Nintendo has been nominated for a GLAAD award for its so-called “trans representation” in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024), a remade rendition of the 2004 GameCube classic.
This nomination stems from the English localization’s revisionist portrayal of Vivian, a character who was never transgender in the original Japanese script but has since been rebranded as such by Western activists and opportunistic localizers.
In the original Japanese version, Vivian is one of the Shadow Sirens, a trio of ghostly witches. He is explicitly described as “a boy who looks like a girl,” a well-known otokonoko archetype in Japanese media, and is frequently mocked by his sisters for it. Nowhere in the original game is Vivian identified as transgender; rather, he is simply a male character with an effeminate appearance.
This characterization is reinforced across multiple international localizations, as evidenced by direct translations:
French: “He pretends to be a girl but is actually a boy.”
Spanish: “Looks like a girl, but is actually a boy.”
Italian: Rewriting Vivian as “originally a man, but now a woman and proud of it.”
The only regions where Vivian was retroactively rewritten as transgender in the original release were Italy and Germany, and even then, this was purely a localization choice, not something rooted in the character’s original Japanese depiction.
The claim that Vivian was always meant to be trans is a complete fabrication by activists who refuse to acknowledge that the majority of translations remained faithful to the original intent, at least until now.
In the original 2004 English localization, Vivian’s gender identity was altered, not for the sake of “inclusivity,” but to simplify the script for a Western audience. The original dialogue, in which his sisters mock him for being “a boy who looks like a girl,” was replaced with generic insults, effectively removing the gender discussion entirely.
This change was likely made because the concept of effeminate men, crossdressing, or crossdressing characters was considered a faux pas in Western media at the time. However, in the 2024 remake, Nintendo of America and its localization team chose to restore the Italian interpretation, rewriting Vivian as a transgender character for English-speaking audiences.
Instead of faithfully preserving the original script and intent of the character, Nintendo’s revised English localization for the Switch remaster imposes an unnecessary, politically motivated rewrite to conform to modern Western ideological activism.
Localization should prioritize accurate translation, not the retroactive distortion of a game to fit contemporary ideological trends. Yet, like many corporations eager to appease activist groups, Nintendo has sacrificed authenticity in exchange for DEI brownie points. The fact that Paper Mario is now being applauded for “restoring” an identity that never existed in the original text is a glaring example of how far video game translations have drifted from their true purpose.
In both the party info and Goombella’s tattle log, Vivian is explicitly referred to as an otoko-no-ko, an effeminate male also known as a “male-daughter” in Japan but is commonly referred to as either a femboy or trap in the west, not transgender. That’s pure headcanon.
His catch card also uses the same term, オトコのコ, further reinforcing that he is 100% male and was never intended to be trans.
The Paper Mario situation is yet another example of how localization has completely abandoned its intended purpose. Instead of accurately translating content, modern localization teams have taken it upon themselves to rewrite narratives, injecting political messaging and identity politics where none originally existed.
Localization is no longer about faithfully adapting foreign media for Western audiences, it has become an ideological weapon used to “correct” so-called cultural flaws.
It raises an important question: if the 2024 remake deliberately rewrites an entire character as transgender, what else has been altered to fit modern sensitivities?
Quite a lot, actually.
Not only does the remake suffer from poor performance, being locked at 30fps whereas the GameCube original ran at 60fps, but its localization team has made other significant changes to align with today’s ideological narratives. For instance, any scenes depicting Princess Peach as inept or being encouraged to embrace traditional princess behavior have been removed, likely to erase the so-called “sexist” trope that women aren’t powerful enough to defend themselves and that they can’t be portrayed as damsels in distress.
Additionally, dialogue deemed “sexist” from Bowser, such as his remarks about the perks of women being silent has been altered, along with “fatphobic” insults like the use of the word “tubby.” Likewise, Goombas catcalling Goombella has been sanitized, stripping out suggestive remarks because, flirting is now considered offensive in today’s climate.
Nintendo’s GLAAD nomination isn’t about genuine representation, it’s an ideological reward for successful subversion. The truth is that Vivian, as originally conceived by the developers, was never intended to be a transgender character. But a small, vocal group of activists, aided by modern localization teams, has rewritten history to suit their agenda.
Other nominees alongside Paper Mario such as Dustborn, a game quite literally promoting White replacement, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, likely due to its inclusive transgender top surgery scars and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, all well-known for their overt LGBT themes and being total commercial flops, making it obvious that representation, rather than success and storytelling is the key metric for recognition.
GLAAD isn’t just an advocacy group; it’s an ideological enforcer determined to reshape media, including gaming, into a mouthpiece for LGBT activism. By pressuring companies to increase so-called “representation,” GLAAD acts as a gatekeeper, punishing studios that don’t conform to their diversity mandates while rewarding compliant ones with awards and media praise.
One of their recent claims is that 32% of today’s game developers are women or non-binary, a statistic that conveniently aligns with the industry’s rapid decline in creativity, quality, and commercial success. As gaming becomes increasingly obsessed with diversity and inclusivity initiatives rather than actual game design, the industry has suffered from a string of failures, underwhelming releases, and growing consumer disinterest.
But according to GLAAD, the industry’s woes have nothing to do with forced ideological shifts. Instead, they blame it on a supposed historical “lack of representation.”
Their reports push the narrative that gaming has always been prejudiced against LGBT characters, claiming the industry is “underrepresented” in this regard. Yet, they arrive at this conclusion by seemingly factoring in every single game ever made, regardless of genre, era, or intended audience.
Meanwhile, modern gaming is more oversaturated than ever with LGBT content, from token queer characters to entire narratives centered around identity politics. But for today’s crop of game developers and GLAAD itself, even near-total dominance isn’t enough, especially in a world where transgenderism has been aggressively pushed into mainstream discourse.
This isn’t the first time GLAAD has celebrated dubious “representation” in gaming. Past winners include The Last of Us Part II and Tell Me Why, both praised for their queer narratives by journalists despite negative audience reception. The recurring pattern suggests that games are no longer rewarded for artistic merit, but for checking the right ideological boxes.
Nintendo’s handling of Paper Mario is yet another example of how localization has been weaponized to reshape narratives rather than simply translate them. In an ideal world, translation would make content accessible while preserving the original meaning and intent of a work.
Instead, modern game localizers act as propagandists, distorting scripts to fit contemporary political agendas under the pretense of making games “more relatable” to Western audiences.
The Vivian situation is just another instance of Western localization teams hijacking Japanese games to push social justice narratives. A prime example is Guilty Gear -Strive-, where Bridget, a effeminate male character was rewritten as “trans” solely through the English localization, directly contradicting the original Japanese intent.
This trend not only disrespects the original creators but also misleads players into believing that a game’s original story was something it never was—twisted and paraded around like an endless victory for the world’s most insecure narcissists imaginable.
Nintendo’s GLAAD nomination is not a sign of genuine representation, it’s a reward for successful ideological subversion. The truth is that Vivian, as originally conceived by the developers, was never meant to be a transgender character.
Instead, a small but vocal group of activists, aided by modern localization teams, has rewritten history to serve their agenda.
By bending the knee to this revisionism, Nintendo has shown that even they are willing to retroactively alter their legacy to appease Western social justice warriors. This isn’t about representation, it’s about control.
And considering that Nintendo’s American and European branches seem to be actively blocking certain heteronormative games from releasing on the Switch simply because they feature attractive female characters or fanservice aimed at male audiences, it’s clear that these changes are part of a broader agenda.
Unless fans push back against these manipulations, the games they grew up with will continue to be rewritten—not to honor the original creators, but to serve the interests of activists who never respected the source material in the first place.
