A remake of a popular Mario game has confirmed that one of its lead characters is transgender. On Thursday (May 23), Nintendo released a remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the hit game originally released on GameCube in 2004.
When Vivian travels with Mario in chapter four of the game, she tells him her backstory
Along with updated graphics, animations, and music, the remake confirmed that one of the game’s main characters, Vivian, is transgender. In the game, Vivian is one of the villains trying to track down and defeat Mario alongside her sisters Marilyn and Beldam. However, she eventually joins forces with everyone’s favorite Italian plumber due to bullying from her siblings.
The original Japanese version of the game indicates that Vivian is a trans woman and that her sisters bullied her because of this. But English-language versions removed this, saying Beldam called her ugly, IGN reports.This has now been amended in the new version of The Thousand-Year Door.
When Vivian travels with Mario in chapter four of the game, she tells him her backstory: “Truth is, it took me a while to realize I was their sister… not their brother. Now their usual bullying feels heavier.”
The remake has also toned down Beldam’s bullying of Vivian. In the original 2004 Japanese scripts, Vivian is consistently misgendered by Beldam and in the in-game description of her character. The 2024 remake is much clearer about her gender identity, and her character bio reads: “Vivian was one of the Three Shadows but has now chosen to leave her two sisters behind.”