Princess Daisy (film character)

Princess Daisy
Species	Dinohattanite
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Latest appearance	The Making of... Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Portrayed by	Samantha Mathis

“It's almost as if he was a monster trying to be a human being. It's beautiful.”

—Princess Daisy, describing a fossil to Luigi as if in a trance

Princess Daisy is a major character in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, as the daughter of The King of Dinohattan, a parallel dimension to Earth. She is named after the Super Mario video game series character Princess Daisy, and serves as Luigi's romantic interest; however, her chief inspiration appears to be Princess Peach instead. She is not initially aware she is a descendant of royalty, being referred to as simply Daisy for a majority of the movie. She was taken from Dinohattan to Brooklyn by her mother, escaping President Koopa's tyrannous rule over Dinohattan, where she grew up at St. Theresa's Cathedral never knowing the identity of her mother. She serves as the damsel in distress character in the film, being kidnapped by Spike and Iggy and taken to Koopa's Tower so that Koopa can carry out his plans of conquering both dimensions.

Daisy is an intelligent and analytical young woman, who has a passion and attraction to dinosaurs and paleontology. Even before discovering herself to be a descendant of dinosaurs, she felt a strong connection to them and related to the idea of "trying to be human". This passion later manifests itself as the growing desires of a "reptile brain" inspired by exposure to the parallel world. It is only her relationship with Luigi that grounds her humanity and prevents her from completely losing herself to those urges.

History

Super Mario Bros. film

The film begins with Daisy's mother smuggling a metallic pod into the human dimension while being pursued by General Koopa. Koopa had previously slaughtered the Portal-Keeper ruling elite in a military coup, sparing only her due to his love for her. Knowing that he would force her to merge the dimensions she escaped and fled into the human world, making her way through the streets of New York City to the steps of a cathedral. She then deposits the pod on its steps, inserting a gleaming meteorite piece into it and frantically knocking on the door before fleeing again. An elderly nun opens the door just as she leaves and sees the pod, kneeling down to take it inside.

The newly-hatched Daisy at St. Theresa's Cathedral

Daisy's mother then crosses the street, nearly being hit by a car before climbing down an open manhole that leads towards an abandoned subway shaft. She peers around in fear when Koopa suddenly steps from the shadows from behind and grabs her, demanding "the rock." Trying to escape, Daisy's mother causes a cave-in that both kills her and seals the tunnel, preventing Koopa from entering the human world to retrieve Daisy and the meteorite piece.

Back at the cathedral, several nuns surround the pod that now rests on an alter. The elderly nun from before removes the meteorite piece from it, causing the pod to open and reveal an egg inside. The egg begins to hatch and break apart until we see the infant Daisy, crying with life while her mother dies to save her. The elderly nun holds the meteorite piece up, which gleams as the scene cuts twenty years later.

Daisy is next seen as a paleontology student with a passion for dinosaurs that she does not quite understand. Her passion has brought her to work as the crew-leader at a project alongside the East River. However, the dig site is being hounded by Anthony Scapelli, a construction and plumbing mogul, because it had previously been the site of his company's construction project until the discovery of dinosaur bones forced him to step aside. Scapelli personally decides to visit the dig site in an attempt to settle his problem. Flanked by suited goons, he demands to speak with whoever is in charge. This turns out to be Daisy who hops down from a ramp and asserts herself as "the boss." Unfazed by the girl, Scapelli sleazily eyes her body and threatens both her and the site if she doesn't end the digging soon. Worried, Daisy leaves another student in charge while she enters the city to call the university for more security.

Meanwhile, Spike and Iggy, Koopa's bumbling henchmen, sit in their car eating "dog" while discussing their failure to capture the right "girl." It is then that Iggy notices Daisy crossing the street and decide that she is the girl they have failed to locate. They begin to tail her, attempting to snatch her on the street only to be thwarted by their own stupidity. Daisy continues, unaware of the attempt on her life and arrives at a payphone currently being used by Luigi, who, stunned by her beauty, offers its use to her.

Luigi meeting Daisy for the first time.

Unfortunately, Daisy soon finds that the university cannot increase their security. Dismayed, she approaches Luigi and his brother Mario to thank them for allowing her use of the phone. Mario, realizing his younger brother's infatuation with the girl, offers her a ride back to the dig site. Unsure of the offer, Daisy notices Spike and Iggy watching her from their car and accepts the brothers' offer, believing them safer than the two men she suspects are Scapelli's goons. The three talk along the way and get to know each other enough for Daisy to accept a dinner invitation from Luigi for later that night.

During that dinner Daisy reveals to Mario, Luigi, and Daniella that she was abandoned at birth and that she never removes the meteorite piece she wears around her neck as it is all she has of her past. Luigi admits that he also never knew his mother or father and was raised by his brother Mario, which prompts a shared gaze between the two and a moment of understanding. At Mario and Daniella's urging, Luigi offers to walk Daisy home following the meal.

During the walk home Luigi expresses embarrassment at his awkwardness. Daisy responds by explaining that she herself is embarrassed by her passion for dinosaurs, which she feels is an odd fascination to have. In the end, both are reassured by the others insecurity and smile. Daisy then offers to bring Luigi to the dig site to show him the fossils they have found.

The two race to the dig site, entering the tunnel that leads to the fossil pit. There's no security guarding the place, which Daisy explains is the reason she was using the phone earlier. She also explains to him how the fossils came to be found and the trouble Scapelli has been giving her crew. Luigi asks whether Daisy finds the underground chamber creepy. She says, to the contrary, it feels strangely "comfortable" to her.

The two begin to draw near for an intimate kiss, only to be interrupted by the sound of a nearby commotion followed by the sight of two of Scapelli's goons, Mike and Doug, running past them. The plumbing has been sabotaged in an attempt to flood the dig site and destroy the fossils. Daisy, aware that Luigi is a plumber, asks for his help.

After getting Mario, the two brothers begin to repair the plumbing while Daisy looks on. As they're about to finish, Iggy and Spike appear from behind, knocking them out and abducting Daisy. They pull her into the subterranean depths of the tunnel, leading her to the gateway between their world and the human world. Mario and Luigi, once the regain consciousness, follow. Finally, they come to what appears to be a dead end. However, they can hear Daisy's voice calling out to them from a seemingly solid rock wall. To their amazement, Daisy's face then appears through the rock wall as she struggles against Iggy and Spike. Luigi tries to grab her, but misses as she's pulled back and is left only with the meteorite piece worn around her neck.

Daisy is then pulled through the apathetic streets of Dinohattan before entering a cab. She is later seen being led into the holding cell where the four missing "Brooklyn Girls" are being held. It is there that she reunites with Daniella, who had been kidnapped only hours before. The presence of a familiar face comforts Daisy. She is then told by the Brooklyn Girls that they were kidnapped by someone known as "Koopa" who is seeking a princess. Daisy seems to suspect it is her, but says nothing. Later on in the movie, Lena and Koopa are having a mud bath. After Iggy and Spike come in, Koopa decides to see Daisy and orders Lena to do so. After going to the cell where Daisy is being held, Lena reveals that Daisy is in fact the Princess and reveals Daisy's past to her. Koopa also thinks that Daisy is the only one able to merge the dimensions and that is why the Brooklyn Girls have been kidnapped. While waiting for Koopa to meet her, Daisy meets Yoshi a dinosaur pet of Koopa. Despite her original fear of Yoshi, she slowly befriends the creature. Surprising her, Koopa comes in and after confirming everything Lena said, Daisy attempts to escape before being captured by a Goomba.

After Daisy is given food by a Goomba, Lena comes and tries to kill Daisy, but Yoshi pulls Lena back and Daisy escapes. While escaping, she runs into the Goomba from earlier and Spike and Iggy who are being dragged to their death. After igniting the Goomba, the trio escape after Daisy extinguishes the Goomba. Spike and Iggy claim they were two of her father's most loyal subjects and led here to Devo 4 where her father's fungal remains are. They then leave Daisy alone to process this. Yoshi comes in and Daisy pulls out the knife that Yoshi was stabbed by Lena with. After pulling the knife out, Yoshi motions Daisy towards a communications device. Using this, she communicates with the Mario Bros. and reveals her location. Once the Bros. come in, she shows them her father and directs Mario to where Daniella and the other Brooklyn Girls are. As Luigi and Daisy chase after Mario, they get caught by Koopa. When Mario and the Brooklyn Girls crash out of a vent, this distracts Koopa enough for Daisy and Luigi to escape. After attacking Koopa, the Bros. make him drop the meteorite. Lena grabs the meteorite piece and runs off. Luigi, Daisy, and the Brooklyn Girls proceed to chase Lena. Lena successfully inserts the meteorite despite the desperate pleas of Daisy. The resulting energy blast from the meteorite kills Lena. Daisy directs the Brooklyn Girls to the other dimensions so they can warn those there of incoming invasion. Luigi and Daisy stay behind and successfully pull out the meteorite piece. The extinguished Goomba from earlier gives the two De-Evolution Guns. Big Bertha then gives Luigi a pair of Thwomp Stompers. The brothers then defeat Koopa and all of Dinohattan celebrates the end of their dictator. When Mario and Luigi decide to leave, they ask Daisy if she will be coming with them. Daisy then states she is going to stay here and spend time with her father. A few weeks later, she comes to the brothers' apartment and says she need their help with something. The three then go on another adventure.

Super Mario: Makai Teikoku no Megami

Daisy calling out to Mario and Luigi for help

In the manga adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. film titled Super Mario: Makai Teikoku no Megami, the story begins with Daisy approaching Mario and Luigi's home asking for help. She explains her excavation site has been sabotaged and someone has flooded the site. Mario and Luigi go out to the site to tend to her plumbing needs, and while the brothers are distracted, she is kidnapped by Spike and Iggy. Mario and Luigi follow her captors and come to a boulder where her face is emerging from. Luigi reaches out and snatches the meteorite necklace off her neck like in the movie, and the two follow into the boulder, being transported into the Koopa Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Daisy is brought to Koopa by Spike and Iggy, where Koopa explains that she is now in a parallel dimension created by a meteor strike. In this dimension, dinosaurs were able to survive and thrive, evolving into intelligent creatures. Koopa explains that he needs a piece of the meteorite that caused the dinosaurs' extinction on Earth to merge the two worlds so he can take over both. A woman (Daisy's mother) escaped to Earth with her newborn daughter (Daisy) twenty years ago foiling Koopa's plans, and Koopa explains he has brought Daisy over to finally accomplish his plan. He also reveals Daisy is of a humanoid-like reptile species descendant from dinosaurs. Koopa demands that Daisy hand over the meteorite necklace and Spike and Iggy reveal that two plumbers (Mario and Luigi) have confiscated it. An angry Koopa showcases his de-evolution technologies by using the Devo Gun to turn Spike and Iggy into Goombas. Koopa takes to the streets of his city with his Goomba army, and dragging Daisy with one hand, alerting Mario and Luigi through a megaphone that they need to hand over the meteorite. Daisy calls to Mario and Luigi not to, explaining it has great powers that can allow Koopa to take over both dimensions.

Mario fools Koopa by giving him an exploding mushroom tied on a string to resemble the meteorite necklace, and Daisy takes off running with Luigi, who has the actual meteorite piece. The two escape to the meteorite chamber where the portal back to Earth is, but are stopped by Iggy and Spike who nab the meteorite piece and use it to merge the worlds. The two are killed from the force of the meteorite, and Daisy makes a realization that only she is capable of withstanding its powers. With Luigi's help, she pulls the meteorite piece back out of the chamber and the two re-split the worlds. After Koopa's defeat, Mario, Luigi and Daisy take off running back to Earth, to fix the de-evolutions Koopa caused in the brief merge.

There are various deviations from the film regarding Daisy's character. Firstly, she already knows Mario and Luigi prior to the manga's beginning. She had already been born during her mother's escape to Earth, whereas in the film she hatches from an egg after being dropped off at the church. In addition to that, she returns to Earth with Mario and Luigi after Koopa's defeat, but she stays in the film to get to know her father. In the manga, though The King is mentioned, he is not seen nor is he referenced to be Daisy's father.

Gallery

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  Daisy and Luigi

Quotes

• "I'm the boss here."
• "Weird is working in a bone pit all day and spending your nights reading about things that have been dead for 65 million years."
• "Thank God you're here! I mean, you're a plumber, right?"
• "Luigi, help me!"
• "Uh, I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat anything with a face."
• "I hope he's all right."
• "Only I can stop it."
• "Luigi, Mario! You gotta come with me, I need your help."
• "You're never gonna believe this."

Trivia

• Daisy's relationship with Luigi mirrors the relationship between her namesake and the games' Luigi, which first arose in NES Open Tournament Golf two years prior.
• This would technically mark the second time Daisy is depicted as a blonde instead of having auburn hair, as Daisy was also depicted as having blonde hair in NES Open Tournament Golf due to graphic limitations.