Super Smash Bros. Fighters - Super Mario Series - 03 Peach

Debut

In the Super Mario series: Super Mario Bros. (1985)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Boxing Ring Title: Princess of Toadstools

Theme Song: Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. 2 

Princess Peach Toadstool is a major character in the Super Mario series. Peach is the kind-hearted and benevolent ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, if a bit ditzy, though her subjects adore her nonetheless. She tends to be the target of Bowser during his various schemes, and whenever he captures her, Mario - and sometime his brother Luigi - will head off to save her!

Peach makes her debut in Super Mario Bros. where she was originally referred to as Princess Toadstool. Here, the evil King Bowser and his Koopa Troop have invaded her kingdom. They manage to kidnap her, after which Bowser uses his magic to turn her subjects into blocks. Two plumbers by the name of Mario and Luigi learn of what happened and rush off to rescue her, as Peach's magic is able to counteract Bowser's.

Princess Peach is held captive in the game's 8th world, and upon rescue, she presents the player with the option to play through the game again on a harder difficulty setting. Notably, Peach's implied "magical powers" would quickly be be dropped in later games.

The game would receive a sequel titled Super Mario Bros. 2, though this refers to two different games. In Japan, the game was essentially a harder version of the first game. Here, Peach plays a similar role like the first, even offering the player a harder challenge upon being rescued. Players elsewhere would get the chance to try it out in Super Mario All-Stars, which re-titled the game Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Fans outside of Japan would receive Super Mario Bros. 2, which was a reskin of another Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic.This would mark the first game where Peach is a playable character! She is able to float in the air for a couple of seconds, which can help her reach areas that are too far away for the others to reach, but as compensation, Peach is pretty slow, and takes a bit longer to pluck vegetables out of the ground.

One day, Peach has a strange dream involving a world called Subcon, the land of dreams. Subcon was ruled by the tyrannical Wart, and the people begged Peach to save them. The next day, Peach decided to go for a picnic with Mario, Luigi, and Toad. During the trip, Mario tells the others about a weird dream he has, which Peach, Luigi, and Toad all coincidentally had.Once they arrived at the spot for their picnic, Mario spots a cave nearby, and they head to investigate. Inside is a flight of stairs, and at the very top was a door that lead to Subcon. Realizing the significance of this, Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Toad head off to free the people from Wart!

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Peach learns that Bowser and his Koopa Troop have returned! Bowser has sent his kids - a group of seven referred to as the Koopalings - out to conquer the seven kingdoms of Mushroom World, where they steal a magic wand from one of the Kings and turn them into an animal! Informing Mario and Luigi about this, the duo head off to save the Mushroom World Kingdoms!

Every time the Mario Bros. saved one of the lands, Peach would send them a letter containing helpful tips, as well as an item. Unknown to the heroes, Bowser used Mario and Luigi's absence to head to the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnap Peach! When the Mario Bros. learn of this, they head off to Dark Land to rescue the princess, who's being held in Bowser's Castle.

Peach also shows up in the New Super Mario Bros. series. once again playing her damsel-in-distress role. For a few examples, in New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, Peach was on a stroll with Mario when they notice that her castle is under attack! When Mario heads off to investigate, Bowser Jr. sneaks up from behind and grabs her! In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Peach is celebrating her Birthday with Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad, only for Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings to grab her by hiding inside a giant Birthday Cake.

Peach also shows up in the 3D Platformers as well. While not the first game to do so - that honor goes to Yoshi's Safari - Super Mario 64 would be the most well-known game to refer to the princess by her Japanese name, "Peach," which she would be referred to as from then on. Peach invites Mario over to her place for some cake, only for Bowser and his Koopa Troop to invade her castle, after which they manage to steal some of the castle's 120 Power Stars! Peach ends up trapped inside the glass painting in front of the castle, and only gets freed once Mario defeats Bowser in the last level "Bowser in the Sky."

In the remake, Super Mario 64 DS, Peach plays the same role she did in the original. The only difference is that she sports a ponytail.

Speaking of which, Super Mario Sunshine is the game where Peach's ponytail hairstyle debuted, which she would mostly wear in the various sport games. As for the game's story, Peach, Mario, Peach's steward Toadsworth, Toad and four of his friends head off to Isle Delfino for a vacation. During the trip, they watch a promotional video. At the end of the video, Peach notices a shadowy doppelganger that resembles Mario in it, jumping around in the background. Upon arriving at the airstrip, Peach spots the doppelganger again, but only briefly. Afterwards, the citizens of Isle Delfino end up arresting Mario, as they believe he's responsible for spreading graffiti around their island!

As Mario begins to try and clear his name with his new device called F.L.U.D.D., the mysterious Mario lookalike, who calls himself Shadow Mario, arrives and grabs Peach! Luckily, Mario saves her, and chases him towards Bianca Hills. Once Mario manages to recover ten Shine Sprites, Shadow Mario kidnaps Peach and flees to Pinna Park. Once Mario defeats Mecha Bowser, Shadow Mario reveals himself to be Bowser's son, Bowser Jr! He claims he's trying to save Peach, who he refers to as his mama, much to Peach's shock. Bowser Jr. then flees to the top of Corona Mountain, where he leaves Peach with Bowser, who's soaking in a flying hot tub.

At the end of the game, Mario battles the Bowser and son, where he manages to defeat them. However, doing so causes the hot tub they're on to fall into the ocean below. Peach and Mario land near an island, after which Peach notices that F.L.U.D.D. has been badly damaged in the fight. Luckily, Toad and his friends manage to fix F.L.U.D.D., after which Peach and her friends enjoy their vacation.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Peach and her kingdom are celebrating the Star Festical, which is held every 100 years! Sometime before the celebration begins, Peach finds a Baby Luma, which she decides to show to Mario once he arrives. However, Bowser and his Koopa Troop invade, with Bowser using a UFO to lift Peach's Castle into the sky! Peach spots Mario trying to get to her, only for Kamek to end up sending Mario flying away! The Baby Luma escapes Peach's grasp and heads to where Mario flew off.

During the adventure, Peach occasionally sends Mario a letter, which always contains a couple of 1-Ups. At the end of the game, Mario is preparing to escort Peach to Rosalina's Comet Observatory, only for Bowser's artificial sun to implode in on itself, due to Mario grabbing the Grand Star that was powering it. This causes a black hole to appear, which begins to suck everyone in! Luckily, the Lumas manage to stop it, though at the cost of recreating the entire galaxy. Peach ends up asleep in a field near her castle, with Mario and Bowser nearby. Peach eventually wakes up a bit after Mario does, where she then watches the plumber welcomes the new galaxy that is now born.

In Super Mario 3D World, Peach returns as a playable character, with the same playstyle she had in Super Mario Bros. 2. During a stroll at night in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Toad come across a broken warp pipe. The Mario Bros. proceed to fix it, after which a Sprixie Princess emerges from it. She informs the four that Bowser has invaded her land, kidnapping the other six Sprixie Princesses. Just then, Bowser arrives from the warp pipe as well and grabs the Sprixie Princess, before retreating back inside the pipe. Peach is the first to chase after him, with the other three following close behind. They then arrive at the Sprixie Kingdom, and make it their mission to save the Sprixies!

In Super Mario Odyssey, Peach once again gets captured by Bowser, who's planning on marrying her in a forced marriage. As such, Peach is mostly dressed in a wedding dress, along with sporting a sentient tiara named Tiara, who happens to be Cappy's little sister.

Once the game is beaten, Peach and Tiara will travel the various kingdoms, with Peach sporting a variety of different outfits that fit with each Kingdom looks. Once Mario finds her, she'll give him a Power Moon as a reward before heading off elsewhere.

Princess Peach also managed to star in her own game, Super Princess Peach! Here, Bowser has managed to find a magical artifact called the Vibe Scepter, and sends his Koopa Troop out to capture Peach with it. However, unbeknown to them, Peach went out for a walk earlier with her steward Toadsworth. Thus, the Koopa Troop end up capturing Mario, Luigi, a bunch of Toads instead. When Peach learns what happened, she decides to heads off to Bowser's new hideout, Vibe Island, to rescue them! Before she goes, Toadworth entrusts her with a sentient parasol he bought named Parry to help her on her quest.

In the Luigi's Mansion, Peach was only briefly mentioned by the Toad hiding in the Foyer. Peach would make her proper appearance in Luigi's Mansion 3, where she, Mario, three Toads, Luigi, and Polterpup head to the Last Resort Hotel to enjoy a vacation there. Unknown to them, the hotel was a trap set up by the hotel's owner, Hellen Gravely, who's working with King Boo to help him get revenge on Luigi! King Boo traps Peach, Mario, and the three Toads in paintings, and tries to do the same with Luigi until he manages to escape.

After that, Peach's Painting, along with Mario's, is located in Hellen Gravely's office. As Luigi slowly captures Hellen's staff and rescues his friends, King Boo grows impatient with Hellen. He decides to take Peach with him to the rooftop, leaving Hellen with Mario and giving her one last chance to redeem herself in his eyes. When Luigi and Mario make it to the top of the hotel's roof, Peach is freed, only for King Boo to reveal that this was a trap so that he could capture Luigi, Mario, and Peach, E. Gadd, and the three Toads in one giant painting! Peach and the others manage to get captured again, but luckily, Luigi narrowly avoids getting caught, thus he and King Boo engage in a final battle!

Princess Peach has also made appearances in the RPG series. In the beginning of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, she's kidnapped by Bowser, and Mario heads off to rescue her. Once Mario defeats Bowser, a giant sword named Exor crashes through Bowser's Castle, which sends Peach, Mario, and Bowser flying off in different directions. Peach ends up landing near Booster Tower, where a man named Booster instantly falls in love with her and decides he wants to marry her. Sometime later, Mario, Mallow, Geno, and Bowser charge though Booster Tower,  where they manage to stop the wedding and rescue Peach! Afterwards, they escort her back to her castle. The Chancellor wants Peach to stay at the castle so she'll be safe, but she manages to sneak out of the castle and join the team as Mario's fifth and final member.

In Paper Mario 64, Bowser ends up taking over Peach's Castle and lifting up into the sky, with Princess Peach inside! Whenever Mario completes a chapter, Peach gets her own individual segments where she tries to learn what she can about Bowser's plans, after which she relays what she learned to Mario. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Peach and Toadsworth travel to Rogueport, where Peach ends up buying a treasure chest containing a map to Rogueport's legendary treasure! She sends the letter and the map to Mario, after which she ends up getting captured by a mysterious organization called the X-Nauts. Just like in the previous game, Peach has her own individual segments where she not only tries to find out what the X-Nauts are doing so she can relay it to Mario, but also try and find out where she's located. She also ends up growing a close bond with the X-Nauts' computer, TEC-XX

Super Paper Mario is her biggest role, as it makes her a playable character! Captured by a mysterious group led by a man named Count Bleck, Peach is taken to another dimension and is forced into marrying Bowser to create the Chaos Heart, which will cause the destruction of the dimensions. Luigi steps in to try and stop the wedding, only to cause a massive explosion. Some time later, Peach wakes up and finds herself somewhere in Bleck's Castle. She meets with a Koopa Captain and a Hammer Bro Captain, and together they try to find a way to escape, only to get caught by Nastasia. The Koopa and the Hammer Bro get hypnotized by Nastasia, but Peach manages escape by getting mysteriously teleported away to Flipside, where she passes out. Once Mario wakes her up with some Spicy Soup, she joins Mario and Tippi on their quest to stop Count Bleck.

Meanwhile, throughout the Mario & Luigi series, Peach tends to get targeted by the main antagonist of the game. For a few examples, in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Cackletta wants to obtain her voice so that she can awaken the Bean Star and take over the Beanbean Kingdom.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time involves Peach testing out E. Gadd's new invention that allows one to travel to the past. Unfortunately, this lands her in the time when the Mushroom Kingdom is being invaded by evil aliens called Shroobs! Peach's younger self, Baby Peach, also makes her first appearance here, where she was supposed to have a playdate with the Baby Mario Bros. before Baby Bowser arrives to to try and kidnap her. Once Baby Mario defeats him, the Shroob invasion begins, and they're all forced to flee into Baby Bowser's Koopa Cruiser.

In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Antasma originally kidnaps her so that he can use her to escape the Dream World, but then decides to team up with Bowser upon meeting him. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam sees Peach meeting her counterpart from the Paper Mario series, Paper Peach, and the two form a close bond. They end up getting captured by Bowser and Paper Bowser early on, though they eventually get rescued by Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario before the three plumbers head off to defeat the two Bowsers.

Peach also makes appearances in the various spin-off games! In the Mario Golf series, she makes her first appearance in NES Tournament Golf, where she serves as Mario's Caddy. In-game, she shows up whenever Mario is trying to putt the ball into the hole. She would make her first playable appearance in Mario Golf 64, where she's one of the initial playable characters. Peach is shown to have a good relationship with Plum, who makes her only appearance in this game, as well as its handheld counterpart. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour would be the first game where she would sport a different attire that she'd end up wearing in other sport games. Mario Golf: Super Rush would give Peach another new outfit to wear.

In Mario Golf GBC, once Kid - or Sherry, Azalea, or Joe - manages to win the Links Tournament, she sends them a letter inviting them to Mario World, so that they can compete in the Mushroom Kingdom Tournament. She also does this in the sequel, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, where she invites Neil and Ella - students of the previous Mushroom Kingdom Champion Kid - once they win in the Links Tournament. In the games Doubles Tournament, she teams up with her friend, Princess Daisy.

While Mobile Golf lacks a Story Mode, Peach is made a playable character for the game's mode, where you can level up her skills. Peach starts out at Level 9, which is the second-lowest level out of all the playable characters, being beaten only by Ken, Napple, Lisa, Thread, and Kid, who all start at Level 1. (The first four are the game's starting characters, while Kid is an unlockable character.)

The other reoccurring sport game is the Mario Tennis series! In every game, Peach is classified as a Technique character. Peach's first appearance was in Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy. She'd later appear in Mario Tennis 64, which also saw the return of Princess Daisy, who would replace Plum as Peach's best friend following her disappearance.

In Mario Tennis GBC, Peach sends Alex and Harry - or Nina and Kate - an invite to compete in the Mushroom Kingdom Tournament once they manage to win in the Island Open Tournament. In the Singles Mode, she heads to the upper-stands alongside Daisy to watch Alex/Nina play against Mario. In Doubles Mode, she teams up with Mario to take on Alex and Harry/Nina and Kate.

In the followup, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Peach, alongside the other Mario Crew, disguise themselves and teach the Academy, Factory, Empire, and Union Tennis Schools about Power Shots. Once Clay and/or Ace win the Island Open Tournament, she invites them to compete in the Mushroom Kingdom Tournament. In Singles Mode, she serves as the first opponent. In Doubles, she and Mario end up losing to the unlikely pairing of Donkey Kong and Luigi, thus they never go up against Clay and Ace there.

Peach has also shown up in the Mario Kart series, making her first appearance in Super Mario Kart! In the earlier games, she was classified as a lightweight, which means she can quickly gain top-speed, but gets easily pushed around by others. Mario Kart: Double Dash would re-classify her as a middleweight, which would stick by Mario Kart Wii. Speaking of Mario Kart Wii, that game would see the debut of Peach wearing a jumpsuit if she rode on a motorcycle.

Peach also tends to have race courses themed around her, such as Royal Raceway from Mario Kart 64, Peach Circuit from Mario Kart: Super Circuit, and Peach Beach from Mario Kart: Double Dash.

Peach also a constant party-goer in the Mario Party series, hoping to try her luck to obtain coins and Stars! While all of the characters have an equal chance of winning, some games tried to make Peach  behave differently if you're facing her as an opponent, such as always prioritizing buying Plunder Chests in Mario Party 3. Mario Party 7 would made Flower Orbs an exclusive item that only she and Princess Daisy could use.

Princess Peach has made at least one appearance in the Super Mario subseries, namely in the Yoshi series in the game Yoshi's Island DS. Here, Bowser and Kamek travel to the past to try and find the seven star children, who are said to possess extraordinary powers. One of these children is Peach's younger self, Baby Peach, who gets captured by Kamek's Toadies. Luckily, the Stork learns of this and manages to stop the Toadies, only for Baby Peach - and Baby Mario - to fall towards Yoshi's Island. The Yoshis on the island manage to find the two, and decide to help the babies rescue Baby Luigi and the others who are being held hostage.

Baby Peach's unique ability is her Parasol, which not only allows Yoshi to flutter farther and higher, but also allows Yoshi to rise into the air from wind currents.

In the Wario series, Peach is only mentioned in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3's story. Here, her statue has been stolen by the notorious Captain Syrup, who's holding it for ransom! When Mario is informed of this, he hops in his plane and goes off to find it. Wario also happens to learn of this, and plans to snag the statue to use it as ransom money himself in order to build his dream castle. At the end of the game, Wario manages to find it after defeating Syrup, only for Mario to arrive and snatch it, flying away to deliver it back to Peach.

Personality-wise, Peach is portrayed as kind, sweet, and optimistic. She's also classy and quite sociable, and has a bit of an adventurous streak. While mostly gentle, Peach can be strong-willed when motivated, as shown in the various sports games, as well as a couple of other games like "Super Paper Mario". She can also be pretty level-headed, such as being the only one to notice the mysterious Mario doppelganger in the background of Isle Delfino's Vacation Guide video in "Super Mario Sunshine". Peach's favorite food is cake, and she tends to be associated with it in various games, like in her personal board, Peach's Birthday Cake, from "Mario Party."

In Super Smash Bros., Peach is fairly light and can easily get flung around, but she can also float in the air for a few seconds, and has a couple of moves to helps her get an advantage on opponents.

Special Moves

Neutral Special: Toad

Toad stands in front of Princess Peach, arms outstretched, while Peach hides behind Toad. Anyone who hits them during this will have Toad respond by spraying spores on them. 

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. That being said, Toads tend to be portrayed as Peach's bodyguards, as shown in "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga" and "Super Mario Galaxy."

The idea of Toad spraying spores was a concept introduced in "Mario Tennis 64," although it only appeared in that game.

Side Special: Peach Bomber 

Peach flings herself forward in the air, butt-first. If she lands a hit on someone, a giant heart will appear, and the opponent will be sent flying. 

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. The closest one can get to this is the Ground Pound move that Peach was shown to be able to perform in "Mario Party." That being said, the move seems to draw inspiration from Yuri Sakazaki's move "Big Butt Press" from the unrelated "The King of Fighters" series.

 Up Special: Peach Parasol

 Peach jumps into the air, closed parasol in hand, dragging anyone near her up with her. After that, she opens her parasol up and slowly floats down. You can press down to have her close the parasol and fall quickly if you want, just press up again to re-open it.

Somewhat inspired by "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars," where she uses a parasol to escape her captors by floating down out the window in a two-story room, and later uses it as one of her weapons.

She'd later use a sentient parasol named Parry in "Super Princess Peach," where she could use it to slow her descent, among other things. 

Down Special: Vegetable

Peach plucks a vegetable from the ground. She can then throw it at her opponents in any direction. The Vegetables have eight unique faces, some doing more damage than others, but otherwise they all deal somewhat weak knockback.

On some occasions, Peach can pluck up a Mr. Saturn! Mr. Saturn isn't super strong and only makes opponents flinch. However, he can deal MASSIVE damage to an opponents shield, if not outright shatter it, causing the opponent to become dazed for a bit. Perfect time for a powerful counterattack!

On rarer occasions, Peach can pluck a Bob-omb! A Bob-omb is pretty powerful, so Peach will have to aim well to deliver a devastating blow to her opponent!

Inspired by the main method of attack Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad use in "Super Mario Bros. 2." They could also pluck up Bob-ombs, but had to throw them away pretty quickly unless it exploded on them.

Mr. Saturns are characters that debuted in the unrelated EarthBound series, specifically the second game "EarthBound." Mr. Saturns are pacifistic in nature, and don't really fight. Their ability to shatter shields seems to be a reference to a certain in-game mechanic in "EarthBound" where, if any of the protagonists hit an enemy who has a shield protecting them enough times - or performs a rare SMASH! attack on them - it would shatter the shield and allow the heroes to deal more damage to the opponents. 

Final Smash: Peach Blossom

The camera zooms in on Peach as she begins dancing to some music. Nearby opponents will get instantly tired and fall asleep. Even airborne opponents aren't safe, as they'll tumble down to the ground to go to sleep! (and if they were thrown off the stage before Peach activated the move, they aren't gonna make it back) How long the foe stays asleep depends on how much damage they have, as well as how close to Peach they are. The more damage they have and the closer they are to Peach, the longer they snooze!

In addition, three giant peaches also fall on the stage. Peach can eat them to restore a large amount of damage she's taken, though she better be quick, as the opponent can also eat them if they happen to wake up fast enough!

Loosely inspired by her technique, "Sleepy Time," in "Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars"which would put enemies to sleep. The drawings that appear alongside Peach are inspired by the style of artwork used in "Super Princess Peach."

Additional Notes

Peach is one of two characters that have the unique ability to float in the air for a few seconds. She can only do this once per jump, she'll have to land on the ground or grab an edge to use it again. This ability of hers was inspired by her ability to do so in "Super Mario Bros. 2."

When using her Final Smash, the music that plays is a sped-up version of a song from Super Mario Bros. 3, "The Sky/Coin Heaven/Warp Zone."