Vivian

The youngest of the Shadow Sirens.
Vivian
Affiliation	Shadow Sirens
Abilities	Fire Magic
Relatives	Beldam, Marilyn (sisters)
Debut	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Vivian is one of the playable partner characters that were featured in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

Background

The Shadow Sirens themselves were a mysterious group of servants to the Shadow Queen. Of them, the leader Bedlam was known to have existed for the last thousand year. They spent their time towards working towards freeing the Shadow Queen. At what point Marilyn and Vivian came into the plot is unknown, but it is reasonable to assume it was not recent. When their alliance formed with the X-Nauts is unknown, but it is also reasonable to assume that it was a response to the ever approaching opening of the Thousand-Year Door. At which point, Beldam and her two sisters became 'servants' of Grodus.

The three shared a dysfunctional relationship. Beldam was the alpha leader of the group, Marilyn was the quiet follower, and Vivian was always the one sent for the odd jobs. She suffered all sorts of verbal abuse from her sister (and more, as Beldam threatened her with 'punishments' many times). Marilyn never did anything to intervene, leaving Vivian at the whims of her eldest sister's irrational behavior.

The Shadow Sirens were sent to defeat Mario, entrusted with a portrait of the plumber so they could find and defeat him. As usual with them, Beldam 'entrusted' it to Vivian who lost it (though the case seems to be that Beldam lost it). As such they let Mario pass by unnoticed, but soon find out his identity and engage him in battle. Though soundly defeated there at Boggly Woods, they are soon redeployed to fight him at Twilight Town. But when Mario loses his name and 'body' to Doopliss, he manages to gain the help of Vivian. After explaining his situation to her, she feels drawn to help him, not realizing his identity. When Doopliss reveals his identity, she at first rejects Mario. But when she realizes he was the only person truly nice to her, she comes back and helps him beat Doopliss. At that point she becomes a valuable ally for Mario, lending her cloaking and fiery powers to the team. It is implied that she develops a crush on Mario, one that is impeded by his relationship with Peach. Despite her feelings for him, she does her best to hide them.

After the Shadow Queen was destroyed, she reunited with her now reformed sisters. Along with the other partners, she rejoined Mario when he came back to Rogueport.

Gameplay

Outside of battle, Vivian can pull herself and Mario into the shadows, effectively hiding them from enemies. Being flat also allows them to slip under walls (provided the wall is moving toward them). Vivian's power is particularly useful for spying on birds, who won't say anything if they think someone is nearby.

In battle, Vivian has the following attacks:

• Shade Fist - Vivian will punch an enemy, and may set it on fire.
• Veil - For 1 FP, Vivian will pull Mario into the shadows to protect them from attacks. However, neither can attack during the following turn.
• Fiery Jinx - For 6 FP, Vivian can cause all enemies to spontaneously combust for some damage. They may also catch on fire.
• Infatuate - For 4 FP, Vivian will flirt with all enemies, which may confuse them for a few turns.

Vivian starts with 15 HP, but will progress to 20 and then 30 HP as her rank is raised.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Vivian has appeared as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and as an Advanced-rank Primary Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in both cases represented by her official artwork from The Thousand-Year Door. When fought in a Spirit battle, she would possess an invisible Mr. Game & Watch.

Trivia

• There is much confusion about Vivian's gender between the games. Though the English version is obvious about Vivian being a female, the original Japanese is far more vague. Though Vivian is also referred to as being in a group of sorceresses and sisters, Beldam calls Vivian a man (though it may be simply to be insulting). However both Vivian's character profile and Goombella's tattle describe Vivian as being male, though it could be based on hearsay since they are from the perspective of Mario and Goombella.
• Vivian has a Catch Card in Super Paper Mario, received after completing the Duel of 100 in Chapter 6. It can be sold for 378 coins.
  • #253 "It's Vivian from the last Paper Mario adventure. She was a great friend once she split from her sisters."