Here’s why the iconic damsel was de-aged for her big comeback in Donkey Kong Bananza.

If you’ve played the fantastic Donkey Kong Bananza, you know it reintroduces a younger, more adventurous version of Pauline to the franchise. But it turns out Nintendo’s first instinct was to bring back the full-grown, city-savvy mayor we all remember from Super Mario Odyssey.

This juicy bit of development trivia comes from a recent interview with producer Kenta Motokura and director Katsuhisa Takahashi in Nintendo Dream magazine. Originally, the team knew they wanted Pauline in the game but, as Motokura admits, “we could not find a way for her to fit well into the gameplay.”

The breakthrough came when they connected the game’s transformation mechanics with a new song composed by Naoto Kubo. Suddenly, Pauline had a natural role to play. But there was still a big question: what should she look like?

At first, the team prototyped with an adult Pauline. However, they ran into a logical—and physical—snag. Director Takahashi explained the reasoning behind the switch to her now-canonical age of 13:

“In order to allow them to travel and adventure together, we put her on DK’s back. At first we tried her as an adult but a girl felt better in terms of size… we thought that this would be the first time for many to play as DK, so as a new character this seemed to fit better.”

It makes perfect sense. A grown woman riding on Donkey Kong’s back might look… unusual. A younger, smaller character fits the dynamic of a duo on a wild adventure much more naturally.

The interview also touched on why Nintendo, who rarely pins down hard ages for its characters, publicly announced she was 13. Takahashi offered a surprisingly narrative-driven reason:

“13 is an age where you start to experience conflicts and struggles, and also when you begin to think about your dreams for the future… we thought it was the perfect age to be able to portray that kind of a story.”

It’s a cool glimpse into the thoughtful design choices that go into our favorite games. What do you think? Do you prefer the younger adventurer, or would you have liked to see the adult Mayor Pauline teaming up with DK?