Dimentio
- “Master of dimensions... Pleaser of crowds... I am... Dimentio!”
- —Dimentio, Super Paper Mario
Dimentio is a magical jester, a major antagonist, and one of the two main villains, the other villain being Count Bleck, in the game, Super Paper Mario. His name appears to be a pun on "dementia", referring to his apparent insanity, and "dimension", the planes of existence which he can manipulate. Initially a minion of Count Bleck, Dimentio is a powerful mercenary magician capable of several feats, such as teleportation, duplication, and invisibility. Like Mario and Mimi, he has the power to flip between dimensions, and is in control of a dimension of his own, Dimension D. Dimentio is one of the "four" main ones of Count Bleck's Army (who serve as major bosses through the game), along with O'Chunks, Mimi and to a lesser degree, Mr. L, who are the strongest minions of Count Bleck.
History
It is unknown where Dimentio is from or who he really is and how much of an effect he's had on the game's backstory, but it's made apparent through the story that he was never truly loyal to Count Bleck. He was originally a freelance mercenary who Count Bleck hired, probably for his dimensional skills. He sees being a minion of Bleck as the most convenient way to start his plans and joins him as a result to fulfill his own nefarious desires. Dimentio has shown to be very cunning and capable of initiating his own plans without the notice of Bleck or his other followers. Residing in the shadows of Count Bleck's army, Dimentio carefully plans and executes his scheme to take control of the Chaos Heart. In Count Bleck's service, Dimentio waits for Count Bleck to create the Chaos Heart and form the Void. He plans to use its power and destructive purpose to wipe out all worlds and create brand new ones in which he controls. Dimentio plans to accomplish this by using the heroes of prophecy to collect the pure hearts and use them to destroy Count Bleck so that he will be able to claim the Chaos Heart for his own purposes.
Once Bleck forms the Chaos Heart, Dimentio patiently waits for the hero mentioned in the prophecy to appear. Dimentio is first shown at a meeting between Count Bleck and his other followers where he makes mild insults to some of the other minions. Eventually, Nastasia mentions the appearance of the possible hero, which sparks Dimentio's interest. He decides to go with O'Chunks, who was sent by Bleck to take care of Mario, to see this hero. Dimentio watches and tests the abilities of Mario by sabotaging Fracktail, the robotic guardian of the second pure heart, and making it attack Mario. Mario defeats the mechanical guardian, which ultimately leads to its death, and acquires the second pure heart. This proved Mario's abilities to Dimentio who began to put his plans in order.
When Dimentio sees Mario as the hero, he moves his sights to Peach who was abducted and used in the birth of the Chaos Heart and is being held at Castle Bleck. Dimentio concludes that she will be the second hero and warps her from Castle Bleck to Flipside to join Mario. It seems that Dimentio did the same with Bowser, who woke up in the Bitlands with several of his minions, although it was never explicitly stated. Eventually, after Mario defeated O'Chunks and Mimi, Count Bleck calls upon Dimentio to dispose of Mario. This gave Dimentio an excuse to test Mario and his companions' potential. Dimentio does indeed face Mario and tests his abilities again at the Dot Wood Tree, but this time in Dimension D. Mario proves worthy, as Dimentio had expected, but believes that the heroes must be stronger when the battle with Bleck arrives.
Upon his return to Castle Bleck, Dimentio next gains knowledge that Luigi is the ideal host for the Chaos Heart's power and he will use it to spread darkness. After acquiring this knowledge, Dimentio makes use of his ability to turn invisible to spy on Bleck and Nastasia. He learns that Bleck has an emotional side and this could be used as a weakness to make it easier for the heroes to defeat him. While Luigi is in Nastasia's mind control and turned into "Mr. L," Dimentio keeps careful watch of his skills to see if he is worthy of being the one mentioned in the Dark Prognosticus as Bleck previously stated. Dimentio now is in need of a tool to control Luigi so that he can use him to possess the power of the Chaos Heart. He meets an associate, most likely King Croacus IV, in The Land of the Cragnons and acquires two Floro Sprouts, which are plants that are put on people's heads to be mind controlled.
Dimentio takes the opportunity to once again test Mario and his friends; this time using O'Chunks and, at the same time, test the Floro Sprouts to make sure they function properly for their future use. O'Chunks was once again sent by Count Bleck to defeat the heroes. He meets them in the Land of the Cragnons and is about to engage them in another fight when Dimentio interrupts him to test the heroes and the Floro Sprout. First Dimentio warps O'Chunks to Dimension D to test the heroes. Once they defeat him, a Floro Sprout that Dimentio planted on him puts him under mind control, a form of O'Chunks he calls O'Cabbage. Dimentio programmed the Floro Sprout to make O'Chunks faster and more unpredictable. O'Chunks is defeated again and this more than proves to Dimentio that Mario is indeed the chosen one and is almost ready to battle Bleck.
With the Floro Sprouts and a means of manipulating Luigi in his possession, Dimentio next planned to join the fourth hero with the other three. He knew Luigi would be the fourth hero, so he needed to release him from Bleck's control and reunite him with the other heroes. He needed a time and place, however, where this deception wouldn't be discovered. He came up with the perfect plan to insure that Luigi would be reunited with the heroes and still keep his plans a secret. He coaxed Bleck's henchmen, Mimi and Luigi (but not O'Chunks due to his recent failure) by telling them of their rewards they would get from Bleck for defeating the heroes in the next world (just on the edge of destruction). The world, Sammer's Kingdom, was indeed obliterated by the void, but it remained in a withered state. This would be the perfect area to "murder" Luigi and send him to the Underwhere, a place where those whose games have ended are judged. This would release his mind control and also have him meet up with Mario as Dimentio planned to send him and the other two heroes to the same place.
The Pure Heart Mario acquired in this land was powerless from the destruction, but it could be repaired in the Underwhere. If Mario would be sent here, he would repair the pure heart and meet up with Luigi, killing two birds with one stone for Dimentio. Dimentio "murders" Luigi, and then quickly does the same to Mario, Peach, and Bowser in Merlon's house in Flipside in a very similar fashion. While it appeared that Dimentio ended all their games, he actually used his magic to temporarily destroy them and send them to the Underwhere rather than actually ending their games for good. Mario was eventually able to repair the pure heart and meet up with Luigi and the other heroes and return from the Underwhere. Dimentio reported to Bleck that his henchman, Mr. L/Luigi, had betrayed them and joined the heroes in order to avoid any suspicions of deception.
As the heroes gathered the last pure heart, Dimentio began to put all final preparations in order. Before doing so, he told Bleck that Tippi had uttered Blumiere, which was Bleck's true name. This proved to Bleck that Timpani, the woman he loved, was truly alive. Dimentio did this to weaken Bleck emotionally and make it all the easier for the heroes to defeat him. During the course of the hero's journey through Castle Bleck, Dimentio created hundreds of clones and also manipulated the reflection of the castle mirrors to confuse the heroes as he shoots energy spheres at them. In addition, he gives them a chase through all the previous worlds (including the World of Nothing), in a game of "Magic Tag". Dimentio was merely feigning his efforts to stop the heroes in order to make sure that his deception is not revealed until the right moment.
When Peach and Bowser are presumed dead in Castle Bleck, Dimentio approaches Mario and Luigi, reveals his intentions and gives the brothers the opportunity of joining him to destroy Bleck. In actuality, Dimentio was planning on using two Floro Sprouts to mind control Mario and Luigi if they agreed, so that his plans would unfold exactly as planned. While Dimentio explains how he's been "helping" the heroes the whole time, Tippi can still see the insanity behind Dimentio's nature. Mario and Luigi refuse to work with him, which makes Dimentio resort to another alternative. He insults Luigi, who then forces Mario and Tippi to leave so that he can handle Dimentio by himself and prove his strength to the villain.
Luigi fights and beats him, but this was all a ruse to get Luigi in Dimentio's grasp. Dimentio appeared to commit a suicide attack, but he was actually planting a Floro Sprout in Luigi's unconsciousness. With this, Dimentio's plans were almost complete and in full fruition, all that was left was Bleck's defeat. Dimentio waited in the shadows during the battle between the four heroes and Bleck, ready to destroy his former master once and for all. Prior to the battle, Nastasia learned of Dimentio's true nature as a violent and psychopathic traitor. She anticipates that Dimentio might trap Count Bleck in Dimension D should he choose not to murder him or fails to do so. She informs the other minions of Dimentio and goes off to save the Count and tell him of the true evil. Bleck in the meantime was defeated and the Pure Hearts were used up in the battle, allowing Dimentio to shoot a burst of energy to finish the Count off. Nastasia arrived and stepped in front of Bleck to save him, absorbed the shot instead, and seemingly died. Mocking Nastasia for her sacrifice, Dimentio took control of Luigi through the Floro Sprout which reverted him back to Mr. L and took control of the Chaos Heart.
He combined Mr. L and the Chaos Heart to form Super Dimentio and sent Bleck, Nastasia, and Tippi to Dimension D to torture and kill them later. He becomes one with his creation and decides to end the lives of the heroes as he has no further use for them. Transforming the room into his image and claiming Castle Bleck as his own, Dimentio demonstrates incredible new powers that are amplified by the Chaos Heart. Super Dimentio laughs at the heroes' efforts in battle as he is shown to be invincible. He eventually starts to use his magic to wipe out the heroes and all worlds in one fell swoop. In Dimension D, Bleck loses all hope as nothing can stop Dimentio without the Pure Hearts. Tippi and O'Chunks and Mimi, who came to find Bleck, urge him not give up hope. Through Bleck and Tippi's love, the Pure Hearts are regenerated after the battle with him. Tippi is able to escape from Dimension D thanks to the Pure Hearts' power and uses them to heal Mario and his companions.
With the Pure Hearts' power, Super Dimentio becomes vulnerable and engages in a final showdown with the other three heroes. On the verge of death, Dimentio expresses disbelief at how his plans could fail when he did everything the prophecy required. Tippi and the heroes explain that nothing is decided entirely on fate and it was Dimentio's one mistake to assume that his prophecy was irreversible. Nevertheless, Dimentio smiles and reveals one last trick to insure everyone in existence will die with him. With his last breath, Dimentio leaves a portion of his power behind to continue controlling the Chaos Heart to wipe out all existence. Uttering one final "Ciao", the last remains of Dimentio explode prodigiously and are utterly obliterated. Before exploding, though, he spits out an unharmed Luigi, but the power of the Chaos Heart continues to destroy all worlds.
Count Bleck, no longer evil, reveals that the only way to destroy the Chaos Heart is through true love. He and Tippi exchanged vows at the same altar where the union of Peach and Bowser took place and where the Chaos Heart was created. This new union between Count Bleck and Tippi activated the full potential of the Pure Hearts, which cancelled out the energies of the Chaos Heart and Dimentio's remaining power. This caused the Pure Hearts and those linked to them to disappear, however. Thus, Count Bleck and Tippi sacrificed themselves to save all existence and return all worlds to peace. With the Chaos Heart destroyed, the void closes, Nastasia is revived, and all worlds return to peace, including the ones that were destroyed by the void. It is assumed Dimentio was completely destroyed and sent to the Underwhere.
Powers and Abilities
Dimentio, being a magician, is capable of many special abilities and powers. Being a master of Dimensions, Dimentio is able to flip between them like Mario. Dimentio can also create his own in which he controls such as Dimension D and give him additional power and support.
Dimentio can teleport and shoot a seemingly unlimited amount of energy spheres at his foes. He can also duplicate himself and deliver twice the amount of pain with his clone. This power also does not seem limited as Dimentio made hundreds of clones of himself in Castle Bleck in the final chapter. A method, which proved to be the most effective, is his murderous magic. He is able to create a compact magic field around his victims in which he simply snaps his fingers, which causes several explosions within the field. Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi were all nearly killed in this way. Dimentio's 'Warp' used by nearly all the villains at some point also has its own distinctive appearance and sound. A square expands then contracts on the teleporting object, making it disappear with a sound while a small shockwave distorts the air around it.
Dimentio's lesser abilities, usually used by him for acquiring information, are hovering and being able to turn invisible. It is unknown if Dimentio had these powers prior to his servitude to Bleck, or if Bleck had granted him the powers as he had done with the other minions.
Personality
Dimentio has a very dark personality and has been shown to be a very disturbing and intelligent character. He at first seems to be a very silly and lighthearted villain, but his true nature and intentions are much more sinister. He himself comments on how he is "always deadly serious". While he acts as though he is merely an aid to Count Bleck, his true purpose is to steal the Chaos Heart from Count Bleck to control The Void and destroy all worlds, so he can build perfect new ones of which he is the ruler.
Dimentio is repeatedly referred to as a psychopath by Tippi and has shown traits of this type of characterization. He always bears a smile and a mind filled with insults and unusual similes to throw at his victims. Even when committing acts such as murder, manipulation, and abduction, Dimentio never flinches and continues to grin and tell sadistic jokes. The only moment where Dimentio is shown to be shocked is when he is defeated and on the verge of death. However, even in this state he regains his smile and reveals that his last act is to kill all living beings. The fact that he never ceases to grin when committing such acts furthers the concept of him being a psychopath and, therefore, is incapable of feeling any remorse.
Despite his apparent insanity, anger and hatred towards certain individuals, Dimentio usually keeps a very calm composure throughout the story. He never shows any signs of being nervous and seems very confident in his abilities and plans. Dimentio's calm composure throughout his acts hint that it's not the first time for him to commit them. He views his goals in a very different manner than others in the game. Dimentio believes that his intentions and plans are justified and not evil. His understanding of good and evil is what's right for him is good and what's bad for him is evil. Through the lens of this very slanted understanding of good and evil, Dimentio is able to justify his acts of murder and deception through this philosophy. At the same time however, Dimentio is able to see that the heroes believe him to be evil and uses that to further taunt them. So, while Dimentio believes his intentions are noble, that will not stop him from saying his plans are evil to taunt the heroes for helping him.
Dimentio has not shown any sympathy or concern for anybody or anything, seeing Bleck's tragic back-story and broken relationship with Tippi as a weakness for Bleck and aspects that can be preyed upon to be suited into his plans. The value of a person's life to Dimentio is measured solely on how useful they can be for him and not by how good or evil they are. Throughout the story, he seemed to have a mutual respect for Mario and the others, but then quickly decides to end their games when they no longer had a purpose for him. Dimentio despises his fellow henchmen and especially his master, Count Bleck. Dimentio considers the rest of the minions fools for their loyalty towards the Count as well as their own respective weaknesses. Dimentio is shown to be utterly disgusted and resentful of Bleck and his intentions, but still knows the value of working in his services. This contributes to Dimentio's character as a figure that never overlooks any moments of value and does whatever he needs to even if it means serving someone he despises.
Dimentio, while highly psychotic, has also shown to be an extremely intelligent character. While his explanations are often odd, they are also eerily logical and posses a certain truth to them, hidden within odd similes. He is able to observe others and see what their strengths are, as well as their weaknesses. He uses them to his advantage in any way he can and at the most appropriate moment. Never showing signs of nervousness or fear, Dimentio simply takes advantage of a new situation should his original plan not work out well. This shows that he is able to formulate complex plans not only in advance, but also when the situation changes from his original designs. Manipulation and deception are his best tools and manages to not only manipulate the heroes but his own associates as well. He also seems to possess much common sense as he is the only character (besides Nastasia, who was the one who brainwashed Luigi in the first place) to notice that Luigi was Mr. L, something not even Mario picked up on.
Dimentio uses everyone around him to the fullest of their abilities in order to further his own goals and desires. He sees others as simply pawns and that once they have no further value to him, they have no reason to live, as their usefulness has run its course. Dimentio manipulated almost everyone around him, even his master, Count Bleck, by preying on his emotions and love for Tippi. Dimentio seems incapable of understanding emotions or, if he does, does not care in the slightest to take them into consideration. This is one of the factors that led to Dimentio's downfall as he did not understand nor believe that the emotions of love and trust were capable of powering the pure hearts and destroying him and the Chaos Heart. While Bleck has a tragic origin, Dimentio's origin is shrouded in mystery and he seems to have no motive for his plans other than a hunger for power and control.
Dimentio is constantly planning every step of his plans and it is never clear what his intentions are until the end of the game. Playing both sides of the battle, Bleck and his army, and Mario and his companions, Dimentio furthers his plot and is still able to fool Bleck into thinking he is still serving him. Bleck is too obsessed with his own destructive desires to see the true threat is right under his nose. When everybody learns of Dimentio’s true nature, it was too late. Nastasia was apparently the only one who caught word of Dimentio's betrayal and told the others. Even then though, she temporarily lost her life at Dimentio's hands while Bleck and Tippi had to sacrifice theirs to stop his last action of destruction.
Dimentio is one of the more evil characters in the game as a villain with a sadistic and warped sense of humor. He is willing to do anything at the expense of other lives and has no conscience or guilt for his actions, murdering people while making a joke and then uttering his line "Ciao". Dimentio is willing and intends to kill everyone in existence to ensure the creation of his new, perfect worlds as his plans require the destruction of all living creatures. Even Dimentio's last action was one to insure the death of trillions, showing his insanity even near death. The reason for Dimentio's evil and insanity is never revealed, hinting that Dimentio has no reason or motive for his evil and is simply driven by a lust for power, or perhaps his heavily implied insanity.
It is unknown what Dimentio's idea of a perfect world is, but he has clearly shown that he will go to great lengths to insure its creation. It has never been made clear if Dimentio wants a world without war as he only jokingly states that no one likes that kind of stuff when discussing the prospect of a new world with Bleck's minions. It can be just as equally assumed that Dimentio would crave a world made of war as he has clearly shown a very twisted personality and violent demeanor. Dimentio's lack of any clear motive, intense cruelty, and psychopathy arguably makes him one the most evil villains in Mario's rogues gallery.
Allegiance
Dimentio's allegiance is a major plot point in the game and is not revealed fully until the final chapter. Apparently, Dimentio approached Count Bleck on his own at first, offering to serve him. Bleck turned him down, however, for reasons that were never revealed. It was only after reading about him in the Dark Prognosticus that he allowed Dimentio into his forces. It is unknown what was written about Dimentio in the Dark Prognosticus, but Dimentio is apparently "the dark one" mentioned in the sinister book as opposed to Bleck. If Bleck read this in the Prognosticus, this might have been the reason for the villain enlisting Dimentio's help in order to ensure his plan for the destruction of the universe.
Dimentio is seen with O'Chunks, Mimi, and, a later minion, Mr. L at each of the meetings of Bleck's henchmen. Even before betraying the Count, he holds disdain for all of Bleck's other followers making his loyalty questionable at best. At meetings, Dimentio seems to be harboring deep hatred for Bleck and his followers, but is able to contain it with mild insults. While the other minions continuously give Bleck compliments and have some sort of bond with him, Dimentio barely speaks to Bleck. Dimentio only has a conversation with him if it furthers his own plans or if he can obtain valuable information. Dimentio seems to have a great amount of raw hatred at Bleck, which may contribute to his standoffish attitude toward him. It seems that Dimentio hates Bleck because the Count's only reason for his plans is for a fallen relationship, something Dimentio sees as a weakness.
Dimentio eventually turns on Bleck, and starts trying to thwart Bleck's plans and further his own. He casually begins to help Mario along, and even tries to convince the party to join him. Bleck wants to end all worlds in order to end his own life, whereas Dimentio wants to end all worlds in order to become king of a universe of his own creation. Their difference in motive is the reason Dimentio gives for betraying Count Bleck. However, it is also possible that Dimentio only joined Count Bleck and feigned allegiance to him in order to orchestrate his schemes, which he may have been made even prior to his servitude to Bleck.
Ultimately, Dimentio despises Bleck and only serves him out of his own needs. Bleck and his minions are nothing but pawns to Dimentio and seeks to kill them all once their use has run out. By the end of the game, Dimentio traps Bleck in Dimension D to torture and kill him along with his lover, Tippi, and the rest of the minions, showing the true hatred that Dimentio has to his former "master".
Quotes
- Main articles: List of Quotes in Super Paper Mario#Dimentio/Super Dimentio, List of Quotes in Super Paper Mario
Trivia
- Mysteriously, Tippi seems to have known Dimentio before the events of Super Paper Mario. She recognizes him immediately on their first encounter in the game, during the dialog shortly before Mario battles Fracktail.
- In Flopside, if one listens to the bartender Carson's stories, there is one about Dimentio that seems to hint at him possibly being the one who wrote the Dark Prognosticus.
- The seemingly good Shaman-like character, Merloo, is known to have similar abilities and description as Dimentio.
- It is interesting to note that Dimentio was never around Tippi when she uttered "Blumiere", hinting that Dimentio knew Count Bleck's tragic origin the whole time. Of course, he may just have been invisible at the time.
- Dimentio resembles a Jester from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, however his face looks more like that of a Phanto from Super Mario Bros. 2.
