Is Peach's butt her "characteristic weapon"?

[ChikoLad]

Also, in Super Paper Mario, despite being generally good natured, she actually has a short temper. When a certain character has a crush on her, the main reason for her disliking him is that she finds him ugly (though to be fair, the guy was sexually harassing her. I'm not kidding, that straight up happens to her).

 

[aBBYS]

Also, in Super Paper Mario, despite being generally good natured, she actually has a short temper. When a certain character has a crush on her, the main reason for her disliking him is that she finds him ugly (though to be fair, the guy was sexually harassing her. I'm not kidding, that straight up happens to her).

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. She's almost like a wolf in sheep clothes! :-P

 

[AuraWielder]

Also, in Super Paper Mario, despite being generally good natured, she actually has a short temper. When a certain character has a crush on her, the main reason for her disliking him is that she finds him ugly (though to be fair, the guy was sexually harassing her. I'm not kidding, that straight up happens to her).

Considering the character is probably Francis, I don't blame her. I'd do the same thing.
But yeah, I love her Paper Mario personality... aside from Sticker Star, of course.
And yes, I'm totally loving this thread too.

 

[BloderModer]

Here is a more accurate translation:

"As usual, Peach uses her servant Toad like a living shield (like the monarch she is). Her princess-crown isn't just beautiful, it's used as a pointed weapon when her white silky gloves isn't enough. Something much less pointy, and also her characteristic weapon - the butt - looks like it can be used just as effectively as before."

Peach is known for her butt, flight and turnips. So it's kind of accurate.

 

[Kendall112]

I've noticed that a lot of female characters in fighting games and Anime use their butts to attack and it's considered "cute" since Peach is arguably one of the cutest characters in the game I think it suits her.

 

[himemiya]

Her most powerful move is her ass

 

[kuk]

As a girl, I find this attack to be pretty perverted. I mean, sure, I can definitely see the comical aspects about it too, but come on - if a real woman did this move, it would be considered sexy.

The reason I say it's perverted is because Peach is not a sexy character to start with. And yet she has this sexy butt attack.

 

[Kendall112]

As a girl, I find this attack to be pretty perverted. I mean, sure, I can definitely see the comical aspects about it too, but come on - if a real woman did this move, it would be considered sexy.

The reason I say it's perverted is because Peach is not a sexy character to start with. And yet she has this sexy butt attack.

From what understand about Japanese culture, this is probably considered more cute than sexy

 

[Princess Toady]

It's more cute than perverted, mainly because Peach herself is more of a cute character than anything and doesn't seem sexual at all.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

I usually rolled with this joke because at the end, it was a good move.

I still roll with it today. But it's something that kinda makes you giggle, but it's just seamless there that you don't even see it. Peachy?

 

[kuk]

From what understand about Japanese culture, this is probably considered more cute than sexy

Ah, I see. How do they see it as cute?

It's more cute than perverted, mainly because Peach herself is more of a cute character than anything and doesn't seem sexual at all.

That's actually exactly why I see it as perverted - she's a cute character doing a sexy attack.

 

[Kendall112]

Ah, I see. How do they see it as cute?


That's actually exactly why I see it as perverted - she's a cute character doing a sexy attack.

I guess it cultural differences. In the West we consider it sexually suggestive when someone does something with their butt. I Japan they have Anime aimed at little girls with characters hitting things and attacking enemies with their butt and the plays it off as cute. The fact that Peach Bomber now has hearts come out when it hits further implies that it's meant to be cute and girly.

 

[kuk]

I guess it cultural differences. In the West we consider it sexually suggestive when someone does something with their butt. I Japan they have Anime aimed at little girls with characters hitting things and attacking enemies with their butt and the plays it off as cute. The fact that Peach Bomber now has hearts come out when it hits further implies that it's meant to be cute and girly.

OK, that makes sense. Funny how cultural differences can have such an impact.

Still, I find it inappropriate by the Swedish Nintendo site to comment about her butt like that. They should have explained about the cultural differences instead so that people understandd there's no sexy intention from the developers.

 

[BloderModer]

Don't think there's any real cultural differences between Japan and the west. Cuteness is much more of a sexual trait there than here.

 

[kuk]

OK... who should I trust?

 

[Kendall112]

Don't think there's any real cultural differences between Japan and the west. Cuteness is much more of a sexual trait there than here.

Hmmm.... that's true, it's a bit hard to explain. Peach is basically the "Moe" character of the game, so they make her do "moe" things. The cuteness isn't always sexual, but you are right, they do consider "cute" a sexual trait more than we do.

 

[TimeSmash]

Peach must be doing squats or something because her back air has super priority in Melee

 

[kuk]

Hmmm.... that's true, it's a bit hard to explain. Peach is basically the "Moe" character of the game, so they make her do "moe" things. The cuteness isn't always sexual, but you are right, they do consider "cute" a sexual trait more than we do.

What is "moe"?

So her butt attacks are considered sexy in a cute way in Japan? Or?

 

[Jae]

Well, those ground pounds of hers from Super Mario 3D World do look like they would hurt...

 

[Zero Suit Dominic]

And for Bthrow, exploding butts on that too.

Oh my gosh, that would be so funny. Oh Melee Peach.
Anyway, for her signature weapon I would have said her turnips or her parasol. But that's just me. haha But it is funny how many "butt" attacks she has. I believe in some of the manuals it has described that she attacks with her hips.

 

[Kendall112]

What is "moe"?

So her butt attacks are considered sexy in a cute way in Japan? Or?

Moe is basically Japans "Dumb Blonde" except not necessarily dumb. It's basically a cute ditsy character, but the cute can also be appealing sexually (as far as Japan is concerned)

 

[kuk]

Moe is basically Japans "Dumb Blonde" except not necessarily dumb. It's basically a cute ditsy character, but the cute can also be appealing sexually (as far as Japan is concerned)

So the purpose of her butt attacks is to increase her sex appeal towards this audience with other words?

Why else would she use her butt instead of her legs/feet?

 

[deepseadiva]

Peach is one of the most thought out character in the series IMO. The creator's very much took a dig into the heritage of the character, looking at SMB2, SMRPG, and the whole Mario Sports series.

- turnips and floating
- frying pan
- racket and club

Those are all based on games she's been featured in, and personally LOVE the detail of including those.

Her hearts, rainbows, crown, butt and slaps are all flavor attacks referring more to her princess archetype. Those are all definitely here "Smash Bros moves", ala Falcon Punch to Captain Falcon.

 

[.:~*Momo*~:.]

Peach has heart based abilities and slaps in other games too... I think the slapping comes from Super Mario RPG and her hearts come from... really, any spinoff she's appeared in.

 

[kuk]

Peach has heart based abilities and slaps in other games too... I think the slapping comes from Super Mario RPG and her hearts come from... really, any spinoff she's appeared in.

So where do her butt attacks come from? Sakurai's pervy mind?

 

[Camalange]

Threads like this make me wonder if I should be spending more or less time on the Peach boards.

 

[.:~*Momo*~:.]

Threads like this make me wonder if I should be spending more or less time on the Peach boards.

Topics like this about female characters make me uncomfortable, honestly.

topics like this at all make me uncomfortable but I see it so much more with female/feminine characters than male/other...

 

[kuk]

Threads like this make me wonder if I should be spending more or less time on the Peach boards.

Topics like this about female characters make me uncomfortable, honestly.

topics like this at all make me uncomfortable but I see it so much more with female/feminine characters than male/other...

I understand your points, but my view is that I need to discuss things I think are wrong, even if I don't like them. Hiding from the problem is not my way of dealing with things. I want to discuss why Peach has so many butt attacks, why an official site says her butt is her characteristic weapon and I want to hearr the opinions from people who care enough to talk about this.

 

[Camalange]

Topics like this about female characters make me uncomfortable, honestly.

topics like this at all make me uncomfortable but I see it so much more with female/feminine characters than male/other...

I understand your points, but my view is that I need to discuss things I think are wrong, even if I don't like them. Hiding from the problem is not my way of dealing with things. I want to discuss why Peach has so many butt attacks, why an official site says her butt is her characteristic weapon and I want to hearr the opinions from people who care enough to talk about this.

I mostly said it as a joke. However, I think you're right.

This thread in particular does open the possibility of a larger discussion, like the one you bring to question, which is rare of a seemingly humorous topic. The fact that there's an official statement of this... Nature... Is certainly interesting. It seems funny enough at surface value and I don't have an issue with the jokes about it, but there is a valid point to address.

Regardless, I like Peach. I think she has a cute charm and I preferred the hearts and things added to her moveset as opposed to the explosions, which felt out of place...

 

[PKIvysaur]

All in all you have GOT to admit

Hearing that

"HATCHYAAAAA~~ " *Heart explosion* <3

And ko'ing with the Peach Bomber is probably just as satisfying as sucessfully using the falcon punch

 

[.:~*Momo*~:.]

I understand your points, but my view is that I need to discuss things I think are wrong, even if I don't like them. Hiding from the problem is not my way of dealing with things. I want to discuss why Peach has so many butt attacks, why an official site says her butt is her characteristic weapon and I want to hearr the opinions from people who care enough to talk about this.

It's not that I'm dismissing claims of sexism here, sexism is a very real thing in... every aspect of life, really. In gaming culture it's really blatant and I know that Peach's roles and statuses in the games she's been in are a direct result of sexism. How gaming companies try to market to female players and make games specifically for girls is really problematic and I could honestly go on all day with this.

The only issue I'm having here, which doesn't necessarily mean that the conversation needs to stop, is the hypersexualization of something that in the original culture's context may not even be sexual to begin with. I'm not sure what the intentions are, but I've seen young female characters in media (media that's available for everyone, not just adults) perform "hip attacks", at least in Japanese media... I'm personally of the mindset that it's basically just something cutesy that adds a certain kind of charm to the character doing it. I could go into how and why that's problematic, but the issues I have with it have very little to nothing to do with hypersexualizing the characters in question. I always saw Peach Bomber and her various other back ended attacks as something that was supposed to be cute and innocent, but I guess it varies from person to person and culture to culture. If you feel the need to discuss it then please don't let me stop you, I'm not here to derail the conversation or dismiss you, I'm just adding my 2 cents and I could be completely wrong about Peach Bomber, etc... ^^;

 

[Praxis]

Now I remember why I stopped going to Peach boards.

Get over yourselves.

 

[Praxis]

And Peach's butt attack isn't remotely sexy. You can pause almost anything and find an angle that makes it look sexual.

Look at how Captain Falcon spreads his legs to show his bulge! So sexualized!

If we're going to get all uptight about Peach's fully clothed, unrevealing butt attack being played for comical effect with exploding hearts being "sexualization", then let's start a campaign for the sexualization of Wario.

Or did you forget that Wario has the same butt attacks? His bthrow is a butt hit, and his down-B is a fart. Heck, in Project M they gave him more. (Dair became a butt stomp.)

Smash has a lot of wacky characters that are played in stylistic ways. Peach uses frying pans, tea cups (cutscenes), vegetables, and her rear, because she's a ridiculous character in a fighting game against dragons, monsters, angels, and knights, fighting them all in a dress. Wario uses his butt because he's a caricature of cartoon potty humor violence.

There are much more things to complain about in this game than Peach Bomber.

 

[Rickerdy-doo-da-day]

She attacks with her hip, not butt.

/thread

 

[Camalange]

Her hips don't lie.

The thread needs to end on a low note, so I'm here with the bad funnies.

Git low...

okay I'm done...

 

[kuk]

And Peach's butt attack isn't remotely sexy. You can pause almost anything and find an angle that makes it look sexual.

Look at how Captain Falcon spreads his legs to show his bulge! So sexualized!

If we're going to get all uptight about Peach's fully clothed, unrevealing butt attack being played for comical effect with exploding hearts being "sexualization", then let's start a campaign for the sexualization of Wario.

Or did you forget that Wario has the same butt attacks? His bthrow is a butt hit, and his down-B is a fart. Heck, in Project M they gave him more. (Dair became a butt stomp.)

Smash has a lot of wacky characters that are played in stylistic ways. Peach uses frying pans, tea cups (cutscenes), vegetables, and her rear, because she's a ridiculous character in a fighting game against dragons, monsters, angels, and knights, fighting them all in a dress. Wario uses his butt because he's a caricature of cartoon potty humor violence.

There are much more things to complain about in this game than Peach Bomber.

This is the kind of reply that turns an otherwise serious discussion into a joke.

Wario is not portrayed as a handsome or beautiful male, and neither is Captain Falcon. They're both portrayed as humor characters. Wario is all flabby, Captain Falcon is a laughing stock because of his silly comments, his superhero wannabe outfit and more. Peach, while not wearing revealing clothing, is portrayed as a very attractive young princess.

It's like people who compare Peach's butt attacks to those of hockey players. Both do them, yet there's a huge difference in character, image and body language. Comparing Peach to Wario or Captain Falcon simply isn't serious debating. It's like if Gruntilda from Banjo-Kazooie did a butt attack, and people compared it to Peach's, calling it sexy. No, because Gruntilda is not made to look or be attractive. Peach is.

She attacks with her hip, not butt.
Wrong. It's her butt.

It's not that I'm dismissing claims of sexism here, sexism is a very real thing in... every aspect of life, really. In gaming culture it's really blatant and I know that Peach's roles and statuses in the games she's been in are a direct result of sexism. How gaming companies try to market to female players and make games specifically for girls is really problematic and I could honestly go on all day with this.

The only issue I'm having here, which doesn't necessarily mean that the conversation needs to stop, is the hypersexualization of something that in the original culture's context may not even be sexual to begin with. I'm not sure what the intentions are, but I've seen young female characters in media (media that's available for everyone, not just adults) perform "hip attacks", at least in Japanese media... I'm personally of the mindset that it's basically just something cutesy that adds a certain kind of charm to the character doing it. I could go into how and why that's problematic, but the issues I have with it have very little to nothing to do with hypersexualizing the characters in question. I always saw Peach Bomber and her various other back ended attacks as something that was supposed to be cute and innocent, but I guess it varies from person to person and culture to culture. If you feel the need to discuss it then please don't let me stop you, I'm not here to derail the conversation or dismiss you, I'm just adding my 2 cents and I could be completely wrong about Peach Bomber, etc... ^^;

/thread

And this is argumentation done right. Takes the discussion seriously, doesn't necessarily agree with everythin, but still understands the issue others might have. And rest assured, I fully understand your viewpoint, too.

 

[Praxis]

This is the kind of reply that turns an otherwise serious discussion into a joke.

Wario is not portrayed as a handsome or beautiful male, and neither is Captain Falcon. They're both portrayed as humor characters. Wario is all flabby, Captain Falcon is a laughing stock because of his silly comments, his superhero wannabe outfit and more. Peach, while not wearing revealing clothing, is portrayed as a very attractive young princess.

It's like people who compare Peach's butt attacks to those of hockey players. Both do them, yet there's a huge difference in character, image and body language. Comparing Peach to Wario or Captain Falcon simply isn't serious debating. It's like if Gruntilda from Banjo-Kazooie did a butt attack, and people compared it to Peach's, calling it sexy. No, because Gruntilda is not made to look or be attractive. Peach is.

Wait, Captain Falcon isn't made to look attractive?

Falcon is a caricature of an overly manly race car driver bounty hunting manly man. Peach is a caricature of an overly feminine stereotype princess in a frilly dress with cookware.

Peach is not portrayed primarily as a sex object. Peach is a pretty princess. Her moves are as cartoonishly stylized as Wario. She hits with her slaps and her heels and her hip or butt and sends rainbows and hearts all over the place. Wario hits with his butt and farts.

Somehow, you're losing in your mind the fact that Peach is a caricature. She's over the top. Normal people don't go in to battle with vegetables and frying pans.

If you want to go get offended about something, go to the Zero Suit Samus boards.


Remember, you wrote this:

I mean, sure, I can definitely see the comical aspects about it too, but come on - if a real woman did this move, it would be considered sexy.

You can apply this to Captain Falcon in exactly the same way. You just are choosing to be offended by that screenshot of Peach.

If a real woman flew ten feet butt-first in the air in a frilly dress and then made someone explode, I'd be more impressed and scared than anything.

 

[kuk]

Wait, Captain Falcon isn't made to look attractive?

Falcon is a caricature of an overly manly race car driver bounty hunting manly man. Peach is a caricature of an overly feminine stereotype princess in a frilly dress with cookware.

Peach is not portrayed primarily as a sex object. Peach is a pretty princess. Her moves are as cartoonishly stylized as Wario. She hits with her slaps and her heels and her hip or butt and sends rainbows and hearts all over the place. Wario hits with his butt and farts.

Somehow, you're losing in your mind the fact that Peach is a caricature. She's over the top. Normal people don't go in to battle with vegetables and frying pans.

If you want to go get offended about something, go to the Zero Suit Samus boards.


Remember, you wrote this:



You can apply this to Captain Falcon in exactly the same way. You just are choosing to be offended by that screenshot of Peach.

If a real woman flew ten feet butt-first in the air in a frilly dress and then made someone explode, I'd be more impressed and scared than anything.

No, he's not. He's a joke character.

Exactly, Peach is not portrayed primerely as a sex object - that's why it's disturbing to see how many butt attacks she have, and also how she uses them.

Obviously you don't understand the difference between Peach and Wario when it comes to image, body language and attitude. Imagine if a girl looked like Wario. It's a huge difference when Peach is actually made to look good.

 

[Kendall112]

No, he's not. He's a joke character.

Exactly, Peach is not portrayed primerely as a sex object - that's why it's disturbing to see how many butt attacks she have, and also how she uses them.

Obviously you don't understand the difference between Peach and Wario when it comes to image, body language and attitude. Imagine if a girl looked like Wario. It's a huge difference when Peach is actually made to look good.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on C.Falcon. I mean yes he is a quirky character but it would be a bit silly to say that his design can't be sexually appealing.

 

[Meru.]

What the hell? Peach is the pinnacle of a joke character. She's the portrayal of a stereotypical helpless princess and they have exaggerated it so much to the extent she has become a walking spoof of ultra-feminization (not to be confused with ultra-sexualization), showing traits that are regarded as extremely girlish. How is she not a joke character in this?

Honestly, feminization may not even be the correct word. Rather, I would like to use a word like girlization or girlishization since she is supposed to behave like a cheerful and sweet 10-year old girl, hence fighting with slaps, hearts and rainbows instead of fists, swords and guns like a more sane woman would do. There is nothing sexual in any of her attack, which includes her butt attacks. Rather, her butt attacks are ridiculous. It's downright impossible to attack with your butt like Peach does. Attacking with your butt shouldn't be hurtful to your opponent in anyway, or at least it doesn't look like it could be remotely painful. The idea of attack with your butt is simply so ridiculous that it merely looks playful, childish and thus cute.

There is also the notion in society that being playful with your butt is feminine of girlish. Imagine a cute, childish male replica of Peach doing Peach Bombers and other butt attacks over the place. I can imagine a lot of people would think that's 'gay', since boys aren't supposed to attack with their asses. However, even the idea of a boy being childish, playful and cute seems to instignate the reaction that the boy is 'gay'. For some reason, we think that these qualities (childish, cute, playful, butt attack) belong to mainly to girls. Princess Peach is nothing more than a ridiculed reflection of the traits and qualities that we as a society connect to extreme girlishness. Attacking with your butt is one feature that is regarded as girlish for reason written above, and even if it is being regarded as girlish or feminine, it does not mean it has to be regarded as sexual as well.

What would have been worrisome is if all girls in this game were to portrayed as cute and girlish stereotypes but that is not the case. Her fellow princesses Zelda and Rosalina are much more serious than she is and we have a few female warriors such as (Zero Suit) Samus, Lucina and female Robin who don't even come close to showing hyper-feminine characteristics. There is nothing wrong with having one ultra-feminine character, especially not if that character is meant to be comical in every aspect anyway.