For over 40 years, Mario has been bouncing his way over obstacles and Goombas with the sole purpose of rescuing Princess Peach. No matter how many times he’s told “the princess is in another castle”, he just keeps going.
Even in the movie, Donkey Kong clowns Mario for offering to buy Peach a turtle. Surely Nintendo and the fans were on the same page about them?
Mario and Peach are just friends, Guys
That’s right, as confirmed by a Nintendo Today post last week, Mario and Peach are nothing more than good buddies. And now, you should all search the internet for the absolute maelstrom of “Mario got friend-zoned” memes.
Nintendo, you glorious geniuses. Have one of the best launches of a console of all time, follow that up with what is, by all accounts, an elite Donkey Kong game, and then tell everyone that Mario and Peach are just friends. Let the internet do the work from there, and you’re golden.
“Princess Peach and Mario are good friends and help each other out whenever they can.”
Via: Nintendo Today app. pic.twitter.com/IsyQqe2KLz
— Kābī (@KirPinkFury) July 23, 2025
This is the type of understanding of the internet that served a particular Canadian rapper well in one beef and then absolutely torched him in another. People can’t wait to get memes off.
Part of that comes from the fact that Nintendo isn’t particularly clear about this historically. I mean, there are whole videos covering the Evolution of Peach Kissing Mario. Those don’t look particularly just-friendsy, you know?
Remember in Star Wars when Leia kissed Luke on the lips, found out that they were brother and sister, and then told Luke later in the movie, “Somehow, I’ve always known”?
I will not get into how incredibly insane that was in this space. I would just like to note, though, even in that scenario, finding out they wouldn’t be romantically linked wasn’t nearly as surprising for the audience as this.
To be clear, Mario and Peach don’t have to be romantically linked. Hell, we should get more male/female interactions in gaming/entertainment where it really is just the homies. It’s just that there’s so much existing Mario lore that contradicts that kind of relationship here.
Either way, Mario, I’m pretty sure you still owe Peach a turtle. Promises made, promises kept and all that.
The post Nintendo Officially Confirmed Mario and Peach’s Relationship Status appeared first on VICE.
