Tippi

"I'm going to believe in them... And I'm going to believe in HIM... most of all."

- Tippi

Tippi, also known by her real name Lady Timpani, is a Pixl and a major character in Super Paper Mario. She is introduced to Mario at the beginning of the game, teleporting him to Flipside to meet Merlon so that he can fulfill his destiny to save the worlds. She helps Mario in his quest by finding secrets, talking to him in cutscenes, and most prominently, providing tattle information on enemies, as Goombario and Goombella did in the first two Paper Mario titles. The name Tippi refers to the tips she gives to Mario in her tattles. Her real name, Timpani, is derived from the, a kind of drum used in orchestral music.

The player can use Tippi by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, causing her to tattle on enemies, search for hidden doors, and find other secrets. She resembles a butterfly, and is the first of the Pixls encountered by Mario. Unlike the other Paper Mario tattle partners Mario has had, Tippi tattles in third person, and she also remains onscreen regardless of the other active Pixl. After she is reverted to human form and has disappeared to an unknown location with Count Bleck, she can no longer be used as a Pixl, but she can be replaced by Francis's Tiptron at the cost of 999 coins (the maximum number of coins that can be held in the game). Her Catch Card is found on the tenth room of the Flipside Pit of 100 Trials.

Background
Prior to becoming a Pixl, Tippi lived in an unnamed village as a human girl named Timpani. At one point, she happened across an injured man known as Blumiere, lying at the base of a cliff. Despite recognizing him as a member of the Tribe of Darkness, she opted to do what she could to nurse him back to health, much to Blumiere's surprise. The two continued to see each other after his recovery and despite the protests of Blumiere's father, who opposed dirtying the blood of the tribe by permitting a union with a human. In light of threats to Timpani's safety, Blumiere proposed to her, suggesting that they leave their home dimension and spend the rest of their lives searching for a place where their love could flourish.

It was then that Blumiere's father followed through on the threats he had made; although the exact fate he subjected Timpani to is unclear, Blumiere was unable to find her even after searching through every world he could think to look. Unbeknownst to him, an injured, amnesiac Timpani was ultimately found in the interdimensional town of Flipside by Merlon, who used the power of his ancestors to transfer her soul into the Pixl known as Tippi. Meanwhile, distraught by the loss of his love and the role he had played in it, Blumiere adopted the alias of Count Bleck and stole the Dark Prognosticus from where his tribe had been protecting it for ages untold, seeking to fulfill its forbidden prophecies in order to bring about the end of all worlds.

Super Paper Mario
Tippi is first introduced to Mario after Count Bleck abducts Bowser, Luigi, and the Koopa Troop from Bowser's Castle - she brings him to Flipside and, along with Merlon, explains the events foretold in the prophecy of destruction, as well as how Mario matches the description of the hero in the Light Prognosticus. Tippi agrees to accompany Mario in his quest to find the Pure Hearts.

As Mario reunites with his friends and progress is made through the game, Tippi begins to recall memories of her past with Blumiere. At the start of Chapter 3, she is kidnapped by Francis, a nerdy chameleon, and imprisoned in his fort as a "rare collectible" that he names "Francine". This leads to Mario and company making their way there and battling Francis to save her. After his defeat, Tippi expresses her gratitude toward the heroes for rescuing her and comes to trust them more, and the Green Pure Heart appears from her, much to her surprise. Merlon later explains that it was sealed in the fort and could only be gained by strong feelings of trust and friendship.

Following Chapter 4, Tippi mysteriously falls unconscious, and Merlon reveals to the heroes how he had found and saved her from death, telling them she cannot survive much longer even in her Pixl form. Despite this, he is able to revive her and she chooses to continue travelling with the heroes, stating her desire to be near Mario. During their trek through the near-destruction Sammer's Kingdom, Tippi and the heroes encounter Count Bleck, who finally reveals the first hint of his true motives to them through the mention of the name 'Timpani'. Tippi is surprised by this, having heard the same name in her memories, but the count disappears before she can say anything more to him. She concludes soon after that she knew Bleck in the past but cannot remember when or how.

After Mario and his friends defeat Bonechill and obtain the eighth and final Pure Heart, Tippi recalls the last of her lost memories and finally learns to her horror that Blumiere is indeed Count Bleck. Despite this knowledge, however, she keeps her past a secret from the heroes as they travel through Castle Bleck to defeat the count, knowing that only his death can end the prophecy of destruction. After the battle is won, Tippi is caught between killing the man she loves and letting every world be destroyed, while Bleck himself begs for the heroes to end his game, desiring for the universe to be saved so that Tippi herself can live on.

Dimentio then appears and betrays the count, banishing Bleck, Tippi and a dying Nastasia to Dimension D before battling the heroes with the now-brainwashed Luigi and the Chaos Heart. While there, Tippi encourages Bleck not to give up, exclaiming that staying alive was how they were able to find each other again - her hope for all worlds, as well as the loyalty of Bleck's other minions, restores power to the Pure Hearts, which had been drained previously in the fight against Bleck. Tippi returns with them to Mario and aids him in the fight against Super Dimentio. Upon his death, however, the Chaos Heart remains intact - Bleck claims that Dimentio has left behind a shadow of his power to continue the destruction of all worlds. The heroes and villains are returned to the chapel of Castle Bleck, where Bleck and Tippi exchange vows and wed each other at long last, using the true love they possess as a last effort to shatter the Chaos Heart and save the universe. After this event, Tippi becomes a human again and she and Bleck disappear to an unknown location following their marriage.

The fate of Blumiere and Timpani is hinted at in two parts. The first is an in-game dialogue between them, which includes a mention of going to a "place" where they both could be happy together. The other occurs after the credits; Timpani and Blumiere are seen walking off into the distance on a grassy field. What is seen of the actual Timpani is a thin, dress-clad woman slightly resembling Princess Peach's sprites from the original Super Mario Bros.

Situations of unavailability
There are certain situations in the game when the player cannot use Tippi's abilities:
 * When Francis kidnaps Tippi, the player cannot use her at all during Chapter 3.
 * She mysteriously faints and cannot be used during Chapter 4's Interlude.
 * (Peach, Bowser, and all Pixls are unavailable.) When Dimentio sends Mario to the Underwhere in Chapter 6's Interlude.
 * (Mario, Peach, Bowser, and all Pixls are unavailable.) When Luigi fights Dimentio by himself in Castle Bleck.
 * (Luigi is unavailable.) In the first few moments of the Super Dimentio battle while Tippi is trapped in Dimension D.
 * After beating the game, she is permanently unavailable for the player to use as she is human again and has vanished to an unknown place with Count Bleck. However, players can buy Tiptron for 999 coins from Francis, who functions the same way.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tippi appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Tippi appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a trophy.

Super Mario-kun
In the Super Mario-kun manga series, Tippi has taken on a much more cartoony appearance, and now has a face and a visible body with an apricot coloring which includes arms and feet beneath her wings. While in-game Tippi ends most sentences with an ellipsis, in the manga, she is much more cheerful and upbeat (sometimes to the point of annoying Mario). Additionally, a much clearer silhouette of her as Lady Timpani makes an appearance, where she appears to have a shorter haircut compared to the one seen at the end of the game.

Personality
Tippi has a somewhat reserved personality, which is shown by the fact that almost all of her sentences end with an ellipsis. She often talks to herself about her past life, although she never really discusses it with other characters until the end. She is shown to be very caring and kind. She is not easily embarrassed: this is shown when she openly tells Mario of her love for Blumiere and makes it known that she "wants to be near Mario". However, she does get rather embarrassed when Luvbi makes fun of her for, what Luvbi interprets as, a crush on Mario and Luigi.

Tippi also appears to take an especially strong liking to Mario and tends to speak for him during cutscenes. She often does not get along well with characters who travel with the heroes, such as Squirps and Luvbi, though by the ends of their respective chapters, she generally comes to appreciate them more.

Prior to the battle with Fracktail, Tippi appears to recognize Dimentio immediately after he appears. The reason for this is never explained or even hinted at throughout the rest of the game. However, in the Japanese version of the game, this line more closely resembles recognizing him as a minion of Count Bleck, as opposed to knowing him personally.

Powers and abilities
Although Lady Timpani has no known powers, as Tippi she can see invisible objects and make them visible to the player. She also holds an abundance of information on the many different characters and enemies found throughout the game.

Tippi also has the ability to transport the heroes to Flipside independently of the Return Pipe, although the extent of which she can do this is unknown; as she claims later in the game that it 'just happens'. There are three times she demonstrates this power in-game:
 * When she first meets Mario in Bowser's Castle.
 * When the heroes first visit Outer Space and find they cannot breathe there.
 * Following the destruction of Sammer's Kingdom.

Catch Card

 * Card Type: Rare
 * Card Description: It's Tippi, your friendly...friend. And guide. Her name was Timpani before Merlon turned her into a Pixl.

Trivia

 * In an early version of Super Paper Mario, Tippi was originally present during the battle with Big Blooper in Chapter 3.
 * As noted above, the exact fate Timpani was subjected to by Blumiere's father is not directly stated in the game, and there are pieces of evidence that point in conflicting directions.
 * When recounting how he originally found Timpani, Merlon claims that she had been cursed to wander through worlds to the point of death. It is unknown how he would have known this with such certainty as his wording implies, though, especially as he admits that she had amnesia at the time and that he has no inkling of where she originated from.
 * In further dispute of the above, two of the memories recalled by Tippi at the end of certain chapters concern conversations between Blumiere and his father that took place after she had supposedly been cursed. This implies that she was present and overheard them somehow, in a manner that prevented Blumiere from noticing her in the process.

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Consilia Tippi