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Why Peach Is My Favorite Character
I'm not exactly sure why I have always been drawn to use Princess Peach in Nintendo games, only that I have done so ever since I first started playing video games that featured her. She was my companion in the first Super Mario Kart and was my character of choice in Super Mario World 2 (which also featured Birdo as an enemy, as I recall). From there, I just really grew to identify strongly with her, and so now I play her every chance I get, be it in Paper Mario where she has to bake a cake, or in Double Dash (where I team her up with Birdo for a dynamic feminist duo, lol).
A lot of people who play Smash Brothers Melee might see the princess as a simple annoyance--not much substance and too lightweight to really matter. I, of course, have a different take on the situation, as is usual for me. I believe that if any of the characters have the right person behind the controller, they can all be used for total domination of a stage. "Total domination" might come in very different forms from what most gamers are used to, however. For instance, I might "own" the Temple stage by having Peach simply fly around, lighting briefly on the tops of the structures and making heavier, slower characters vainly chase after her on the ground. Thing is, winning at Smash Brothers, like winning at anything, can be done a variety of ways. I choose a bit more unusual way, but I like to think it helps me think out my strategy instead of blindly slashing away with the most humongous sword or most explosive attacks.
As for why I like Peach's character, I think it's because she resonates with me as a "Goddess" archetype. That may sound funny--you might have an image of a delicate, "glowing angel" type of woman in mind when you hear the word "goddess," but like mortal women, goddesses come in all forms. They can be beautiful but manipulative, like Aphrodite and Venus, or they can be gentle and maternal, like Demeter or Ceres; both of these examples are from Greek and Roman myth. Goddesses can also be temperamental, like the goddess Pele of Hawaiian myth, who in mythology controls the eruptions of the very active Hawaiian volcanoes. Also, they can be seductively evil, like the dark form of the Hindu mother goddess Parvati, who is called Kali. Goddesses of ancient religions are both feminine and dominant, both tender and deadly, depending on whether you've angered them or not.
To me, Peach embodies both power and beauty, especially in SSB:M---we actually get to see her fight, and she's pretty good, once you get used to her attacks. In this way, she is much like a modern-day goddess--a mythical, fictional character who embodies a true form of woman in her personality. Not saying that Princess Zelda and Samus are slackers in the female fighter department--they are simply different facets and different types of women, and besides, people tend to undervalue Peach more than Zelda and Samus. Both SSB and SSBM are about showing the different sides of characters, all about seeing our old favorite characters in a whole new way, which is a great principle on which to base a game. Wow, Nintendo's smart.
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