Vivian

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

“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. 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 depicted as transgender, identifying as female; however, due to the age rating the localizers were aiming at when translating Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, this is lost in the English version, and she is described only with feminine pronouns.

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.

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 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 they were originally going to appear in Super Paper Mario, but were removed during development.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Vivian appears as a sticker that can be used in The Subspace Emissary by any fighter. The sticker increases the attack power of energy-related attacks by 5 points.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Vivian appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as 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 jewelery, 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.

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 be a transgender girl. While various other characters and narrative text describe Vivian using masculine terms such as otoko ("man"), and otōto ("little brother"), Vivian initially describes the shadow sirens as san shimai "three sisters", and routinely uses the feminine first person pronoun atai. However, in Super Paper Mario, Vivian's Catch Card describes her using the term otoko no ko, 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 explicitly retain the transgender portrayal. The Italian version additionally makes Vivian's transgender identity even more explicit; 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.

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 softlock after the tutorial.

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Enemy Stats

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Vivian
	Max HP	10	Attack	1	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Boggly Woods	Role	Boss	Level	26
	Sleep?	70%	Dizzy?	70%	Confuse?	70%
	Tiny?	80%	Stop?	80%	Soft?	95%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	50%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	Shade Fist (1), Fiery Jinx (1 HP to both characters, Piercing)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 123	Log	One of the Shadow Sirens and Beldam's youngest sister. She's so cute, she's able to infatuate anyone.
	Tattle	That's Vivian. She's the youngest of the three Shadow Sirens. Max HP is 10, Attack is 1, and Defense is 0. She doesn't seem all that noteworthy. Uh... She is kinda cute, I guess... She might even be cuter than I am... I guess... ...Uh... What am I thinking?

Field Tattle

Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Vivian only when Mario first comes across the Shadow Sirens in Boggly Woods.

• "This is the youngest sister of the three. The oldest one REALLY picks on her, huh? I don't know whose picture they're talking about, but you think she really lost it?"

Attacks and Stats

HP

• Initial: 15 HP
• Super Rank: 20 HP
• Ultra Rank: 30 HP

Attacks

Name	FP Needed	Effect	Action Command	Attack Power	Move Rank
Shade Fist	0	Sets enemies on fire with a burning punch.	After three lights flash, player presses the mystery button shown (,, or ).	Initial: 3 Super: 4 Ultra: 5	Initial
Veil	1	Hides Mario in the shadows to avoid enemy attacks.	Player presses the 5-button / combo that appears on the screen.	N/A	Initial
Fiery Jinx	6	Deals fire damage to all enemies, piercing defense. It also burns them.	Player presses the 5-button combo of ,,, and that appear on the screen.	Super: 5 Ultra: 5	Super Rank
Infatuate	4	Blows a kiss to all enemies to confuse them if effective	When a heart appears above an enemy, player presses .	N/A	Ultra Rank

In-game description

One of the Shadow Sirens, Vivian suffers from a bit of an inferiority complex. Press to hide with Mario in the shadows. When hiding, nobody can find you.

Player's Guide information

Vivian is one of the Shadow Sirens that work for Sir Grodus, but she joins Mario when he shows her an act of kindness. Though she suffers from an inferiority complex, she's perhaps the best partner in the game. Press the X Button to pull Mario into the shadows, where nobody can find him.

Super Paper Mario Catch Card

Vivian's Catch Card

• Card Type: Rare
• Card Description: It's Vivian from the last Paper Mario adventure. She was a great friend once she split from her sisters.
• How to Obtain the Card: The Duel of 100 in Sammer's Kingdom needs to be completed in order to obtain all Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door partner cards from King Sammer.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Brawl sticker

Name	Image	Artwork from	Effect in The Subspace Emissary
Vivian		Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	[Energy] - Attack +5

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit

Name	Image	Series / game	Type	Class	Strength / effect(s)	How to obtain	Spirit battle
							Opponent(s)	Battle conditions	Stage	Song
Vivian	File:SSBU Vivian.png	Paper Mario Series	Primary (1)	Advanced	deepskyblue Weight ↓	Spirit Board	Clear Mr. Game & Watch	The enemy is invisible	Luigi's Mansion (Battlefield)	Paper Mario Medley

Gallery

• 

  Alternate artwork

• 

  Vivian joining Mario's party in Chapter 4

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ビビアン Bibian	Vivian
German	Barbara[?]	A given name
Italian	Ombretta	A common given name, meaning "little shadow"; shared with Twila and Bogmire
Korean	불비안[?] Bulbian	Her name since Super Paper Mario. The first hangul character (불, bul) means "fire".
Russian	Вивиан[?] Vivian	Vivian
Spanish	Bibiana	Vivian

Trivia

• When Vivian is out when Mario blasts to the Moon, if you look closely, you can see than her tail, which is supposed to be connected to the ground, is missing.