Dimentio
- “Master of Dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am...Dimentio!”
- —Dimentio, Super Paper Mario
Dimentio is a magical jester and a major antagonist in the game Super Paper Mario. Initially a minion of Count Bleck, Dimentio is a powerful magician capable of several feats, such as teleportation, duplication, and invisibility. Like Mario, he has the power to flip between dimensions, and is in control of a dimension of his own, Dimension D. By the end of the game, he reveals his intentions to steal the Chaos Heart from Bleck and use it to destroy all worlds and create new ones of which he is king.
Biography
Dimentio has shown to be very cunning and capable of initiating his own plans without the notice of Bleck or his other followers. Residing in the shadows of Count Bleck's army, Dimentio carefully plans and executes his scheme to take control of the Chaos Heart. In Count Bleck's service, Dimentio waits for Bleck to create the Chaos Heart and form the void. He plans to use its power and destructive purpose to wipe out all worlds and create brand new ones in which he controls. Dimentio plans to accomplish this by using the heroes of prophecy to collect the pure hearts and use them to destroy Bleck and claim the Chaos Heart for his own purposes.
Once Bleck forms the Chaos Heart, Dimentio patiently waits for the hero mentioned in the prophecy to appear. Dimentio is first shown at a meeting between Count Bleck and his other followers where he makes mild insults to some of the other minions. Eventually, Nastasia mentions the appearance of the possible hero, which sparks Dimentio's interest who decides to go with O'Chunks, who was sent by Bleck to take care of Mario, to see this hero. Dimentio watches and testes the abilities of Mario by sabotaging Fracktail, the robotic guardian of the second pure heart, and making it face Mario. Mario defeats the mechanical guardian, which ultimately leads to its' death, and acquires the second pure heart. This proved Mario's abilities to Dimentio who began to put his plans in order.
When Dimentio sees Mario as the hero, he moves his sights to Peach who was abducted and used in the birth of the Chaos Heart and is being held at Castle Bleck. Dimentio concludes that she will be the second hero and warps her from Castle Bleck to Flipside to join Mario. It seems that Dimentio did the same with Bowser although it was never explicitly stated. Eventually, after Mario defeated O'Chucks and Mimi, Count Bleck calls upon Dimentio to dispose of Mario. This gave Dimentio an excuse to test Mario and his companion's potential. Dimentio does indeed face Mario and tests his abilities again, but this time in Dimension D. Mario proves worthy, as Dimentio had expected, but believes that the heroes must be stronger when the battle with Bleck arrives.
Upon his return to Castle Bleck, Dimentio next gains knowledge that Luigi is the ideal host for the Chaos Heart's power and he will use it to spread darkness. After acquiring this knowledge, Dimentio makes use of his ability to turn invisible to spy on Bleck and Nastasia. He learns that Bleck has an emotional side and this could be used as a weakness to make it easier for the heroes to defeat him. While Luigi is in Nastasia's mind control and turned into "Mr. L," Dimentio keeps careful watch of his skills to see if he is worthy of being the one mentioned in the Dark Prognosticus as Bleck previously stated. Dimentio now is in need of a tool to control Luigi so that he can use him to posses the power of the Chaos Heart. He meets an associate in The Land of the Cragnons and acquires two Floro Sprouts. These plants are put on people's heads to be mind controlled.
Dimentio takes the opportunity to once again test Mario and his friends; this time using O'Chunks and, at the same time, test the Floro Sprouts to make sure they function properly for their future use. O'Chunks was once again sent by Count Bleck to defeat the heroes. He meets them in the Land of the Cragnons and is about to engage them in another fight when Dimentio interrupts him to test the heroes and the Floro Sprout. First Dimentio warps O'Chunks to Dimension D to test the heroes. Once they defeat him, a Floro Sprout that Dimentio planted on him puts him under mind control. Dimentio programmed the Floro Sprout to make O'Chunks faster and more unpredictable. O'Chunks is defeated again and this more than proves to Dimentio that Mario is indeed the chosen one.
Dimentio now began to put all the final preparations in order. He knew Luigi would be the fourth hero, so he needed to release him from Bleck's control and reunite him with the other heroes. He needed a time and place however where he wouldn't be discovered. He came up with the perfect plan. He coaxed Bleck's henchmen, including Luigi, to attack Mario in a world on the brink of destruction. The world was indeed obliterated by the void, but it remained in a withered state. This would be the perfect area to "murder" Luigi and send him to the Underwhere, a place where those whose games have ended are judged. This would release his mind control and also have him meet up with Mario as Dimentio planned to send him and the other two heroes to the same place.
The pure heart Mario acquired in this land was powerless from the destruction, but it could be repaired in the Underwhere. If Mario would be sent here, he would repair the pure heart and meet up with Luigi; killing two birds with one stone for Dimentio. Dimentio "kills" Luigi, who is sent to the Underwhere in the world of nothing and then quickly does the same to Mario, Peach, and Bowser in Merlon's house in Flipside. While it appeared that Dimentio murdered them all, he actually used his magic to send them to the Underwhere rather than actually ending their games. Mario was eventually able to repair the pure heart and meet up with Luigi and the other heroes and return from the Underwhere. Dimentio reported to Bleck that his henchman, Mr. L/Luigi, had betrayed them and joined the heroes in order to avoid any suspicions of deception.
As the heroes gathered the last pure heart, Dimentio told Bleck that Tippi had uttered Blumiere, which was Bleck's true name. This proved to Bleck that Timpani, the woman he loved, was truly alive. Dimentio did this to weaken Bleck emotionally and make it all the easier for the heroes to defeat him.
When Mario and Luigi, Peach and Bowser are presumed dead, meet Dimentio in Castle Bleck he reveals his intentions. Dimentio offers Mario and Luigi the opportunity of joining him to destroy Bleck. While Dimentio explains how he's been helping the heroes the whole time, Tippi can still see the insanity behind Dimentio's nature. Mario and Luigi refuse to work with him and this leads to a battle between Luigi and Dimentio.
Luigi fights and beats him, but this was all a ruse. Dimentio appeared to commit a suicide attack, but he was actually planting a Floro Sprout in Luigi's unconsciousness. With this, Dimentio's plans were almost complete and in full fruition, all that was left was Bleck's defeat. Dimentio waits in the shadows during the battle between the four heroes and Bleck, ready to destroy his former master once and for all. Once Bleck was defeated and the pure hearts used up in the battle, Dimentio shot a burst of energy to finish him off. Nastasia took the shot instead and seemingly died. Mocking Nastasia for her sacrifice, Dimentio took control of Luigi through the Floro Sprout and took control of the Chaos Heart.
He combined them to form Super Dimentio and sent Bleck, Nastasia, and Tippi to Dimension D to torture and kill them later. He becomes one with his creation and decides to end the lives of the heroes as they have no further use for him. Super Dimentio laughs at the heroes efforts in battle as he is shown to be invincible. He eventually starts to use his magic to wipe out the heroes and all worlds in one fell swoop.
In Dimension D, Bleck loses all hope as nothing can stop Dimentio without the pure hearts. Tippi and O'Chuncks and Mimi, who came to find Bleck, urge him not give up hope. Through Bleck and Tippi's love, the pure hearts are regenerated after the battle with Bleck. Tippi is able to escape from Dimension D thanks to the pure hearts' power and uses them to heal Mario and his companions. With the pure hearts power, Super Dimentio becomes vulnerable and engages in a final showdown with the other three heroes. Through the hero’s efforts, Super Dimentio's body explodes and leaves only his head.
On the verge of death, Dimentio expresses disbelief at how his plans could fail when he did everything the prophecy required. Nevertheless, Dimentio smiles and reveals one last trick to insure everyone in existence will die with him. With his last breath, Dimentio leaves a portion of his power behind to continue controlling the Chaos Heart to wipe out all existence.
Uttering one final "Ciao", Dimentio explodes and sinks into the ground and obliteration. Luigi is released unharmed, but the power of the Chaos Heart continues to destroy all worlds. Count Bleck reveals that the only way to destroy the Chaos Heart is through true love. He and Tippi exchange vows which activates the full potential of the pure hearts, which cancels out the energies of the Chaos Heart. Count Bleck and Tippi who sacrifice themselves to save all existence wipe out the Chaos Heart and Dimentio’s remaining power. With the Chaos Heart destroyed, the void closes, Nastasia is revived, and all worlds return to peace, including the ones that were destroyed by the void. It is assumed Dimentio was completely destroyed and sent to the Underwhere.
Powers and Abilities
Dimentio, being a magician, is capable of many special abilities and powers. Being a master of Dimensions, Dimentio is able to flip between them like Mario. Dimentio can also create his own in which he controls such as Dimension D and give him additional power and support.
Dimentio can teleport and shoot a seemingly unlimited amount of energy spheres at his foes. He can also duplicate himself and deliver twice the amount of pain with his clone. A method, which proved to be the most effective, is his killing magic. He is able to create a compact magic field around his victims in which he simply snaps his fingers, which causes several explosions within the field. Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi were all nearly killed in this way.
Dimentio's lesser abilities, usually useful for acquiring information, are hovering and being able to turn invisible. It is unknown if Dimentio had these powers prior to his servitude to Bleck, or if Bleck had granted him the powers as he had done with the other minions.
Personality
Dimentio has a very dark personality in contrast to the rest of the game. He at first seems to be a very silly and lighthearted character, but his true nature and intentions are much more sinister. His true purpose is to steal the Chaos Heart from Count Bleck to control The Void and destroy the universes, so he can build perfect new ones of which he is the ruler.
Dimentio is repeatedly referred to as a psychopath by Tippi and has shown traits of this type of characterization. Dimentio believes that his intentions and plans are justified and not evil. His understanding of good and evil is what’s right for him is good and what’s bad for him is evil. This being a very slanted understanding of good and evil, Dimentio is able to justify his acts of murder of deception through this philosophy.
Dimentio has not shown any sympathy or concern for anybody or anything, seeing Bleck’s tragic back-story and broken relationship with Tippi as a weakness for Bleck and aspects that can be preyed upon to be suited into his plans. Dimentio is shown to be utterly disgusted and resentful of Bleck and his intentions, but still knows the value of working in his services. This contributes to Dimentio’s character as a figure that never overlooks any moments of value and does whatever he needs to even if it means serving someone he despises.
Dimentio is constantly planning every step of his plans and it is never clear what his intentions are until the end of the game. Playing both sides of the battle, Bleck and his army, and Mario and his companions, Dimentio furthers his plot and is still able to fool Bleck into thinking he is still serving him. Bleck is too obsessed with his own destructive desires to see the true threat is right under his nose. When everybody learns of Dimentio’s true nature, it was too late.
It is unknown what Dimentio's idea of a perfect world is, but he has clearly shown that he will go to great lengths to insure its creation. Dimientio is one of the more evil characters in the game, he has no conscience or guilt for his actions, murdering people while making a joke and then uttering his line "Ciao". Dimentio is willing to kill everyone is existence to ensure the creation of his new, perfect universes.
It has never been made clear if Dimentio wants a world without war as he only jokingly states that no one likes that kind of stuff when discussing the prospect of a new world with Bleck's minions. It can be just as equally assumed that Dimentio would crave a world made of war as he has clearly shown a very twisted personality and violent demeanor. Dimentio's lack of a motive or mind state makes him one of the more ambiguous villains in the Mario series.
Allegiance
Apparently, Dimentio approached Count Bleck on his own at first, offering to serve him. Bleck turned him down, however. It was only after reading about him in the Dark Prognosticus that he allowed Dimentio into his forces. Dimentio is seen with O'Chunks, Mimi, and Mr. L at each of the meetings of Bleck's henchmen. Even before betraying the Count, he holds disdain for all of Bleck's other followers making his loyalty questionable at best. At meetings, Dimentio seems to be harboring deep hatred for Bleck and his followers, but is able to contain it with mild insults.
While the other minions continuously give Bleck compliments and have some sort of bond with him, Dimentio barley speaks to Bleck. Dimentio only has a conversation with him if it furthers his own plans or if he can obtain valuable information. Dimentio seems to have a great amount of raw hatred at Bleck, which may contribute to his standoffish attitude toward him.
Dimentio is apparently "the dark one" mentioned in the Dark Prognosticus as opposed to Bleck. If Bleck read this in the Prognosticus, he might have intentionally enlisted Dimentio's help in order to ensure his successful suicide and destruction of the universe.
However, Dimentio eventually turns on Bleck, and starts trying to thwart Bleck's plans. He casually begins to help Mario along, and even tries to convince the party to join him. Bleck wants to end all worlds in order to end his own life, whereas Dimentio wants to end all worlds in order to become king of a universe of his own creation. Their difference in motive is the reason Dimentio gives for betraying Count Bleck. However, it is also possible that Dimentio only feigned allegiance as part of his plot, which he may have made even prior to his servitude to Bleck.
Ultimately, Dimentio despises Bleck and only serves him out of his own needs. By the end of the game, Dimentio traps Bleck in Dimension D to torture and kill him along with his lover, Tippi, showing the true hatred that Dimentio has to his former "master".
Trivia
- The name Dimentio appears to be a pun on "dementia," referring to his apparent insanity, and "dimension" the plains of existence which he can warp amongst.
- Dimentio's character design resembles a stylized version of the Jesters from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He also closely resembles Harley Quin, another jester character from the game Wario's Woods, and Super Dimentio's spinning cape imitates that of Harley. He may also be inspired by the villain Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, another mad mage-jester who overthrows his ruler.
- Mysteriously, Tippi seems to have known Dimentio before the events of Super Paper Mario. She recognizes him immediately on their first encounter in the game, during the dialog shortly before Mario battles Fracktail. However, the game never touches on this again, leaving the player to only speculate as to the meaning of it all.
- It is implied that Dimentio has his own brand of perfume, called "Demented, by Dimentio." He offers Mario a signed bottle of it in Chapter 8-3, listing it among other bribes to persuade him to help fight Count Bleck.
- In Flopside, if one listens to the bartender Carson's stories, there is one about Dimentio that seems to hint at him possibly being the one who wrote the Dark Prognosticus, for the fact that his role was mentioned in the book sounds suspicious.
- Interestingly, the seemingly good Shaman-like character Merloo is known to have similar abilities to Dimentio (being a powerful magician who could control dimensions).
- Curiously, various events in the game (specifically the kidnapping of Tippi during Chapter 3 and Luigi's lack of Pixls while fighting Dimentio) have led to all of Dimentio's forms aside from Super Dimentio being unable to be Tattled. However, one can use Tippi on the fake Dimentios in the mirrors in Chapter 8-3.
