Waluigi

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Waluigi

Waluigi as he appears in Mario Party 8
Series	Mario series
First game	Mario Tennis (2000)
Designed by	Fumihide Aoki
Voiced by	Charles Martinet

Waluigi (ワルイージ, Waruīji^?) is a fictional character in the Mario series of video games. He accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main Mario series, oftentimes for the sake of causing mischief. He was created by Camelot employee Fumihide Aoki and is voiced by Charles Martinet, who describes Waluigi as being someone who has a lot of self-pity, feeling everything is going right for everyone but himself. Since he appeared in Mario Tennis, he has received mostly negative reception, described as one of the most unimportant video game characters ever made by GameDaily, as well as being called an abomination by Cracked.

Contents 1 Concept and creation 2 Appearances 2.1 In other media 3 Reception 4 References

[edit] Concept and creation

Waluigi was created by Fumihide Aoki and is voiced by Charles Martinet.^{[citation needed]} His name is a portmanteau of Luigi's name and the Japanese adjective warui (悪い) meaning "bad"; hence, a "bad Luigi".^[1] Martinet stated that the cornerstone of Waluigi's personality is one of self-pity, a character who feels that everything goes right for everyone but himself.^[2] As displayed in Mario Power Tennis and Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Waluigi features the ability to summon a body of water and swim towards each game's respective ball, which IGN editor Rob Burman describes as baffling.^[3] He is the same age as Luigi,^[4] and wears black overalls, a dark purple shirt, and a dark purple hat with an upside down and flipped "L". He is also known for his mayhem with Wario. They are known as The Anti Mario and Luigi. Waluigi is a character that has been through much and he sometimes cares about Mario and Luigi because they are their "Cousins".

[edit] Appearances

While a purple version of Luigi appeared in the early Mario game "Wrecking Crew," Waluigi's first official appearance was in the Mario Tennis games for the Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64, as Wario's doubles partner (Wario and Waluigi have been paired in all pair sports since). Later, along with Princess Daisy, he joined the Mario Party series' roster in Mario Party 3, in which he owns an island full of explosives. He has been a playable character in many entries in the series since, as well as various Mario sports games and the Mario Kart series. In several of the various sports games, Waluigi gets exclusive abilities, stages, and/or vehicles, the latter two in the case of the Mario Kart series.^{[citation needed]} He acts as an antagonist in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, in which he wreaks havoc in the Mushroom Kingdom by pilfering special objects called the Music Keys to hypnotize the world with his dancing, thus enabling him to conquer it. Also, in Game & Watch Gallery 4, Waluigi sneaks in from behind tree trunks to attempt thwarting Mario by messing with his clothes line.

[edit] In other media

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Waluigi is one of the characters who can be summoned using the Assist Trophy item and as an alternate costume for Luigi (although this is only Luigi in Waluigi's palette). When summoned, Waluigi attacks opponents by striking them with a tennis racket and by angrily stomping on them until they become temporarily stuck in the ground. The theme for Waluigi's stage "Waluigi Pinball" from Mario Kart DS was used for an area in Brawl.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Reception

Since his appearance in Mario Tennis, Waluigi has received mostly negative reception. GameDaily ranked him the worst Mario character ever, stating that "for every likable character there's one that continues to annoy us even years after we're done with the game they came from".^[5] They also listed him as one of the characters they wish they could kill, but can't, stating that he is one of the most unimportant characters in video game history and was left to rot in spin-off titles after being created as Luigi's rival.^[6] Cracked stated that he was a lazy excuse to add a new villain to the spin-off games and went as far as to call him an "abomination".^[7] While GamesRadar listed Mario Tennis as one of the best Mario spin-offs ever made, they describe him as being a "lame-o villain".^[8]

IGN editor Lucas M. Thomas discussed him as a possible candidate for a "second banana" character to be playable in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, commenting that Waluigi, amongst other sidekick characters, are not well-liked. He also states that because his role is of little importance in the Mario series, and because he has nothing to set himself apart from the series, he was not a likely candidate.^[9] Lucas also covers him in other articles; when discussing possible alternatives to the two playable Toads in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, he stated that while Waluigi and Wario would be suitable choices due to their coloring, their greedy personalities made it difficult for him to think they would work.^[10] In another article, he likens the character of Boshi from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars to Wario and Waluigi, describing them all as evil alternative versions of their respective counterparts.^[11]

Despite the negative reception for Waluigi, he has also received some positive reception. IGN editor Matt Casamassina described him as a recognizable mascot to many, but also as a beloved one to Nintendo fans.^[12] Despite their negative comments for Waluigi, GameDaily ranked him in the 10th slot on GameDaily's top 10 Nintendo characters that deserve their own games list; the site explained that "he gets the shaft worse than Luigi, and should at least get his own puzzle game".^[5] They also listed him as one of the top 25 video game anti-heroes, stating that it was too bad that he has never had the spotlight.^[13] Hiroyuki Takahashi, a developer for Mario Power Tennis listed him, along with his companion Wario, as his favourite character in Power Tennis, describing them both as detestable heels, adding that he likes characters with more personality.^[14]

[edit] References

v • d • e Characters in the Mario series Birdo • Bowser • Donkey Kong • Fawful • Goomba • Luigi • Mario • Peach • Toad • Waluigi • Wario • Yoshi