10 Things Nintendo Wants You To Forget About Mario

5. Mario Befriended A Transgender Character

In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Mario befriends a member of the Shadow Trio known as Vivian who then becomes a playable party member after defecting from her villainous sisters. In the Japanese and PAL versions of the game, Vivian is described as 'One of the Shadow Trio, Vivian appears to be a girl but is really a boy', while Goombella's tattle reads 'That's Vivian of the Shadow Trio, she's the youngest sister...er, brother'. Vivian's sisters insult her by stating that she is a boy, whilst in the U.S versions there's no mention of Vivian's gender issues at all. It's assumable that the developers thought that Mario being associated with a transgender character might have been hazardous to Mario's popularity in western markets, hence the change. Also of note is Vivian's sprite appears in the game's data in the sequel, yet Vivian is no where to be seen in Super Paper Mario. This implies that the designers were considering an appearance, but decided against it. This entry is not particularly outrageous or controversial for any reason, but the censorship and re-modelling of the character's personality is the interesting part, as if Nintendo thought Vivian's gender identity issues were inappropriate for a game marketed at younger people.