fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' series, designed as an Arch rival, arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final Bos ...

spin-offs Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

Charles Martinet Charles Martinet (, ; born September 17, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor, known for his portrayal of both Mario and Luigi in the ''Super Mario'' video game series since 1992. He is also the voice of other characters in the series such ...

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

Mario Tennis ''Mario Tennis'' is a 2000 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Following ''Mario's Tennis'', it is the second game in the List of Mario sports games#Mario Tennis series, ''Mari ...

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

Mario Tennis ''Mario Tennis'' is a 2000 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Following ''Mario's Tennis'', it is the second game in the List of Mario sports games#Mario Tennis series, ''Mari ...

Charles Martinet Charles Martinet (, ; born September 17, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor, known for his portrayal of both Mario and Luigi in the ''Super Mario'' video game series since 1992. He is also the voice of other characters in the series such ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsMario Power Tennis'' and ''

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 ''Mario Hoops 3-on-3'', known in Europe as ''Mario Slam Basketball'' and in Japan as , is a sports game developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in 2006. The game is the first in which ''Mario'' and ''Final Fantasy'' ...

'', Waluigi features the ability to summon a body of water and swim towards each game's respective ball, which

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

editor Rob Burman described as "baffling". Waluigi borrows Wario's design principle as an evil, twisted version of his counterpart, pushing Luigi's leaner body type to the extreme, which renders him particularly skinny and angular, with a pointy chin and thin mustache. While these features contrast strongly with Wario's, the two still share a lot of physical attributes: a large pink nose, pointy shoes, a W-shaped mustache, a wide permanent grin with blocky teeth, and bags under their eyes. He has a high-pitched, nasal voice. He is the same age as

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

and wears black overalls, a purple long-sleeved shirt, a purple hat with a yellow "Γ" symbol (an inverted L, paralleling Wario's W as an upside-down M), orange shoes, and white gloves with a yellow "Γ" symbol as well. When asked whether Waluigi was a brother to

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' series, designed as an Arch rival, arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final Bos ...

, Martinet stated that while he did not know, he felt that they were just "two nice, evil guys who found each other".

Appearances

Waluigi's first two appearances were in the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...

and

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

versions of ''

Mario Tennis ''Mario Tennis'' is a 2000 sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Following ''Mario's Tennis'', it is the second game in the List of Mario sports games#Mario Tennis series, ''Mari ...

'', establishing himself as

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

's supposedly long time rival and

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' series, designed as an Arch rival, arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final Bos ...

's doubles partner, whom he would remain partners with for most future installments, the one exception being '' Mario Tennis: Power Tour'', the only time that he appeared in-game without Wario. Since his introduction, Waluigi has appeared as a playable character in every ''Mario'' sports game. Notably, in '' Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour'' and '' Mario Power Tennis'', he holds up the sign for

Camelot Software Planning (doing business as Camelot Software Planning) is a Japanese video game developer established in 1990 under the name Sega CD4, but quickly renamed to Sonic! Software Planning. Named after Sonic the Hedgehog, they were closely involved with Se ...

to signify the game developers in the opening movies. Alongside

Princess Daisy is a fictional character in the ''Mario'' series of video games. She debuted in 1989's '' Super Mario Land'' as the ruler of Sarasaland. Described as a tomboy, she used to be rumored to be Luigi's love interest, similarly to Princess Peach ...

, Waluigi joined the ''

Mario Party is a party video game series featuring characters from the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or computer-controlled characters (called "CPU (gaming), CPUs") compete in a board game interspersed with mi ...

'' series starting with '' Mario Party 3'', where he owns an island filled with traps and explosives. In the game's story mode, he is faced as the penultimate foe after defeating

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa ...

. Waluigi appears in the ''

Mario Kart is a series of racing games developed and published by Nintendo. Players compete in go-kart races while using various power-up items. It features characters and courses from the ''Mario'' series as well as other gaming franchises such as ''T ...

'' series, first appearing in '' Mario Kart: Double Dash''. He would go on to be featured in all future console installments with the exception of ''

Mario Kart 7 ''Mario Kart 7'' is a kart racing video game developed by Nintendo EAD in cooperation with Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. As with the previous games in the ''Mario Kart'' series, players participate ...

'', where he was cut due to time constraints despite his course, ''Waluigi Pinball'', being selectable. Waluigi's most significant role to date was as the main antagonist of '' Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix'', in which he wreaks havoc in the

Mushroom Kingdom The is a fictional principality in Nintendo's ''Mario'' series. It is the setting of most main-series ''Mario'' games with an inconsistent presentation. There is no established canon regarding the topography of the ''Mario'' universe, and many ...

by pilfering special objects called the Music Keys to hypnotize the world with his dancing, hoping to conquer it and spread chaos. The rest of the keys are held by a Blooper, Wario, and

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa ...

, respectively. In the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, starting with '' Brawl'', Waluigi appears as a non-playable Assist Trophy item, while his purple color palette appears as one of

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

's alternate costumes and in later installments, for Mario and Wario as well. During Waluigi's reveal for ''

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and (colloquially and collectively referred to as ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' or ''Smash 4'') is a group of two 2014 crossover fighting video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS ...

'', game director

Masahiro Sakurai is a Japanese video game director and game designer best known as the creator of the ''Kirby'' and '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design of ''Meteos'' in 2005 and directed '' Kid Icarus: Upr ...

jokingly stated that "just because you try hard doesn't mean you'll make it into the battle." He was also used as an example for K.O.ing assist trophies during the gameplay reveal of ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

''. As for minor appearances, Waluigi graces in ''

Super Mario Maker is a 2015 side-scrolling platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U, released worldwide in September 2015. Players can create, play, and share courses online, free of charge, based on the styles o ...

'' as an unlockable Mystery Mushroom costume for Mario to wear in the ''

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...

'' style. Although he does not make an appearance in '' Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', if the player has both the Wario emblem and the Luigi emblem equipped at the same time, Mario will be dressed in the colors of Waluigi. In ''

Super Mario Odyssey is a 2017 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. An entry in the ''Super Mario'' series, it follows Mario and his new ally Cappy—a sentient hat that allows Mario to control other characters and objects—a ...

'', an outfit modeled after Waluigi's own can be purchased in-game and worn by Mario after the player has either scanned the Waluigi amiibo or collected enough Power Moons; the description mentions his desire for the spotlight. Waluigi makes a very brief appearance in ''

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

'' as a figurine in the opening, however, a Rabbid version, named Bwaluigi, appears as a boss alongside Wario's Rabbid counterpart, Bwario.

Reception

Since his appearance in ''Mario Tennis'', Waluigi has received a mixed reception. Gamervision editor Jonathan Cooper wrote an article entitled "Ten Reasons Waluigi is Awesome", listing such qualities as his developed personality, his role in ''

Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...

'', and his role in ''Mario'' sports games. In the book "Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares, Volume 1", author S. T. Joshi cites both Waluigi and

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' series, designed as an Arch rival, arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final Bos ...

as examples of alter egos, also as evidence of how popular it is to feature such character archetypes. IGN editor

Matt Casamassina Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist, businessman, and novelist, and a founding editor of '' IGN''. He quit working for IGN on April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of games by video game ...

described him as a recognizable mascot to many, but also as a beloved one to Nintendo fans. Hiroyuki Takahashi, a developer for '' Mario Power Tennis'' listed him, along with his companion Wario, as his favorite character in ''Power Tennis'', describing them both as detestable heels, adding that he likes characters with more personality. Gamingillustrated.com's writer Greg Johnson, during his article about ''

Mario Kart 8 is a 2014 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It features the '' Mario Kart'' series' game mechanics, in which players drive go-karts using ''Mario'' franchise characters in various race formats. Items placed ...

'', described Waluigi's return as one of the game's bright-sides. An article in Gameranx.com, entitled "Waluigi: Unwrapping the Enigma", dwells in Waluigi's self-pity and ambiguous origins, describing him as one of the most misunderstood characters in video games, and more than capable of holding his own game. In addition, Steve Haske, from Unwinnable.com wrote an article called "Defending Waluigi" that discussed Waluigi's partly negative reception, claiming Waluigi to be an even more interesting character than

Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' series, designed as an Arch rival, arch-rival to Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy game ''Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins'' as the main antagonist and final Bos ...

, praising Waluigi for the comic relief he provides and mentioning his absence as a playable character in ''

Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...

'' as a sad disrespect to his fans. Evilgeeks.com, a website dedicated towards villains, claimed Waluigi to be Nintendo's most evil character, because of his hatred, greed, and power, and wrote that Waluigi should have his own game simply so that we could see what he is capable of. In addition to those articles, venturebeat.com's writer Chris Hoadley wrote an article called "The Greatness of Waluigi", describing him as the most cynical ''Mario'' franchise character, and the greatest one of the last decade. Chris wrote about how Waluigi, despite being constantly ridiculed for his lack of importance, has one of the strongest and most developed personalities of the cast. Conversely,

GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fee ...

listed him as one of the characters they wanted to kill but were not able to, describing him as "One of the most unimportant characters in video game history".

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

editor Mike Fahey commented that Waluigi was his personal most annoying video game character.

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...

described Waluigi as a "lame-o villain" in an otherwise great game, referencing ''Mario Tennis''. Editor Henry Gilbert titled his section "Waluigi: The worst character ever", suggesting that the creation process involved the developers of ''Mario Tennis'' having no one to fill the final character slot, and conceiving him as an "evil Luigi". He describes such an act as "plunging to the bottom of the intellectual barrel". He also calls Waluigi "disgustingly tall and thin" as opposed to Wario, who he calls a "fatass". He later states that the staff of GamesRadar feels that Waluigi is seen as "less than legitimate" by Nintendo, who he feels may not find him good enough to appear in a main ''Mario'' or ''Wario'' title.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

editor Lucas M. Thomas discussed him as a possible, yet unlikely, candidate for a "second banana" character to be playable in ''

Super Smash Bros. Brawl ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 List of crossovers in video games, crossover fighting game, fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the Super Smash Bros., ''Super Smash ...

'', commenting that Waluigi, amongst other sidekick characters, are not well-liked. IGN staff, while praising Bowser as one of the most memorable video game villains, criticized both Waluigi and Wario as being "evil twin knockoffs". Despite Waluigi's popularity gain as an

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

, he has yet to appear outside of ''

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

'' spin-offs, most notably being his lack of playability within ''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...

'' (confirmed when the character was announced as a non-playable Assist Trophy during

E3 2018 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 (E3 2018) was the 24th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

), which was met with negative reception from the gaming press and social media, with websites such as Reddit and Twitter leading the outcry; online

Change.org Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...

petitions have been created in support of Waluigi being added as a playable character, garnering thousands of supporters.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Joe Skrebels described his non-playable status within the game as "...a slap in the face for those who want a playable Waluigi." Former

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...

president

Reggie Fils-Aimé Reginald Fils-Aimé ( ; born March 25, 1961) is an American businessman best known for being the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American division of the Japanese video game company Nintendo, from 2006 ...

has acknowledged the popularity of Waluigi and the desire to have him playable in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', citing that series director

Masahiro Sakurai is a Japanese video game director and game designer best known as the creator of the ''Kirby'' and '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design of ''Meteos'' in 2005 and directed '' Kid Icarus: Upr ...

"...will be aware of the groundswell of support that appeared for Waluigi. And in the end, it's his decision to make."

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waluigi Fictional bullies Fictional Italian people Fictional Italian people in video games Internet memes Male characters in video games Mario (franchise) characters Mario (franchise) enemies Nintendo antagonists Nintendo protagonists Video game bosses Video game characters introduced in 2000 Video game sidekicks Wario (series) Internet memes introduced in 2000

Creation and characteristics

Appearances

Reception

Notes

References