Gaming News

Donkey Kong Bananza Devs “Have A Plan” For Pauline

On Sep 21, 2025 4:45 pm, by NuclearCoffee

Still wondering why Pauline is only 13 in Donkey Kong Bananza? Specifically, what the implications may be for Bananza’s placement in any semblance of a broader timeline, given she’s a full-grown adult in Super Mario Odyssey? Yeah, so are we. Too bad. Use your imagination.

It’s the latest reply from Nintendo’s top creative forces for DK’s absolutely fabulous Switch 2 extravaganza, and it paints a pretty grim picture for folks who ever want a concrete answer. Or does it? In the same interview, a bit more was stated, and it leaves me wondering whether we will, in fact, get a genuine explanation in due time.

It’s Clear, But Also, It’s Totally Unclear

One thing I’ve noticed time and again from Donkey Kong fans has been an insistence that it’s all quite clear. Except, well, their proclamations will frequently conflict with those of other fans, who share only the belief that by playing Donkey Kong Bananza, the answer is self-evident.

Play the game, and you’ll see beyond the shadow of a doubt that Bananza’s Pauline is the daughter of the Pauline from the original Donkey Kong. She is, in turn, mom to Super Mario Odyssey’s. Alternatively, it’s patently obvious to anyone with eyes and 30 hours’ playtime that this is the Pauline, from Super Mario Odyssey, who is indeed the offspring of the OG Pauline.

All of this reminds me of a certain debate from – of all things – Final Fantasy 16, but I fear that I will inadvertently spoil a major late-game tidbit if I say anything else whatsoever, which means that I’m left uncertain as to whether anybody will have any idea whatsoever what I’m on about therein.

Enough with the prelude. Here’s the deal: Famitsu recently interviewed Kenta Motokura, Wataru Tanaka, and Daisuke Watanabe. Motokura served as the director for both Super Mario Odyssey and its predecessor, Super Mario 3D World. Tanaka was a lead programmer on Odyssey, and he was the director for Donkey Kong Bananza. As for Watanabe, he’s also got an impressive Mario-centric pedigree; in Bananza’s case, he was the art director.

The full interview is a fantastic deep dive on so many elements of Bananza’s elaborate creation process. Invariably, fan attention has instantly tilted toward any possible answers on what I’m heretofor referring to as The Pauline Problem.

Prolific Twitterite Stealth40k caught wind of Kenta Motokura’s words on the matter when the Famitsu interviewer inevitably pressed for fresh details. “So, I’m curious about the relationship between this and Super Mario Odyssey,” the interviewer says, “and whether the adult Pauline and the current Pauline are the same person.”

“That’s… Of course, the developers have a plan for it, but I’m sorry, but I’d like you to use your imagination.” -Motokura’s customarily ambiguous response

Now, there are a couple of things we can potentially draw from this. First, I’m not 100 percent confident that Google Translate has correctly sussed out Motokura’s intended meaning. ‘The developers have a plan for it’ insinuates the distinct possibility that there will be something in the future which will shed light on The Pauline Problem. But it’s readily conceivable that something slipped up like a linguistic banana peel, and Motokura was, in fact, merely stating that the devs had something in mind when they were making the game. In which case, it’s a past-tense scenario, and the producer didn’t suggest anything beyond what’s already on tap.

If the former holds true, then perhaps Nintendo has their eyes on a Donkey Kong Bananza 2, or Pauline will again appear whenever the heck there’s another 3D Mario game, or something. Grasping at straws? Perhaps. But I’m leaving everything on the proverbial table here.

“Sorry, this too…” -Motokura’s three-word lamentation regarding Pauline’s grandmother

Famitsu eventually grilled the trio on “Speaking of Pauline, when she sleeps in the villa she tells all sorts of stories, and she often mentions her grandmother. This grandmother is…” It’s a hopeful pause, or at least, that’s what my translation tool claims it to be, but in the end it’s all for naught. “Of course, there is a setting,” Motokura explains after apologizing. “And I decided on the relationship between Pauline and her grandmother, and created the story based on that.”

From there, Motokura is joined by Tanaka, as they discuss Donkey Kong Bananza’s voxel technology. Which, again, is cool and worth a skim. But it has nothing to do with the lore. And, perhaps, media folks like yours truly are really missing the forest for the voxels in all this – maybe we need to stop hoping for more, or just pick a side on the “it’s all so obvious” fan debates and pretend we concur in full.

Or maybe, just maybe, we’ll one day see this particular Pauline’s story continue to unfold in clever chronological ways.