Pauline (originally known as Lady or the lady and the Beautiful Girl) is the damsel-in-distress in the arcade game Donkey Kong, the installment that marked her debut in both the Donkey Kong and Super Mario franchises, along with Mario and her titular kidnapper (confirmed in later games to be a younger Cranky Kong). She was Mario's first love interest. After a long absence, Pauline reprises her damsel-in-distress role in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. In Super Mario Odyssey and Donkey Kong Bananza, she is closely tied with New Donk City, being the mayor of the city in the former and claiming to be raised there in the latter. Since her appearance in Super Mario Odyssey, she has appeared as a playable character in various spin-off games, starting with Mario Tennis Aces. Pauline is named after Polly James, wife of Nintendo of America's warehouse manager, Don James, a fact later confirmed by Don James himself at Nintendo's E3 2018 Treehouse Live event. The name was chosen by Nintendo of America's president, Minoru Arakawa, who mistakenly thought James's wife was actually called "Pauline". Pauline is currently voiced by Kate Higgins, since Super Mario Odyssey, with Jenny Kidd voicing her teenage version in Donkey Kong Bananza. She has been voiced in games prior to this, though her voice actors remain unknown.