.....well fine....but.....I still don;t get the relation.
Like what you said is....the truth, and although they are all interesting observations, but they are related to relevance only.....
(well except that dr mario one, it's more a priority thing, unless you consider it's more related to relevance, but anyway).
Because if I was trying to follow this up, it is true that paper mario is just ONE subseries....the fact he got playable in paper jam....to me, is unusual. This is why I keep mentioning the game, to me, it shows that they might not just want to let paper mario be confined in its series.....it might be the start of him having more appearances. Even without being the case....the roster exapnded so much that what;s really left in the main series?
But even if I was to talk about relevance.....it;s not really suited to be taken alone. Like, I would have expected to bring up what the character would reflect (though tbh, pretty much rosalina, jr and paper mario have a very interesting subset on their own) and the feel of their playstyle reflecting that (again, they all pretty much would sounds interesting) too.
Like I will tell the truth: it;s not just the artstyle. If it was JUST that, than it would feel natural for him to be a semi clone.....it just doesn't. it;s not like a character's diversity is defined by himself, it;s more how he would act and the way he would too. Paper mario, i actually tried to find a feel for him and I found out that it does differ from mario. Paper Mario is more someone that is quirky int he way that he would try to be attractive (or appealing if you prefer). This is why for me it goes kinda beyond just hammers, partners and stuff, it;s the way they do them.
Take G&W, it;s not just a moveset full of objects, it's the way they are animated, they reflect something that goes beyond just the moves that is more complex than G&W itself because it;s reflecting more than just him.....
keep in mind that the reasons i briefly mentioned the moveset potential is because pretty much everyone here seems to be aware of them.