On: Where did you go, Ms. Pac-Man?

[dragontamer]

Mario saves Pauline in Donkey Kong / original game, and Pauline didn't come back into mainstream Mario games until Super Mario Odyssey (2017).

Princess Toadstool / Princess Peach seem to be the same character, much like Bowser / King Koopa, or Dr. Eggman vs Dr. Robotnik. The strange changing of names over the years has happened to other characters, but I think in-game cannon is that Princess Peach truly is Princess Toadstool.

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Still, with Princess Rosalina in Super Mario Galaxy, I'd say that Mario has definitely tried the "Princess Swap" move already.

Or really... Pauline was already swapped out for Princess Toadstool.

[Dwedit → dragontamer]

Donkey Kong '94 (Game Boy) brought back Pauline.

Donkey Kong '94 is also about as close as you can get to being a Mario Game without actually being considered a Mario Game.

[NeoTar → dragontamer]

Pauline comes back in Super Mario Odyssey as the mayor of New Donk city.

And the Super Mario Land (Gameboy) series introduced Princess Daisy as a potential love interest- she’s now a mainstay of the series and often romantically linked with Luigi.

[toast0 → dragontamer]

> Mario saves Pauline in Donkey Kong

Jumpman saves Pauline in Donkey Kong.

[mrob → toast0]

He's called Jumpman in the operator's manual, but I'm not aware of any official material intended for the general public that uses that name.

[dlgeek → mrob]

The cabinet art on the control panel does: https://www.mariowiki.com/Gallery:Donkey_Kong_(game)#/media/...

[tmtvl → toast0]

Fun tidbit: while we all know Mario is a plumber from Brooklyn, Jumpman is in fact a carpenter.

[aleph_minus_one → dragontamer]

> Still, with Princess Rosalina in Super Mario Galaxy, I'd say that Mario has definitely tried the "Princess Swap" move already.

In Super Mario Land, instead Princess Daisy appeared.