MariPauline

MariPauline is the het ship between Mario and Pauline from the Donkey Kong and Super Mario fandoms.

Canon
Mario and Pauline have known each other since Donkey Kong. In the game, the title character, Donkey Kong—later confirmed to be a younger Cranky Kong—kidnaps Pauline. Mario, similar to Peach and Daisy, saves Pauline. During this period of time, Pauline was merely known as 'Lady' and blonde. Mario, on the other hand, went by 'Jumpman' and 'Mr. Video Game' at the time. It would appear the pairing originally were lovers, but eventually broke up. They are still on good terms as shown with Super Mario Odyssey.

Years after the events of Donkey Kong, in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Mario has Pauline as a guest of honor. She cuts the ribbon to the new Super Mini Mario World theme park. However, after Pauline chooses a gift Mario gave her over Donkey Kong's, she is once again taken away. Mario saves Pauline, and she ends up accepting Donkey Kong's gift as well. In the manual, it is heavily implied they are now friends here.

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem, Mario once again has Pauline as a guest of honor, where they are giving out Mini Pauline toys to the first 100 visitors to the new theme park. Donkey Kong wants a Mini Pauline toy, and is enraged to discover that he is the 101st visitor, and their supply is out, so he kidnaps Pauline. When Mario saves Pauline at the end of the main game, a heart appears between the two. When Pauline is rescued for the second time at the end of Plus Mode, Mario gifts Donkey Kong a Mini Pauline, and he calms down.

In Super Mario Odyssey, Pauline is now the singing mayor of New Donk City. Here, she will ask Mario to help find band members for a tribute towards Mario. Once completed, Mario will be able to go through multiple 8-bit stages themed around his times as Jumpman. Pauline, on the other hand, will be singing 'Jump-Up, Super Star,' featuring lyrics in reference to Mario's history as a hero. She will later sing 'Break Free (Lead the Way)' during the game's climax, featuring similar lyrics.

Romantic
In terms of reasons the pairing is ship, it is a canon fact they have dated in the past. Some also see a nostalgic appeal, due to how Donkey Kong was both Mario and Pauline's first appearance in any form of media. However, when compared to other ships, the pairing is fairly underground in popularity.

Fan works will often draw inspiration from Pauline's music in Super Mario Odyssey, as many interpret the songs to be romantic in nature, sung by Pauline, for Mario. This often manifests in the form of fans having Mario and Pauline refer to each other with the nicknames '1-Up Boy' and '1-Up Girl' respectively.

As of now, on AO3, there are around five fics featuring the pair, making it the second most popular ship for Pauline, behind Peachauline.

Family
When following the fan theory that Jumpman (Mario from the Donkey Kong arcade games) is Mario's father, Mario and Pauline can be seen as a familyship instead. Pauline can be seen as either Mario's mother using makeup to make herself look younger or Mario's older sister who, like Mario, was named after one of their parents. In the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, Mario invited Pauline as a guest of honor, and some fans felt it would make more sense for Mario to invite his sister or mother than his ex-lover.

Fandom
FAN FICTION


 * Mario/Pauline on FanFiction.Net
 * Baby Mario/Pauline on FanFiction.Net