| “ | Yeah, thats' nice and all, but my hypno-powers kinda' say otherwise. Just stand still, K'? | „ |
| ~ Nastasia |
Nastasia (in Japanese: ナスタシア, Nasutashia) is the secondary antagonist of the 2007 Nintendo Wii video game Super Paper Mario. She was Count Bleck's secretary who has hypnotic powers, using them to brainwash people into serving the Count's cause.
Biography[]
Nastasia used to be a bat, as revealed by Carson in Flopside. She was caught in a trap, and was rescued by Blumiere, who at this point was searching for his lost love. Later, she returned, transformed into the same species as the count, and pledged eternal loyalty to him.
Nastasia was first seen in the wedding with Bowser, Peach, Count Bleck, Luigi and Bowser's troop. She uses her hypnotic magic on Peach when she refuses to marry Bowser in order to force her to agree to it. While she's initially able to resist, she is eventually forced to say "I do", which summons the Chaos Heart, which in turn, brings forth The Void that will consume all worlds, kicking off the plot.
Later on, she is seen trying to brainwash what remained of Bowser's forces to serve Count Bleck instead since it is revealed she's already done so with most of them. She also tries to brainwash Princess Peach after she wakes up in the castle after the wedding, but just as she corners her at a dead end, Dimentio teleports her away to Flipside to serve his own plans. However, she later succeeds in brainwashing Luigi into a minion of Bleck's who goes by Mr. L since Dimentio doesn't intervene, as allowing this to happens also serves his plans. However, when she's in private with him, Nastasia actually suggests to Count Bleck that it's not too late to stop what he's doing, a stance that only strengthens when they eventually find out that Tippi, the Pixl travelling with Mario and the others, is none other than Lady Timpani, the human girl he fell in love with long ago, since believing she was gone for good was the whole reason he's revealed to be doing this in the first place. However, by that point, he knew it couldn't be stopped unless he was defeated, so he acts like he's committed to seeing it through, but he also tells Nastasia that if she wishes to leave him, she may do so with his blessing. Though she isn't happy about it, because she feels she owes her life to him, she feels she needs to stay by his side, no matter his decision.
The other reason she insists on staying by Count Bleck's side is because it gradually becomes apparent she's in love with him, even though she knows her feelings will not be returned. Ironically, in turn, O'Chunks appears to be in love with her, despite the fact that she gives him numerous punishments for his failure to defeat Mario, such as writing a thousand-word report or singing a motivational song a thousand times.
Eventually, when Mario and the others reach Bleck's castle and confront him, he commands her to leave him to fight them alone, which she reluctantly complies with at his insistence. Once Bleck was defeated by Mario, Luigi, Bowser and Peach, she returns and becomes concerned over his state, at which point he reveals he was counting on them to defeat and subsequently finish him off to stop the Void and save all worlds from destruction as his was of atoning for his mistake and ensuring that Tippi would be okay. However, just as Tippi is trying to convince him that they've finally found each other and don't need to take it any further, Dimentio attempted to kill the weakened Bleck, but Nastasia jumped in front of him and took the hit, absorbing the full force of it to protect him. She was apparently killed by this attack, but after Dimentio, the Chaos Heart, and The Void were destroyed, she came back to life. However, this came at the cost of Bleck and Tippi vanishing as a result of declaring their love for one another to rejuvenate the Pure Hearts and use them one last time to seal the Chaos Heart. When she's filled in on what happened, she tries to act happy for the pair since they finally got to fulfill their vows, but breaks down in a fit of crying that Bleck is gone now, which makes her feel like she's all alone. However, O'Chunks and Mimi convincer her to cheer up, telling her that the count wouldn't want her to be sad for his sacrifice and that they can still honor him by creating the perfect world without war that he talked about creating with them. Upon hearing this, she calms down and resolves to set out with them to do this.
In the epilogue of the game, she can be found near one of the Pure Heart pillars in Flipside where she talks in a somber tone about how she felt she could never live up to Tippi and be as special to Bleck as she was to him. However, she also expresses hope that one day, she'll find a way to be happy and smile again.
Personality[]
Most of the time, Nastasia comes off as cold, strict and emotionless. However, she does also display a bit of a temper on a couple of occasions, like when Peach is suddenly teleported away before she can brainwash her, and most notably, when Mimi and Mr. L keep insisting on confronting the heroes again despite being instructed not to, indicating that she doesn't like it when things don't go according to plan or when others defy her or the count's orders.
More importantly though, as the game progresses, she begins to show additional layers to her personality. As it turns out, she is actually fairly empathetic, at least towards Count Bleck, and even before they find out that Timpani is still alive as the Pixl Tippi, she suggests to him while they're in private that it's not too late for him to turn back from his resolve to destroy all worlds, showing that she's at least somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of going along with something so extreme. However, she sticks by Bleck's side in spite of this, because she's both extremely loyal to him on account of him saving her when she was just a bat, and is even not-so-secretly in love with him, so she feels she has to stick by him no matter what he decides to do. However, once they find out that Tippi is indeed Timpani, she becomes even more opposed to the idea of him destroying everything since losing her was the very reason he was driven to that in the first place, and she begins to insist even more strongly that he has to stop what he's doing. Later on, she proves her devotion even more by taking a blast from Dimentio when he betrays Bleck and tries to kill him after he's defeated, seemingly dying in the process, but thankfully, she's revived after Dimentio is defeated and both the Chaos Heart and Void are stopped.
In the aftermath, she ceases her antagonism altogether, and along with O'Chunks and Mimi, resolves to honor Bleck's memory by trying to create the ideal world he talked about and, deep down, truly wanted. However, she is still rather morose and reserved, partially because she's still sad over his disappearance. She also shows an insecure side to her personality if Mario and the others talk to her in the post-game, where she open up about how she felt like she could never measure up to Lady Timpani in Bleck's eyes.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- She is the only one of Count Bleck's forces who is never fought against.
External Links[]
- Nastasia on the Heroes Wiki
- Nastasia on the Mario Wiki
- Nastasia on the Super Mario Wiki
- Nastasia on the Paper Mario Wiki
- Nastasia on the Nintendo Wiki
