Nintendo includes transgender character in new ‘Paper Mario’ video game

The Nintendo Switch remake of the iconic role-playing game “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door” features a transgender character, the game’s creators confirmed.

The trans character, Vivian, originally appeared in the 2004 version of the game, which was released for Nintendo Game Cube.

In the new update of the game, released on Thursday, Vivian — who was born male — initially appears as a villain alongside her sisters, Marilyn and Bedlam.

The trio plot against plumber protagonist, Mario, before Vivian decides to leave her sisters behind due to their nonstop bullying.

“Truth is, it took me a while to realize I was their sister… not their brother,” Vivian states in the game. “Now their usual bullying feels heavier.”

The new version of “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door” doesn’t appear to be a woke reboot, however.

Interestingly, in the original 2004 Japanese version, Vivian was also transgender and subject to teasing from her sisters.

In the English translation, released that same year, the character was not trans. Instead, she was bullied because she was “ugly.”

The main difference in the new 2024 edition is that the teasing is toned down, with game-makers adopting a more celebratory attitude towards Vivian’s trans identity.

Meanwhile, Vivian is not the first transgender video game character to grace the console screen of late.

In February 2023, Harry Potter video game “Hogwarts Legacy” featured the HP world’s first ever trans character: Sirona Ryan, a barkeep who runs the Three Broomsticks tavern in Hogsmeade village.