About
Wario is a fictional character from the Nintendo video game franchise Super Mario. Designed by Hiroji Hiyotake, Wario was designed to be Mario’s rival, a villainous inverse of the hero with similar clothes and certain characteristics. He was voiced by Charles Martinet. After appearing in the Super Mario Land series as a boss enemy, he later went on to become a Nintendo icon, spawning two of his own series, Wario Land and WarioWare.
History
Wario made his first appearance as the main villain in Super Mario Land 2: Legend of the Six Golden Coins in 1992.[1]
Two years later, Wario starred in his own series of platforming games known as Wario Land. The game went on to become a hit on the Game Boy system and spawned many successful sequels, including Wario Land II, Wario Land III, Wario Land IV,Wario World,Wario Master Disguise, and Wario Land: Shake It!
In 2003 a new franchise based around Wario’s character was released for the Game Boy Advanced titled WarioWare: Mega Microgame$! Instead of being a traditional Wario Land platformer, the game was instead a rapid series a mini games which the player had to solve in a short amount of time. The game was later on released for the GameCube in 2003 retitled WarioWare: Mega Party Game$! Just like the Wario Land franchise, the game was a commercial success and it went on to produce many sequels.
Other Appearances
Outside of Wario Land and WarioWare, Wario has appeared in many Nintendo games which feature many Nintendo characters in competition, such as MarioKart, Mario Party, Super Smash Brothers, and the Mario sports games. Wario also appeared in Wario Blast: Featuring Bomber-Man!, essentially a Bomber-Man game with the added ability to play as Wario. Wario also appeared in 1994 NES title, Wario’s Woods, a puzzle game in which you play as Toad trying to stop Wario by playing Tetris-like puzzle games.
Online Presence
Wario started in popularity online when he was featured as a new character in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. On January 14, 2008, The WarioWiki was created,[2] gathering over 172 articles since it’s creation. Wario has also been widely parodied by YouTubers in sketches and in Let’s Plays. For example, on April 16, 2013, YouTuber PewDiePie uploaded a video titled "MOST RANDOMGAMEEVER! – Wario Smooth Moves, the video involved PewDiePie and his girlfriend attempting to play WarioWare: Smooth Moves. The video has received over 13 million views since it’s upload (shown below, left). On January 31, 2013, YouTube channel Random Encounters uploaded a video titled “The Wario Rap.” The video was a song based around Wario explaining his daily life, while making references to his past game appearances, gaining over 602,000 views (shown below, right).
Related Memes
Doh I missed!
“Doh I missed!” is a quote from Wario as he appeared in the original Mario Party. Wario is heard speaking this either when losing a star to Bowser, or losing a mini game. The quote started to spread, mainly being used as a reaction. The voice actor who said this line was not Charles Martinet, but in fact it was Thomas Spindler.
Waluigi
Waluigi is a character that also appeared in the Super Mario. series. He made his first appearance in 2000 with the release of Mario Tennis where Waluigi was featured as a partner character with Wario. Waluigi is based off of Mario’s brother Luigi, with his design over-exaggerating Luigi’s features such as his height and scrawniness. Waluigi is presumed to be Wario’s brother due to their similar genetic features, but Nintendo never confirmed that Waluigi is related to Wario, and even Waluigi’s voice actor Charles Martinet said that he didn’t know if Waluigi was related to Wario.
Ashley’s Song
“Ashley’s Song” is a song in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii that is a remix of Ashley’s Song from WarioWare: Touched! The song was praised for it’s Disney-esque tone and it’s upbeat and catchy lyrics. The song is what made Ashley an iconic WarioWare character, later appearing as an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS.
Obey Wario, Destroy Mario!
“Obey Wario, Destroy Mario!” is a quote spoken by Wario in the commercial for the Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: Legend of the Six Golden Coins. In the commercial Wario stares at the screen with a spiraling background while speaking the famous quote as if he’s trying to brainwash you. The quote became popular after it was used to parody other memes and subcultures, such as Dinkleburg and Weegee.
Fanmade Games
On December 12, 2014 YouTube user Wwwwario uploaded a trailer for a fan made game titled “Five Nights at Wario’s” a parody of the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s. The game started trending when YouTube user Markiplier uploaded his reaction to it.