In one of the possible storylines it is revealed that Vivien, a friend of Lord Jack, was in a relationship with his former fiancée Deirdre—before her apparent suicide—and was jealous that she chose Lord Jack over her.

In the first-edition manual for the North American release of the game, Birdo is referred to as a "male who believes that he is a female" and would rather be called "Birdetta", making her the first transgender character for Nintendo.[10][11] In the Japanese version, Birdo is referred as "Catherine" where it is also stated that the character is a man who wishes to be a woman In later printings, mention of Birdo being male was omitted, and further not included in most later games with the character