Title says it all. Which if Nintendo's video game Princesses do you think is the best, and why? And for the record, since I haven't played every Nintendo game out there, I only know of a handful of Princesses to give options for, and yes, I also know that there are several interpretations of the characters I've named here, so you may need to go into detail about which version specifically you choose as best.
Poll: Nintendo's Best Princess
- Thread starter thejboy88
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Rosalina because going by my limited knowledge of Nitendo damsels, she's the princess that gets kidnapped the least (or otherwise is on top of things most of the time). I know Peach and Daisy are fucking Patty Hearsts at this point, and Zelda usually needs help with something.
I find Zelda to be the best as she is the one who can actually defend herself (in all fairness, I don't know all that much about Rosalina) whereas Peach needs to be rescued by a fat Italian plumber every two seconds and Daisy only seems to be in it for the mini golf and the go-karting, at least that is what my now limited knowledge of various Nintendo franchises tell me.
Peach is always an adventure. She is constantly getting kidnapped, but at least in some of the games since Paper Mario (not sure if sooner), she has always shown signs of being rather mischievous and messing with Bowser in an effort to help Mario. It makes it sort of fun to think about how in the world she ended up getting the 1-Up Mushrooms and mail them to Mario throughout the Galaxy games.
Rosalina hasn't had a lot of screen time, but at least she was given a well-established backstory, which is more than can be said of most characters in the Mario universe. Still, as a character, she is essentially just a magical Peach. That is, she's the innocent girl who acts as somewhat of a motherly and/or leader figure. Basically, Peach if Peach was some magical space goddess that lost every ounce of mischief she had.
Zelda is, well, Zelda. She knows how to be a badass, and there are even times where she seems to be relatively in control of things despite being a damsel in distress (e.g. Twilight Princess). She's got significantly more character than either Peach or Rosalina, and she also seems to have a little more flexibility in what Nintendo will allow her to do from game to game.
Overall, I would probably go with Zelda. I just find her a more relatable character. After that, it is sort of hard. Rosalina actually has an interesting (albeit childish) backstory, and Peach is just...yeah, like I said, she's clearly doing stuff behind the scene. I think I'll go with Peach as a close second, just because what I can imagine she's doing is far better than what I know Rosalina is doing. She also apparently makes really good cake [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI-As7yvaW4], and I like playing with her in Smash Bros. more than Rosalina.
Rosalina hasn't had a lot of screen time, but at least she was given a well-established backstory, which is more than can be said of most characters in the Mario universe. Still, as a character, she is essentially just a magical Peach. That is, she's the innocent girl who acts as somewhat of a motherly and/or leader figure. Basically, Peach if Peach was some magical space goddess that lost every ounce of mischief she had.
Zelda is, well, Zelda. She knows how to be a badass, and there are even times where she seems to be relatively in control of things despite being a damsel in distress (e.g. Twilight Princess). She's got significantly more character than either Peach or Rosalina, and she also seems to have a little more flexibility in what Nintendo will allow her to do from game to game.
Overall, I would probably go with Zelda. I just find her a more relatable character. After that, it is sort of hard. Rosalina actually has an interesting (albeit childish) backstory, and Peach is just...yeah, like I said, she's clearly doing stuff behind the scene. I think I'll go with Peach as a close second, just because what I can imagine she's doing is far better than what I know Rosalina is doing. She also apparently makes really good cake [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI-As7yvaW4], and I like playing with her in Smash Bros. more than Rosalina.
Probably Zelda, because unlike most of the others, she has a pretty good "badass to damsel" ratio and is always super central to the plot and does great things, even when she ends up as a living macguffin.
I'd like to see her kick more ass though. She can clearly do it, I wanna see some more of it!
I think Viridi is the best Nintendo female character, though. I'd say Palutena is better (is the main character's guiding light without being a love interest, which is neat) and more fun in general (she is SUCH an amusing troll to pit), but she DID need to have her ass saved twice under not exactly overwhelming circumstances (At least Twilight Princess Zelda had the excuse of "I can't defeat an entire fucking army of giant hulking monsters on my own, what the hell was I supposed to do?!").
Viridi was super ambitious and constantly on top of her shit, even when things went to hell. Not as fun to be around as Palutena, but she wasn't afraid to wear both the "villain/anti-hero" and "Ally" hats when needed, and did a good job with both of them.
Samus is up in the air for me. On one hand, retro samus was badass as hell, but didn't get enough character (outside of Fusion, which was nice). And Modern Samus... >_> I just hope they pretend Other M never happened and never do that kind of characterization for her again. That was awful.
I'd like to see her kick more ass though. She can clearly do it, I wanna see some more of it!
I think Viridi is the best Nintendo female character, though. I'd say Palutena is better (is the main character's guiding light without being a love interest, which is neat) and more fun in general (she is SUCH an amusing troll to pit), but she DID need to have her ass saved twice under not exactly overwhelming circumstances (At least Twilight Princess Zelda had the excuse of "I can't defeat an entire fucking army of giant hulking monsters on my own, what the hell was I supposed to do?!").
Viridi was super ambitious and constantly on top of her shit, even when things went to hell. Not as fun to be around as Palutena, but she wasn't afraid to wear both the "villain/anti-hero" and "Ally" hats when needed, and did a good job with both of them.
Samus is up in the air for me. On one hand, retro samus was badass as hell, but didn't get enough character (outside of Fusion, which was nice). And Modern Samus... >_> I just hope they pretend Other M never happened and never do that kind of characterization for her again. That was awful.
The Twilight princess herself, Midna.
From the moment she's introduced, she definitely breaks the damsel in distress trope. And unlike Zelda, Midna actively participates in the saving of Hyrule. She teleports Link around, she's part of the player's combat, etc. Not putting Zelda down or anything, but Zelda's role is usually indirect for the most part--she might participate in boss battles or cutscenes, but is generally hands off (haven't played Skyward Sword though so can't comment).
Plus Midna can transform into a Godzilla sized spider monster, so there's that.
From the moment she's introduced, she definitely breaks the damsel in distress trope. And unlike Zelda, Midna actively participates in the saving of Hyrule. She teleports Link around, she's part of the player's combat, etc. Not putting Zelda down or anything, but Zelda's role is usually indirect for the most part--she might participate in boss battles or cutscenes, but is generally hands off (haven't played Skyward Sword though so can't comment).
Plus Midna can transform into a Godzilla sized spider monster, so there's that.
Is Rosalina really a Princess? She may have been before but I always thought she was more of a Cosmic Queen or possibly even a Goddess. Either way, she seems like the most capable out of every other Princess. Midna would be my second considering she's the Twilight Princess and even though she was de-powered, she was able to help out Link enough so that he could help to save her Kingdom as well as Hyrule from Zant and a resurrected Ganondorf.
That's a big point. People see the crown and immediately think "princess" but not once has Rosalina (or Rosetta in Japan) has ever been referred to a s a princes.Shoggoth2588 said:
As much as I love Zelda games more, I picked Peach. I think she has way more personality and is a whole hell of a lot more fun. I'm glad she has evolved a little bit beyond a basic damsel. I wish Super Princess Peach was a proper franchise. I loved that game. I think I really fell in love with her during her segments in one of the Paper Mario games where she tries to orchestrate her own escape and it showcased a crafty and resourceful side (which are qualities and traits in myself that I try to elevate all the time, so I relate to her). And I do think in some ways she sees the good in Bowser and hopes he may turn a new leaf and stop trying to kidnap her so damn much. Peach also has a little bit of sass in her which I love.
Oh, that's easy. Lucina. She's not a pampered starlet like all the others. She's a bigger badass the most Nintendo characters, Link included. She may not be the best fighter, but the whole thing with her resisting fate was pretty awesome.
Zelda's a close second, though, with her OoT and WW iterations being amongst my favorites. Too bad they fell back on the old damsel tropes at the end. Pirate Zelda was the best thing about her game, writing her off was one of the worst writing decisions Nintendo ever made.
Zelda's a close second, though, with her OoT and WW iterations being amongst my favorites. Too bad they fell back on the old damsel tropes at the end. Pirate Zelda was the best thing about her game, writing her off was one of the worst writing decisions Nintendo ever made.
If the poll options are all we've got, (I don't know many Nintendo princesses either) I'd actually have to say Peach, mostly by process of elimination.
Daisy is just Peach2.0, Property of Luigi, as far as I understand.
I've never played the galaxy games (because fuck the Wii and it's waggledom) so the most I can say for Rosalina is that she had a unique-ish hairstyle, I guess?
Zelda just bores me. Yes, she wields magic and turns into an exposition-spouting ninja, (in at least one game) yes, she's probably better characterized than the others, and yes, she generally looks cooler than all of them put together, but all that in mind? I've played every big Zelda game but Skyward Sword (Re: Fuck the Wii) and can't cite a single line of her dialogue from any of the games. I might get a line or two of 'Tetra's' dialogue if I thought about it for a minute or two, but Princess Zelda has always struck me as little more than a walking plot device.
So that leaves the princess that is also mainly a plot device, but when they try to characterize her, she's at least kind of funny to watch.
"You are one weeeeeird computer."
While I never played it, Nintendo seemed to answer her not having a whole lot of characterization by giving her her own game in which she runs around having violent mood swings to navigate the environment, projectile tears to water plants and such. I don't know if the game was any good, but it's more than I can say for any of the others.
Daisy is just Peach2.0, Property of Luigi, as far as I understand.
I've never played the galaxy games (because fuck the Wii and it's waggledom) so the most I can say for Rosalina is that she had a unique-ish hairstyle, I guess?
Zelda just bores me. Yes, she wields magic and turns into an exposition-spouting ninja, (in at least one game) yes, she's probably better characterized than the others, and yes, she generally looks cooler than all of them put together, but all that in mind? I've played every big Zelda game but Skyward Sword (Re: Fuck the Wii) and can't cite a single line of her dialogue from any of the games. I might get a line or two of 'Tetra's' dialogue if I thought about it for a minute or two, but Princess Zelda has always struck me as little more than a walking plot device.
So that leaves the princess that is also mainly a plot device, but when they try to characterize her, she's at least kind of funny to watch.
"You are one weeeeeird computer."
While I never played it, Nintendo seemed to answer her not having a whole lot of characterization by giving her her own game in which she runs around having violent mood swings to navigate the environment, projectile tears to water plants and such. I don't know if the game was any good, but it's more than I can say for any of the others.
Seconding Midna, even if the form everyone is familiar with wasn't actually that of a princess. Best Zelda companion ever.
I like Peach mainly for her actions and dialogue in the Paper Mario/Mario RPG games. Never exactly stepping across the boundaries of the previously established damsel in distress, but enough to show that there IS a self-aware brain in there, all claims to the contrary, and a heart with compassion for all living things, even Bowser or Count Bleck. She's also been one of the most consistent characters in the Kart and Sports games.
I like Peach mainly for her actions and dialogue in the Paper Mario/Mario RPG games. Never exactly stepping across the boundaries of the previously established damsel in distress, but enough to show that there IS a self-aware brain in there, all claims to the contrary, and a heart with compassion for all living things, even Bowser or Count Bleck. She's also been one of the most consistent characters in the Kart and Sports games.
I voted for Zelda because she seems to actually do things (although I admit, I did forget about Midna until seeing the other posts). She helps in the final battle in Twilight Princess, it's shown that she was prepared to defend her kingdom in the same game, and in Windwaker she's actually around a lot for a while--and again, helps in the final battle. I wish they would make a game where you play as her, because I get the feeling she's actually very capable if fate would just stop messing with her.
Out of those listed? I voted for the classic Princess Peach. While Daisy is better looking (imo, although that really just boils down to hair color) I couldn't not vote for The Original Princess of gaming, Ms. Toadstool. She got some of the best levels in the original Paper Mario, She had the best stage in the original Mario Party, and She's been my second-best main since Melee in Smash Bros. Hell, Peach is so badass that when Mario had a dream about her posessing hovering abilities, and Peach decided that was cool enough sounding that she just decided to have that power from now on.
Outside of the list though, I'd have to go with Lissa, from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Maybe it's because she's a badass healer princess who can become quite proficient with battleaxes, or maybe it's because she drops frogs down the back of your shirt, and that makes your OC fall in love with her.
Outside of the list though, I'd have to go with Lissa, from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Maybe it's because she's a badass healer princess who can become quite proficient with battleaxes, or maybe it's because she drops frogs down the back of your shirt, and that makes your OC fall in love with her.
