Tippi
- “I'm going to believe in them... And I'm going to believe in HIM... most of all.”
- —Tippi, Super Paper Mario
Tippi (real name Lady Timpani) is a Pixl in Super Paper Mario. She is introduced to Mario at the beginning of the game, teleporting him to Flipside to meet Merlon so that he can fulfill his destiny to save the worlds. She helps Mario in his quest by finding secrets, identifying enemies, and talking to him in cutscenes. The player can use Tippi by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, causing her to tattle on enemies, search for hidden doors, and find other secrets. She resembles a butterfly, and is the first of many Pixls that Mario and team will find. Unlike the other Paper Mario tattle partners Mario has had, Tippi tattles in third person. After sacrificing herself in the end of the game's Main Story, she can no longer be used as a Pixl, but she can be replaced by Francis's Tiptron at the cost of 999 Coins (the maximum number of coins holdable in the game).
History
Background
Prior to becoming a Pixl, Tippi originally existed as a human girl called Timpani, descended from the Tribe of Ancients. While walking one day, she came across an injured man lying at the base of a cliff. His name was Blumiere and he was descended from the Tribe of Darkness, long-time enemies of Timpani's people, the Ancients. Despite this, she helped him and nursed him back to health. The two soon fell in love and decided to get married. Blumiere's father, however, did not want his son to marry an Ancient. So Blumiere and Timpani decided to get married in secret. Upon learning of the lover's plans, Blumiere's father quickly decided to place a curse upon Timpani that would forever separate her from Blumiere. Timpani was banished from her current existence and fated to wander the dimensions forever. She was eventually found, barely alive, by the wizard Merlon. To ensure her "true form" survived, Merlon transformed Timpani into the Pixl, Tippi. However, all her memories as Timpani were lost during the process and Tippi had no recollection of her former life.
Super Paper Mario
After living in Merlon's home town, Flipside, for a while Tippi met Mario. Mario had no idea where this strange 2-D land was. Merlon claims Mario is one of the four heroes prophesized to stop the sinister Count Bleck from using the Chaos Heart to destroy all worlds. Merlon tells Mario that in order to beat Count Bleck, he must find the Pure Hearts. Tippi decides to go with Mario to help him.
Nothing of much interest happens to Tippi until Mario sets off to find the fourth Pure Heart. Upon arriving at the World the Pure Heart is located, a lizard named Francis appears and grabs Tippi. He then runs off with her to his home, Fort Francis. Mario and Princess Peach, who joined Mario and Tippi, chased Francis. While following him, they find Bowser who joins them on their quest. When the heroes reach Fort Francis, they attack Francis and beat him. Tippi thanks Mario for rescuing her and the Pure Heart emerges from her. It is later revealed that this happened because Pure Hearts are kept alive by happiness. By this time it is being heavily hinted that Tippi had fallen in love with Mario. It is hinted many times that she loves him, for even Luvbi, the Nimbi, made comments about Tippi having a crush on Mario and/or Luigi.
After the group returns from Outer Space, Tippi suddenly faints and falls down to the ground. Merlon instantly takes her to his home in an attempt to cure her. After the group travels to Flopside and creates the door to the Land of the Cragnons, Merlon succeeds in revitalizing Tippi, so she can join Mario and co. again.
After collecting several more Pure Hearts, Tippi begins to recall Blumiere. After finding the last Pure Heart, Tippi has regained most of her memory and has came to the conclusion that Count Bleck is her love, Blumiere. Mario, Bowser, Peach and Luigi, who has joined Mario on his quest, travel to the lair of Count Bleck to kill him. Tippi, who is now positive Count Bleck is Blumiere is reluctant to kill him but sees that there is no other way to save the world. After facing numerous challenges through the castle, they finally reach Count Bleck. Count Bleck confesses that he really is Blumiere and that the reason he wanted to destroy the world was to get revenge against what had taken Timpani away. Tippi tries to persuade Bleck to stop his plans but he believes that he has gone to far to stop, and Mario is forced to defeat him in battle. Bleck asks Mario to finish him quickly, but Count Bleck's minion, Dimentio, then appears and attempts to kill Bleck himself, only to be blocked by Nastasia. Dimentio then steals the Chaos Heart and explains his treacherous plans. After sending Bleck and Tippi to a Dimension of his own creation to dispose of them later, he merges Luigi, the Chaos heart and himself creating Super Dimentio.
Meanwhile, in Dimentio's dimension Tippi and Bleck have a touching conversation. The Pure Hearts than appear and Tippi takes them to Mario, weakening Super Dimentio enough for the heroes to defeat him. While this does not destroy the Chaos Heart, Tippi and Count Bleck proceed to wed each other, causing the Chaos Heart to disappear, as well as themselves. Their fate is hinted at in two parts. The first is an in-game dialogue between Bleck and Tippi (or, alternatively, Count Blumiere and Lady Timpani), which includes a mention of going to a "place" where both could be happy together. The other occurs after the credits; Tippi and Blumiere are seen walking off into the distance on a grassy field. What is seen of the actual Timpani is a thin, dress-clad woman slightly resembling Princess Peach.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tippi appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker.
Super Mario-Kun
In the Super Mario-Kun manga series, Tippi has taken on a much more cartoony appearance, and now has a face and a visible body beneath her wings. While the in-game Tippi ended most sentences with a mysterious "...", in the manga, she is much more cheerful and upbeat (sometimes to the point of annoying Mario).
Personality
Tippi has a somewhat reserved personality, which is shown by the fact that almost all of her sentences end with "...". She often talks to herself about her past life, although she never really discusses it with other characters until the end. She is shown to be very caring and kind. She is not easily embarrassed, this shown when she openly tells Mario of her love for Blumiere and makes it known that she "wants to be near Mario". However she does get rather embarrassed when Luvbi makes fun of her for, what Luvbi interprets as, a crush on Mario and Luigi.
Powers and Abilities
Although Tippi has no known powers as a human, when she is a pixl she can see invisible objects and make them visible for other people. Like all pixls she can float in the air. She can also tell Mario about people and enemies with her tattle ability. She is also a good nurse as she was able to heal Blumiere when he was mortally wounded and dying.
There are certain situations in the game when the player can not use Tippi's abilities.
- Right before going to Lineland, the player cannot use her yet.
- After Francis steals her, she is unavailable.
- Right after the player completes Chapter 4 and during their first trip to Flopside.
- When Dimentio sends the player to the Underwhere from Merlon's house.
- When Luigi fights Dimentio by himself all Pixls are unavailable.
- In the first few seconds of the Super Dimentio battle she cannot be used.
- After beating the game she is unavailable. However, players can buy Tiptron from Francis.
Catch Card
- Card Type: Rare
- Card Description: It's Tippi, your friendly...friend. And guide. Her name was Timpani before Merlon turned her into a Pixl.
Names in Other Languages
Tippi
Lady Timpani
Trivia
- "Tippi" derives from the word "tip", which she gives to Mario during her tattles. Her real name, "Lady Timpani", is derived from the timpani, a large, drum-like instrument; though the correlation between the instrument and Tippi's character has not been made clear.
- Tippi has the same ability as Goombario and Goombella, from the past Paper Mario titles.
- When Mario fights Fracktail and meets Dimentio for the first time, Tippi recognizes him.
- Her Catch Card is found on the tenth floor of the Flipside Pit of 100 Trials.
