Donkey Kong Bananza devs play coy about Pauline’s identity

Many of Donkey Kong Bananza’s mysteries have been explored since its release, but there’s still one in particular that’s puzzling fans. That mystery has to do with Pauline, who appears as a thirteen-year old in the game.

Since her role was first revealed, fans have been wondering how exactly her age difference can be explained in relation to her adult appearance in Super Mario Odyssey and the rest of the Mario/Donkey Kong timeline. Is this a younger version of the same character, or perhaps a relative?

Today, Famitsu published a new interview with some of the key devs behind Donkey Kong Bananza. In it they discuss their inspirations and ideas behind the game, as well as the nature of Pauline in this universe. Specifically, they’re asked whether Bananza’s Pauline is the same as Odyssey’s Pauline. Here’s producer Kenta Motokura’s (rather vague) answer:

“Of course, the developers have a plan for it, but I’m sorry, but I’d like you to use your imagination.”

[Kenta Motokura, Nintendo EPD]

…and that’s all we’re getting for now! It sounds like the devs do in fact have an idea of how all these pieces fit together, but they don’t plan on revealing it to the public any time soon. The interviewer also asks about a grandmother Pauline refers to in-game, but Motokura gives a similar response of “Sorry, this too”, meaning it’s yet another mystery still unsolved.

We’ll have to wait and see if any of this is further explored in a future game or project. Click here to check out the complete interview (it’s in Japanese so you may need to use a translation tool to read through it).