subdirectory_arrow_right Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Game)
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Both the original GameCube release and the Nintendo Switch remake are rated E by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), but the GameCube version's rating was simply given the descriptor "Mild Cartoon Violence". The remake’s ESRB rating was updated to replace it with the descriptors "Mild Fantasy Violence" and "Mild Suggestive Themes". These "Mild Suggestive Themes" most likely refer to flirtatious dialogue (i.e. "Aren’t you a fine specimen of a man"; "Perhaps if I…grabbed you and gave you a little sugar") and a character with a large chest/exaggerated proportions, referencing Madame Flurrie.
Remake rating article:
https://gonintendo.com/contents/30407-the-switch-remake-of-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-has-gotten-its-esrb-rating
GameCube version ESRB page:
https://www.esrb.org/ratings/10462/paper-mario-2-the-thousand-year-door/
Switch version ESRB page:
https://www.esrb.org/ratings/39494/paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door/
https://gonintendo.com/contents/30407-the-switch-remake-of-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-has-gotten-its-esrb-rating
GameCube version ESRB page:
https://www.esrb.org/ratings/10462/paper-mario-2-the-thousand-year-door/
Switch version ESRB page:
https://www.esrb.org/ratings/39494/paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door/
subdirectory_arrow_right Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Game)
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Within the GameCube version's data are graphics for an earlier Vivian design depicting her with a shorter body and a flame on the tip of her hat. Concept art included in the Nintendo Switch remake reveals that the latter trait was part of an early design for all three Shadow Sirens, with Beldam and Marilyn also having a shard of ice and a lightning bolt at the end of their respective hats. This concept art additionally depicts the Shadow Sirens with black skin, which was changed to purple by the time the early Vivian sprite was created.
subdirectory_arrow_right Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Game)
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The gender identity of the party member Vivian is inconsistent between different language translations of the original game. In the Japanese version, Vivian identifies and presents as female, but is described by other characters in the game as actually being an effeminate-looking male, aligning with common media depictions of transgender or gender non-conforming characters at the time, but not explicitly referring to Vivian as such. A rough translation of the Japanese text for Vivian as a party member reads:
The French version directly carries this over and additionally describes Vivian as a boy pretending to be a girl, while the Spanish version describes Vivian as a boy who looks like a girl. However, according to former Nintendo of Europe translator Pol Roca, Vivian's Spanish name "Bibiana" was intended to be a reference to the Spanish transgender actress Bibiana Fernández, who starred in the 1977 film Cambio de Sexo (or Sex Change).
The English and German versions remove any references to being transgender or gender non-conforming, implicitly portraying Vivian as a cisgender woman with "a bit of an inferiority complex". Instead of being bullied over her biological sex, her sisters instead belittle her for her appearance.
The Italian version of the game on the other hand explicitly depicts Vivian as an openly proud transgender woman, with the localization reconfiguring her relationships with gender identity and her sisters by having Marilyn and Bedlam's bullying being rooted in jealousy, traits which are absent in the Japanese script:
The English release of the Nintendo Switch remake follows the Italian version of the original game in unambiguously describing Vivian as a transgender woman, most prominently featuring a line where Vivian states that "it took me a while to realize that I was [Marilyn and Beldam's] sister... not their brother." It's currently unknown if Vivian's portrayal in other translations of the remake has changed from the original release.
"カゲ三人組の一人だった オンナのコのようで ホントは オトコのコ"
"One of the shadow group, Vivian appears to be a girl but is really a boy."
"One of the shadow group, Vivian appears to be a girl but is really a boy."
The French version directly carries this over and additionally describes Vivian as a boy pretending to be a girl, while the Spanish version describes Vivian as a boy who looks like a girl. However, according to former Nintendo of Europe translator Pol Roca, Vivian's Spanish name "Bibiana" was intended to be a reference to the Spanish transgender actress Bibiana Fernández, who starred in the 1977 film Cambio de Sexo (or Sex Change).
The English and German versions remove any references to being transgender or gender non-conforming, implicitly portraying Vivian as a cisgender woman with "a bit of an inferiority complex". Instead of being bullied over her biological sex, her sisters instead belittle her for her appearance.
The Italian version of the game on the other hand explicitly depicts Vivian as an openly proud transgender woman, with the localization reconfiguring her relationships with gender identity and her sisters by having Marilyn and Bedlam's bullying being rooted in jealousy, traits which are absent in the Japanese script:
Vivian: "We'll defeat that Mario guy! 'Cause we are 'The three shadow sisters'!"
Marilyn: "How can you define us as 'The three shadow sisters'? You are a man! A MAN!"
Vivian: "That’s true, you are two sisters… But I am a woman too now, and I'm proud to have turned into a woman!"
Marilyn: "Hmph. And you surely think you are more beautiful than we are, huh? You deserve a punishment for that!"
Marilyn: "How can you define us as 'The three shadow sisters'? You are a man! A MAN!"
Vivian: "That’s true, you are two sisters… But I am a woman too now, and I'm proud to have turned into a woman!"
Marilyn: "Hmph. And you surely think you are more beautiful than we are, huh? You deserve a punishment for that!"
The English release of the Nintendo Switch remake follows the Italian version of the original game in unambiguously describing Vivian as a transgender woman, most prominently featuring a line where Vivian states that "it took me a while to realize that I was [Marilyn and Beldam's] sister... not their brother." It's currently unknown if Vivian's portrayal in other translations of the remake has changed from the original release.
The Cutting Room Floor article on original GameCube release differences:
https://tcrf.net/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door/Regional_Differences#Vivian
Japanese script example of Vivian's original portrayal:
http://themushroomkingdom.net/pmttyd_j2e.shtml#vivian
"Transgender in Games: A Comparative Study of Transgender Characters in Games" by Emil Christenson and Danielle Unéus:
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1146698/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Article about Italian localization in video games by Francesca Di Marco, a former localization specialist for Square Enix, including a section on Vivian's portrayal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210607111528/http://www.fti.uab.es/tradumatica/revista/num5/articles/06/06central.htm
Pol Roca tweet and Bibiana name in the Spanish version [info and links provided by Rocko & Heffer]:
https://www.twitter.com/polroc/status/1702660171737059808
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumoIEFxjKU#t=1102s
My Nintendo review which discusses the restoration of Vivian's transgender identity in the English release of the Switch version:
https://mynintendonews.com/2024/05/21/review-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-for-nintendo-switch/
Attachment sources for "Looking for a gal!" Trouble Center mission Vivian interactions in the original game. Footage of the Vivian interaction in the French, German, Italian, and Spanish translations could not be found at this time:
English version ("Whoa! You sure are cute... But, um... That whole goth shadow thing is a bit... Creepy! There, I said it!"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI_xG-knJE8?t=39
Japanese version ("おお! これは かわいい。。。 ってキミ。。。 どっちゃなの?。。。 オトコ。。。 だよね。。。
ようするに オスじゃん!"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFTyRFZJO4&t=86
https://tcrf.net/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door/Regional_Differences#Vivian
Japanese script example of Vivian's original portrayal:
http://themushroomkingdom.net/pmttyd_j2e.shtml#vivian
"Transgender in Games: A Comparative Study of Transgender Characters in Games" by Emil Christenson and Danielle Unéus:
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1146698/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Article about Italian localization in video games by Francesca Di Marco, a former localization specialist for Square Enix, including a section on Vivian's portrayal:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210607111528/http://www.fti.uab.es/tradumatica/revista/num5/articles/06/06central.htm
Pol Roca tweet and Bibiana name in the Spanish version [info and links provided by Rocko & Heffer]:
https://www.twitter.com/polroc/status/1702660171737059808
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumoIEFxjKU#t=1102s
My Nintendo review which discusses the restoration of Vivian's transgender identity in the English release of the Switch version:
https://mynintendonews.com/2024/05/21/review-paper-mario-the-thousand-year-door-for-nintendo-switch/
Attachment sources for "Looking for a gal!" Trouble Center mission Vivian interactions in the original game. Footage of the Vivian interaction in the French, German, Italian, and Spanish translations could not be found at this time:
English version ("Whoa! You sure are cute... But, um... That whole goth shadow thing is a bit... Creepy! There, I said it!"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI_xG-knJE8?t=39
Japanese version ("おお! これは かわいい。。。 ってキミ。。。 どっちゃなの?。。。 オトコ。。。 だよね。。。
ようするに オスじゃん!"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIFTyRFZJO4&t=86
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