Wario (ワリオ in Japanese) is a fictional Nintendo video game character who was created as an antagonist to Mario and has since become the protagonist of his own games. He first appeared in the 1992 video game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main villain and final boss. He is voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices the Mario, Luigi, and Waluigi characters.
The name "Wario" can be taken to be a blending of Mario's name with the Japanese adjective warui (悪い) meaning "bad"; hence, a "bad Mario".[1] In the United States, the name is often seen as a play on the word "war" and on the fact that the letter W resembles an upside-down M. As Wario is Mario's evil doppelgänger, his actions are often the opposites of Mario's, just as the first letters in their names appear to be opposites.
Appearance
Though Wario could pass for Mario's evil twin, the two are not believed to be relatives. His original design is similar to Mario's, albeit more sinister-looking. Wario is an overweight Italian caricature, with a bulbous nose, an angular moustache, and noticeable arm muscles. He is typically clad in a yellow hat with a W on it and purple overalls over a yellow shirt, a re-colored version of Mario's outfit. Wario is very similar stylistically to cartoon villains such as Snidely Whiplash. For example, his eyes typically retain an angry look and his ears are pointy; his moustache is also a trademark villain feature, as pointed out by Alfred Hitchcock, among others ("In the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog..." - Wikiquote). His maniacal laugh is similarly often identified with villains.
In the Wario Ware, Inc. series, Wario is usually dressed up in motorcycling gear, wearing a yellow-and-red helmet emblazoned with the letter W, aviator goggles, yellow fingerless gloves also emblazoned with a W, a light-blue vest over a dark-blue shirt, and pink pants. This design is unique to the WarioWare, Inc. series. However, this is not the only form he takes in the WarioWare series. In one microgame, he takes the role of a pinball machine, shooting globs of mucus from his nose, another portrays him as a stick figure, and another showcases his striped bathing suit. His regular costume appears in some minigames, as well.
Wario's absurd appearance is oft lampooned by the game designers. In Super Mario 64 DS, Wario is often mocked; for example, Toad refers to him as horrible, but then changes his wording to horribly healthy. For some reason, Wario is inordinately fond of garlic, and many games depict his breath as foul-smelling due to this.
Personality
In direct contrast to Mario, who is heroic and kind, Wario is greedy, lazy, ill-mannered, and manipulative. He is hugely jealous of Mario's fame, and has frequently tried to steal enough wealth to make himself as beloved as Mario. While he has been rich at times (to the point of owning his own giant castle full of golden coins, more than once), something, usually one of his get-rich-quick schemes, always seems to go wrong. According to a comic story published in Nintendo Power, the reason Wario acts the way he does is because Mario bullied him when they were both young. Wario especially hated playing cowboys, because he was almost always the rustler that the sheriff, played by Mario, had to arrest.
Powers
Throughout the Wario Land series, Wario enjoys the use of power-ups such as hats. The earliest power-ups were Dragon Wario, Bull Wario and Jet Wario. The Dragon Hat continuously shoots flames. Bull Horns give Wario the ability to ram enemies, and the Jet Hat allows Wario to fly forward for a short amount of time. These were also used in Wario Land, along with new powers, such as Eagle Wario and King Dragon Wario.
Soon after, however, the hat powers were removed from the game, putting in status effects instead; Wario Land II introduced such power-ups as Puffy Wario (which allowed Wario to fly into the air slowly until he popped), Spring Wario (which turned Wario into a spring and allowed him to bounce until he hit something), and Burning Wario (where he was set on fire, ending up engulfed in flames, which allowed him to light torches and destroy fire blocks). Wario World is the first platforming game of the series that does not feature the hat powers or status effects.
A common power-up in the Wario games is garlic, which is his answer to Mario's Super Mushrooms. It restores Wario's health in many titles, such as Wario World, and when Wario eats garlic in Wario Land 3, he gains more power for certain attacks.
In Super Mario 64 DS, Wario can turn into Metal Wario by picking up a "Power Flower" from a red "?" block. Metal Wario is slower, heavier, and sinks in water. In the original game, Super Mario 64, this power could be accessed by Mario, and appeared in green boxes in the form of a cap.
Roles
Villain
Wario began as Mario's doppelgänger in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. He took advantage of their similarity of appearance to take Mario's place as leader during Super Mario Land, while Mario was out rescuing Princess Daisy from the alien creature Tatanga. Wario stole the six Golden Coins from Mario's castle and gave them to six of his allies to ensure that Mario would be unable to enter the castle. (How Mario came to be in the possession of a castle was never explained.) However, Mario returned, defeated the bosses, and brought the six Golden Coins back to the castle. Mario traversed the altered castle, and, at the end, faced Wario. Wario attacked in three phases, each based on the power-ups of Super Mario Land 2: in the first, he was normal, the second found him flying with bunny ears, and in the third he shot fireballs at Mario. Wario has never since used these power-ups.
In the Japanese-only release Mario and Wario, Wario flew around in a plane during boss battles and before each level. In the beginning of the level, Wario would drop a bucket or another similar item onto the head of Mario, Princess Peach, or Yoshi (depending on which character was being played), thus preventing the player from controlling the character. Wanda had to guide the victims to Luigi, who could pick the bucket off, and, in the boss battle, fought a plane-piloting Wario.
Wario also appeared in Wario's Woods, where he took over the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving Toad, Wanda and Birdo to brave a dangerous forest. This game first appeared on the SNES, but later appeared on the NES (the system's last game, and the only NES game with an ESRB rating). In the SNES version, Toad had to defeat many bosses before he could face Wario, but in the NES version, there were no villains other than Wario. As a villain, Wario's eyes were different from his current appearance: while he now has slanted eyes and thick eyebrows, he then had round eyes and thin eyebrows.
Starring roles
Soon after appearing as a villain several times, Wario replaced Mario as the protagonist of Nintendo's Game Boy platformers. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 was Wario's first appearance as a heroic figure, and the beginning of his rivalry with Captain Syrup and the Brown Sugar Pirates. In Wario Land, Wario discovered that the Brown Sugar Pirates had stolen a statue of Princess Toadstool, and that Mario was looking for it. Wario decided to take this statue from the Brown Sugar Pirate before Mario could get to it.
A game called Wario Land was also released for the Virtual Boy. It was similar to the portable Wario games in its gameplay and design. The story involved Wario having to fight his way out of a giant cave housing several strange worlds, all the while looting for treasure. This game featured Virtual Boy-style pseudo-3D gameplay, where Wario could travel into the background at some points in the levels.
Wario Land II continued the rivalry with Captain Syrup and the Brown Sugar Pirates. This time, the Brown Sugar Pirates had looted Wario's castle, and Wario had to chase them to their home on Kitchen Isle to right the terrible wrong. After defeating Captain Syrup and the Giant Spear King, Wario recovered his treasure and returned home. Unlike the first two games, Wario received abilities through status effects, such as being set on fire by a candle, allowing him to burn up certain blocks and enemies. This game removed the lifemeter concept, and Wario would only lose coins if damaged.
Wario Land 3 did not pit Wario against Captain Syrup and the Brown Sugar Pirates. Instead, Wario got trapped in a music box world. He had to help a mysterious figure regain control over the world from the monsters, only agreeing to do so after hearing that he would get to keep all of the treasure acquired throughout his quest. This game was the first to use the villain Rudy the Clown. Unlike past games, Wario was not on a set linear path, and had to acquire all of his powers as he went along.
Wario Land 4, the latest game to use the Wario Land label, also did not feature Captain Syrup. Wario read in the newspaper about a great treasure inside of the Golden Pyramid in the jungle, and drove off in his Wariomobile to find the treasure. There were 12 treasures, guarded by four monsters, that were used to unlock the final level. This was the first of the Wario Land series to feature health points since Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.
The Wario Ware, Inc. series does not have a very detailed plotline: essentially, Wario starts a video game factory with his friends. When Wario first creates the company in the game WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, inspired by Ken the Reporter's report about the success of the new killer app video game Pyoro, he hires some of his friends to help him make his games. In each game, he cons his friends into making more games for his latest scheme, while trying to cheat them out of the proceeds. In the plot, each game is a product being sold by WarioWare, Incorporated. These games are called microgames, and last between three and seven seconds.
These games parody the release of the Game Boy Advance, the success of Pokémon, and the release of the Nintendo DS. In each, Wario hears about the success of a new game or system (Pyoro's cover is strikingly similar to those of most Pokémon games), and decides to cash in by convincing his friends to make a bunch of games for his latest project. In true Wario fashion, he ends up filthy rich at the end by cheating his friends, but a twist of fate deprives him of his ill-gotten cash.
Wario appeared in Dr. Mario 64 as the co-star to Dr. Mario. In this game, Wario attempted to steal the bottle of Megavitamins from Mario in order to become a doctor himself, but fails. Wario eventually gets involved with a man named Mad Scienstein, who steals the Megavitamins. Mario and Wario chase him together in order to retrieve them. Wario was a different selectable character. If Dr. Mario defeated Rudy the Clown without being defeated, he would face Vampire Wario, and if Wario defeated Rudy the Clown without being defeated, he would face Metal Mario.
Guest appearances
At around the same time as the release of Wario's Woods, Wario starred in a Game Boy puzzle game titled Wario Blast! Featuring Bomberman, which pitted him against Bomberman, as the title suggests. It was essentially a Bomberman game with Wario as a guest star, despite Wario's billing first in the title. When Wario was being played, all of the opponents would be Bombermen, and when Bomberman was played, all of the opponents would be Wario. [2].
Wario has entered the stable of characters who star in Nintendo's various Mario spinoff games, starting in Mario Kart 64 in February 1997, and later appearing in the Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, and other Mario sports series. In most of these games, Wario is a heavyweight character, meaning that he's not generally very agile or maneuverable, but does hit hard.
Wario's first appearance in the Mario Kart series was in Mario Kart 64. Along with Donkey Kong and King Bowser, Wario was a heavyweight. He later appeared in the GBA sequel Mario Kart Super Circuit. His latest appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash has paired him with Waluigi, in a kart designed after his sportscar. Wario and Waluigi, along with King Boo and Petey Piranha, were the only characters able to use Bob-ombs as power-ups. Wario will later be appearing in the Nintendo DS sequel Mario Kart DS, and the arcade game Mario Kart: Arcade GP.
Wario has appeared in every Mario sports game since Mario Tennis for the Game Boy Color and the Nintendo 64. In the Game Boy Color version, Wario was not immediately playable, and could only be played after beating the game with one of the original characters. In the Nintendo 64 version, however, he was playable from the outset. He later appeared in Mario Power Tennis for the GameCube, in which he had two "Power Shots": the first extended his tennis racket to the ball, no matter how far away it was, and the second was a machine that konked him on the head, electrified him and then caused him to hit a powerful shot, knocking the opponent back. Wario will soon be appearing in Mario Tennis Advance, featuring the same abilities.
Wario also appeared 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 (such as the Boo's floating ability). With the release of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Golf: Advance Tour, the games remained similar, although more characters and modes were added.
An upcoming game titled Mario Superstar Baseball includes Wario as a playable character. It is being developed by Namco, and each character features a special characteristic. It is not known if Wario is playable in the upcoming soccer title, Super Mario Strikers.
In Legend of Starfi 3, Starfi encounters Wario in World 8 of the game. Throughout this world, Wario works with Starfi to beat the levels, and will give the player four different treasures: a Wario cap, a Wario nose/moustache, a copy of WarioWare, Inc. with a GBA, and a pile of gold. In these three levels, he takes the form of Puffy Wario, Fire Wario and Bubble Wario, and these powers help Starfi get from one place to another in the levels.
In the minigame Dr. Wario (featured in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$), which plays exactly the same as Dr. Mario, Wario is now the doctor, fighting against different variants of the original viruses. He sports a lab coat like Mario, and a different look than the look he normally has.
Wario in other media
In Japan, Wario has gained popularity due to the selling of his likeness in the form of dolls and other Wario merchandise. In the US, Wario has not had as much exposure as in Japan, and other than the selling of dolls and figurines, he has not had as much commercial success as Mario or Luigi. In Japan, he had a set of keychains featuring him and other members of the WarioWare, Inc. games, and in America, he was included in a set of Mario Kart figurines.
A graphic novel involving Wario was Super Mario Adventures'. Only three people were involved: it was illustrated by Charlie Nozawa, and written by Kentaro Takekuma. It took a while before it made it out of Japan, but thanks to Leslie Swan, it was picked up and serialized in Nintendo Power. It featured a variety of storylines, including a story of Wario's past and his relationship with Mario. Wario often felt that he was bullied by Mario as a child, when they were friends. He had his allies from Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins and had his revenge.[3]
In one episode of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Mario and Luigi encountered two other plumbers dressed in yellow and blue, which have been suggested by fans to be Wario and Waluigi. While the two other plumbers do bear some minor resemblence to Wario and Waluigi, with one of the plumbers lanky and the other overweight, the facial features are different, and the Super Show ran from 1989–1990, while Wario didn't appear until the release of Super Mario Land 2 in 1992. Additionally, Waluigi was created by Camelot Software Planning, a company which did not have a relationship with Nintendo in 1989.
Spike
Foreman Spike was the villain in an NES game called Wrecking Crew. He worked against Mario in order to prevent him from destroying the buildings (along with his Eggplant Men). Many believe that Wario and Spike are one and the same, both sporting similar facial features. However, in Wrecking Crew '98, Spike's facial features changed, and no longer resembled Wario's. While it doesn't appear that they are the same person, some still believe that Wario was inspired by Spike's physical features.[4]
Cameo appearances
- Pilotwings 64 - N64, 1996 - In the Little States stage, shoot Mario's face on Mt. Rushmore and it turns into Wario's.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee - GCN, 2001 - One of Mario's costumes has the colors of Wario's clothing, and it is possible to win a Wario trophy.
- Game & Watch Gallery 4 - GBA, 2002 - Wario replaces Mr. Game & Watch for several of the Modern games
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - GCN, 2004 - The W Emblem Badge changes Mario's clothes to the colors of Wario's clothes.
- Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix - GCN, 2005 - Presumed; has been spotted in screenshots
See also
References
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External links
- Wario World - Official site
- WarioWare, Inc. home page
- [5]