For those of you who do not know me, I have a dislike for the character Waluigi. Dislike is the nicest and most civil way I can put it. Quite a few of my friends are aware that I do not care for Waluigi. Because of this, friends will be friends and find any chance they can get to take that dislike and exploit it. My dislike for Waluigi has become a ‘thing’. When the Waluigi amiibo was to be released in November of 2016, I’ve had friends tease that I’d find it in my stocking that Christmas. I had a friend that loved the fact that I hated Waluigi. He loved it so much that he created a special level in Super Mario Maker for the Nintendo WiiU just for me. It was called “Hope’s Hell” (Hope is my last name). The level is actually a pretty brilliant concept. It starts off nice and familiar with the original level from Super Mario Bros. found on the NES. But...looks can be deceiving. See for yourself.
Because I am a part of Paradigm Gaming, I am also on Twitch and Discord. The news of my dislike for Waluigi has spread among our viewers, regulars chatters, and from there, others are picking up on it. Many have tried to get me all riled up, sometimes to the point to get me on a rant about how much I really don’t like Waluigi (and I have...a lot). It’s gotten pretty crazy. So much so, that I feel that this ‘thing’ is getting worse. What do I do with this Waluigi thing that hangs over my head? Well, we’re here to figure that out. Call this a frustration piece, call it a reflection piece, call it what you will. I am just here to get it all out. Maybe through all of this, we’ll figure out the ‘why’ and hopefully figure out where to go from there.
So, you guys want me to rant about Waluigi? Then here we go! Let’s do this!
To start off, I love Nintendo. I grew up on Nintendo since 1988 when I got my first Nintendo Entertainment System. I’ve been playing on just about every console ever since and have come to love so many characters throughout Nintendo’s rich history in gaming. But after all these years, there is one character that I just cannot stand. Waluigi. Why do I dislike Waluigi so much? Is it because he’s supposed to be the opposite of what Luigi is? I mean, we’ve got Wario as an opposite match for Mario. It would logically make sense that Waluigi should exist to bring balance to both Super Mario Bros., right?
But it doesn’t just stop there. If we look at characters like Wario to Mario, Waluigi to Luigi, we’ll also find that we have someone opposite of Princess Peach. We have Princess Daisy. But if you look across the library of games she appears in, she’s not really in the same vein as Wario and Waluigi. She’s not really evil or mischievous. But what exactly is she supposed to be? Is she supposed to be the opposite of Princess Peach? Is she supposed to be a ‘love interest’ for Luigi since Mario has always had a thing for Princess Peach? Or is she just supposed to bring balance between the two Princesses? It could be all of these things or it could be none of these things. Does it even matter? When it comes to characters like Wario and Princess Daisy, it really doesn’t matter at this point. Why would I say that? Well, consider this: Other than Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach, when we look at characters like Princess Daisy and Wario, they are characters that are spread throughout Nintendo’s rich history found within Mario’s main series of games.
When it comes to Waluigi, that is not the case.
The first game Waluigi ever appeared in was Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 and Gameboy Color in the year 2000. After that, every single game found within the Mario mini-game series, i.e. Mario Party, Mario Kart, Mario Golf, etc. has featured Waluigi.
That’s it. That’s it.
My dislike for Waluigi stems from the fact that Nintendo created a character and just threw him into Mario Tennis because, why not? Want a bigger character roster that adds a variety of different players than just using the same old Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Peach? Here you go: Here’s Waluigi. Funny thing to add to that though. Mario Tennis was THE game that added a roster of extra characters. Other than the introduction of Waluigi, they also added Princess Daisy as a playable character. When was she last seen? 11 years prior in a Gameboy classic!
I can make cases for both Princess Daisy and Wario. Check this out: Princess Daisy was the damsel in distress in Super Mario Land for the Nintendo Gameboy released in 1989. She has a backstory, a purpose, and a place in the Mario roster of historical characters. She was the princess of Sarasaland, a region that lay beyond Mushroom Kingdom. The same case can be said for Wario. He was the main villain in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins which debuted on the Nintendo Gameboy in 1992. Wario, who’s described as Mario’s evil doppelganger, stole Mario’s castle right from under him. The goal of the game is to collect the six golden coins to break the magical seal that’s preventing Mario from getting it back. Because the game and the game’s villain Wario were so popular, he got his own game and spin-off series.
He next appeared in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 for the Nintendo Gameboy in 1994. After that, he got his own Wario Land series. Wario Land II for the Nintendo Gameboy was released in 1998, Wario Land III was released for the Gameboy Color in 2000, and Wario Land 4 was released for the Gameboy Advance in 2003.
After that, he got yet another spin-off found in the WarioWare series that went on to span over 7 games in the span of 10 years. Not to mention, there are plenty of random Wario game out there that go beyond the Wario Land and WarioWare series.
So as you can see, Wario has a backstory, a purpose, and a place in the Mario roster of historical characters.
And then there's Waluigi, the elephant in the room.
My dislike for this character stems from the fact that he’s just ‘here’. Inserted into a Mario Tennis game and all of a sudden, I’m supposed to just accept the fact that he’s the doppelganger of Mario’s brother Luigi. According to his Wikipedia page, Waluigi debuted in the game Mario Tennis as “Luigi's rival and Wario's partner”. Since then, he would remain a playable character in the main Mario series spin-offs, occasionally causing comedic mischief alongside Wario or antagonizing the rest of the characters, primarily Mario and Luigi.
But that’s it. That was the key piece of information listed in his Wikipedia page. “He would remain a playable character in the main Mario series spin-offs”. He’s never really had a game of his own and he has never been featured in a main game in the Mario series. He’s only always featured in the Mario series spin-offs, i.e. Mario Kart, Mario Party, Mario Golf, etc.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt (albeit a VERY SMALL benefit of the doubt), Nintendo made him the main antagonist in Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix. The game opens with Waluigi stealing the four Music Keys, who can grant wishes, from Truffle Towers. However, when he tries to open the door to the room containing the Music Keys, three of them scatter across the Mushroom Kingdom, and the fourth one is kept by Waluigi. The keys are recovered by completing tasks for other characters who have found the scattered keys and then defeating them in a dance challenge. But that’s it.
He was the villain in a dancing game.
Waluigi debuted in the year 2000. Let that sink in. He’s been around for over 18 years. At first, I was just annoyed. I was annoyed at Nintendo for creating a character I really knew nothing about. No explanation, no real backstory, nothing. He was just a guy found in Mario sports games, Mario Party games, Mario Kart games, you name it. Who is this guy and why is he here? I just couldn’t identify with him. And over time, as he’s featured in more and more games, that annoyance turned into sheer dislike.
I did not care for him and eventually I just refused to accept him.
18 years later, we still have nothing on this guy accept for what’s on Wikipedia, Nintendo wiki, and whatever else you can find on the internet. I need more than that. I feel that if Waluigi is to ever be redeemed, he either needs to be featured in a main Mario game, or have a game of his own.
I mean, other than the fact that Princess Peach is a main Mario character, even she got a game of her own once. It was Super Princess Peach for the Nintendo DS in 2005. Heck, even Luigi got his own game series with Luigi’s Mansion. (Not to mention, Mario is Missing for the Super Nintendo.) You don’t even need to bring Waluigi to a big console like the Nintendo Switch. Bring him to the Nintendo 3DS. Wario was first featured on the Nintendo Gameboy, so, why not do the same with Waluigi and place him in a handheld game? Heck, make him the main villain in a Luigi game. If he’s supposed to be Luigi’s doppelganger, maybe give him a presence in a Luigi’s Mansion game. Something that ‘connects’ him to Luigi like Wario is connected to Mario. I dunno, do something!
If not, then Waluigi is forever doomed to be an annoying side character featured in games like Mario Party and Mario Kart
Thanks for reading,
BlueNile101
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