43. Pauline

First appearance: Donkey Kong (1981)

Way before Princess Toadstool was born, Mario was already rescuing cute gals from evil villains.

Specifically, he was saving Pauline.

After her run-in with Donkey Kong in the game that kick-started the Mario franchise, she dropped off the map for a fair amount of time.

She used this time to become an accomplished songstress and politician, as we see in Super Mario Odyssey.

She’s now the mayor of New Donk City, bringing hope and cheer to her citizens with her beautiful voice.