Vivian: Difference between revisions

Vivian
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (spirit cameo) (2018)

Revision as of 10:05, May 21, 2024

“I'm with Mario all the way! Today, Sis...I'm going to punish YOU, you hear me?”

—Vivian, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Vivian is a major character in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its Nintendo Switch remake. She originally worked as a member of the villainous Shadow Sirens alongside her sisters, Beldam and Marilyn. Later, Vivian defects from the Shadow Sirens and joins Mario as his fifth party member. She is consistently put down by her oldest sister, Beldam, and has had a poor relationship with both her sisters for quite some time when Mario meets her. Although she suffers from an inferiority complex throughout the events of the game, she learns to respect herself as she travels with Mario.

In the original Japanese version of the game and some translations, Vivian is inconsistently depicted as either a transgender woman, or as a male-identifying cross-dresser; however, due to the age rating the localizers were aiming at when translating Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,^[1] this is lost in the English version, and she is described only with feminine pronouns.^[2] In the game's remake, Vivian is depicted as a transgender woman in all versions of the game. ^[3]

History

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Vivian after being defeated

Vivian's first appearance in the game is during the interlude following Chapter 1, during which she and her two sisters are sent by Sir Grodus to ambush Mario in the Boggly Woods. When Mario arrives there, however, he learns that the picture they were to use to identify him was misplaced by Beldam, who is quick to blame Vivian for the loss. Mario is forced to battle the sisters when he comes to claim Flurrie's Necklace, which Vivian had found in the woods. Upon her defeat, she departs with Marilyn and Beldam, leaving the necklace behind. During the battle with Vivian, she can use Fiery Jinx when her HP is low, but when Vivian joins Mario's party, she has to be Super Ranked to learn that ability. Additionally, her Fiery Jinx cannot be Superguarded.

Vivian with the real Mario (as a shadow) facing against Doopliss

After Mario's name and appearance are stolen by Doopliss, Vivian appears in Twilight Town alongside her sisters, who plan to defeat Mario using a Superbombomb. When the weapon turns up missing, however, Vivian is once again blamed and sent to find it. When Mario finds the bomb and returns it to her, it turns out to be broken, but she gives him a kiss to thank him for his help and, after learning of the theft of his identity, resolves to return the favor by helping him, unaware that he is truly Mario. Using her powers, Mario eventually learns Doopliss's real name, and the duo corners him at the top of Creepy Steeple.

As she has to be fought before joining Mario's party members in Chapter 4, Vivian is the only party member with an entry in Mario's Tattle Log. If the player looks through Professor Frankly's trash can after fighting the Shadow Sirens without tattling them, Vivian's Tattle is found, while Marilyn's and Beldam's are absent. This may foreshadow that Vivian joins the party while Marilyn and Beldam are fought later since only Tattles of one-time enemies are found in the trash. Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Vivian only when Mario first comes across the Shadow Sirens in Boggly Woods.

Upon learning Mario's identity, Vivian is reluctant to assist in the ensuing battle, though she returns to his side after two turns, having decided that he treats her better than her sisters and is more deserving of her help. Following Doopliss's defeat, Mario stands up for Vivian when she is questioned by his other partners; she ultimately thanks him by handing him the Ruby Star and thus joins Mario's team.

When Mario prepares to leave Rogueport with Princess Peach after having defeated the Shadow Queen, Vivian is about to tell Mario that she has a crush on him, but decides otherwise, saying that she thinks he and Peach will make a good couple. Later, Goombella's e-mail to Mario reveals that Vivian has returned to Beldam and Marilyn, who both have ended their villainous activities and promise to never mistreat Vivian again.

Super Paper Mario

Vivian's plush from Super Paper Mario

An unused sprite of Vivian in Super Paper Mario.

Vivian's unused sprite in Super Paper Mario

In Super Paper Mario, Vivian appears as a Catch Card won by winning the Duel of 100 in the Sammer's Kingdom. Francis also has a Vivian plush doll, and there is a painting of her along with Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, Yoshi, Admiral Bobbery, and Ms. Mowz in Mario's house. Like Mario's other past partners, there is unused sprite data for Vivian, suggesting that she was originally going to appear in Super Paper Mario, but was removed during development.

Super Smash Bros. series

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Vivian is featured in a few collectible items. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is a sticker of Vivian, and it can be equipped to any fighter in The Subspace Emissary to increase their attack power of energy-related attacks by 5 points. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Vivian is an Advanced-class Shield-type primary spirit. Fighters equipped with the spirit have reduced weight during battles. In the spirit battle, the player faces an invisible Mr. Game & Watch on the Battlefield form of the Luigi's Mansion stage.

General information

Personality

Vivian is best characterized by her shyness. Throughout the game, she is unable to stand up to Beldam and her cruel nature, constantly taking the blame for things that are really Beldam's own fault. She develops herself in Chapter 4 when she decides to join Mario and leave her family after he shows her an act of kindness. In the Palace of Shadow, Vivian gains the confidence to battle Beldam as payback for all the abuse she suffered. She is still loyal to Beldam, though it is mostly out of fear or dislike of getting "punished" by her.

Unlike her sisters, Vivian is actually caring and kind. She wonders if it is bad to do away with Mario and his partners in Chapter 2, and she is a forgiving person, going back with her sisters in the epilogue (despite all the trouble Beldam caused). She seems to have a fondness for jewelry, because when she finds Flurrie's Necklace, she quickly took it, and was upset when Beldam took it from her. Due to how much Beldam calls her sisters "lovelies", Vivian refers to her clan as the "Shadow Beauties" when introduced, much to Beldam's anger.

Powers and abilities

Outside of battle, Vivian possesses the same ability Lady Bow has in Paper Mario, but Vivian's works differently, as instead of literally turning invisible, Vivian can pull Mario into her shadow, where they can hide. This allows them to get past objects that move over them and avoid sight from enemies and their attacks. Vivian possesses the strongest magic of any partner in the game. In the Japanese version, while in the ground with Vivian, the player is able to open the pause menu at any time, even when in a cutscene. If the player does this during Vivian's tutorial, the game will soft-lock after the tutorial.

Gender

In the original Japanese script of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Beldam insults Vivian by calling her ｢オトコ」, "a man". In the English localization of the game, Beldam uses gender-neutral insults instead.

In the Japanese version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Vivian is implied to either be a transgender woman or a male-identified crossdresser. While various other characters and narrative text describe Vivian using masculine terms such as otoko ("man"), and otōto ("little brother"),^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Vivian initially describes the shadow sirens as san shimai "three sisters",^[4] and routinely uses the feminine first person pronoun atai, though this pronoun is also used by some effeminate male characters in Japanese media. In Super Paper Mario, Vivian's Catch Card describes her using the term otoko no ko,^[8] a Japanese-language term that can interchangeably refer to a feminine-presenting man or a crossdressing man, rather than "transgender" (which is identical in Japanese to the English-language word) or okama (a term for an otherwise masculine man who dresses as a woman, sometimes used as a slur to refer to trans women, even in family-friendly media at the time).

In the English and German localizations of the game, explicit reference to Vivian being either transgender or gender non-conforming is removed, as are references to her using male pronouns. Consequently, Beldam's insults towards Vivian that utilize masculine terms in the Japanese version are changed. However, all other localized versions of the game contain a version closer to the original.^[1]^[9]^[10]^[11] The Italian version more explicitly identifies Vivian as a trans woman; her description as a party member states that "She used to be a man, but now she's a woman and proud of it," a sentiment that she reiterates during her initial appearance.^[11]^[12] A prerelease screenshot of the 2024 remake's English localization would confirm her original identity as a transgender female would be reinstated in that version.^[13]