Trans activists across social media are pretending to have an interest in Nintendo’s latest re-release of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
What’s the reasoning behind their curious interest in the remake of the cutesy 2004 classic? Egregious colonized localization of course. The re-release has altered in-game dialogue to misappropriate the character of Vivian, who in the Japanese version, was portrayed as a boy who dresses like a girl or an overly effeminate boy.
However, in the re-release, the translators have outright made the character transgender.
This is, of course, a perfect moment to remind you that Nintendo recently doubled down on ESG and DEI values and initiatives. Nintendo of America, in particular, has recently advertised a job opening for a localization specialist.
Nintendo of America was specifically seeking a localization production specialist who is knowledgeable about culturalization and DE&I-related topics. This role involves identifying potential “issues” and proposing solutions as needed.
We’ve previously discussed how Western localization of Japanese-made products often leads to content being altered or censored, with problematic dialogue being removed or replaced with embellished fanfiction.
The Japan Times published a column on localization, which essentially confirms that video games are deliberately altered for release in Western regions to avoid causing offense and to align with certain agendas. Video games are now being censored at their origin to comply with these regulations, while Capcom acknowledges that these changes are made for inclusive and cultural reasons.
Another example of egregious localization affecting a Japanese product for its Western release undoubtedly has to be Arc System Works and Guilty Gear Strive. The developers blatantly retconned the character of Bridget upon his reintroduction to the game, pandering exclusively to fringe activists.
Arc System Works threw decades of established lore out the window and made the bold declaration that the character was, in fact, a transgender woman.
Despite the character’s backstory, which detailed how Bridget was raised as a girl to avoid being killed due to village superstitions regarding the birth of twin boys prior to becoming a bounty hunter.
Now, the transactivists are actively discussing Paper Mario, because of course any man who doesn’t conform to masculine standards must inherently be considered transgender.
Japan is famous for originating various character tropes, such as “otokonoko,” which refers to a boy who looks like or behaves somewhat girlishly or has a feminine demeanor. Westerners often refer to such characters as “traps,” as it’s essentially a running joke.
Encountering a feminine man who captivates and surprises others with their charm, only to reveal their true identity as a boy, is a common occurrence in Japanese media, and it’s often quite amusing.
While some individuals may idolize such characters, notable examples of “traps” or “femboy” characters include Astolfo from Fate/Apocrypha, Ferris from Re:Zero, Nagisa from Assassination Classroom and for some fucking reason Samus from Metroid who transactivists continually try and pitch as being apart of their crazed cult.
Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (TTYD), is a member of the Shadow Sirens. In the Japanese version of the game, Vivian is depicted as a cross-dresser, a otokonoko or “femboy”.
The character’s gender is a point of minor discussion among other characters, but he has never explicitly described as transgender in the initial English release or even the native Japanese rendition.
In the original Japanese version, Vivian is described in a way that suggests he may appear feminine but is actually male. However, the original English release completely removed any reference to Vivian crossdressing, likely because around 2004-2005, gender dysphoria or transgenderism was commonly viewed as a mental illness, unlike today.
The World Health Organization officially removed transgenderism from its list of mental disorders in 2019.
When Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door was remastered for English-speaking audiences, the character of Vivian underwent modifications. All references to him being a boy were removed, and he was presented simply as ‘female.’
Whether a crossdresser or an effeminate man, the game previously used vague language whenever discussing the topic, still describing the character as male, thus leaving Nintendo’s exact intent for the character relatively unclear.
However, thanks to the modification of in-game dialogue in the remaster, this uncertainty regarding Vivian’s gender is no longer present, more rather it instead pushes the narrative that he is trans.
As shown in a video review of the title published by Nintendo Life, confirmation of Vivian’s transgender identity is now provided by the Shadow Siren himself right before joining Mario’s party.
Naturally, given that the original English translation completely omitted any mention of Vivian’s gender or unusual crossdressing behavior, activist journalists, such as Kotaku have used this as ammunition to justify the revised localization.
They’ve attempted to gaslight readers into the misguided belief that Vivian was always portrayed as being transgender in the original Japanese release, which is complete and utter bullshit.
However, it’s worth noting that one of the most obvious and egregious journalistic outlets, which has often been accused of displaying biases against consumers and heterosexuality while promoting inclusive entertainment for all, would never misrepresent information to push a narrative regarding gender politics. That’s crazy talk.
The deliberate deviation from the Japanese script to effectively alter a character’s entire gender isn’t the only issue with the remake. More importantly, while the game itself on Nintendo Switch boasts vivid and sharp graphics with higher resolution and greater quality fidelity, it operates at 30 frames per second.
In contrast, the original 2004 release for the Nintendo GameCube ran at 60 frames per second, offering a much more fluid and smooth experience for players.
The revised localization also removes a “problematic” scene where a group of Goombas effectively catcall Goombella. Given that this is the supposed “current year” it’s considered sexist and misogynistic for males to disrespect females in such a manner, hence the change.
If they’re going to significantly change content from the original English release, let alone completely diverge from the Japanese version, what justification do they have to assert that Vivian is “transgender”?
None. This assertion is simply the result of deluded transactivists. Authenticity doesn’t seem to matter to them; representation only matters when it aligns with their own personal beliefs.
They don’t genuinely care about the original dialogue or respecting the integrity of the characters. Instead, they force their own delusions onto others, treating every successful alteration as a trophy to boast about their legitimacy.
Colonizing Japanese creations to support their own delusion is considered “winning,” as is categorizing individuals into narrow boxes to seek validation. This group believes that crossdressers are women in denial, further affirming their sense of “winning.”
They lack the ability to create original stories and instead absorb established franchises and intellectual property to shape them into their own distorted image, as seen with the Tomb Raider tabletop RPG.
This is yet another instance of activists imposing their gender ideology upon us via video games, celebrating it as a victory over those who don’t share their views. Due to their insecurity about their own identities, they seek constant validation from governments, society, and corporations to affirm that transgenderism is entirely real and not a mental illness.
They project their insecurities onto the general population and commercial products, forcing characters to reflect their own issues rather than allowing audiences to connect with the characters’ goals or personalities.
Because they hate us and everything we enjoy. They are driven by Marxist ideologies that oppose others having fun, making it their mission to infiltrate our hobbies and communities.
They impose their twisted beliefs on us and cry foul when we object. They take pleasure in subverting society, delighting in making us feel hopeless, powerless, and insignificant as they corrupt everything we once held dear, projecting their own insecurities onto them.
One thing they don’t see is that there’s an ironic twist here, especially since Nintendo’s American branch recently sought a localization specialist with DEI expertise, yet chose to represent the transgender community through a ghost character.
This decision is particularly striking given the disproportionately high suicide rate among this small group of individuals, with over 40% of transgender adults having attempted suicide at some point in their lives.
