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Wario
Mario series character
File:Wario.jpg
Wario, in his traditional yellow-capped outfit.
First gameSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992)
Created byHiroji Kiyotake

Wario (ワリオ, Wario) is a video game character created by Nintendo. He made his first appearance as the antagonist in the 1992 Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Wario eventually spun-off into his own franchise, starting with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

The name "Wario" is Mario's name blended with the Japanese adjective warui (悪い) meaning "bad"; hence, a "bad Mario".[1] The character was created by Hirofuymi Matsuoka, who also worked on Kid Icarus and Metroid. Like Mario and Luigi, Wario is voiced by Charles Martinet, though Hiroshi Ōtake and Chikao Ōtsuka have also contributed.

While the character's original role was that of an antagonist; he would later become an anti-hero of his own series. He is greedy and manipulative (unlike Mario who is heroic and kind), and he will do anything to gain wealth whether it be good or bad. Wario has a bellicose cackle and an intense jealousy of Mario which fuels his fierce competitiveness.[1] Even though his adventures are fueled by his infatuation for treasures and wealth, the outcome of his adventures often benefit many of the people involved in them. In Wario Land 3 for example, he had agreed to save a Music Box World after he was told that he could keep any treasures or money that he found. Similarly, Wario inadvertently saved a princess from a curse cast upon her in Wario Land 4 while simply hunting for treasure in a mysterious golden pyramid.

Wario has been incorporated into virtually every Mario spin-off game since Mario Kart 64 in some form, which has even led to the creation of Waluigi, a character created to be the opposite of Luigi.

Since his appearances as a villain, Wario has become a more eccentric and comical version of Mario, with different abilities and adventures oriented around the acquisition of wealth as opposed to Mario's altruistic heroics.

Characteristics

Personality

Wario possesses negative characteristics such as greed, laziness, ruthlessness, and gluttony.[2] The character is most renowned for his greed and once was a rival of Mario's, although, since then, Wario has not wronged Mario immensely. He now occasionally works with Mario on the good side. According to a comic published in Nintendo Power, Wario hates Mario because he bullied him when they were both younger; in the comic, Wario was stuck picking Piranha Plants that would attack him while Mario picked turnips, Wario ends up getting flattened by Thwomps while attempting to flatten coins with Mario, and whenever they played cowboys, Wario almost always had to be the rustler that Mario, as sheriff, had to arrest. In the one time Wario got to be the sheriff, Mario would make fun of him.[3] For a while it seemed that Wario had no friends with the exception of his brother Waluigi, but with the introduction of the WarioWare series, he is shown to have many friends, such as Mona and Jimmy T.[4] According to Mario Party 6, he is secretly friends with Toadette.

Wario is also known for dishing out insults as well as receiving them. On the official Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour website for instance, he gives the reader the exact "reason" why Mario's so good. "What, are you cuckoo-crazy? He's a cheater! And he's not nearly as good as Wario is. He's not as handsome either. Wah, ha, ha, ha, ha! I'm such a stinker!!" He also teased Donkey Kong for being so temperamental on the Toadstool Tour. "Eh, he's a big baby. I saw him throw a barrel after bogeying a hole. What a crybaby! Wah! Wah! Ooh, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ah! He's also a big oogly ape! (blows raspberry)" He ridiculed Yoshi for his species being so old. "Yoshi? Argh, he's old school! And I mean old, like Jurassic. Him no good! Him never beat Wario! Wah, ha, ha, ha. I'll crush him like a grape! Crush, crush, crush! Wah, ha, ha, ha. I'm so rotten." Finally, on the topic of Shadow Mario, he comments, "Eh, Shadow Mario, Mario, it don't matter. Wario crush them all!"[5] Wario also has bad hygiene. This can be revealed by talking to one of the Toads as Wario in Super Mario 64 DS and going to World 3-5 for the first time in Yoshi's Island DS.

Despite Wario's negative personality and character, he has played the role of an anti-hero or neutral character in almost every game that he has appeared in since Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. He has been cast as a hero when fighting others who are more villainous, making his personal and moral flaws seem smaller, such as when he is victimized by the Black Jewel in Wario World.[6] Wario also teams up with Mario and Luigi in Super Mario 64 DS to defeat Bowser, but the three of them get captured in the process. And in WarioWare it is shown that he has feelings for his good friend Mona. Since his appearance in Mario Tennis, Wario has been paired with Waluigi, Wario's brother who is the opposite of Luigi.[7]

Appearance

Wario is a living caricature of Mario; he is very fat and short with muscular arms and an absurdly large mustache. He also has an Italian accent, but it is unknown if he is related to Mario, although he was once referred to as Mario's cousin in a Nintendo Power advertisement. Traditionally, Wario wears a plumber outfit similar to Mario's, although with some differences. Mario's outfit is red and blue, with brown shoes and an M on his cap, while Wario's is yellow and purple, with curly green shoes and an upside-down M on his cap (in comparison with Waluigi, who sports an upside-down L). However, since the release of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Wario has also donned a more casual outfit. He is known for his great strength which he uses to overpower enemies far larger than himself. He also makes use of various hats, which give him special powers in the same manner as Mario's mushrooms, fire flower and other items do. In many games, Wario is invincible and cannot die in two of his games. With the exception of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Virtual Boy Wario Land, Wario World, and Wario: Master of Disguise, Wario has the ability to take advantage of status effects, such as being set on fire or flattened. Nintendo Power comments on this, saying his bulk protected him from damage.[citation needed]

Wario also possesses a purple car, loosely resembling a 1960s Cadillac, dubbed the Wariomobile (or 'Wario Car'). It appears in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as Wario's default kart, and in Wario Land 4 in the opening cutscene and end credit sequence. However, if one beats the game with every treasure on the Super-Hard difficulty, he is seen driving, or rather, flying a green hovercar. The vehicle also makes a number of cameo appearances in the WarioWare titles, both in minigames and cutscenes. A similar car, the Brute, appears in Mario Kart DS.

Appearances

Main article: List of Wario games

Appearances as an antagonist

Wario made his first appearance in the Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the villain and final boss. In a commercial for the game, Wario attempts to hypnotize the viewers into serving him.[8] In the game, he took control of Mario's personal island and lived in his castle while Mario was rescuing Princess Daisy from an alien entity named Tatanga (as depicted in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy[citation needed]). The only way Mario could gain access to Wario's castle is to collect six golden coins in the possession of Wario's minions (one of which was Tatanga himself). He later returned to the Mushroom Kingdom and incapacitated Mario, Princess Peach, or Yoshi (depending on which character you chose) by dropping a bucket or another similar item on their heads from his airplane in Mario & Wario (only available in Japan for the Super NES). The player controlled a fairy named Wanda with the Super NES mouse, who assists one of the three characters navigate the level to Luigi, who is able to remove the object from the character's head.

Later in Wario's Woods, Wario makes an attack on the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Toad, Wanda, and Birdo to brave his forest in order to stop him. In the original Super NES version of Wario's Woods, Toad must battle many bosses before he can face Wario, while the NES version features Wario as the only villain. While Wario now has slanted eyes and thick eyebrows, he is depicted in this game with round cartoonish eyes and thin eyebrows.

Appearances as protagonist

File:Wario Land 4 screenshot.png
Screenshot from Wario Land 4, with Wario exploring in traditional side-scrolling adventure like Mario

After several appearances as an antagonist, Wario went on to star in his own series of platforming games, which are usually handheld. The first in the series, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, marked Wario's first appearance as a protagonist and introduced his first villains as antagonists, Captain Syrup and her Brown Sugar Pirates. Wario discovers that the Brown Sugar Pirates have stolen a statue of Princess Peach from Mario and that he is looking for it. Wario then decides to take advantage of this and steal it from Captain Syrup before Mario can retrieve it.

In his next adventure titled Wario Land for the Virtual Boy, Wario must fight his way out of a giant cave which houses several different worlds, gathering money along the way. The game features Virtual Boy-style pseudo-3D gameplay, allowing Wario to travel into the background at various points in the levels.

Wario Land II for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color continues the rivalry between Wario and Captain Syrup, who has a new team named the Black Sugar Gang. Captain Syrup and her gang loot Wario's castle, and Wario chases them to their lair on Kitchen Island to retrieve his treasure. After defeating Captain Syrup and the Giant Spear King, Wario recovers his treasure and returns home. Unlike the first two games, Wario's abilities are now gained through status effects. For example, he can be set on fire by the fire from a candle, allowing him to be set on fire and run uncontrollably in one direction until he bursts in flames, allowing him to burn through certain objects. Instead of having a life-meter like in his first two games, Wario loses coins when he takes damage, even in the event he ran out of coins, he would not die, he was invincible. Wario Land II also featured secret exits in its levels, which allowed for the player to experience alternate boss battles and endings. There are five end boss battles and one more battle before the player can experience the actual ending. These boss battles were very interesting for the player, since one attack would automatically end the boss for the player, and they'd have to retry by reaching the room once more.

File:FireWarioshot.PNG
Wario set ablaze in Wario Land 3.

In Wario Land 3 for the Game Boy Color, Wario is trapped in a Music Box World, and before he can leave he must help a mysterious figure regain control of his world by defeating a horde of monsters. Only until the figure promised him all of the treasure that he finds along the way did he agree to help. This game introduces a new villain, Rudy the Clown, who would later appear in Dr. Mario 64. Unlike past games, Wario is not set on a linear path, and can collect any treasures available to him. He also lacks all of his innate powers (with the exception of jumping and walking), and must find them as he makes progress in the game. Just like Wario Land II, Wario is invincible, and the bosses do work around the common fact that being harmed once ends the battle.

After reading about a treasure-packed golden pyramid deep in the jungle in Wario Land 4 for the Game Boy Advance, Wario travels there in his Wariomobile. He must retrieve four pieces of jewelry (each guarded by a boss) in order to get to the final treasure and defeat the Golden Diva, the master of the pyramid, and also the one who transformed a princess named Shokora into a cat, who appears throughout the game. Unlike the last two Wario Land games, Wario is no longer invincible, and this is also the first in the Wario Land series to feature a health meter.

File:Babywario.jpg
A baby version of Wario in artwork from Yoshi's Island DS

Wario World for the Nintendo GameCube is the most recent Wario platformer, and is a departure from typical Wario platforming games in how it plays. It was co-developed by Treasure and Nintendo, and is a 3-D beat-'em-up/platforming video game. Unlike the Wario sidescrollers, Wario World focuses on more heavily on action, although there are still many platform jumping and puzzle-solving sequences. Wario gets his hands on a mystical Black Jewel, which eventually destroys his castle and turns all of his treasure into monsters. Throughout the game, Wario will encounter Sprites trapped in small boxes. Once Wario defeats the Black Jewel, the Spritelings will reward him with a new domain. Depending on how many Spritelings, treasures, and cash, he will get one of two domains—if he does not collect enough wealth and Spritelings, he will be given a shack, but if he does, he will be given a castle. The game got a good deal of negative press, most attributed to the ease and length of the game.[9] As in Wario Land 4, Wario has a health meter.

Wario also appears as playable character in the remake Super Mario 64 DS for the Nintendo DS, but he must be unlocked using Luigi to defeat a boss named Chief Chilly. He has abilities that Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi do not, such as being incredibly strong, being able to break large, black bricks, and also being able to turn into Metal Wario with a Power Flower (unlike the original Super Mario 64, wherein Mario could become Metal Mario). Wario can also use the Wing Feather in Versus mode, as well as his Piledriver and Wild Swing-Ding abilities from Wario World.

Wario: Master of Disguise is the next game in the Wario Land series for the Nintendo DS. Released on March 5 2007, the game allows Wario to transform into various different forms of himself, each allowing Wario certain abilities.

Baby Wario

Wario appears in Yoshi's Island DS as baby Wario. In the game, he teams up with Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Bowser, Baby Peach and Baby Donkey Kong. He has a very powerful magnet that is able to attract coins and metal boxes. He allows Yoshi to make normal eggs. He is only available in a few levels and at the end of world 3, leaves Yoshi in favor of the Bandits and their treasure.

WarioWare series

File:Wario WWare.gif
Wario as he appears in the WarioWare, Inc. series.

The WarioWare series follows Wario starting a video game development company, and hiring his friends to help. Wario starts this company in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (which would later be remade as WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ for the GameCube) for the Game Boy Advance after seeing a report on a new "killer app" video game titled Pyoro on television. He then hires his friends to help him make his games. In most WarioWare titles, after they make the profit from the video games, Wario attempts to take all of the proceeds, but is foiled in the end. Each microgame is a product being sold by WarioWare, Inc., and last between three and seven seconds. The series has spawned several sequels available across all of Nintendo's current consoles and handhelds.

In Wario's next game WarioWare: Twisted! for the Game Boy Advance, Wario's Game Boy Advance was accidentally put into Dr. Crygor's machine, causing it to lose its face buttons but gain a tilt function in the process, which inspired him to create games based on the tilt function.


In WarioWare: Touched! for the Nintendo DS, he is walking down the street after having stolen a Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP, but trips and drops them into a sewer hole. However, an old man floats up, and asks him if he dropped the GBA systems, or if he dropped the 'fancier one.' Wario says that he wants them all, and then lunges at the Sewer Guru, knocking both of them into the sewer. Wario comes out with the fancier system, and has no idea how to play it until he finds the stylus. After winning a game, he decides that this idea would make a ton of money, and goes to get his friends to help out. Near the end, Wario walks down the street and trips near the same sewer hole. The Sewer Guru comes out and smacks him over the head as revenge.

Wario also appears in WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii. Wario stumbles upon an old temple, and when he comes to the Form Baton (similar to the Wii Remote), he notes its inspiration for a new series. He then escapes Indiana Jones style (a gigantic boulder chases him when he picks up the Form Baton). The Form Baton is returned, however.

Other game appearances

File:WarioStarfi.jpg
Puffy Wario assists Stafy in a cameo appearance in Legend of Stafy 3

Wario debuted in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. After the release of Super Mario Kart, he did not appear in a Mario Kart game until Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64. He has since appeared in all Mario Kart games released after Mario Kart 64, including Mario Kart Super Circuit for the Game Boy Advance, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the GameCube and Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, he is associated with Waluigi, and his unique kart is the Wario Car. Wario is among the lightest of the heavyweights in the Mario Kart series; he features great ramming power, but bad acceleration and off-road handling.[citation needed]

Wario also appears in Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64. Unlike the other Mario sports titles, Wario's character plays without any unusual quirks. Wario has appeared in every Mario Golf game, including Mario Golf: Advance Tour for the Game Boy Advance and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour for the GameCube.

Wario has appeared in almost every Mario sports game since the first two Mario Tennis games for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. In the Game Boy Color version, Wario is a secret unlockable character, while he is available from the start in the Nintendo 64. He was featured in Mario Power Tennis for the GameCube, sporting a machine that shocks himself to hit harder and a machine that extends his racket. Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the Game Boy Advance was the first Mario sports title since Mario's Tennis for the Virtual Boy to not feature Wario. In these games, Wario is a very powerful character with moderate speed, and is second only to Donkey Kong and Bowser in power. Mario Superstar Baseball features Wario as a team captain. He is also a team captain in the GameCube title Super Mario Strikers, a soccer game. Like in most other Mario sports games, he is a powerful character in Superstar Baseball and Strikers.

The Mario Party titles feature several characters from the Mario series as playable, including Wario. Wario is one of the original six playable characters and has been a playable character in every Mario Party game, with the exception of Mario Party Advance, which only features Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Yoshi as playable. Unlike the Mario sports titles, there is no difference between any of the characters outside of voice and appearance. And while Wario's first appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series was as a trophy (as well as an alternate outfit color for Mario in both Smash Bros. games to date), he is set to appear in the upcoming Wii title, Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2007.[10] Wario appears in the first trailer in his WarioWare-style biker outfit as opposed to his plumber outfit and is shown using the "Wario Waft", a move which involves explosive flatulence. He is also shown, in the second trailer, to move in a frame-by-frame style of movement very much like Mr. Game and Watch from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

File:WarioSSBB.jpg
Mario fighting against Wario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Legend of Stafy 3, Stafy encounters Wario in World 8. Throughout this world, Wario assists Stafy with completing the levels, giving the player four different treasures - a Wario cap, a Wario nose/mustache combo, a copy of WarioWare, Inc. with a Game Boy Advance, and a pile of gold. In each level, Wario is affected by one of his three more common status effects - Puffy Wario, Fire Wario and Bubble Wario, all of which Wario uses to help Stafy complete the level.

Wario also makes several minor appearances in various other games. He appears in various minigames in Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros., both for the Nintendo DS. He is, however, a playable character in Yoshi's Island DS for the Nintendo DS as a baby, which marks the first time that Wario has been seen as a baby, along with fellow villain-turned-hero Donkey Kong. Baby Wario's special ability is to use a magnet to attract them to metal objects. The Game & Watch Gallery series replaces Mr. Game & Watch with various Mario characters in the modern version of Game & Watch games, including Wario. Wario appears in such modern versions as Helmut, Ball (Game & Watch Gallery 2), Mario Bros. (Game & Watch Gallery 3 and 4), Rain Shower, and Fire Attack (Game & Watch Gallery 4).

Wario makes a number of cameos as well. One of the tracks in Uniracers is called Wario Paint, a reference to Mario Paint for the Super NES. In Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance, there is a WarioWare, Inc. poster on the wall of Yoshi Theater. Interestingly, Wario was also supposed to make a cameo appearance in the Starbeans Cafe at one point in development, alongside several other Nintendo characters. In his scenario, Wario is offered some coffee, but does not like the taste.[11] He also makes a cameo in Pilotwings 64 in the Little States stage after the player shoots Mario's face on Mt. Rushmore, turning it into Wario's. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the GameCube has a badge called the W Emblem badge, which changes the colors of Mario's clothes from red and blue to yellow and purple, the same as Wario's.

Wario in other media

The Super Mario Adventures graphic novel, which is a collection of comics originally serialized in Nintendo Power, features Wario in two of the stories. This comic was illustrated by Charlie Nozawa, written by Kentaro Takekuma, and localized into English by Leslie Swan. It features a variety of storylines, including a story of Wario's past and his relationship with Mario, explaining Wario's rivalry with Mario.[3]

Various Wario merchandise has been released, including plush dolls[12] and stickers.[13] There is also a series of Mario Kart RC cars, featuring Mario, Luigi, and Wario in their respective karts.

Wario also made two brief appearances in the third episode of Robot Chicken along with the Mario Bros. in the 3 Fast, 3 Furious segment.[2] In one scene he was seen starting the race, but did not appear in the race afterwards. However, he later appears to explain how the blue shell from the Mario Kart series works after Mario fires it.

References

  1. ^ "Wario World". Nintendo. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-09-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Wario Land 3". Nintendo of Europe. January 1st, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b Takekuma, Kentaro and Nozawa, Charlie. "Mario VS Wario". Nintendo Power vol. 44. January 1993.
  4. ^ "WarioWare". Nintendo. January 1st, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour — Mario Golf TV". Nintendo. Nintendo.com. 2003-07-28. Retrieved 2007-04-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (June 20, 2003). "Wario World review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Wario Power Tennis!". Nintendo Europe. February 14th, 2005. Retrieved 2006-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Super Mario Land 2". Video Game Ads. Gamepressure.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-08-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Wario World Reviews for the GameCube". gametab.com. 2006-01-01. Retrieved August 23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Characters". Smash Brothers.com. Nintendo. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2006-08-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ W., Dan (2005-11-15). "Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: Lost text". The Mushroom Kingdom. Classic Gaming.com. Retrieved 2006-08-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Super Mario Bros. Plush Figure Set". GKworld.com. Retrieved August 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "MERCHANDISE MANIA - Mario stickers". Super Mario Brothers HQ. Retrieved August 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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