Francesca
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- “Oh, Frankie... My Frankie... Don't you love me?”
- —Francesca, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Francesca Pianta[citation needed], sometimes referred to as Francesca the Pianta in Goombella's Tattles, is the daughter of Don Pianta in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. She has yellow skin and wears a white dress with a red ribbon, white sun hat, and golden-brown grass skirt. The palm tree sprouting from her head has a flower with pink petals. She is the only notable female Pianta in this game.
In the game, she has fallen in love with her father's underboss, Frankie, and elopes with him. Mario is sent by Don Pianta to find the two and bring them back to him to obtain the Blimp Ticket to Glitzville. Mario finds Francesca and Frankie at Rogueport's harbor waiting to board a ship. After Mario tells the two that Don Pianta is looking for them, Francesca gets surprised and asks Frankie that they run away. Regardless of how Mario answers Francesca and Don Pianta, the two return to the Don for each to take full blame of the situation. The Don eventually relents and allows them to get married.
Later, Francesca and Frankie travel to Keelhaul Key where they become shipwrecked in the Pirate's Grotto. Mario finds them among many Toads. After being rescued, Francesca questions why Mario is there and worries if the Don wants them back. After Mario and his partners defeats Lord Crump and the X-Nauts, they decide to stay on the island. When Mario returns to Don Pianta to get the Train Ticket to Poshley Heights, he misses Francesca so much that he has gotten sick with grief. Mario returns to Keelhaul Key and find Francesca and Frankie in the jungle. However, Frankie is busy searching for Francesca's wedding ring which she lost on the island. After telling the two about his sickness, Francesca refuses to leave until her ring is found or it might get eaten. Frankie suggests that they check on him first, but Francesca still refuses and questions his love towards her. After Mario finds the ring and returns it, they return to Rogueport. Don Pianta, upon seeing his daughter, instantly recovers. Don tells the mob he is retiring and tells Frankie that he is the boss of the Pianta Syndicate. Francesca is excited to get to work and tells Frankie that she will keep him in line. She also demands Frankie to stop calling her by pet names and use actual name or "Miss Boss".
Despite Frankie's position as underboss and boss of the syndicate, Francesca controls the relationship as shown in Goombella's tattles of the two. On Keelhaul Key, she punishes Frankie by making him say "I love you." 100 times and during Frankie's trouble, Frankie worries that Francesca will make him say "I love you." a billion times.
Tattle information
- That's Francesca the Pianta. She's "well connected," get me? Her dad's a big boss. She doesn't crave money or power or anything like that, though. She lives for love. Doesn't that, like, totally melt your heart? People could learn from this girl!
- That's Don Pianta's daughter, Francesca. She's head-over-heels for Frankie. Seems like she's got Frankie on a pretty short leash, but... Hey, they're happy, right?
- (Pirate's Grotto) That's Francesca the Pianta. She shipwrecked here even before we did. She doesn't seem too worried. I guess she doesn't care as long as she has Frankie.
- (Keelhaul Key) That's Francesca the Pianta. She and Frankie liked it here and decided to stay. ...But we've got to get them back as quickly as we can!
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | モニー Monī |
Monī, possibly from "money". |
| German | Palmina |
Pun on "palm", many German names end with "-ina" |
| Italian | Romoletta |
Female version of Romeo: it's a pun on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" that Francesca and Frankie's Italian names referes to. |
| Spanish | Palmira |
Pun on "palm" (in Spanish this word is a variation of "palmera"). |
Trivia
- The name Francesca can be considered the female counterpart of Frankie, underlining their link.
- The Italian Francesca's name, Romoletta, paired with Frankie's one, Giuliano, makes a reference to Romeo and Juliet, whose love is impossible due to their families.
