumps for speed.

Rosalina and Luma have a moveset largely inspired by the Super Mario Galaxy games. They can be controlled individually, similar to the Ice Climbers from past Super Smash Bros. installments. Luma can be attacked and defeated, and can eventually be re-summoned by Rosalina. However, like attacking Nana and Olimar's Pikmin, the damage does not count towards Rosalina's damage percentage, though Luma has its own individual but unseen damage counter. Rosalina can also control how far away the Luma can be from her, by using her standard special attack; the Luma Shot.

Her down special move is named Gravitational Pull, which sends items and weapons towards Rosalina. While she uses this move, weapons will be disabled. The attack seems to be inspired by the Spin from Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Her up special attack; the Launch Star, gives Rosalina a vertical boost (with an animation similar to Mario's and Luigi's animation after using a Launch Star in the Super Mario Galaxy games, even including the Launch Star sound effect). Her side special, Star Bits, releases a group of Star Bits that are used as projectiles. Rosalina's Final Smash, Power Star, summons a large Power Star, which shoots many smaller stars onto the stage that damage opponents.

The partner Luma can be yellow, apricot, green, red, blue, or brown. The differences are aesthetic only.

Rosalina seems to retain her appearance from the Mario series, with the exception of glittery star patterns, made with an iridescent fiber, adorning the bottom of her dress. This is unlike Princess Peach, whose appearance is different from that in the Mario series.

Rosalina's dress comes in eight colors for players to choose from: the default turquoise, mint green, pink, gold, black and gold, purple, and two red and white colored dresses, both of which resemble her Fire Form in Super Mario 3D World.

This is also the first game in which Rosalina is a default character.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Rosalina appears as a helper character in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. She is unlocked by completing ★World 2-Tower, and is a Water attribute helper. She also has a Super form, which is unlocked by completing ★World 5, and is a Water/Light attribute helper.

Rosalina's Skill allows players to freely move Orbs anywhere for 10 seconds, while her Helper Skill multiplies the ATK of all teammates by 3.5x when attacking with four or more attributes.

Super Rosalina's Skill turns all Orbs into Fire, Water, Wood, Light, and Dark Orbs, while her Helper Skill multiplies the ATK of all teammates by 5.5x when attacking with five attributes.

Both Rosalina variations have RCV as their strongest stat, while their ATK is only at average levels. And while Rosalina's HP is at an average level, Super Rosalina's HP is slightly above average.

Super Mario Maker
Rosalina appears as an unlockable Mystery Mushroom transformation. Here, she is given an 8-bit appearance based on her Super Smash Bros. look, with a Luma floating alongside her. When Mario transforms into Rosalina, the Super Mario Galaxy sound effect for collecting a power-up plays while she says, "Here I go!" Rosalina also uses her voice clips from Super Mario 3D World, while her course clear music uses the "You Got a Star!" BGM from Super Mario Galaxy 2. If the player loses a life while wearing the Rosalina costume, the "Too Bad!" BGM from Super Mario Galaxy will be played.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
Rosalina appears as a playable character in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. She wears a similar tennis outfit that Princess Peach wears, based on her dress. To differentiate her from the other girls, Rosalina also wears white leggings. She also levitates while moving around, with a small dust of sparkles coming from her feet, and even sometimes her racket. Additionally, she levitates the ball instead of holding it.

When Rosalina obtains a Mega Mushroom, she spins in the air, and points her racket to the camera. Rosalina is a Power-type character, meaning that her hits are fast and strong.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Rosalina is set to appear as a playable character in the upcoming game, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Other appearances
Rosalina appears on the Puzzle Swap panel "Nintendo Starlets" of the StreetPass Mii Plaza, alongside Princess Peach, Pauline, Zelda, and Toon Zelda.

In Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, an 8-bit sprite of Rosalina can be seen running around the Double Cherry Spires level.

Physical description
Rosalina is taller than most characters, rivaling Waluigi's height, and bearing a resemblance to Princess Peach. However, Rosalina's skin is paler, her eyes are a lighter shade of blue, and her hair (possibly "red" in her childhood) is a lighter blond than Peach's. She wears purple nail polish, and has a large bang which obscures her right eye.

Clothing
Rosalina wears a gown said to be a color that only exists when the sun peers out of the clouds. Her brooch, crown, and earrings are star-shaped. The brooch and crown are silver, as are her high heels, while the earrings are yellow. Rosalina also wears a few jewels, including a yellow jewel inside the brooch and crown jewels that are pink and turquoise. Her gown cuts off at the top of her chest, where a powder-blue flap loops around, and has long sleeves with wide openings at the bottom, which are topped with powder-blue frills. At the bottom is another frill that loops around until turning up to a point at the middle; under this a layer of a petticoat is visible.

In Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Rosalina holds a silver wand with a golden star at the top. Also, in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, the bottom of her dress sports glittery star shapes similar to her wand, and her heels are a very light green color, instead of the usual silver.

In Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, Rosalina is given a jumpsuit if riding on a bike, similar to Peach and Daisy. Her jumpsuit, gloves, and boots are the same color as the gown she wears in the Super Mario Galaxy games, and she has a teal scarf, a teal heart on the back of the outfit, and star-shaped jewelry, most likely to differentiate her from Peach and Daisy.

In Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, Rosalina wears a sleeveless dress that strongly resembles the tennis outfits that Princess Peach and Princess Daisy wear. However, Rosalina's tennis outfit is turquoise-colored, much like with her gown, and she also wears what appears to be white stockings on her legs. Rosalina also wears sneakers for her tennis outfit, which are colored turquoise and white.

Development
Although Rosalina's design has not been changed since her debut, aside from the fancier version used in Super Smash Bros., when she was originally being created for Super Mario Galaxy, her concept design was vastly different compared to what she looks like now. She was depicted with a beehive hairstyle along with straight-cut bangs. She had more unique facial features including the style of her eyes and mouth; the facial features she has now are more similar to Peach's. Her outfit was more similar to Peach and Daisy's, however, complimenting her now dropped trait as a princess. Instead of a crown, she wore a tiara, and her gloves were just like Peach's.

A final concept drawing depicted Rosalina very similarly to the way in which she appears now, though it contained minor color differences.

Personality and traits
Rosalina is a generally wise, kind, and a mature character. She has an intimate knowledge of the universe and cares deeply for the Lumas, where she assumes the role of the total caregiver for them. Her outward strength and inner sorrow are likely due to the loss of her mother. Rosalina is a calm and reserved character, and often takes pauses when she explains how the universe works. Later games, however, portray Rosalina as a little bit more upbeat and joyous than her original portrayal, with examples being that Rosalina cheers and shouts louder in Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8, though still mostly keeping her introverted nature.

When Rosalina was young, she was portrayed as optimistic and proactive, where she helps a Luma build a spacehship to find the Luma's mother instead of doing nothing. Even so, she gets homesick and misses her mother dearly, to the point where she cries about losing her mother, though her spirits get raised easily when the Lumas impress her with comets and that they offer to take her back to her home planet.

It has also been shown that Rosalina's voice is rather monotone, even when she is excited. Like most players, Rosalina enjoys special activities, but in a very humble manner.

Powers and abilities
Rosalina has special powers as seen in Super Mario Galaxy. For example, once sufficient power is restored to the Comet Observatory, Rosalina is able to use her powers to surround the observatory in a force field, transforming it into a starship as a form of transportation. Also, she can be protected by a force field that resembles a bubble. If the player attempts to jump on her, the bubble will appear. Rosalina can also form similar bubbles around Mario if he falls off the Comet Observatory; it will then levitate and drop him back to where he was standing. Rosalina also has the ability to float, just like the Lumas, and at the end of Super Mario Galaxy is shown flying when she departs from the Gateway Galaxy's first planet. She has the ability to speak via telepathy, as shown in the end of the game, where she speaks to Mario, Peach and Bowser while she's far in space. Rosalina is shown to be skilled with her wand and can deflect Star Bits with it if the player shoots them at her. Rosalina has also shown the ability to teleport, at least from Earth to space. She can also use the spin move from the Super Mario Galaxy games, as seen in Super Mario 3D World, and can still creates a shield to protect her if the player attempt to attack her as a non-playable character. She is also able to create giant hologram-like projections of herself, like in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and even change her height, like in Super Mario Galaxy.

She also shows more of her powers in the spin-offs games, such as telekinesis, creation of shooting star showers, gravity manipulation, teleportation of other people, and creation of Launch Stars.

Relationships
As apparent in the storybook, Rosalina cares very strongly for her mother. While Rosalina was a child, she had dreams where her mother was leaving her permanently. While looking back at her planet after the one hundredth comet passes, Rosalina suddenly realized her mother was dead and burst into tears. Rosalina bonded with a Luma looking for its mother and soon became the adoptive mother of both it and a host of other Lumas, who in turn comforted her when she mourned the death of her own mother. She often reads bedtime stories to the Lumas in the Library, is accompanied by a Luma in Mario Kart Wii, and battles on a team with Luma in the fourth installment of Super Smash Bros. A Luma named Polari is her most trusted adviser and is often found at her side in Super Mario Galaxy. She is also held in high esteem by Lubba, who refers to her as "The Lady of the Shooting Stars" and is happy to have her on board the Starship Mario at the end of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Mario befriends Rosalina during the events of Super Mario Galaxy, when he recovers the stolen Grand Stars needed to power her Comet Observatory. She then flies her ship to the center of the universe and destroys a fleet of Bowser's airships, thereby helping Mario defeat him and rescue Princess Peach, whom Rosalina had described as Mario's "Special One". As revealed in volume 38 of Super Mario-Kun, Peach herself shares a positive friendship with Rosalina. Luigi assists Mario in the collection of stars in Super Mario Galaxy, at one point giving him a recovered Power Star on the condition that he tells Rosalina that it was Luigi who obtained it for her. The two are also depicted standing together with the Toad Brigade at Peach's Castle in a secret picture that can be obtained by collecting all 121 Power Stars. Rosalina eventually takes an even more hands-on role against Bowser in Super Mario 3D World, when she joins Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad in their adventure.

Merchandise
Plushies based on Rosalina are manufactured by San-ei. Currently there are two versions: Rosalina in default appearance and another as Cat Rosalina. There are also mini figurines of Rosalina developed by Furuta. Rosalina and Luma have an amiibo of them, which was released February 2015. The figure was originally available at Target, but is no longer available to purchase at any retail stores.

Portrayals
The following voice actresses have lent their talents to portray Rosalina in the Mario game series:
 * Mercedes Rose (Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, and Super Mario Galaxy 2)
 * Kerri Kane (Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Mario Golf: World Tour, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U)
 * Laura Faye Smith (Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Super Mario Maker and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash)

Profiles and statistics
Rosalina's bios typically highlight her role as the keeper of the cosmos and the Comet Observatory, as well as being the mother of Lumas. Since she is an unusual heavyweight character in the Mario Kart series, Mario Kart bios point to her role as the cosmic guardian the reason she can hold off on her own against other heavyweights, and proclaim that she is made of "star stuff", implying the heavy elements that supergiant stars and supernovas can produce. Rosalina's emblem is simply a Grand Star.

Quotes

 * "Do you hear the baby stars? These newborns will grow up to become galaxies someday. When stars die, they turn to stardust and scatter across the cosmos. Eventually, that stardust reforms to create a new star... And so the cycle of life continues. But the cycle never repeats itself in quite the same way.... So...you'll see."
 * "Yes... All new life... Carries the essence of stars... Even all of you..."
 * "I will watch over you from beyond the stars."
 * "This﻿ planet... It's very dear to me. I looked forward to visiting this planet with the Lumas every one hundred years... The Luma that's been traveling with you may also grow up to become a star someday. Some Lumas become planets...some become comets...and a few become Power Stars. I'm traveling with them while they look for a place to be reborn. But I never thought all this would happen..."
 * "Mario...so you were the one who collected all of the scattered stars...I want to thank you...your deeds will live on in the memory of the cosmos..."

Trivia

 * Rosalina is always depicted as right-handed in artwork but left-handed in-game, with a few exceptions. In Mario Golf: World Tour, the player can choose if Rosalina is left- or right-handed, and Rosalina holds her wand with her right hand during cutscenes in Super Mario Galaxy. Mario Party 10 marked the first occasion in which she is depicted as left-handed in artwork but is right-handed when she participates in an activity or minigame. In Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, however, Rosalina is depicted as right-handed in her artworks and in-game.
 * Although she wears a crown and an elegant dress, Rosalina has no title, and has never officially been referred to as "Princess". Her attire likely reflects her powerful role in the universe rather than a royal status.