Summary
This year’s GLAAD nominations have been announced which means we now know which games from the past 12 months will be celebrated by the awards for their LGBT+ inclusivity.Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Dooris one of those games, the remake nominated by GLAADfor reinstating a character’s trans identityafter it was omitted from the original version’s English translation.
The annual GLAAD Media Awards were created to celebrate LGBT+ representation across all forms of media in 1990. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that video games were welcomed into the mix.The Last Of Us Part 2,Baldur’s Gate 3, andLife Is Strange: True Colorshave all won GLAAD’s Most Outstanding Video Game Award since then, with Life Is Strange up for the award again this year.
The character in The Thousand-Year Door that has resulted in the Paper Mario remake being up for consideration is Vivian. A purple ghost, and one of three sisters, in the original Japanese version of the game, Vivian was trans. However, by the time it had been translated and localized for release in other countries, her identity had been lost.
All Thanks To Vivian Retaining Her Original Trans Identity
Rather than stick with those localized versions for the remake,Nintendowent with the original Japanese version of the game, giving Vivian her trans identity back. If anything, Nintendo goes beyond what it did with theGameCubeversion of TTYD to make sure it is clear to all those playing that Vivian was once a brother to her two sisters but is now a sister like them, noting that it took her a while to realize she was a sister too.
The decision to keep Vivian trans for the remake was largely celebrated by fans when details about the game started to emerge ahead of its release, and it’s great to see that has not quickly been forgotten. Paper Mario has some stiff competition if it wants to turn that nomination into a full-blown award, though.
Double Exposureis the Life Is Strange game that will aim to make it two GLAAD wins in three years for the series, nominated for having a bisexual lead character in Max.Dragon Age: The Veilguardwill likely be a frontrunner to win since, similar to last year’s winner Baldur’s Gate 3, it has a lot of LGBT+ representation via its relationships.Caravan SandWitchandSorry We’re Closedare also listed among the ten nominees.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2024)
WHERE TO PLAY
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a remake of the well-loved RPG first released on the GameCube. Relive this iconic adventure that turns 2D on its head and turns Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom into paper.
