Princess Peach

Princess Peach Toadstool is a video game character that first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. She resides in her castle. She is often the damsel in distress is most Mario games, and sometimes a playable character.

Super Mario Bros.
In Super Mario Bros., Peach (known as Toadstool back then) was kidnapped by King Bowser, so Mario needed to rescue her. He went through eight castles, but each of the first seven was guarded by a fake Bowser and the only person trapped there was a Toad (then known as a Mushroom Retainer). "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" the Mushroom Retainer said every time you met one. After completing all seven castles, Mario finally found the princess.

Super Mario Bros. 2
In Super Mario Bros. 2, players could actually play as Princess Toadstool (as well as Mario, Luigi and Toad) on their quest to save the dream land of Subcon from the evil Wart. Her main ability was that she could float for a few seconds after each jump.

Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, the princess sent items to Mario and Luigi, while they saved the Mushroom Kings. However, later on, Bowser kidnaps Toadstool and the Mario Bros. must save her.

Super Mario World
For Mario's first SNES game, Super Mario World, the game went back to the original plot: Save the Princess from King Bowser. Mario and Luigi rescued Toadstool with the help of Yoshi.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
In Yoshi's Island, Toadstool was not in the game at all. Instead, Baby Mario and Yoshi rescued Baby Luigi from Kamek the Magikoopa.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Legend of the Seven Stars, a SNES game made by Squaresoft, Toadstool was one of Mario's party, along with Mallow, Geno and Bowser. Her healing abilities made her one of the most important members of the group.

Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 once again reverted to the old plot: Save the princess from King Bowser. Toadstool baked a cake for Mario, but when he came to the castle, Toad told him that Bowser had kidnapped Toadstool... again. This is the first game that called the princess Peach, validating that her full name is Peach Toadstool. She has been called Peach in all games afterwards, except for Super Mario 64 DS.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, the second Mario RPG, King Bowser once again kidnapped Peach, this time using his castle to carry her's away. He does this after imprisoning the 7 Star Spirits and stealing the Star Rod. Once again Mario rescues her, this time with the help of the 7 Star Spirits and party members Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Bow, Parakarry, Sushie, Watt and Lakilester. Peach didn't appear at all in Luigi's Mansion. However, Toad mentions her, eg. The princess will be so mad!

Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Peach and Toadsworth go to Isle Delfino. However, Shadow Mario (who turns out to be Bowser Jr.) has filled the island with grafitti, and Mario is forced to clean it up with FLUDD. Eventually, Bowser Jr. kidnaps Peach and Mario must once again rescue the princess. Peach turns out to be Bowser Jr.'s mother, but then Bowser admits that it was a lie.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
Peach had her voice stolen by Cackletta and Fawful in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the third Mario RPG. But it turns out that it wasn't really Peach at all; it was Birdo, who disguised herself as Peach to trick Cackletta. When Bowletta kidnaps Peach, Luigi dresses himself up in Peach's spare dress to fool Bowletta and Fawful into thinking he is Peach. The plan works, until Luigi accidentally reveals his moustache.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
In the final Mario RPG, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Peach is kidnapped again, but not by Bowser - she is kidnapped by Grodus, the leader of the X-Nauts and taken to the X-Naut Moon Base. You can control Peach after each chapter, like in the original Paper Mario, and a computer named TEC falls in love with her and betrays Grodus to help Peach escape. Grodus destroys TEC when he finds out, and takes her to the Palace of Shadow, where the Shadow Queen, the ancient 1000-year old demon, posesses Peach and fights Mario. However, she finds Peach's body too weak and returns to her true form (a purple shadow creature) for the final battle.

New Super Mario Bros.
Princess Peach is kidnapped once again in the New Super Mario Bros.. However, like Super Mario Sunshine, the culprit is not Bowser but his son, Bowser Jr. In the beginning of the game, Peach and Mario were enjoying a peaceful walk around her castle. However, smoke began to billow from the peaceful fortress. When Mario went to investigate, Peach was nabbed by Bowser Jr. As it turns out, the fire was merely a diversion created by Junior to lure Mario away from Peach.

Ultimately, Mario chases Bowser Jr. (with Peach in tow) throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, eventually stopping the young fiend (and thus saving the Princess) in the eighth world.

Other Games
Peach is also playable in the Mario Party. She is also in the Mario Kart series, where she is usually one of the lightest characters, as well as the Mario sports games. Peach is also known for her role in the game Super Smash Bros. Melee, where she can once again float in mid-air and pull vegetables out of the ground.

Portrayals
Was voiced/portrayed by
 * Jeannie Elias in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show;
 * Tracey Moore in the Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World cartoons.
 * Leslie Swan, Asako Kozuki, Jen Taylor, Deanna Mustard and Nicole Mills in most of the video games.