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One of the most notable pieces of Mario canon is that he frequently saves Princess Peach from certain doom. He’s the knight in shining armor and fairy tales have always painted romantic stories of heroes saving a princess, prompting them to fall in love and live happily ever after. This led many to believe that Mario and Peach have a romantic relationship. Nintendo has even leaned into this over the years with Valentine’s Day posts and winks and nods over the years, but they’ve rarely, if ever, explicitly depicted them as boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife.
Apparently, we’ve all been led astray, though. According to Nintendo, Mario and Peach are nothing more than just “good friends,” leading some to think that Mario has been friend zoned by Princess Peach. The news came earlier this week from Nintendo itself via the Nintendo Today app, an app that updates daily with Nintendo news and articles. Within it, Mario and Peach are referred to as “good friends,” baffling fans everywhere. Of course, these two can have a platonic relationship, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but Nintendo has definitely poured fuel on the fire to implicate them in something romantic before.
Nintendo could change this later on if they really want, but it seems unlikely. Perhaps the family friendly identity of the company has made Nintendo want to keep things focused on friendship. After all, some have speculated that Link and Zelda are a couple before, but Nintendo seems to keep suggesting they are also friends. It seems to be a trend between the company’s different franchises at this point.
As of right now, we’re not sure when the next 3D Mario game will hit, but it’s likely in development for Nintendo Switch 2. Super Mario Odyssey came out in 2017, so it would be surprising if something else wasn’t imminent. The next Mario movie comes out next year, so maybe the game will launch around the same time for some brand synergy.
[H/T GamesRadar]
