Topic: My Favorite Nintendo Character Part 2: Rosalina

[NWR_pap64]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=19002

  Whenever Nintendo creates a new character they always strike a chord with gamers. No matter the purpose, gamers will find something to hate or like about a character. But very few of them are able to leave a strong impact on the gaming audience, especially when the character is from the cast of a Mario game.    

“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...”    

  —Rosalina, Super Mario Galaxy

   

Rosalina only recently made her debut in Super Mario Galaxy, easily one of the best Wii games yet. But she has already captivated the imaginations of Mario fans despite her short presence in the Mario universe.    

Why is she one of my favorites? Because sheÂ’s one of the most fascinating and enigmatic Mario characters the franchise has yet seen. Characters in the series are usually straightforward; Mario is the plucky hero, Peach is the cute Princess, BowserÂ’s the bad guy, LuigiÂ’s the shy sidekick, WarioÂ’s the greedy rival, Daisy is the perky princess, and so on. This makes them very likable, but rarely do they stray from the archetype theyÂ’re originally assigned in order to create memorable moments in storytelling. As such, itÂ’s fascinating to see such a multifaceted and complicated character as Rosalina in a Mario title.    

For starters, she actually has a back story, one that goes back to her childhood. Once again, Mario characters usually have stories as deep as a kiddy pool. Yet Rosalina has a past just as complicated as her character. There are so many mysteries surrounding her that you canÂ’t help but be fascinated and frustrated at the same time.    

 Young Rosalina begins a journey none of us will ever forget    

In Super Mario Galaxy her story is presented through an optional section in which you visit Rosalina as she is about to tell a story to the Lumas. The story is presented via illustrations that resemble the artwork seen in the classic Golden Books series,  making the story that much more enjoyable.    

 Rosalina has a heavenly presence unlike any other Mario character    

We assume through her story that she comes from the Mushroom Kingdom and has ties to the royal family. But who is she exactly? Is she an ancient descendant of Peach? Is she her sister? Her mother? All we know is that thanks to the love and kindness she has towards the Lumas she became a nearly heavenly presence that is ever-present throughout MarioÂ’s galactic adventure.    

Her story is so crazy that it has spawned many theories as to who she could be, and  her role in the grand scheme of things. The Game Overthinker, a game analyst and commentator on YouTube, once described her as a god in the Mario universe due to her role as a mother figure to all life forms, envisioning creation as an act of maternal kindness along the way. Other theorists believe that Rosalina is related to Peach in some very surprising ways. Now when was the last time people debated over a Nintendo character? A Zelda character, maybe, but nobody from the Mario franchise.    

 We might never know who she truly is, but thatÂ’s why I like her    

Due to the faithful Nintendo tradition of leaving gamers guessing and wanting more, we may never know who she is exactly.  But in a way thatÂ’s what makes her so wonderful. You actually think about her character, making you care for her all the more.    

 We all know Rosalina can Kart like the big boys, but can she party?    

Now, we all know that Rosalina made her playable character debut in Mario Kart Wii, so I wonderÂ…will she make further appearances in future Mario games? I was thinking that if Mario Party 9 ever gets announced, they should have her in it, but not as a playable character.  She should be the host. The boards could be based off of the different galaxies found in Mario Galaxy. The Lumas could assist you on the boards,  and the final board could be reminiscent of the final battle from Galaxy.  They could have the player help Rosalina by collecting as many stars as possible to power up the grand star, and thus defeat Bowser once and for all - until the next game that is.    

 Peach and Daisy look lovely in their sports outfits. But what about Rosalina? HmmÂ…    

But what about the Mario sports games? Nintendo still owes us true Wii golf and tennis games, but would they be willing to put her in them? Would she look silly wearing those sports outfits that Daisy and Peach wear? She doesnÂ’t seem like the athletic type, but it would be lovely to see her on the playfield.    

 A whole new Galaxy awaits Mario, but will Rosalina be there?    

Finally, since Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a reality and will come out next year, itÂ’s obvious that Rosalina will return since she does run the Galaxy and still has to take care of the Lumas. But will her story be retold? Will we learn more about her past? Will she even return at all?    

ItÂ’s amazing that RosalinaÂ’s future is filled with just as much doubt as her own back story. I just hope that Nintendo creates more characters that are able to continue the proud tradition of being charming, but exploring more storytelling possibilities that make them even more enthralling in their already-incredible gaming experiences.    

 Shine on, Rosalina, shine onÂ…    

In other news, did you know that gorillas are the closest relatives to humans after the chimpanzee? Their DNA is around 99% identical to that of a human. That would explain their attraction to brunettes in tight little red dresses.

[Peachylala]

I knew this would come sooner or later.   

[ThomasO]

But who is she exactly? Is she an ancient descendant of Peach?

I hope you mean "ancestor," because that seems to make more sense, given that Rosalina is hundreds of years old... 

[NWR_pap64]

But who is she exactly? Is she an ancient descendant of Peach?

I hope you mean "ancestor," because that seems to make more sense, given that Rosalina is hundreds of years old... 

Actually, one of the theories claim that she might be in reality Peach's daughter. Its a weird theory, but considering that the babies can play with their adult counterparts anything can happen in the Mario universe.

[Jonnyboy117]

Surprising choice, but a good one. I think Rosalina has much potential, and hopefully Nintendo will continue to make her interesting.

[Deguello]

I've always thought Nintendo games had great stories even when they were weak on the surface, based on the inherent symbolism inside.

You could view the Peach-Mario-Bowser relationship as a God(des)-Man-Devil relationship, respectively.  You could use Freud's Superego-Ego-Id too, but that works a whole lot better with Zelda and Zelda-Link-Ganon, also respectively.

It's amazing what a little college will do to understanding.

But one that really floors me is Drawn to Life.  You literally are God in that game and you act through a Golem/Avatar/Only Begotten Son engendered by your two little Rapo buddies Mari and Jowee.  (Mary and Joseph?)  You spend most of the game bringing the game's village out of darkness and creating a lot of the things as you see fit.  And on the 7th day, you rest, right?

[Halbred]

Good blog post. Rosalina is an awesome character, and I hope she gets more facetime in Galaxy 2.

More refined genetic studies since the initial human/chimp comparison have shown that it's more like 96.7%. Still close, of course.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Good blog post. Rosalina is an awesome character, and I hope she gets more facetime in Galaxy 2.

More refined genetic studies since the initial human/chimp comparison have shown that it's more like 96.7%. Still close, of course.

Also we share 50% with a banana. Bananas are used in Mario games, so it is relevant to the topic at hand. That is why people are attracted to blonds.

I'm really not a big fan of Rosalina she is still pretty much yet another do nothing woman in a Nintendo game, at least she hasn't gotten captured (yet).

[NWR_pap64]

Good blog post. Rosalina is an awesome character, and I hope she gets more facetime in Galaxy 2.

More refined genetic studies since the initial human/chimp comparison have shown that it's more like 96.7%. Still close, of course.

Also we share 50% with a banana. Bananas are used in Mario games, so it is relevant to the topic at hand. That is why people are attracted to blonds.

I'm really not a big fan of Rosalina she is still pretty much yet another do nothing woman in a Nintendo game, at least she hasn't gotten captured (yet).

Do nothing woman? If you are talking about her in game then yeah. But story wise she attends a whole observatory and raises the Lumas from birth to adulthood when they become planets or stars. Its unfair to call her a "do nothing" woman when she has a far more developed story than the other Mario characters so far.

And did anyone get the meaning behind the last paragraph?

[MegaByte]

More refined genetic studies since the initial human/chimp comparison have shown that it's more like 96.7%. Still close, of course.

Actually, this is a little misleading, because that comparison is referring only to genes.  Non-coding regions make up 98.5% of our DNA (which is involved in stuff like regulating said genes), and it's likely that these regions are a big driving force in the difference between species.  Unfortunately, this seems to be the latest commonly misrepresented statistic, much like the "humans only use 10% of their brain" BS.

[King Bowser Koopa]

What, the paragraph about Pauline? No, I didn't get that at all

I'm gonna have to say "ancestor" works better too. Descendant is one thing, but *ancient descendant* is just wacky to even try to comprehend.
Besides games like Partners in Time and Yoshi's Island 2 (which were both developed by third parties and can be considered dubious despite their greatness), the whole deal with characters interacting with their baby counterparts in the sports games simply cannot be considered story canon. It is unfathomable that they conveniently create a rift in time and space every time someone wants to have a race or play tennis.
I consider those games to just be fanservice. Like Smash Bros, it's just a series of characters and locales from across the Mario universe pressed together into the shape of a sports game. You get to play said sport with your favourite characters, but you aren't meant to question why or how they're there.
In a real game, if someone chucked Bowser into a tennis court and handed him a racquet, he'd likely use the thing to clobber Mario and make off to his castle with Peach.

[Mop it up]

Actually, one of the theories claim that she might be in reality Peach's daughter.

That doesn't make any sense. How could somebody have a daughter who is older than they are?
Though I guess if a single character can be an entire species then anything's possible...

[NWR_pap64]

Actually, one of the theories claim that she might be in reality Peach's daughter.

That doesn't make any sense. How could somebody have a daughter who is older than they are?
Though I guess if a single character can be an entire species then anything's possible...

Well, if I remember the theory correctly it has something to do with time and space. I know the theorist used Rosalina's end game speech as a basis for the idea.

I don't think its actually that accurate, but I did used it as an example of how the character has created unusual speculation.

[Deguello]

The theory about relativity and time is that when traveling at light speed, time moves "slower" for you than it does for others.  So for her to be Peach's Daughter is out, but for her to be an ANCESTOR is in, IF Rosalina is, say traveling at light or warp speeds, she would, relative to the Mushroom Kingdom's Earth-Like Planet, age a lot slower than her descendants.  It would be theoretically possible for here to have witnessed her entire lineage from her to Peach.

(Except for, of course, the fact that she leaves her planet when she's really young.  Who to have babies with?)

As an aside, is there any reason to think that the designers are severe "Mama's Boys?"  I mean Peach, Daisy, And Rosalina tower over even Luigi, who's taller than Mario.  Just a thought, cuz it goes against the norm in a big way.

[NWR_pap64]

Yeah, I always found it funny how the Mario men are shorter than the women. I think the only Mario guy who is just as tall as the women is Waluigi. He is meant to be comically skinny in the same way that Wario is meant to be insanely fat.

[Stratos]

It's for comic effect, I always assumed. The two short plumbers save the "tall gorgeous princess".

Very nice article, Pap. Nice thoughts and I appreciated the theories.

I took the last paragraph to be a nod to the first of the four Mario Universe 'damsel/princesses', Paulina.

She is actually the most intriguing Nintendo character to me ever because of her mysterious backstory. I hope that she makes a return and that her characters is unpacked even more in SMG2, but I also hope that they keep her partially shrouded in mystery.

There is something about the romanticized 'lone ranger/wandering traveler' image she bears.

[Patchkid15]

Rosalina is a great character. Despite being new to the game, she started off with a grand slam in Super Mario Galaxy. As with the rest of you, I am hoping to see more of her.

[Mop it up]

I'm still surprised Rosalina wasn't included in Mario Super Sluggers, which has the largest cast of any Mario game. They put the newcomer Baby Daisy in the game (who is a terrible character BTW), but nothing from Super Mario Galaxy? Characters from Super Mario Sunshine started popping up in Mario games instantly; Petey Piranha, Pianta, and Noki can be found in various games. So what's taking Rosalina so long?

She is actually the most intriguing Nintendo character to me ever because of her mysterious backstory. I hope that she makes a return and that her characters is unpacked even more in SMG2, but I also hope that they keep her partially shrouded in mystery.

Lots of Mario characters have mysteries. Forgetting the lessor characters like Waluigi who were just thrown in to broaden the rosters of the spin-offs (c'mon Nintendo, give him a connection with Wario already!), we don't even know what profession Mario and Luigi have. Are they plumbers? They were in the cartoons but I don't recall any game ever stating that. We need to see them fix a leaky sink one of these days...

Now when was the last time people debated over a Nintendo character?

Clearly you've never been to GameFAQs.

[Stratos]

She is actually the most intriguing Nintendo character to me ever because of her mysterious backstory. I hope that she makes a return and that her characters is unpacked even more in SMG2, but I also hope that they keep her partially shrouded in mystery.

Lots of Mario characters have mysteries. Forgetting the lessor characters like Waluigi who were just thrown in to broaden the rosters of the spin-offs (c'mon Nintendo, give him a connection with Wario already!), we don't even know what profession Mario and Luigi have. Are they plumbers? They were in the cartoons but I don't recall any game ever stating that. We need to see them fix a leaky sink one of these days...

Miyamoto once stated in an interview that he never really wants Mario to have a profession. People assumed they were plumbers and the cartoon (along with NoA to a degree) decided to reinforce that notion. He wanted to leave those things up to the players imaginations.

Also, I really wanted an improved sequel to the Gamecube Wario World with 2-player co-op including Waluigi. I even wrote a letter to Nintendo asking them to add that. Remember Waluigi was a villain in the Mario DDR game

Lots of Mario characters have a lack of backstory. That isn't mystery. Failing to mention something does not instantly create mystery, and even if it did, it is not an especially interesting mystery. I don't care why Donkey Kong wanted to kidnap Paulina. Certain things are intriguing and Rosalina holds those things.

PS- isn't this the part of the thread where we derail on a different character and Pap tells us that is what his next blog is about? *hinting that I'd like a hint from Pap of what's next*

[Mop it up]

Remember Waluigi was a villain in the Mario DDR game

Really? I didn't know that. Was he paired with Wario or was their still no connection? I really want that game but it is kind of expensive. It's the only console non-edutainment Mario game I don't own.

[NWR_pap64]

About Mario and Luigi being short I realized a couple of reasons for it. First, its a common comical effect in cartoon characters. For example, Mickey Mouse is ridiculously short. Popeye is also short when compared to tall and lanky Olive Oil. Yet he still can beat up Bluto who is thrice his size. It also represents the unlikely hero defeating the big, menacing brute.

About my hint as to who my next character will be; read that last paragraph one more time and forget about Pauline.

Finally, I agree with Stratos in that a character not having a backstory means they are mysterious. The Mario characters as I already explained are very straight forward. You know who they are, how they act and where they live in some cases. Rosalina, on the other hand, actually has a back story that is actually explained and shown to the player, but with enough elements to make her mysterious.

Regarding Galaxy appearing in the Mario Spin off games, Mop, remember that Super Mario Galaxy was released near the end of 2007. By then Mario Party 8 was out, Mario Kart Wii was still a few months away and Mario Sluggers was already deep in development so they couldn't add any Galaxy elements into it. Hell, not even Brawl had any references to Galaxy, not even a Luma sticker.

Remember that Nintendo still owe us a true sequel to Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, not to mention Mario Party 9, and New Super Mario Bros, Wii will be released soon so maybe them we can see some elements of Super Mario Galaxy elements thrown in for good measure.

[King of Twitch]

I think it's interesting that people like Rosalina's mysteriousness but can't wait to hear about Samus' back story?

[jrlibrarian]

I think it's interesting that people like Rosalina's mysteriousness but can't wait to hear about Samus' back story?

I really hope that they don't do time travel in Other M. From the trailer, it looks like there are two Samus's talking to one another.

[Mop it up]

Regarding Galaxy appearing in the Mario Spin off games, Mop, remember that Super Mario Galaxy was released near the end of 2007. By then Mario Party 8 was out, Mario Kart Wii was still a few months away and Mario Sluggers was already deep in development so they couldn't add any Galaxy elements into it. Hell, not even Brawl had any references to Galaxy, not even a Luma sticker.

They somehow found the time to include Rosalina into Mario Kart Wii so there's no way I'm going to believe there wasn't enough time to add her to Mario Super Sluggers which was released two months after MKWii. And don't forget that they added Baby Daisy to Mario Super Sluggers who debuted in Mario Kart Wii, so I'm going to chalk that one up to Namco being lazy and incompetent.

Remember that Nintendo still owe us a true sequel to Mario Tennis and Mario Golf

I wouldn't be expecting that. The reason why we got the New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis is because Camelot has no interest in creating Mario games anymore, so there isn't going to be a new Wii version. We're also far more likely to see a New Play Control! version of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour than we are a new game.

I'm even beginning to doubt a Mario Party 9 for various reasons. First off is that Mario Party 8 is still selling, but also that Hudson seems content in releasing what could be minigames in Mario Party 9 as WiiWare releases.

I think it's interesting that people like Rosalina's mysteriousness but can't wait to hear about Samus' back story?

Different games. People are used to the vagueness of Mario characters but a game like Metroid is better-suited to have a story.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Just wait until Rosalina is captured and Mario has to rescue her.