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For all of ’s fans and haters alike, this article is going to be about ’s own,

Flower Princess, as I will be writing this out of love for the character, and to share it with all of you. This article consists of her history, her personality her reception, and her role in Nintendo

Games as I’ll also wax poetic about my beloved princess as well as vent of her shortcomings, and speak in defense of her, being the die-hard Daisy fan that I am. So, without further ado…

She first debuted in the Gameboy Game, Super Land in 1989, created by Shigeru

Miyamoto’s mentor, , in which she plays the role of a damsel-in-distress and

Mario had to save her. Next, in 1991, she appears as ’s caddy in NES Open Tournament

Golf, and then after that, she has not been seen for almost a decade…until the booming of the

Mario spin-off titles in the early 2000s, since the games were in need of more human characters.

Since then, Daisy has made a playable appearance in most of the spin-off Mario games to this day, where some may even consider her the ‘Spin-off Queen,’ a highly subjective title given to her by the fans.

Unlike her counterpart , Daisy hardly fits the description of how a proper princess should act. Daisy first and foremost is a tomboy. She’s tough, (perhaps one of the toughest females in the Mario universe, but to me, it’s not saying much), she’s steadfast, as well as 2 headstrong, competitive, and extroverted. What I described of her already can easily go hand in hand; Daisy just seems to make it work in the most effective way. Most of the time, she’s loud, expressive, and just loves to have fun. Whenever she’s victorious in various competitions, she is especially expressive, like she wants the world to know that she won. She’s even outspoken about her losses where she’ll pout, and say things like, ‘Aww, man!’ She’s just simply loud, obnoxious, and just loves to party, and that’s her charm in that fashion, which makes her stand out from the rest of the Mario cast.

Regardless of her outspoken demeanor, Princess Daisy also happens to be sweet, friendly, and full of joy, as she’s mostly seen with a smile, even in the face of adversity, which in fact shows off a smug side of her personality.

Daisy is just so full of sure confidence that brands her as a strong person, able to hold her own, and very secure with herself and her strong will in check. Out of the crown-wearing Mario gals of today, Daisy, by far, has the strongest personality, able to be this tough, energetic princess as well as a kind, tender, sweetheart. I mentioned ‘Sweetheart’ for a reason, because

God forbid, if you get on her bad side, you’ll be her public enemy #1 in the blink of an eye, and I’m talkin’ about DEFCON 1 business here; you don’t wanna mess with

Princess Daisy, and who knows what inner demons are lurking beneath that smile of hers…?

Through Daisy’s charm, she has captured the hearts of many Mario fans for a plethora of reasons: She has only been kidnapped once besides her ‘mainstream’ counterpart (not by ‘you know who’), she exudes a captivating toughness besides Peach, who is a girly girl, and also, 3 she’s just darn funny. Another reason why people would like her would be any of the reasons above where I explained about her personality, and lastly, there are people out there who feel sorry for her and her short comings (especially with all of the hype), and sees her as a sympathetic figure.

As with any form of subjective entertainment, she also has fans who dislike her, or even ‘hate’ her. Their reasons are simple: she’s annoying, they say that she’s an inferior clone of Peach, and just really finds no point in liking or supporting her, convinced that she has no future in Mario games, or they’re just flat-out Peach/Rosalina fans, trying to justify THEIR favorite character by

hating on Daisy. Because of this, it’s safe to say that this is Daisy’s

character flaw: her very essence that drives people away, especially

with her catchphrase, “Hi, I’m Daisy!” that she constantly says in a

couple of the spin-off titles.

Many of her fans and haters alike have made arguments that Daisy has more haters than fans. I had a hard time believing that with all of the Daisy Fandom Forums

I’ve visited or been exposed to over the internet, but looking more in to it, I’m starting to believe that she really DOES have more haters than fans, but the fact of the matter is, in my opinion, the people who are really neutral to her outnumber both her fans and her haters. My educated guess would be her initial perception with many casual fans, being on a negative due to her loud and over-the-top demeanor.

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As far as myself is concerned, what I listed of Daisy’s personality already is the reason why I’m drawn to her. Again, Daisy is such a stunning, proud, headstrong, and self-confident woman that

I admire, and for that, she is way over with me! It’s just that her charisma has won me over more than Peach’s have, and even Rosalina’s for that matter, and they’re more mainstream characters in the Mario franchise; Princess Daisy, a mere side character, has such a stronger, more positive reaction with me, as if I were met to love this character.

Another reason why I choose her is because out of the three Mario gals, she comes off as being more relatable to myself, since for a time in MY past, I was neglected and was just a mere afterthought, unable to fit in with most people in my life. Because of this, I feel her pain, not able to star in any of the main Mario games, which irritates an old wound of neglection that I had and Nintendo is making the same mistake as my friends did in disregarding what a potential character/person might offer. Here’s yet another reason why I like Daisy because, more than anything, I love my girlfriend, since whenever we play Mario games, she’d always pick Daisy, as she’s also an avid Daisy fan like myself, and we would talk about her sometimes.

Back in the good’ol days, even prior to the conception of Rosalina, I wasn’t able to see it at first, but Daisy, this other princess who was straight out of Land that was about Peach’s equal, had such a strange vibe with me. Back then, all I did was just dismissed her as another character in the franchise, not able to make out this sensation I had of her. As the days went on, I was unconsciously drawing closer and closer to her as a fan, able to comfortly bring her up in conversations that I have with my peers.

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This article was written in April of 2015, the year where Rosalina is getting this huge push from

Nintendo where they literally overhyped Rosie, shoving her into more main games, some less known ones, too, a spot in Smash 4, and not to mention, the spin-offs as well. Rosalina’s popularity boomed during this time, winning the hearts of many Mario fans with her beauty as well as her grace…but, I, the black sheep of the bunch, became a fan of Daisy instead. Daisy, a character who hasn’t gotten any justice from Nintendo, clicked with me far better than the big

N’s pride and joy known as Rosalina ever could. Just, what is it about the Spunky Princess of

Sarasaland? Is it the fact that she isn’t as much of a ‘dammy’ as Princess Peach was for all these years? Is it her spellbinding charm that I’m entranced to? Is it her sympathy about her ‘spin-off hell’ career? Or is it the fact that in 3, she knocked all the way to Rosalina’s

Observatory in one hit? Just for simply, ‘getting in her way.’ That was a feat astronomically better than how Mario deals with him on a regular basis! It’s a spin-off game…so fuckin’ what?

Daisy gave Bowser the business! I never saw Peach (especially Peach), Rosalina, and even

Mario doing something like that! And as a Daisy fan, THAT is something to be proud of!

THAT is a piece of Daisy history that I will never forget.

It’s funny how Nintendo is pushing Rosalina like she’s their ‘love child’ to give us a reason to like her, but instead, made me like Daisy even more. Perhaps Rosie’s inclusion of Smash Bros helped me cement my fondness of the tough princess, so, I guess that it could be a good thing…no matter how much I clamored for Daisy to be a playable Smash character. Don’t get me wrong, but I like Rosalina, too, and like what she’s become, but I’m just a Mario fan that prefers Daisy over her.

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Even though I AM part of the minority that likes Daisy, it is MY subjective opinion, and nothing that anyone can say, would EVER change my mind about her. Daisy is a BEAST in my book!

And no amount of Daisy haters will EVER change my opinion! I’m not afraid of either one of

‘em, so come at me!

Anyhow, I just wanted to get that off of my chest…and it’s true, Princess Daisy has never graced her presence in any of the main Mario Games, and I’ve been questioning myself if Super

Mario Land IS even a main game? Seeing as how its home system is the , which played second fiddle to the Super Nintendo at the time. If that is the case, then that means that Daisy, without a shadow of a doubt, have never stared in a main game. We Daisy enthusiasts became a fan of her because of what she did and how she carried herself in the spin-offs. Daisy’s character really has potential to become a mainstream character in the Mario franchise, and I believe that it’s something new, and quite possibly different, to bring to the table instead of having regurgitated New Super Mario Bros for every system. That’s just me, though, I really do believe that Daisy can pass off as a mainstream character, given her polarizing personality from Peach and Rosie. It frustrates me because either

Nindy don’t know what to do with her, or the big N just flat out refuses to give her a starring role. If the latter is true, then I’m sorry to say this, but Nintendo is stupid, for not giving all of their characters equal representation in the series…even , who was only made to be

Wario’s doubles partner in . Waluigi and Daisy kinda shares the same fate, sadly, and to think that the N could’ve added Waluigi as another playable character in the Warioware 7 series; missed opportunity, if you ask me. Seriously, Daisy is NOT a clone of Peach, and never will be! And if Nindy really doesn’t appreciate Daisy, then that’s kinda sad, considering her fans and I have far more appreciation than her own company does, but I guess that’s true with many fandoms of many other different franchises out there. It’s abysmal to favor every other character, except for one, just because you either don’t like her, or have no plans for her. As a company, it’s important to cater to ALL fan bases and satisfy their needs, and not doing so is simply ‘not fair.’ Compared to the likes of Peach and Rosalina, Princess Daisy’s misrepresentation in the series is quite frankly, “Unfair!”

I’ve just explained what Nintendo SHOUD do with Daisy, and boy, hope they don’t take my ranting the wrong way; I’m just speaking my mind. But for ME, however, I really want Daisy to branch off into her OWN franchise, very much like , , Luigi, and

Wario. Those five characters have franchises of their own with , Yoshi

Story, Luigi’s Mansion, Captain Toad, and the Warioware series, WHILE still appearing in

Mario games! I just really want the same for Daisy because 1: Nintendo isn’t showing her any justice while under the Mario banner, and 2: She already has a solid foundation to expand upon.

I believe that if Daisy got her own series, she’ll receive even more fans (and probably more haters as well, but hey, it’s subjective) as well as mainstream exposure and expanding the character of the Spunky Princess, while exploring newer avenues to her image. I strongly agree that this would be a great route for her, and just maybe would throw her into a

Smash game (granted IF he continues making them), since Smash favors main characters.

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So, this has been my article about my beloved Princess Daisy, and I’ve

spoken for all of her fans as well. I come off as an optimistic person, and

I speak on behalf of all the Daisy fans that one day, she WILL be

represented in a newer and more positive light as well as being

mainstream and even having her own kick-ass game for such a kick-ass

character! I, like many others, am just a hardcore fan who loves to

‘believe,’ and conceive success, just for the chance to say that it wasn’t possible without all of her adoring fans who’ve demonstrated consistent loyalty, urging their favorite character to finally take her place at the top. Such is the heart of a true underdog, and all we can do at this point is to just have faith.