Wario

Wario in Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.
Wario
Species	Human
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Gray
Relatives	Waluigi (possible brother)
Voiced by	Charles Martinet
Debut	Super Mario Land 2

Almost every hero has an evil doppelganger at one point or another in his or her career. Mario is no exception, but perhaps no hero has ever had such a 'evil twin' that could spawn his own series of spin offs with spin offs. Making his debut in Super Mario Land 2 from the creative genius of Gunpei Yokoi, Wario started as a rather generic villain. In appearance, he was taller and fatter than Mario. His mustache was crooked and his ears were strangely pointed. But his personality was not really defined until Super Mario Land 3 which is more popularly known as Wario Land. A greedy, self-absorbed anti-hero, he's often characterized in a crude manor (often with his finger up his nose).

Background

Early Years

Wario as a baby

His past is somewhat mysterious in itself. It is is said that he and Mario knew each other previous to his first canon appearance. He was seen as a baby in Yoshi's Island DS (making him around the same age as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong and Bowser). Apparently the Toadies tried kidnapping him but were annoyed by his crying. Baby Wario was found by Yoshi and joined his party of babies for the last four levels of the third world. He left the group after clearing the third level castle, so he could explore it for treasure.

He was later seen at the final level, Bowser's castle, searching for more treasure (to Baby Bowser's displeasure). He rejoined Yoshi's group for the final battle against Bowser, and afterwards he was returned to his "home", which was a pile of hoarded treasures on a floating raft. The ending revealed that Baby Wario was one of the seven "star children", born with one of the seven fallen stars. Baby Wario's special ability was a magnet which could attract metal (particularly coins).

Adult Life

Wario the Villain

Wario played the role of villain most often in his early appearances. In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, he took over Mario's castle and Mario Land while Mario was busy taking care of Tatanga in Sarasaland (in the first Super Mario Land). Mario eventually defeated Wario at the end of the game. Afterwards, Wario attacked Mario and his friends again in Mario & Wario, in a stranger way. He flew around in a small plane and dropped buckets and other items that landed on the heads of Mario, Peach or Yoshi, blinding them as they navigated an area of obstacles. But with the help of Wanda and Luigi, Wario's prank was undone.

In Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!, Wario battled with a hero from another world, Bomberman. Whoever won this battle depended on which player had been chosen by the character. Wario unleashed another scheme in Wario's Woods, filling a forest with monsters, but he was defeated by Toad. This would be the last of Wario's villainous acts for a while.

Wario Land

After their early clashes, Wario surprisingly did little more to trouble Mario. Instead he focused on amassing his own fortune. In Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario heard that the pirate crew of the notorious Captain Syrup had stolen a golden statue of Princess Peach. Wario decided to steal the statue from Syrup as well as the pirates' other treasures. He hoped that the treasures and the ransom money from the statue combined would be enough to get him his own castle. Wario attacked Syrup's pirate forces on Kitchen Island and succeeded in defeating Syrup. Mario beat him to the golden statue, but Wario was able to recover a genie lamp, and the genie was able to grant Wario the castle he longed for.

Wario in his classic yellow outfit with his Wario Car

Wario continued going on treasure-hunting adventures, first traveling to the lost land of the Awazons in Virtual Boy Wario Land. Captain Syrup later attempted to gain revenge on Wario. She had her pirates raided Wario's castle and looted all his treasures while he was sleeping. This set the events of Wario Land II into motion, as Wario battled and defeated Syrup to regain his treasure. In Wario Land 3, he accidentally stumbled into a magical music box with a city inside. Tricked by the evil clown demon, Rudy, he set out to collecting all the treasures for him. But not one to be taken lightly, Wario defeated Rudy and set the inhabitants free from his evil.

Wario also acted as antagonist to Dr. Mario in Dr. Mario 64. He attempted to steal Dr. Mario's Megavitamins, believing they would make him rich, but Mad Scienstein beat him to the punch. Wario and Dr. Mario spent the entire game chasing down Mad Scienstein. Wario did not get the Megavitamins in the end, but he does get to beat down Mad Scienstein.

As time went on, Wario heard about a great archaeological find, the pyramid of Shokura in Wario Land 4. His plundering of the pyramid not only greatly added to his collection, but freed Princess Shokura from an ancient curse placed by the Golden Diva. However, his personal treasure horde was once more threatened after the collection of a strange Black Diamond. His greed released the ancient evil within and as a result his treasure was transformed into a variety of monsters. In Wario World, he and the spritelings worked together the defeat the ancient evil.

Wario also gate-crashed on Mario and Luigi in Super Mario 64 DS, accompanying them on a trip to Princess Peach's Castle for cake. But the three were captured by Bowser and placed within the walls and portraits of the castle. Wario was held prisoner by Chief Chilly until he was rescued by Luigi. Afterwards, he put his efforts into helping Mario, Luigi and Yoshi to rescue Peach (ironic, considering how they were the exact same characters Wario had antagonized years ago in Mario & Wario).

WarioWare and Other Adventures

In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$, Wario was shown to be living in a house in Diamond City. Inspired by the success of video games like Pyoro, Wario decided to make his own video game-developing company: WarioWare, Inc. He did not want to do the work himself, so he hired a group of his friends to make games for him. Wario also pulled fast ones on the group and made escape plans to avoid paying them, in his plans to make as much money as possible with as little work. Wario also had microgames of his own, the only common theme between his games being that they somehow feature Wario's image.

Among his castle and gaming company, he also owns his own Bi-Plane - the Bulldog. He also has the 'Wario Car', his own stylish purple car suitable for treasure hunting. He has a psuedo-brother named Waluigi. It is unknown if they are actually relatives, but they are often seen working together in the sports games.

In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Wario returned to his villainous ways and stole the red Music Key. He takes it to an amusement park with the intention of using it to create 'DDR: Wario Mix', a series of interpretive dances to all of his lesser qualities, such as stench, greed, and stubby legs. Mario bested him in a dance contest, however, and he relinquished the key.

Wario discovered an ancient device known as the Form Baton in WarioWare: Smooth Moves and used it to bring a new craze to Diamond City. At the end of the game he tested a new motorcycle made for him by Penny Crygor. However, the motorcycle malfunctioned, sucked him up and spat him out as an army of Tiny Warios. The Tiny Warios attacked a strawberry field, and later combined together in order to become Wario again. However, at that point Wario was chased down by the Splunks, who forced him to return the Form Baton to the Temple of Form.

Wario in his thief costume

One day while watching some television in Wario: Master of Disguise, Wario spied a new television program about the Silver Zephyr, a gentleman thief who used a magic wand to don different disguises. Envious of this thief's power, Wario devised the Telmet which allowed to enter television land. He stole the wand, Goodstyle which left the Silvery Zephyr as Count Cannoli. Wario renamed himself the Purple Wind (silent but deadly!) and took off to steal as much as he could.

He inevitably got involved in a scheme to collect the five Wishstones. His efforts were constantly harassed by Count Cannoli and Carpaccio. In the end it turned out that the Wishstones were used to steal away the ancient demon, Terrormisu and Wario had unwittingly released her. However, Wario was able to defeat her and she fled back to her home dimension. Goodstyle revealed he was actually the first of the Cannoli clan that sealed Terrormisu away and he was using Wario because he knew he could defeat him. Wario was angered he'd been used, but Goodstyle gave him access to the entire Cannoli fortune. Wario was ecstatic... but when he returned to the real world, he realized a fatal flaw in his plan - the Telmet only transported him! All of the riches he accumulated remained in television land, leaving Wario with nothing.

Abilities

Wario is often shown as having great strength. This is especially particular in the Wario Land games. Whereas Mario prefers to jump on enemies, Wario can release a charging attack to tackle them into next week. Wario also utilizes the hip drop technique, and he often picks up enemies to throw at other enemies. On the other hand, Wario can barely jump into the air and is often slow and sluggish compared to the more nimble and acrobatic Mario brothers. He is naturally classified in the heavyweight class in the sports games. Additionally, in Super Mario 64 DS, Wario is the only person who can change into Metal form, after exposure to the Power Flower.

Wario also has a variety of other forms, which are mostly seen in the Wario Land games. Some are gained through power-ups like Mario's, but most Wario can gain from being attacked by certain enemies (for example, being pounded would turn him into Flat Wario). See Wario's Different Forms for more info.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wario has the following moveset:

• Standard Special Move: Chomp-
• Side Special Move: Wario Bike- Wario whips out his motorcycle from the Warioware games and rides it around. If he gets knocked off of it, he has to re board it afterwards.
• Up Special Move: Corkscrew-
• Down Special Move: Wario Waft- The infamous farting attack; the attack is charged up and is more powerful the longer it is held in. A powerful fart can propel Wario straight into the air.
• Final Smash: Wario-Man- Wario transforms into his Warioware alterego by eating garlic. Wario-Man is controlled similarly to Wario, but he can pummel enemies, negate various moves, deliver a powerful shoulder tackle and fly while performing his midair attacks. The only downside is that using the motorcycle at Wario-Fan will cause the motorcycle to go uncontrollably fast.

Sports

Wario has participated in most of the sports of the Mushroom Kingdom, despite his apparent hatred for Mario. These include:

• Kart Racing: Wario's first competition with Mario and friends is in Mario Kart 64. Wario is playable in every following game, including Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, and Mario Kart Wii.
• Golf: Wario is playable in Mario Golf 64 and Mario Golf GBC (after being defeated in the Match Game, being the last opponent after Mario), Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Golf: Advance Tour (where he was unlocked by transferring 54 Birdie Badges from Toadstool Tour).
• Tennis: Wario is playable in Mario Tennis 64, Mario Tennis GBC (in the minigame mode, through the Game Boy-Nintendo 64 transfer device) and Mario Tennis: Power Tour.
• Baseball: Wario is a playable captain in Mario Superstar Baseball, and he will be returning in Super Mario Stadium Baseball.
• Soccer: Wario iss also a playable captain in Super Mario Strikers and in Mario Strikers Charged.
• Basketball: Wario is playable in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Itadaki Street DS.
• The Olympics: Wario is playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Wario is also playable in all eleven games of the Mario Party series - Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, Mario Party 8, Mario Party-e and Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party. He will be returning in Mario Party DS and Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2.

Other Major Roles

Video Games

• Wario appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with his WarioWare outfit and his classic overalls as an alternate costume. His special moves are derived from a combination of Waioware and original moves, and he also has his tackling ability from Wario Land.
• Wario also appeared in the eighth world of the Japan-only game Denetsu no Stafy 3. In this world he worked together with Stafy to get treasure and used some of his transformations from the Wario Land games. He gave Stafy a treasure related to him in each of the first three levels. These treasures were a Wario hat, a Warioware game and a Wario nose and mustache set.

Trivia

• In Japanese, the word 'warui' means bad, possibly meaning Wario's name has more significance than just being M upside down.
• It is implied in Mario Golf that Wario's mustache is fake; it is found along with a yellow cap in one of the lockers in the clubhouse.
• Wario appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it is also possible to change Mario's costume colors to Wario's colors.
• In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, if Mario wears the W Emblem Badge his clothes will change to Wario's colors.