Wario

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Wario's origins trace back to his debut in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, where he displayed considerable magical power, turning island populations into minions and growing large. These powers were not featured in his next game, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, though they were not discontinued in a narrative sense. In that game, he was not rejuvenated by garlic; the garlic healing mechanic was introduced in Wario Land II. Later entries like WarioWare: Twisted! feature transformations into Wario-Man, but flatulence-based powers are more associated with Wario's moves in the Super Smash Bros. series. Early Nintendo guides described him as Mario's childhood friend, though this was later contested and the relationship is typically left ambiguous. His relationship with Waluigi remains ambiguous; while early European material portrayed them as brothers, voice actor Charles Martinet stated in 2008 that they are simply 'two nice, evil guys who found each other.' In Super Smash Bros., Waluigi is not a playable character and does not appear alongside Wario as a duo in any official capacity in that series.

In Their Own Story

In the 1993 Japan-only puzzle game Mario & Wario, the character serves as a villain by dropping a bucket on the heads of Mario, Princess Peach, or Yoshi. However, his role shifted significantly in 1994 with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, marking his first appearance as a protagonist and introducing Captain Syrup and her Brown Sugar Pirates as recurring foes. This platformer established mechanics where he could be burned or flattened without damage, a feature introduced in the 1998 sequel Wario Land II. By 2003, the franchise expanded into microgames with WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, driven by Wario's decision to open a game development company for money. In this series, he often acts as an 'unintelligent' and 'idiotic' star, a characterization confirmed by designer Yoshio Sakamoto. The narrative tone varies; while early games featured magic, later entries like Shake It! (2008) emphasized his masculinity and recklessness, utilizing over 2,000 animation frames to depict his hand-drawn style.

Reader's Guide

Wario is a playable character in Mario spin-offs such as Mario Sports games, Mario Kart, and Mario Party, typically paired with Waluigi. In the Wario Land series, he utilizes unique abilities; for instance, Virtual Boy Wario Land (1995) allowed movement in and out of the background, while Wario Land 4 reintroduced vulnerability to standard attacks. His gameplay often incorporates specific motifs: in WarioWare: Touched!, consuming garlic transforms him into a superhero, and he uses bombs as visual motifs for microgame time limits. In Mario Strikers: Battle League, his special shot involves smashing his butt into the ball followed by devouring a giant clove of garlic. Although originally planned to be German with lines voiced by Thomas Spindler, this trait was dropped in favor of Martinet's performance. Director Shigeru Miyamoto noted that while movie adaptations avoid crude jokes, Wario retains his bodily function humor in games like Super Smash Bros., ensuring his chaotic energy remains intact across the franchise.

Did You Know?

• Wario's name is a portmanteau of 'Mario' and the Japanese word warui, meaning 'bad', symbolized by his hat featuring an upside-down 'M'.
• Voice actor Charles Martinet described voicing Wario as a 'looser task' than voicing Mario, utilizing a mean-and-gruff tone based on jealousy.
• In Wario Land: Shake It!, the design team emphasized Wario's masculinity and recklessness, requiring more than 2,000 frames of animation for his character model.
• Early Nintendo guides claimed Wario was Mario's childhood friend, a detail later contested; their relationship is typically left ambiguous.