Mimic : la métamorphe au cœur d'araignée de Super Paper Mario

Mimi: the spider-hearted shapeshifter of Super Paper Mario

1291 words | Reading time : 6 minute(s)

CharacterSuper Paper MarioCount Bleck

A model little girl who unscrews her head to become a spider. Mimic is Count Bleck's minion, the one who takes on the appearance of others to trap travellers more easily. This portrait covers her name built on copying, her imposture in chapter 2, her true form as a mechanical spider and the obsession with rubies that makes her strangely human.

There is one scene in Super Paper Mario that nobody ever forgets: a smiling little girl tilts her head, a crack rings out, and the skull starts to spin on itself until it ends up upside down. That is Mimic dropping the mask.

Within the inner circle of Count Bleck, she holds a place all her own: neither hulking brute nor shadow strategist, but a professional impostor. A portrait of the most unsettling character in the game.

Contents


A model little girl, in appearance only

Mimic shows up in the guise of a little girl with green pigtails, plain dress and frozen smile. Everything about her silhouette is calculated to disarm suspicion: she has a child's height, a child's voice and an insistent politeness.

The gap comes from her real personality, described as violent and cruel. She uses that innocent façade to lure travellers in and turn them into servants, a practice the game shows without ever softening it.

That contrast is the whole character: an antagonist whose main weapon is neither strength nor magic, but the ability to inspire trust.


A name built on copying

Her French name, Mimic, says exactly what she does. It comes from the English verb to mimic, “to imitate”, and it sums up her one and only talent: taking on someone else's appearance.

The power is not cosmetic. Mimic does not just look like someone: she borrows their place, their role and the people around them, long enough for the deception to hold up for several hours of play.

Among the minions of Count Bleck, every lieutenant has a speciality. Mc Astagne has the strength, Dimensio has the manipulation; Mimic, for her part, has the identity theft.


Merlie, the most devious imposture

Her most accomplished deception is passing herself off as Merlie, the charmer whose help Mario is looking for. Settled into her manor, Mimic plays the part with enough nerve to fool the hero and the player at the same time.

The sequence pushes the trick all the way to a TV game show where the fake Merlie answers personal questions. Birthday, favourite dish, favourite animal: answers that, in hindsight, say far more about Mimic herself than about the woman she is imitating.

It is also there that the character reveals her flaw: by talking about herself while believing she is covered, she lets slip what she really is.

Three identical Merlie lined up on a quiz show set
Three Merlie, only one genuine: Mimic's imposture forces the player to choose.

The true form: the mechanical spider

When the façade falls, the transformation is deliberately hard to watch. The head pivots upward, snaps back in a series of dry cracks, then starts turning until it locks upside down, eyes wide open.

  • The bow in her hair unfolds and becomes a pair of legs.
  • The arms and the eyes stretch out to form an arachnid body.
  • In this form, her lines appear in purple on a dark background, a treatment reserved for the most serious threats in the series.

It is this silhouette of a mechanical spider that Mario faces, not the little girl: the fight always begins with the mask coming off.


Rubies, wardrobe and whims

The game takes care to give her very specific tastes, and that is what makes her memorable. Mimic is obsessed with rubies, the precious currency of her chapter, to the point that her blush mark is shaped like one of those gems.

She is also one of the very few characters in the game to change outfits, purely out of a taste for fashion. Her diary, revealed by a rather tactless third party, describes a perfect world made of pools filled with precious stones.

These details serve no mechanic at all. They exist so that one thing sticks: behind the threat, Mimic is childish, vain and perfectly selfish.


Her place in the inner circle

Mimic serves Count Bleck with a zeal that never asks for an explanation. From him she receives a form of invincibility, which is taken away from her partway through the adventure — and it is precisely when she loses it that the fight becomes possible.

She shares the bill with Mc Astagne, the loyal colossus, and Dimensio, the jester who betrays everyone. Three ways of being a minion, only one of which rests entirely on lying.

Maybe that is why she left such a mark: in a game about lost love and the end of worlds, Mimic remains the small everyday cruelty, the one that smiles before it bites.


Mimic at a glance

French name Mimic
Original name Mimi
Game Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Side Minion of Count Bleck
Power Shapeshifting: taking on the appearance of others
True form Mechanical spider
Main imposture Passing herself off as Merlie
Obsession Rubies
Origin of the name From the English “to mimic”, to imitate

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FAQ

  • Who is Mimic in Super Paper Mario?
    Mimic is one of Count Bleck's minions. She appears as a little girl with green pigtails and uses that harmless look to trap travellers, while her real personality is described as violent and cruel.
  • Where does the name “Mimic” come from?
    It comes from the English verb “to mimic”, meaning to imitate. It is a literal description of her power: she takes on the appearance of other characters, to the point of holding their role for hours of play.
  • What is Mimic's true form?
    A mechanical spider. The transformation starts with the head: the skull pivots through a series of cracks until it ends up upside down, the bow in her hair unfolds into legs, and her lines switch to purple on a dark background.
  • Who does Mimic imitate in the game?
    Her best-known deception is passing herself off as Merlie, the charmer whose help Mario is looking for. She pushes the imposture as far as taking part in a TV game show under that identity.
  • Why is Mimic so hard to beat at first?
    Count Bleck granted her a form of invincibility. She loses it partway through the adventure, and only from that moment does the confrontation become possible.
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