Vivian was always a great partner in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but she was given a bit of a boost around the release of the Switch version. If she’s caught your attention, you might be wondering when she joins your party.
Vivian joins your party in Chapter 4. It’s probably no surprise since Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door doesn’t give you very much player agency, but there’s no way to get her sooner.
She starts the game as an antagonist. She’s part of The Three Shadows along with her sisters Marilyn and Beldam. Beldam, the eldest and de facto leader of the group is verbally abusive, constantly belittling Vivian and blaming her for her own mistakes.
In Chapter 4, Vivian has once again been blamed for Beldam’s mistake and is left searching for the Superbombomb, an explosive device with unknown (but presumably high) yield. After Mario has his name and body stolen, he assists Vivian in finding it, though it’s discovered broken. Not realizing that it’s her sister’s enemy she’s talking to, she agrees to help him recover his stolen moniker.
Vivian joins as a party member at that moment. Since the rest of Mario’s party has been fooled into following his doppelganger, she spends time as his only party member. This continues through the battle at the end of Chapter 4.
Before that battle, Vivian learns of Mario’s true identity. Initially, fearing the wrath of her sister, she abandons Mario, but returns saying that he’s the only person who ever treated her kindly. From that point forward, she’s a permanent fixture on the team.
What are Vivian’s abilities?
Vivian is one of the best partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Her field ability has her draw Mario into the shadows where enemies (and NPCs) won’t notice him. This is used in the game’s puzzles to allow you to eavesdrop on some characters to get them to speak openly and unaware.
Her initial HP is 15. In battle, her default attack is a flaming punch called Shade Fist. This does direct damage and can also set enemies on fire. You won’t want to use this against fire-based enemies, as fire attacks heal them, and since it’s a direct attack, will result in Vivian getting hurt.
Veil requires 1 FP and draws Mario into the shadows where enemies can’t hit him. The downside is that, on the turn where they re-appear, Vivian’s turn is used up.
After upgrading Vivian once, she’ll reach 20 max HP. She’ll also learn the move Fiery Jinx, which uses 6 FP. Again, it’s a fire attack, but this one damages all enemies. While you still don’t want to use this on fire-based enemies since it will heal them, it does indirect damage, so Vivian won’t be hurt by them.
On the second upgrade, Vivian reaches 30 HP. She learns the skill Infatuate, which has her blow them a kiss. Any enemy affected will become confused.
Is Vivian actually transgender?
What has brought Vivian into the spotlight is the revelation (for some) that she’s transgender in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. It’s new information for most because the English translation of the original GameCube version omitted this.
In the Switch version, this has been changed to better reflect the original Japanese script. She says the line: “Truth is, it took me a while to realize I was their sister… not their brother. Now their usual bullying feels heavier.”
While that doesn’t directly say it, it would require some extreme mental gymnastics to read any other inference from it. To add to this, the original Japanese script already implied that she’s transgender, although culturally, that’s a little less clear. That’s a whole topic in itself.
On the other hand, most other translations retain the idea that Vivian is transgender. It’s only German and English that alter the script to remove the reference.
You may wonder why it was changed back in 2004. While it’s true that 2004 was a very different time in terms of LGBTQ+ acceptance, that’s most likely not the whole story. Rather than concern for offending parent groups, Nintendo probably had the line changed to avoid getting a T for Teen rating from the ESRB.
In 2000, The Sims was given a Teen rating. This might seem certain today, given its mild references to sex, alcohol, and drugs. However, the original version of The Sims didn’t have any of that. The first real allusion to Sims having sex was introduced in the first expansion pack Livin’ Large. While the T rating also cites Comic Mischief and Mild Animated Violence, it describes the sexual content as “Mature Sexual Content.” What it’s likely referring to is the fact that same-sex Sims can kiss and have relationships. That is something that was in the original version of The Sims.
Another instance is with 2005’s Playboy: The Mansion. Despite being based on what was, at the time, a pornographic magazine, the base version only received an M rating because the sexual content wasn’t explicit. However, the expansion, Playboy: The Mansion: Private Party, received an AO rating. What changed? The female stars could have relations with other females.
As established, 2004 was a different time for LGBTQ+ representation. It’s still possible that Nintendo had the line changed to prevent reaction from various groups or even internal transphobia. However, I feel the more likely explanation is that they didn’t want to lose the E for Everybody rating.
