The Better Princess: 15 Things You Never Knew About Daisy (2024)

Let's say I gave you three words: "Super," "Mario," and "Princess," and asked you to tell me the first name that came to mind. You'd probably say "Peach," or "Toadstool." And you wouldn't be wrong, because it was an open-ended question and I didn't specify that there was a right or wrong answer. That's on me, I should have made the purpose of this exercise clearer. Regardless, I would still be silently judging you, because you would have passed over the Mushroom Kingdom's most truly memorable princess: Princess Daisy!

Daisy constantly gets the short end of the stick. Much like Luigi is to Mario, she's an afterthought to the more famous and heralded Princess Peach. Some people would probably even look at her and think that she and Peach were one and the same (Peach even has a Princess Daisy costume in Super Smash Brothers Melee). But they most certainly are not. In fact, Daisy has a rich backstory of her own, and a story that is very worth a second look. Onecould even make the argument Daisy is the superior female monarch in all of the Super Mario universe. And you know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do. Prepare to meet the better princess: this is 15 Things You Never Knew About Daisy!

Did we miss any Daisy facts you want to make sure we know about? Drop a comment and let us know!

15 Daisy's First Appearance Was On The Game Boy

Princess Daisy first entered the Mario universe in 1989 on the Game Boy in Super Mario Land. While the limited graphic capabilities of the Game Boy weren't able to make her look like much more than a clone of the aforementioned Princess Peach, upon completinga boss level, Mario says "Oh! Daisy." Immediately after this, she would, of course, turn into a bug or some terrible thing like that (being that she was actually in another castle and all). While many fans make the assumption that Daisy was a late addition to the Mario roster, it's interesting to note she actually debutedmuch closer to the franchise's first installment in 1985. Even Yoshi didn't show up until Super Mario World in 1990. Think about that: Mario has known Daisy longer that Yoshi, but he still gets all the love. I guess it is easy being green.

14 Daisy's Realm Takes ABackseat To The Mushroom Kingdom

"But wait," you say. "I though Peach is the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. How can one kingdom have to Princesses?" Well, first of all, get with it, it's 2017, and a same-sex princess couple is a perfectly viable scenario here, however, that's not the case. Daisy is actually the Princess of her very own Kingdom, Sarasaland. Sarasaland consists of four separate kingdoms, all based on actual locations: Birabuto Kingdom (based on Egypt), Muda Kingdom (based on Mu and Bermua), Easton Kingdom (based on Easter Island), and Chai Kingdom (based on China). The name Sarasaland is derived from calico textiles imported by Portuguese traders from India to Japan during the Edo Period, which were known by their Portuguese name, "sarasa." These textiles frequently featured floral patterns, hence the name Daisy.

In case you were wondering, the other one's called Peach because who cares this is way cooler.

13 Daisy Can Hang With TheBoys

So, of the two, which of these princesses would you rather hang out with: one who's afraid of getting her dress dirty, or one who doesn't mind throwing down, getting messy, andcan probably eat more wings than you in one sitting? If you said option B, congratulations, you're a Daisyhead! Daisy has been described as a tomboy from day one, in her first appearance inSuper Mario Land. In Mario sports games, Daisy often ditches her formalwear for more athletic shorts and t-shirts. Which makes sense,since she's playing sports and not throwing a dinner party for Mr. Darcy. Look, the Mushroom Kingdom (where Daisy now resides) can be a rough place, it's important not to be afraid of throwing down if you get run up on by some pesky Goombas. Maybe there's a reason Peach keeps on getting kidnapped instead of Daisy. Just saying.

12 Daisy's Creator May Surprise You

While the vast majority of the characters in the Mario franchise were created by the godfather of Super Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto (including Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser), Daisy was actually created by Nintendo employee Gunpei Yokoi. Yokoi was a prolific video game guru in his own right, and among his more well-known creations are theNintendo Game & Watch, the original Game Boy design, and the D-pad, which can still be seento this day onvirtually every video game console. Yokoi was also the man behind the Virtual Boy, but hey, not every hit's gonna be a home run (my eyes still hurt just thinking about playing the Virtual Boy). Also, why is it that the characters that weren't created by Miyamoto always seem to get the short end of the stick? It's almost like he has full creative control over everything that happens in the Mario universe. Wonder why that is.

11 Daisy's AMovie Star (Kind Of)

It's a little-known fact that Daisy is actually the leading lady in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, and, not unlike in the games, she plays Luigi's love interest. Unlike the games, however, Daisy is a student at NYU who is in the middle of an excavation project, digging underneath the Brooklyn Bridge to try and find dinosaur bones (remind me why this movie flopped again)? She is eventually captured by Iggy and Spike, and the Mario Brothers have to try and save her from the evil King Koopa. While it's great that Daisy was so heavily featured in the film, the overwhelmingly negative response the movie got didn't exactly do much to help her already low status among the rest of the Mario cast. Maybe it's time for Daisy to get her own movie? One where she's not digging for dinosaur bones in New York City. Just a thought.

10 Daisy Took A Nine Year Break From Appearing In Mario Games

Yes, you read that correctly. Between 1991's NES Open Tournament Golf (where Daisy plays Luigi's caddie)and 2000's Mario Tennis (which also saw the debut of Waluigi), Daisy is just nowhere to be found. A lot of people have wondered where Daisy went all this time, but I think the answer is pretty self-explanatory. Daisy is a boss. She's a Princess, and she has things to do. She can't just drop everything every year to play golf with Mario or something. And plus, we established earlier that she knows how to defend herself, so she's not wasting her time getting kidnapped every other day of the week. If she were going to appear in any game in that period, it would probably be Sim City, since her royal position has undoubtedly expanded her knowledge of urban planning and development. Don't hate her 'cause she wasn't there. Hate her 'cause she gets. Things. Done.

9 Daisy Owns Her Own Cruise Ship

Oh, you read that correctly. Princess Daisy has her very own cruise liner, the Daisy Cruiser. The DC made its first appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and is one of the playable racetracks in the Flower Cup. From looking at it, the ship appears to be pretty top of the line. It has a pool on the stern, at least five to seven decks, and an enormous picture of its owner on the side. The Daisy Cruiser has made a few other notable appearances in the Mario franchise, including Peach Beach, Yoshi Circuit, Mario Beach, and Daisy Circuit. If you were wondering what other members of the Mario universe have/can afford their own cruise ship, the answer is.... None of them.

8 Daisy's Dad Is Out There Somewhere

While few of the Super Mario characters ever allude to having parents (kinda weird two brothers spend all their time together and never even mention their parents, maybe something going on there), we do know that Daisy has a father. She mentions this in Mario Party 3, and mentions they used to play together. Hear that, Dads? Take time to be a father today, it may result in your child not managing to get herself kidnapped by a crazy turtle/dragon monster on a yearly basis. Of course, this does raise the question: if there's a king of Sarasaland, is there a queen as well? Also, how come her father never makes an appearance in any of the games? I'll bet you anything he's somewhere in the stands in Super Mario Strikers, just silently cheering his daughter on. So proud. So proud.

7 Daisy Has A Rivalry With Waluigi

While lanky super villain Waluigi appears to have romantic feelings for Daisy, it would seem those are hardly reciprocated. She has bad chemistry with Waluigi in Super Mario Sluggers, and a few of her team names with Waluigi in the Mario Party series reveal an even deeper disdain (for example, "Awkward Date" and "Skinny Stars"). Personally, I totally get it. Just because Daisy is often used as a tertiary character in the Mario games doesn't mean she has to be romantically linked to a wannabe villain sidekick like Waluigi. First of all, he's way too tall for her, and secondly, he's a creep. She should want to distance herself as much as possible from this guy. She's a princess, for crying out loud. He's an ostrich in purple overalls. No thanks.

6 There's ARap Song About Rescuing Daisy

"Welcome, and enter the center

Of my Super Mario adventure

My girl is trapped on the other side of town

So I'm moving in leaps and bounds

Folks around my way think I'm strange

But there's a villain to blame

Even my ma, she thinks I'm crazy

But I've got to rescue Daisy (let's go)"

No, I did not just make this up (there's no way I would have tried to rhyme "strange" with "blame." Come on, dude). These are the lyrics to the song Super Mario Land, as performed by the group Ambassadors of Funk (featuring MC Mario, of course). And while this song may only be memorable for a variety of the wrong reasons (it's pretty painful to listen to by today's standards), it's still worth noting that Princess Daisy is the main Mario lady featured in the song. How many rap songs are there about Princess Peach? Didn't think so.

5 Daisy's Got Some Pipes Of Her Own

In addition to having a song about her on Ambassadors of Funk's album, Super Mario Compact Disco (nothing about this has aged well), Daisy is also credited with singing her own song, entitled Save Me (With Your Charm). Daisy even raps over the song's intro.

A few key takeaways from the song: Apparently, Daisy is English? Also, in addition to being athletic, she has decent to moderately good rhythm.

Daisy should definitely think of music as a hobby and not a full-time career. Woof. This song is brutal. But at least Daisy's putting herself out there! She's trying new things, who cares if they don't all work out? Let's just call this song Daisy's Virtual Boy. If you want to listen to the track (after giving it sufficient thought), you can do so here.

4 Daisy's Signature Garb Makes An Appearance In Bayonetta 2

This is a pretty neat one. In the game Bayonetta 2, there's an unlockable costume called "Sarasaland Princess" that strongly resembles the Princess of Sarasaland herself. And I have to admit, it looks really damn cool. While wearing the costume, the player can summon Bowser feet and fists to help them in battle. Getting to see this costume in action makes you think of what other games could really benefit from having unlockable Daisy skins. For example, what if you could play through Final Fantasy XIIIwith Daisy instead of Lightning? Or play Halo with Daisy in place of Master Chief? Or even any Mario game with Daisy instead of Peach? Sorry, that last one's just wishful thinking.

3 Daisy Can't Get No Respect

When you're the number two Princess in the Mario games, it's hard enough to get people to take you seriously. But it doesn't help when people just flat out get your name wrong. Due to a translation error, Daisy's name appears in the Super Mario Land manual in the "Introducing the Characters" section as "Daisy Princess," instead of "Princess Daisy." This is probably due to the fact that Princess Daisy's Japanese name is "Deiji-Hime," which puts the word "Daisy" before "Princess."It's just flat out insulting. Can you imagine if Mario was listed in a manual as "Mario Super?" Or if Shy Guy was listed as "Guy Shy?" Or even if Solid Snake was listed as being named "Snake Solid?" No. You can't. No respect!

2 Daisy's Got AThird Eye??

Here's a weird, disturbing, and unsettling fact about Princess Daisy: she appears to have a third eye hidden under her hair. Yes, you read that correctly. While it's likely just a glitch, if you look at Daisy's Super Smash Brothers Melee trophy and zoom on the back of her head, you'll see it plain as day, that creepy third eye. Now that is just bizarre. I certainly hope Daisy can't see out of that third eye, or she'd just be looking at her own hair. Let's hope for her sake that Daisy is third eye blind, otherwise, she'd probably turn into a jumper while wondering how's it gonna be for her in this semi-charmed life. And if you got those three references, we should hang out.

1 Daisy Has Yet To Claim The Spotlight

Despite over 45 Mario game appearances, Princess Daisy has yet to star in her own game as anything other than a damsel in distress. It's truly a shame because there are so many elements of the Daisy character that would make for an awesome game: she has her own rarely explored kingdom to reboot, her own cruise liner for travel, her own shorts for...playing baseball...I think. Maybe it's time to get all the Mario sidekicks together in one big game. I'm talking Daisy, Luigi, Waluigi, all the heavy hitters. They could call it "Super Mario Sidekicks." Actually, that's really not a bad idea. Although people might think it's some kind of sports game. You know what, how about just "Everyone But Super Mario: A Sidekick Odyessy." Sure, it's a little longer, but it gets the point across. Just like Daisy in a round of Super Mario Strikers. Booya.