Summary
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorhas been nominated for the Outstanding Video Game award at this year’s GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Awards. The award nomination forPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Dooris tied to the inclusion of Mario’s ghostly companion Vivian, a trans-female character who joins Mario on his quest.
The nomination is for theremake ofPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorreleased in May 2024. The game that it’s based on was released in 2004, and while it also featured the shadowy Vivian as an enemy-turned-friend, her status as a trans woman varied depending on the region of the world the game was being played in.
The media monitoring organizationreleased its list of nominees for the 36th annual GLAAD Media Awardson January 22.Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s inclusion on the nominees list, while definitely tied to Vivian, may also relate specifically to the English-language version. In the original game from 20 years ago, all versions acknowledged Vivian’s gender identity except for the English version, which left it out of the list of reasons she was bullied by her sisters. However, thetrans representation inPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’s remakewas restored in the English version, much to the delight of the trans gamer community.
The Nintendo RPG starring Mario is up against nine other games for the award, which will be handed out at the official awards ceremony on March 27. As in past years, several of the games on the nominees list are from independent development studios, butPaper Marioalso faces competition from a couple other AAA titles. One of these is another RPG, BioWare’sDragon Age: The Veilguard, which allows players to travel with and possiblyget romantic with Taash, a refugee Qunari warrior who comes to terms with their nonbinary identity over the course of the game. The other, time-bending adventure gameLife is Strange: Double Exposurefrom developer Deck Nine and publisher Square Enix, acts as a direct sequel to 2015’sLife is Strangeand brings back timid photographer Max Caufield, who is bisexual, as the protagonist.
IfPaper Mariomanages to take home the award, it would mark the second year in a row that an RPG earned the trophy. Last year’s awards ceremony sawBaldurs Gate 3add another awardto its extensive list, winning overHorizon Forbidden Westand narrative adventure titles includingStray Gods: The Roleplaying MusicalandGoodbye Volcano High. Prior to that, the awards ceremony in 2023 crowned hero shooterApex Legendswith its Outstanding Video Game award.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)
WHERE TO PLAY
Join Mario and friends on an epic paper adventure: A classic story unfolds on the Nintendo Switch system.Collect the Crystal Stars before the bad guys do: The X-Nauts are after the treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door! With a map from Princess Peach—and the help of a few locals—Mario must journey through a colorful world made of paper to find it first.Surprises abound in this deep and engaging tale, where everyone’s got something to say and it’s often not what you’d expect! Here are just a few of the colorful characters you’ll encounter along the way.Master your badges and timing-based attacks to impress the audience in a theatrical twist on turn-based RPG combat. Make use of all the abilities that come with being cursed—er, conveniently made of paper—like folding into a plane to cross big gaps or turning sideways to slip through narrow openings.
