Haru-ōji

Haru-ōji (ハル王子), meaning Prince Haru or Prince Hal, is the prince of an unseen land known as the Flower-koku, as well as Princess Peach's fiance. He exclusively appears in the anime movie Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!. He first appears in the beginning of the movie as a blue dog (strangely capable of speech) named Kibidango (キビダンゴ), named after a type of Japanese millet dumpling). He shows up inside Grocery shortly after Miss Endless leaves, mauling Mario and stealing his Visionary Jewel from the Country of Treasure. Mario, wishing to have this last remnant of his love Princess Peach back, and Luigi, thinking the Visionary Jewel to be very valuable, chase after Kibidango, following him into some seemingly ordinary pipes. These pipes, though, turn out to be Warp Pipes, and they disappearingly transport Mario, Luigi, and Kibidango to the Mushroom Kingdom. Once the three reach a cave in the far-off kingdom, Kibidango rushes behind the Kinoko Sennin for protection. Mario and Luigi then learn what King Koopa did to Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom's inhabitants from the Hermit, and the Mario Bros. eventually decide to embark to Koopa Castle and save the princess and her kingdom. After some persuasion from the Mushroom Hermit, Kibidango joins the brothers on their quest, occasionally offering help and advice to the adventuring pair (and actually pulling his weight in adventuring more than even Luigi, who was depicted in the anime as very greedy and somewhat unreliable).

By the end of the film, Mario and Luigi defeat King Koopa and rescue the princess. The two also lift all of King Koopa's curses on the Mushroom Kingdom, which results in Kibidango becoming Haru-ōji, who explains that he was turned into a dog by Bowser and reveals (much to Mario's dismay) that he was arranged a marriage with Peach by Kinoko Sennin. He and Peach then thank the Mario Bros. for their efforts, apparently living happily ever after in this version.