Some of the most iconic video game characters belong to the Super Mario series because of how well-received and beloved this franchise is. Of course, the main heroine of the story, Princess Peach, is also one of the most iconic princess characters of all time. However, some may actually know her as Princess Toadstool. But when did Toadstool become Peach?
Princess Peach has always been named Peach ever since her Japanese release. She only became Toadstool when she was localized in America because Nintendo of America thought that the name was a better fit for the game’s mushroom theme. She was later referred to as Peach in America in Yoshi’s Safari and in Super Mario 64, with her full name becoming ‘Princess Peach Toadstool’ for subsequent games and media in both Japanese and Western markets.
As you can see, the name Toadstool was never Peach’s original name. She was always Princess Peach but it was only when she was localized for American players that she was named Toadstool. Nevertheless, Nintendo actually made sure to use the name Peach in the latter versions of the Princess both in Japan and in America as she is now more widely known as Peach in all forms of Super Mario media.
The Super Mario franchise is one of the game-changing video games in history due to how it got a lot of different people into gaming and introduced many memorable central characters that are still very much popular and iconic to this day. This is why Mario’s characters are beloved all over the world.
Arguably the most prominent and most notable princesses of any video game franchise come from the Super Mario series because classic gamers were introduced to the damsel-in-distress setup that became commonplace in a lot of games. As such, we were introduced to princesses such as Peach and Toadstool.
Are Princess Peach and Princess Toadstool the same?
The truth that not a lot of people know, especially if they never truly followed the Super Mario franchise, is that Peach and Toadstool are one and the same. Peach is not the replacement for Toadstool in any way as the two princesses are actually one and the same. That means that those who played the classic versions of the Super Mario Bros. game don’t need to get confused between the two princesses because they are just the same character but with different names.
Of course, we will get to the point where we discuss in length why some refer to the classic Mario princess as Toadstool while other Mario fans and players call her by her current name (and true original name) of Peach.
When did Princess Toadstool become Princess Peach?
Now, to make sure that you don’t get confused by the whole Peach and Toadstool story and why those two characters are actually one and the same, let’s look at the story of how Princess Toadstool eventually became Princess Peach.
When she was released as a central character in 1985’s Super Mario Bros. game, the princess of Mushroom Kingdom was always named Peach. Her original name upon her release in Japan was always Peach as the Japanese gaming community never knew the princess as Toadstool.
Upon the game’s localization for the western market, Nintendo of America didn’t want to carry the name Peach in the localized version of the Super Mario Bros. game. The reason was actually quite simple. They didn’t feel like the name Peach actually fit in with the entire mushroom theme of the Super Mario Bros. game. As such, they localized her name into one that was more befitting of the theme, and that is why Peach eventually became Toadstool in the western market.
Since her original appearance in Super Mario Bros. Peach was named Toadstool in the American market. It was only during the earlier portion of the 90s that Nintendo realized that they needed to make the name more universal as the world was getting smaller and smaller. This was also to avoid confusion among different fans of the game as Japanese fans never referred to the character as Toadstool while the English-speaking world never referred to her as Peach.
In Yoshi’s Safari, which was released in 1993, Princess Toadstool began adopting the name Princess Peach in both the Japanese and the American markets. But since Yoshi’s Safari is only a spin-off game of the entire Super Mario series, it was only in Super Mario 64, which was released in Japan in 1996 and in American the following year, that players finally caught on to how Nintendo made the name Peach uniform for both markets.
Since then, Nintendo has used the name Peach in all of the Mario games. However, to avoid confusion, they adopted the name Toadstool as part of Peach’s full name. As such, many would refer to her as Princess Peach Toadstool, with Toadstool being her family name.
Why did Princess Toadstool become Peach?
So, again, the reason why Nintendo made Princess Toadstool into Peach and essentially made the name uniform across all markets can be attributed to the rise of globalization and how video games became a more universal hobby. It would only make more sense to universalize the name Peach so that Nintendo could avoid confusion between Japanese and American fans during a day and age where gaming has become so widespread across the world.
Why is she called Princess Peach?
Finally, you might be wondering why Princess Peach is named as such. To tell you the truth, we also are wondering the same thing as well. Series creator and main designer Shigeru Miyamoto never really told the reason why the character is named Peach. All we know is that, when she was released in Japan, she was already Princess Peach.
