Pink Video Game Characters for Breast Cancer Awareness

It's been a couple years now since my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a miracle they found it so early (especially since they were serving their mission in Northern Canada at the time). So now I make a pink-related blog post every year in October. My mom isn't the geeky type, but then again she's already aware of the risks of breast cancer anyway. This year with my kids loving the Super Mario Galaxy movie, I thought pink video game characters would be a good place to go this year.

Princess Peach

Naturally, I have to start with Princess Peach. The kidnapped princess of the Super Mario Bros games. She's the subject of the quote "Your princess is in another castle". In North America, she was originally known as Princess Toadstool to fit the mushroom theme. We finally got in line with Japan when Princess Peach returned in Super Mario 64. She's become more than a damsel in distress in the years that followed. In the Mario Kart games, she's a formidable racer. In Super Smash Bros, she became a melee fighter, armed with a frying pan, an umbrella, and a Toad. In the two animated Mario movies, she's a sassy and fearless heroine with a mysterious past, finally learning of her older sister Rosalina.

Pinky

I'd heard before that the Pac-Man ghosts have names, but I'd forgotten. In preparation for this post, I was reminded that the only pink enemy of the dot-muncher is literally named "Pinky". Obviously there isn't much backstory in the original Pac-Man arcade games, but spin-off games and material have built on Pinky's character. That's getting pretty deep into a two-dimensional character (literally) even for me. 

PS: This is one video game my mom has actually played, since it was available while she was a bartender as a single mom.

Kirby

The pink copycat alien was once my go-to on Super Smash Bros. The fact that he inhales his opponent to copy their powers is almost comical. He's a whimsical pink blob (not to be confused with Jigglypuff) who basically flies around space on a shooting star. In the cartoon series, his main foe is King Dedede in "monster of the week" episodes. Back to Super Smash Bros, one of my favorite Kirby forms (at least in the original) is probably Samus.

Birdo

First appearing in the late 80s, Birdo could be a pink Yoshi at a first glance. Unlike the lovable green dino, Birdo is not friendly to Mario and his friends. At least not usually. While Birdo is often an unique character, like Yoshi, the term can also be used to refer to the species. In addition to throwing eggs as projectile weapons, Birdo can sometimes suck an enemy towards her and steal their energy, kind of like a Yoshi/Kirby mashup. While not a playable character on Super Smash Bros (yet), the pink dinosaur has made plenty of cameos in the crossover franchise. However, she is a playable character on Mario Kart and other Mario spin-off games. Final note: Birdo made a cameo among the minor villains in the Mario Galaxy movie.

Amy Rose

Though only a brief cameo at the end of the third Sonic movie, Amy Rose is set to appear in the fourth movie (voice by Kristen Bell). The pink hedgehog has been part of Sonic's crew since the early 90s. In her first appearance, she was kidnapped (not unlike Princess Peach) by Metal Sonic. Since then, she's been a playable character in spin-off games and she's a major player in many of the Sonic cartoons. She's Sonic's self-appointed girlfriend and will hammer smash anyone who says otherwise. My first-grader already can't wait to see her in the next movie.

Jigglypuff

Any number of pink Pokemon could go on this post (see my previous post for more of those). However, Jigglypuff has become iconic enough to be mentioned again. As a recurring character in the Pokemon anime for a long time, she was a comical addition to the show. And as I said before, my respect to anyone who plays Jigglypuff in Super Smash Bros and extra respect for anyone who plays her well (except this one guy in my ward--he's evil when playing Jigglypuff).

I'm sure there are plenty of other video game characters that could be spotlighted. I'll leave the list there for now (maybe do more next year) but in the meantime encourage those you love to keep alert with their health. the American Cancer Society recommends women start screening for breast cancer in your early 40s. If your family has a history of breast cancer, you can often start earlier. And men, it's possible for us to get breast cancer too. Rarer, but possible. So hug your loved ones and all the prayers to any of you going through the cancer battle (personally or with a family member).

More Content You Might Like:

• "Why I Liked The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" by Spencer
• "10 Fun Attacks from Video Games" by Joe
• LDS Geeks Podcast #20: Super Smash Characters
  Show Notes: click here
  Spotify: click here
  Apple Podcasts: click here
  YouTube: click here

Pink Power Rangers for Breast Cancer Awareness

Last year while my mom was going through and recovering from breast cancer treatments, I did a blog post about some cute pink Pokemon. While my mom has watched about as little Power Rangers as she did Pokemon, this year I decided to focus on some of my favorite pink rangers. 

Kat Hillard (Mighty Morphin/Zeo/Turbo)

Everyone seems to cite Kimberly as the perfect pink ranger, but I prefer the character of Katherine Hillard. After being used as Rita's pawn, she ended up replacing Kimberly as the pink Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. When Kimberly broke up with Tommy via letter, Kat was the one who consoled Tommy.  She stayed a core member of the Power Ranger team through Power Rangers Zeo and into Power Rangers Turbo. She handed over the pink ranger mantel to Cassie when she left for college. She wasn't seen again until the Legendary Battle during Super Megaforce, where she appeared with her Zeo powers. Somewhere between the events of Dino Thunder and Super Ninja Steel, Kat and Tommy finally got married to Tommy and they had JJ. During the events of Once & Always, Kat took on the Mighty Morphin Pterodactyl powers to save Tommy and the others. And because of the Zeo holiday flashforward, we know that she and Tommy lived happily ever after. The longevity and development of her story and the love of Catherine Sutherland to her fans makes her my favorite pink ranger.

Karone (Lost Galaxy)

Formerly Astronema, she was Andros’s sister and Zhane’s love interest during Power Rangers in Space. After the Lost Galaxy Rangers lost Kendrix against the Psycho Rangers, Karone found the Pink Quasar Saber and took upon herself the pink ranger mantel. Though that mantel was later returned to a reborn Kendrix, Karone regained the Lost Galaxy powers and used them during the Legendary Battle. It was beautiful to see her turn from a big bad to a Power Rangers, a transformation not seen before or since.

Jen Scotts (Time Force)

She was engaged to Alex, the red Time Force Ranger in the year 3000, but after his "death", Jen led the Time Force Rangers against the mutants in the 21st century. Though of course Wes was a powerful influence on the team, Jen was still the official leader. The only pink ranger leader of the franchise. She had a difficult time trusting Wes, after what happened to Alex. However, she ended up falling for Wes. She later returned to help the Wild Force Rangers and to fight in the Legendary Battle. Her leader status makes her a top tier pink ranger.

Syd Drew (SPD)

A princess with a powerful power. She might be a princess, but Syd knew how to keep up with the boys (especially when her superpower gave her a diamond fist). She started out superficial and stereotypical blonde brat (how did she end up in law enforcement with her attitude?) but as the season went on she became more compassionate to others, including her teammates and the aliens they encountered (she agreed to share her birthday with Jack so that's pretty special). While she was definitely still a princess at the end of SPD, her growth would make our Disney Princesses proud. Her character development is what got her into my list of the powerful pink.

I could easily have highlighted many other pink rangers, like Cassie, Shelby, or Vida. However, these four powerful woman would make the rest of the Power Rangers proud all on their own. As remarkable (albeit fictional) women, they're perfect for spotlighting for Breast Cancer Awareness. If you've been touched by breast cancer, make sure you hug your loved one while they're here and be there to hold their hand during treatments. Everyone needs that support, especially while going through something that requires the bravery of a Power Ranger.

More Content You Might Like:

• "4 Power Rangers 'Ships' That Should Have Sailed" by Spencer

Pink Pokemon for Breast Cancer Awareness

The basis of this blog post started as my preschooler discovered a certain pink balloon Pokémon. Since her favorite color is pink, I started wondering if I could make a completely pink Pokémon team for her that was still competent. My ADHD brain jumped to “Island of the Pink Pokémon” but eventually landed on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’ve taken a particular interest in breast cancer this year, so I thought this post was only too appropriate. So here are some of my picks for the most notable pink Pokemon.

Jigglypuff 

I honestly don’t even know why Jigglypuff became so iconic. I’m guessing it’s mostly because of the running gag in the anime, in which Jigglypuff puts the characters to sleep repeatedly. But that doesn’t explain why Nintendo decided to add the puff ball to Super Smash Bros. My respect to anyone who plays Jigglypuff as their main character in Smash. But yeah, Jigglypuff’s appearances in their anime are wonderful, especially when I realized she came back into the picture during the Sun/Moon anime.

Milktank

Anyone who’s played through Gold/Silver/Crystal or Heart Gold/Soul Silver will likely remember Whitney’s infamous Miltank. That rollout attack is killer and is nearly unstoppable. I mean I suppose you can use a rock-type Pokemon to limit the damage… but it makes more sense to try to knock it out before it can knock you… But unfortunately, like its name says, it’s a tank. So next time you play through Johto again, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Audino

It’s such an odd Pokemon in many ways. Based on its Pokedex entries, it’s a super-hearing Pokemon that can read emotions and honestly would make a pretty good therapist. Going into the Unova anime, I didn’t know anything about Audino so I was perplexed as to why it replaced Chansey in the Unovan Pokemon Centers. Based on the Pokedex entry, it makes sense that it’s Nurse Joy’s companion. All the same, I think it’s pretty random that Audino has a mega evolution and nothing in the Pokedex entry indicates why Audino gives such a massive payout in stardust on Pokemon Go--not that I'm complaining.

Sylveon

I suppose Sylveon is as much white as it is pink, but it still fits the bill here. Who doesn’t love a good Eeveelution right? Sylveon is the most recently released and that was three generations ago. Appropriately introduced as the fairy type became a thing, Sylveon was a great addition to X/Y. That being said, it’s a weird process to go through to evolve it from an Eevee. For the first two generations it was available, you needed fairy-type moves and “affection”. Not friendship. Affection. Even on Pokemon Go the evolution method was a little weird, compared to Espeon/Umbreon. Thankfully the last couple generations have made it more friendship-related and not so convoluted.

Mew

Though not easily obtained, unless you do the glitch in Red/Blue (No, I’m not talking about moving the truck), Mew is central to Pokemon lore in many ways. The first of the mythical Pokemon, some say it was the first Pokemon of all and that Ditto is a byproduct of trying to clone Mew. It wasn’t until adulthood that I slowed down enough playing Red/Blue/Yellow to realize the mythology of cloning Mew was in the games, just like in the movie. I still remember when I got a Mew card for my birthday as a kid… and made the mistake of trading it. Childhood naivety. 

There are plenty of other pink Pokemon to love and collect (especially if you’re my four-year-old) so let me know which is your favorite. While you’re at it, post your favorite pink Pokemon to your social media for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.