Beldam

"Mmmmmmwee hee hee hee! I have no quarrel with you...but I simply can't allow you to hunt for the Crystal Stars."

- Beldam

Beldam is one of the two central antagonists (alongside Sir Grodus of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and the leader of the three Shadow Sirens, which consists of herself and her sisters, Marilyn and Vivian (who is later replaced with Doopliss). She is more than 1,000 years old and is the oldest of the three sisters. She and the Shadow Sirens work with the X-Nauts to find the Crystal Stars and open The Thousand-Year Door. Beldam and her sisters are reoccurring enemies that appear many times throughout Mario's adventure in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, making numerous attempts to halt his progress. She and her Sirens always appear during even numbered chapters and are fought a total of two times. In the end, Beldam is revealed to have been the one who arranged for the events of the story, using even the X-Nauts as pawns in her scheme.

Background
"Let's go, my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! Come! We've got a job to do!"

- Beldam

A thousand years prior to the events in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian were servants of the Shadow Queen. After she was defeated and sealed by the four heroes, Beldam and her sisters created a plan to revive her so they could serve her once more. They soon begin to spread rumors of an ancient treasure that had been sealed behind the Thousand-Year Door and could only be opened with the seven Crystal Stars, hoping to lure the unsuspecting into gathering them and breaking the seal, reawakening the Shadow Queen.

Beldam and her sisters found out about an organization known as the X-Nauts and became acquainted with their leader, Sir Grodus. They enlisted in his services, and Beldam later informed Sir Grodus of the Magical Map that is contained inside of a Treasure Chest. However, the four heroes had placed a charm on the chest so that it could only be opened by someone who is pure of heart. Considering this, Beldam and Sir Grodus decide to have someone else open it for them.

Therefore, Beldam decided to search for a pure maiden, and found Princess Peach. Beldam failed to capture Princess Peach immediately after she opened the chest due to being in public view of Rogueport's residents and an encounter with "a strange old man" (most likely Toadsworth). As a result, Princess Peach mailed the map to Mario, inviting him to go on a treasure hunt with her. However, by the time Mario arrived at Rogueport, Princess Peach has been kidnapped by the X-Nauts. Sir Grodus interrogates Princess Peach for a small portion of time, asking about the whereabouts of the map. She refuses to tell him, but accidentally does so after one of the X-Naut soldiers tells him that a "dude in a red shirt and blue overalls" defeats Hooktail and obtains the Diamond Star.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Most of the Shadow Sirens do not recognize Mario when they see him as their sketch is missing. Beldam eventually finds the sketch and recognizes Mario as soon as he comes back. Later, the Shadow Sirens engage Mario and company in battle, and are vanquished. Thus, the Shadow Sirens retreat and return to the X-Naut Fortress, leaving Flurrie's necklace behind.

Later on, Beldam informs Sir Grodus of the Superbombomb, which will defeat Mario. Sir Grodus reluctantly sends Beldam and her crew on another mission due to his frustration. This time, they are sent to Twilight Town, but Beldam somehow misplaces the Superbombomb. Then, Beldam decides to leave Vivian outside to search for the Superbombomb. After Beldam and Marilyn are finished with their nap, they find out that Vivian is no longer there, and recruit Doopliss to take her place.

Beldam is seen again during the events of Chapter 6, where she attempts to obtain the Garnet Star before Mario. During Mario and company's ride on the Excess Express, Beldam makes it her sole mission to stop them from reaching Poshley Heights at all costs.

Beldam has Doopliss board the train disguised as the famous actor, Zip Toad, so that nobody will suspect anything. By the time Mario, the group, and Pennington arrive at Poshley Sanctum, they uncover Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss stealing the Garnet Star. As soon as they leave, Pennington reveals to Mario and company that "Garnet Star" they stole is a red herring, and tells them that the real one is hidden within the sanctum somewhere.

During the events of Chapter 7 and 8, Sir Grodus and the Shadow Sirens devise a plan to successfully open the Thousand-Year Door. He leaves Lord Crump in charge of guarding the base, as well as the Crystal Star that they find in Rogueport prior to the beginning of the game. Beldam has Doopliss disguise himself as the professor to trick Mario and company into opening the door. "Professor Frankly" informs the heroes that Sir Grodus found a way to open the door without the Crystal Stars, and ends up entering the Palace of Shadow with Princess Peach. Beldam and the Shadow Sirens wait for Mario and company in the "outside" area of the Palace of Shadow, and reveal to them that "Professor Frankly" is actually Doopliss, and engage Mario in combat once again.

Later on, after Mario and company defeat Bowser and Kammy Koopa, Sir Grodus takes Princess Peach and manages to escape to the Shadow Queen's resting place. Declaring himself the new ruler of the world, Sir Grodus unleashes her, which blanketed the world in eternal darkness by her presence. He then presents Princess Peach to the Shadow Queen as a vessel for her spirit. After she possesses Princess Peach, Sir Grodus commands her to destroy Mario and company, but fails in his attempt. After the second strike to Sir Grodus's head, Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss appear. She then explains to the Shadow Queen that she orchestrated all the events that occurred throughout the game. The Shadow Queen congratulates Beldam and the Shadow Sirens for their hard work and offers Mario and company a chance to join her. They refuse, and engage the Shadow Queen in combat, eventually defeating her with lots of support from the team. Princess Peach morphs back into her normal state and Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss retreat.

At the end of the game, it's revealed that Beldam renounces her villainous ways now that the Shadow Queen has been defeated. She apologizes to Vivian, promising to never mistreat her again. Vivian accepts Beldam's apology, and now lives peacefully with Beldam and Marilyn in Twilight Town.

Super Paper Mario
While Beldam does not physically or visually make an appearance in Super Paper Mario, she and Marilyn are still mentioned in Vivian's Catch Card description.

Personality
Goombella states in her Tattle information that Beldam has a "very unpleasant disposition", treating all group members except for Marilyn as scurrilously as possible. She tends to blame her own mistakes on Vivian, such as convincing Vivian into believing they were her doing. Beldam constantly berates and insults her, referring to her as "ugly" and "useless" and forcefully "punishing" her teammates. Presumably because of this disrespect, she also seems to withhold disclosing to Vivian about her true plans about using Sir Grodus. Her disrespect also is not limited to Vivian; after Vivian leaves the group and is replaced by Doopliss, she refers to him as "freak-in-a-sheet" or "freak-sheet", as well as telling him to "shut up" in Chapter 8.

As leader of the Shadow Sirens, Beldam is the "brains" of the group and she is the one who usually comes up with their plans. Despite Beldam's constant forgetfulness and displays of incompetence, she has successfully tricked Sir Grodus's into releasing the Shadow Queen and getting his body destroyed in the process.

Powers and abilities
Although Beldam is physically weaker than the other members of her team, she makes up for it by using powerful magic abilities. Beldam possesses cryokinetic abilities, which she uses to freeze Mario and his partners, causing them to be immobilized for at least two turns. Beldam has various other abilities as well, such as increasing the size and attack power of her teammates, as well as giving them more attack turns. Beldam also has the ability to do the exact opposite to Mario and his teammates. Her other magical abilities are slowing Mario and his partners down, giving her teammates "fast" status, and the ability to poison her opponents. As with her sisters, Beldam also has the ability to use the Veil technique, where she can sink through the shadows and eavesdrop on other peoples' conversations (as she demonstrates in Chapter 6, where she hears from Mario and his partners that the next Crystal Star was at Poshley Heights). However, she has never been seen utilizing that ability in combat and only uses it during the various cutscenes that take place throughout the game.

Quotes

 * For a full list of quotes, see here.


 * "The honorable Grodus has need of us? Then we arrive without delay!"
 * "Fear not, sire! For I, Beldam, will return with what you seek!"
 * "Let's go, my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! Come! We've got a job to do!"
 * "SILENCE, YOU DITZ! How DARE you talk back to me like some rebellious child?!? It's clear to me that the only rationale your type understands is force... So, for your punishment, I'll be taking that necklace you just found. Yes, so sorry."
 * "Oh, what IS it, Mr. Mustache? I have no business with you, so scram! Right NOW!"
 * "Mmmmmmwee hee hee hee! I have no quarrel with you…but I simply can't allow you to hunt for the Crystal Stars."
 * "Those who seek names are often disappointed, but if you insist, we'll tell you. We are…"
 * "Vivian! What are you babbling about?!? It's 'Shadow Sirens', you nincompoop! I don't see three beauties! I see two, but then there's you, and you're PLUG–UGLY!!!"
 * "Shut up, freak!"
 * "Hey! You! Freak-sheet! Pull it together, will you? Don't make me punish you!"

Field Tattle
Outside of battle, Goombella can use Tattle on Beldam when Mario first comes across the Shadow Sirens in Boggly Woods and again after Mario defeats the Shadow Sirens and Doopliss in Palace of Shadow.
 * Boggly Woods
 * "This shady woman is certainly selfish and mean! You see how cruel she is to her own sister? What a total meanie! I wonder what went on between them..."
 * Palace of Shadow
 * "That's Beldam of the Shadow Sirens. Remember? Vivian's sister? I'm totally surprised she followed us all the way out here, though. And what was that plan she was yapping about, huh? This sounds bad..."

Trivia

 * Beldam's name comes from the word "beldame", which is used to describe a sorceress or a hideous woman. It also comes from the word "bedlam" (with the L and the D switched), meaning chaos or disorder.
 * Beldam shares some similarities with Dimentio from Super Paper Mario; both are magicians initially believed to be a mere minion to the main villain, but secretly plotting behind their master's back. They are both later revealed to be the true mastermind behind their game's main events.
 * However, in Beldam's case, she does not attack Grodus after he is defeated, nor is she fought as the game's final boss (with the Shadow Queen taking these positions instead).

Brunhilda Nerea