Vivian (Paper Mario)
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is a video game character appearing in the 2004
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
'' Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''. A purple ghost-like being who can manipulate fire and shadows, she is originally introduced alongside her older sisters as the Shadow Sirens, a trio of secondary
antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
. Vivian later turns into one of the story's main protagonists after she befriends Mario and join his
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
for the rest of the game. In the original Japanese version and some European translations, Vivian is a
transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
. Intentional misgendering from her eldest sister Beldam is a central part of the abuse that eventually leads Vivian to side with the more understanding Mario and revolt against the other Shadow Sirens; Vivian herself calls her original trio the "Shadow Sisters", with Beldam repeatedly berating her for using the term "Sisters" and refusing to acknowledge Vivian as female. All original English and German releases of ''The Thousand-Year Door'' removed mentions of Vivian's transgender status, with Beldam instead berating her for her appearance; all versions of the 2024
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
remake restore her transgender status. Vivian is a popular video game character, identified as a noteworthy example of an LGBT character in video games.


Concept and creation

Vivian is a purple, ghost-like person with pink hair, white gloves, and a pink-and-white striped hat with the ability to hide herself in shadows and can manipulate flames. Her two older sisters, Beldam and Marilyn, wear blue and yellow hats respectively and vary in size. In the original Japanese version, Vivian is a
transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
who describes herself as one of "the three shadow sisters". She is subsequently scolded by Beldam, who misgenders her, calling her a man. This was carried over to the French and Spanish translations. When ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' was localized to English and German, Vivian's status as a trans woman was not mentioned, and the
transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...
from her sister was changed to insults about her appearance. In other localizations of the game, Vivian is still recognized as transgender. The Italian version, in particular, emphasizes her status as a trans woman by having Vivian express pride in having transitioned; she pushes back against her sister's bullying by saying "I'm proud to have turned into a woman!" In the Japanese version, Goombella is confused as to whether she is male or female. In all versions of the 2024 remake, she is presented as a transgender woman, while the script has also been updated to remove instances of characters misgendering her. Goombella's commentary on Vivian was changed, removing any discussion of Vivian's gender and replacing it with a discussion about how cute Vivian was.


Appearances

Vivian first appears in the 2004 role-playing video game '' Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''. In the story of the game, she initially works as a member of the Shadow Sirens, which includes her two sisters Beldam and Marilyn, working against
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
and his allies. She assists Mario when he helps her find a missing object, unaware of his actual identity. When she discovers who he is, Vivian is initially reluctant to help him further, but decides to join him due to the abuse she suffered from Beldam and the kindness Mario showed her. She also comes to accept her identity as a woman. Vivian can aid Mario in battle, and has various abilities unique to her. She is able to use a technique called Veil, which protects her and Mario from damage. Other techniques she may use include Fiery Jinx and Infatuate. By the end of the story, Beldam vows to treat her better. She retains her role in the story in the game's 2024 remake. Vivian appears in a cameo role in the sequel, ''
Super Paper Mario is a 2007 action role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third installment in the ''Paper Mario'' series following ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (2004), and the first Mario ...
'', both as a collectible card and as a plush doll owned by a character. She also appears as a collectible in ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series and the successor to '' Super Smash Bros. Melee'', it wa ...
'' and ''
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeeding ' ...
''.


Reception

Vivian has received mostly positive reception since her appearance in ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', becoming a popular character. ''Nintendojo'' writer Mel Turnquist included Vivian's decision to stay by Mario's side as one of their most inspiring moments in video games due in part to also being a younger sibling and relating to Vivian standing up to her family. She has received particular attention for her status as a transgender character. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' included Vivian at their favorite
LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others) characters. They praised Vivian for not being defined by her status as a trans person, though expressed disappointment in the change from trans woman to cis woman in the English releases due to Vivian being one of few quality trans characters in video games.
Drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...
Daphne J. Sumtimez included Vivian as one of her idols. In their essay on transgender characters, authors Emil Christenson and Danielle Unéus discuss Vivian and how her femininity is designed. They mention Vivian's bent wrists and frequent smiling as feminine qualities that she typically displays. They also bring up the pink color of her hat, noting that the contrast between her sisters may be intentional to heighten her femininity. They acknowledge the transphobia Vivian receives from her sister Beldam, but comment that it is depicted negatively due to her being a villain. Author Nicholas Taylor includes her in a section on transgender characters in the book ''Queerness in Play'', discussing how Vivian's role in the narrative can help players understand their experiences with gender, identity, and expression. ''
Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' writer Alana Hagues expressed a desire to see more characters like Vivian, noting how surprised she was that Nintendo made Vivian transgender in every version. She felt it was a huge step in the right direction for Nintendo, arguing they were otherwise spotty with respect to representation of LGBTQIA+ people. She discussed how relatable Vivian was due to her being bullied just for being who she was, noting that this was relatable to people in and out of the LGBTQIA+ community. ''Automaton'' staff discussed how the term "otokonoko" was, at the time of the game's release, becoming more recognized, used to refer to both crossdressing men and trans women. They suggested that Vivian could be seen as the first otokonoko character in video games, despite also recognizing her as a trans woman. While discussing Beldam's transphobia, the author argued that while they could have removed the transphobia for
political correctness "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
, they prefer it to be there, arguing that depicting transphobia isn't a bad thing if the work is itself tolerant. They also speculated whether Vivian's status as a trans woman would be retained, noting that the subject is sensitive and should be handled with care. They suggested that since the English and German versions of the original dropped her trans identity that the Japanese version could do the same, though they argued this would constitute a betrayal of Vivian fans. They were initially considering this possibility due to certain changes made to the Japanese version that matched changes in the English version, but were unsure if they would change Vivian to no longer be transgender due to a line of dialogue in Japanese where Beldam calls them the "Three Shadows," arguing that if Vivian was not transgender, there would be no need for Beldam to change it from "Three Shadow Sisters." They praised Vivian as a courageous character due to how difficult it is to come out about their identity, noting how her behavior, manner of speaking, and appearance show her as someone who works hard to be accepted as a woman. ''Inside Games'' writer Yabata also questioned whether Vivian's gender would change, noting that this question was a common one among fans of the game. Some critics were displeased with how Vivian's gender was presented in the Japanese localization, however. Writer Laura Kate Dale was critical of dialogue in the game that stated she was at one time male, feeling it suggested she was not truly female. Vivian has been compared to fellow trans Nintendo character Birdo, who is similarly misgendered in some games and had her trans identity removed in English localizations.


References

{{Portal bar, 2000s Female characters in video games Fictional characters who can manipulate darkness or shadows Fictional characters who can turn invisible Fictional humanoids Fictional transgender women Intelligent Systems characters LGBTQ villains Mario role-playing game characters Paper Mario Transgender characters in video games Video game bosses Video game characters introduced in 2004 Video game characters who can teleport Video game characters who use magic Video game characters with fire or heat abilities