Theory: Madame Clairvoya is a Shaman

Abstract

Argument 1: The Shamans from Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario are depicted as magicians and fortune tellers. Many use Crystal Balls to predict the future and guide Mario on his adventures, usually by reading the Stars. They are revealed to be the descendants of the Tribe of Ancients in Super Paper Mario, a people who had magic powerful enough to predict the distant future and transfer spirits of the dead into “Thinking Tools” called Pixls.

Argument 2: In Luigi's Mansion, Madame Clairvoya is a fortune teller who uses a Crystal Ball to read Mario’s items and guide Luigi. Her senses from reading the Crystal Ball are incredibly similar to those of the Shamans, with both seeing locations and people from the present or near future within their Crystal Balls and interpreting what they see into advice for the heroes. It’s also stated that Madame Clairvoya can see nearly 49 days into the future thanks to her close connection to the spirit world.

Argument 3: Madame Clairvoya wears similar clothing to many Shamans, particularly Shaman women, such as long robes, a headscarf and a veil covering her mouth. While the Shamans have largely been covered by shadows throughout their appearances thanks to their outfits, they are described as humans several times in Super Paper Mario, which aligns with Madame Clairvoya’s clearly human appearance.

Argument 4: Madame Merlar from Paper Mario and Merlumina from Super Paper Mario both return as ghosts long after their deaths and continue to serve as helpful guides, as is the case with Madame Clairvoya.

Argument 5: Madame Clairvoya describes the Crystal Ball she uses as a "symbol of [her] clan”. This clan could very well be the Tribe of Ancients, whose descendants are shown to consistently use Crystal Balls to perform their work.

Argument 6: The Japanese name of every member of the Tribe of Ancients and their descendants follows the same naming conventions, with all of their names being a play-on-words with the addition of the endings "ēru", "āru" or simply "ru", originating from the Japanese name of the Shaman species in Super Mario RPG, "Supēru". This also applies to Madame Clairvoya, whose Japanese name is “Madamu Miēru”.