What

Olivia: I still don’t understand what you’ve got against the Toads. Do you realize that even YOU were originally folded by a Toad? Olly: Of course I do! He’s the whole reason I’m doing this! That fool disrespected the very paper I am made of… He scribbled all over it! Now I bear the hideous scar of his negligence and disregard for origami… And he shall pay!

Olly’s goal, you will recall, is to both turn the world into origami, and to erase every Toad from existence. In the midst of creating Olly, the Craftsman recklessly wrote something on him—basically the equivalent of tattooing a newborn baby btw—which Olly perceived as an overall lack of respect for origami. Given that he has always been intended as the king of origami, it makes sense he’d take something like this and decide he has to be the one to stand up for all origami-kind.

The fact he sees the mark as a “hideous scar” also shows that this mark is something that has essentially tarnished him. Olly is not able to be a perfect representation of the boundless and beautiful art of origami, because his creator robbed him of the chance to be perfect before he even had a chance to be. And so he seeks to take back control, by ensuring origami is seen as superior, and by ridding the world of all irresponsible Toads. Because, “if you’ve seen one Toad, you’ve seen them all!”

All this, because the Craftsman wrote on him.

Except of course, we learn that what the Craftsman wrote on him was a message of goodwill, meaning that this was all just the biggest case of miscommunication in the history of Paper Mario… (semi-exaggeration)

“Dearest Olly, may you grow into a fair and kind king…”

You would think this might all make the Craftsman a pretty major character in the plot. After all, he has to contend with this series of events he inadvertently caused, right? This living being that he created is extremely bitter and hurt because of him, so surely he must feel remorse for this? He must wish to understand what happened to make Olly so angry, and to make it right somehow?

Nope…

He gets introduced mid-game as a plot twist about Olly and Olivia’s origins, and then effectively vanishes until after Olly has been defeated.

But we take what we can get! Right…?

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RECAP OF THE CANON (DIALOGUE + LORE)

When we meet the Craftsman, he’s trapped in a wall on a frozen-until-recently island somewhere out in the Great Sea. Through dialogue and exploring the location, you can find some little tidbits of information about him (and Olly). The conversation you have with him here is the only time he properly acknowledges his past with Olly…

Some dialogue, to refresh one’s memories:

Craftsman: I see. Olly…what have you done? You are correct, Olivia. It was I who folded your brother. I wanted to make him truly unique, so I used a secret technique to bring him to life. Olly was proud and strong…but very angry. He turned on me, trapped me in a realm between light and dark…which turned out to be just a wall, I guess. Craftsman: I had intended for him to be a part of the Origami Castle I was building for the Origami Festival. Both Olly the Origami King and his sister, Olivia, were to sit up top as the finishing touches. I don’t get to celebrate my craft very often, so I might have gone a bit…overboard. Craftsman: I cannot believe that Olly managed to fold you on his own, Olivia. He can use the Fold of Life. Origami has folded origami. It defies the natural order! I’m responsible for all of this. I wish I’d never used that darn Fold of Life technique… Craftsman: Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Your journey with Mario has made you strong, Olivia—and so kind! I may not have folded you myself, but…I’m proud of you. I don’t know how to stop Olly. I failed once. I’d only fail again. I’ll have to leave him to you two. Please, Mario…keep Olivia safe on your adventure.

So basically, he loves origami A LOT, and he created Olly (and designed Olivia) as part of the festival centerpiece using the forbidden Fold of Life. Despite everything, he can’t help you stop Olly, so he wishes you luck on your journey.

At this point in the game, that amount of information is fine. After all, you haven’t learned Olly’s true motive yet, his hatred for Toads. At this point, it just seems like Olly lashed out, and the poor Toad creator got caught in the crossfire.

Then, we see him again after Olly dies. And the first thing he has to say is…

Craftsman: Ah yes… I remember this paper well. Such a lovely royal purple… And Olivia! So good to see you making use of the giant-hammer technique I folded into your design.

…!?

Craftsman, that is your SON whose paper you’re looking at. Where is the regret you expressed earlier? And how could you congratulate Olivia for doing the very thing that took Olly’s life, mere moments after it happened? And how did you even know that she used the technique? And what do you mean the technique YOU folded into her, you didn’t fold her Olly folded her you only designed her!

Sigh.

After this, he turns his attention to the cranes…

Craftsman: Wait! There are an awful lot of cranes here. Is one of you attempting the forbidden 1,000-crane technique?!

Then Olivia asks him for help in folding Olly into a crane, and…

Craftsman: Very well, I will teach you. I suppose all of this trouble is my fault, in a way. After all, I was the one who originally folded your brother. This will be my last Fold of Life, then. Olivia…prepare to fold as you have never folded before!

Well, okay. I guess he acknowledges it after all. Somewhat.

Then Olivia makes her wish, dies (rip 😢), and we cut to the festival, where the Craftsman has more dialogue, albeit a very little.

Craftsman: Ah, Mario! Peach! Come take a look. My masterpiece is finally finished. You see? It’s a miniaturized Origami Castle…just like the one Olly made.

And that’s IT! Peach says some nice words about Olivia, to which the Craftsman contributes nothing, and then they all release their lanterns into the sky and thank origami for something or other.

In the 100% end scene, we see the Craftsman folded tiny, lifeless versions of Olly and Olivia, as if to honor their memories.

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A BRIEF ANALYSIS; OR, THE ISSUE WITH THE CRAFTSMAN

Obviously, this game is rated E for everyone, and it didn’t come out in 2007, so it was never gonna be uncharacteristically deep and sad. Though admittedly it does have quite a few sad moments that hit really, really hard, even if the long-term impacts of these moments is minimally explored. Bobby’s death, for instance, is honestly heartbreaking, alongside the fact that Olivia never got to say goodbye to him. Olivia’s death packs a similar punch, but to the audience, as we’re the ones who don’t get a proper goodbye.

I guess what I’m saying is, this game doesn’t shy away from having emotional moments, but given its rating, it still had to focus on the positives. That’s why, for instance, Olivia moves on so quickly after Bobby’s death (barring a little mention of him in the late-game).

The game was never going to have the Craftsman reflecting on his guilt, or feeling regretful over what happened to the origami siblings, post-game. But it could’ve had a little less emotional ambiguity, had they been able to develop the Craftsman as a character more.

As it stands, it seems like the Craftsman kinda cares, but also doesn’t care.

He’s not entirely neglectful, the way Olly saw him, because he shows care and pride for Olivia. But he doesn’t comfort her after what happens with Olly, nor does he appear to be terribly bothered by her loss.

He somewhat regrets the way things turned out with Olly, as hinted at by his dialogue. But he has zero interest in closure or making things right, nor is he at all sad when Olly dies.

Had we gotten more background on his relationship with Olly, beyond an exposition dump, it could’ve added more depth to the story. Instead, most, if not all, of his dialogue exists to forward the story, rather than giving him any characterization.

This also creates a problem: his involvement in the plot gets no closure. From his point of view, the perspective remains that Olly was angry for some reason, attacked him, and ran off. The Craftsman never gets to know that Olly was acting rashly as a result of miscommunication between the two…

Could this narrative issue be tied to the limitations they were/are under to not give too much characterization to mainline Mario characters? It’s certainly possible… So perhaps imagining what the game could’ve been like with these additions is pointless. Yes, we never would’ve gotten a more developed Origami Craftsman…

…That’s what fanfiction is for! :D

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WHAT CANON MISSED, AND HOW HEADCANON CAN FIX IT

Can you imagine what it would’ve been like if the Craftsman had learned that Olly’s sudden “angry” outburst was a direct result of being written on by him? That his hope and love for Olly had gone completely unheard, due to this misunderstanding?

Or what if Olly had interacted with the Craftsman again, at some point before his own end? Would would he say, if he had seen the true meaning of the message on his paper body?

In my opinion, these things are the biggest misses of the canon’s writing of the Craftsman. And they’re the exact things I tried to resolve in my own writing…

In The New Void (alternate ending/continuation of TOK that merges with SPM lore), the Craftsman plays a much more tragic role. His actions within the game’s canon were quite irresponsible, after all, and he pays the price by slowly being made aware of just how much a part he had to play in everything that has happened. He feels regret over it, and wants to make it right, though he doesn’t know how, if he even can, or if Olly is past saving now.

Through a series of convoluted events, a parallel of Olly’s canonical death scene plays out, except in this version the Origami Craftsman gets to apologize.

He knows Olly’s anger stems from the message he wrote. He knows he meant well, but that it hurt Olly anyway. And even though Olly’s committed his fair share of wrongdoings too, the Craftsman still takes responsibility for it.

It helps that he very clearly at this point sees both Olly and Olivia as people. As real living, breathing, lifeforms that exist because of him. As children, in a weird way. Children whose well-being he was responsible for, something he regretfully failed to recognize sooner.

This is an angle that, understandably so, was not explored in canon at all. That this Toad created LIFE, without thinking of the consequences. Life he intended to use as ornaments for showing off his craft during a one-off celebration. Something these living beings had no say in. What exactly was he expecting to happen? Was he expecting them to not have agency? To not have questions about the world and their place in it?

The Origami Craftsman was quite irresponsible. Even if you have to read between the lines to see it…

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CONCLUSION

I don’t know how to conclude this actually. I love the Origami King, and I love the Craftsman, even though he is flawed from a writing standpoint. They absolutely did what they could though and I’m glad for that!

A special shout out to the members of The Origami King discord, who inspired me to write all this!