You don’t even need to be a fan of the Mario franchise to be a fan of Waluigi. The tall, purple and, quite frankly, awkward character was created back in the 2000s appearing as the “brother” of Mario’s "bad" equivalent, Wario. For a long time, this character would go under the radar with very little development or backstory with hardly any true fan base until one day his popularity exploded. Suddenly, we’d see people using Waluigi as a main in games like Smash Bros or the spin-off Mario games. But just how did this happen and how does no one notice how very little effort was put into this character in the beginning?
In truth, Waluigi was created for very simple reasons and didn’t have nearly as much development or history as characters like Wario; certainly not as much as characters like Mario or Bowser. All players were told was that this character was a villain and often considered the bad version of Mario’s brother, Luigi. Granted, when it comes to a game like Mario, there really isn’t an in-depth story. The goal is usually simple; save the princess and, if you’re interested, try to get a hundred percent on all of the levels. This fact just might make Waluigi’s development even sadder considering there’s very little known about him.
Despite this, he’s become one of the most popular characters from the franchise due to internet fame, probably as a meme. We’ve dug into some of the secrets of Waluigi and put them out for the world to see. Here are 25 things you might be getting wrong about Waluigi!
25 We've Never Seen Him Have His Own Solo Game
Sadly, Waluigi has never had his own solo game in the Mario franchise. We’re not entirely sure what the exact reason is, especially since his popularity has grown over the years, but it’s probably because he’s never had much of spotlight to begin with.
Waluigi is often seen as an antagonist or regular character in the spin-off series like Mario Kart or Mario Party.
However, we have yet to see him be truly front and center as a villain or even an antihero; the thought of either would be pretty cool though and we’re sure his fans would agree!
24 He Was Really Only Made To Be Wario's Partner
Waluigi was only ever made to be one thing; the Luigi equivalent to Wario. When we first saw him, he was made to be the second partner for Wario in Mario Tennis; fair, but this left out a lot of background and character building for him. All we really knew was that he looked like your traditional cartoon villain with a pointed chin and crazy mustache.
This is why, compared to other Mario characters, Waluigi doesn’t have nearly as much history or background. He simply wasn’t created with the intention of ever being a major player like Bowser or even his partner Wario.
23 He's Also Just An Exaggerated Version Of Luigi In Appearance
In addition to not having very much background during his creation, the biggest focus was making sure he looked like an exaggerated version of Luigi. When you look at Wario, you notice right off the bat that he looks like an exaggerated Mario. Wario is even squatter and fatter with a larger and more pointed nose and ears.
Waluigi is obviously meant to look a lot like this, but opposite, by being taller and exceptionally thin with the upside down ‘L’ on his hat.
This, unfortunately, doesn’t work into a new letter like the upside down ‘M’ does for Wario.
22 His Name Means The Bad Version Of Luigi
If you’re not familiar with the Japanese language, you may have thought that the “Wa” in Waluigi was just an addition to the name because Wario’s name also contains it; which makes a little sense on its own, but it’s definitely not the reason. “Wa” actually means “bad” or “cruel.”
This means that Waluigi’s name translates to the “bad Luigi”. It’s a little messed up, since we don’t really know much about Waluigi’s personal background, but that’s definitely a nice play on words for his name.
21 He's Got Moves; Dance Moves
Waluigi can dance; but if you’re a fan, you probably already knew that. One of the only times we ever see Waluigi as a main villain is in the Dance Dance Revolution series Mario had.
We guess having dance moves is a pretty redeeming quality.
His moves were so powerful that they actually were hypnotic; which is kind of disturbing when you remember that this is Waluigi we’re talking about. It makes sense for his character design though, considering he has what are probably the longest legs in the entire Mushroom Kingdom.
20 His Legs Are His Strongest Attribute
It might seem obvious, but Waluigi’s strongest attributes are his legs; we know, shocker. If you look at how he’s typically defeated villains, it’s usually a kick. When he was in Smash Bros, we saw his moves typically revolve around using his legs to stomp on people.
This isn’t something we’ve seen the other characters like Luigi, Mario or Wario focus on, so it’s safe to say that this is an attribute they chose specifically because of his exaggerated and long limbs.
19 He Runs His Own Motor-Oil Company
According to most of his fandom sources, Waluigi actually owns a motor-oil company. There’s some speculation that he and Wario are not actually plumbers like their cousins Mario and Luigi. Rather, some think they might actually be mechanics instead!
What exactly are Waluigi and Wario?
Some of this is because the two often utilize vehicles more than their do-good counterparts, but Waluigi owning his own motor-oil company seems to be another boon to the theory. We’re not sure what the name of the company is or where it’s located within the Mushroom Kingdom, but it’s definitely out there!
18 He's Simply In Love With Daisy
It’s been stated in Mario Party 4 and 5 that Waluigi is actually very much in love with Daisy. The princess, however, does not share those feelings in turn. It’s a little strange to think that someone like Waluigi has any romantic side, but it would be pretty interesting to see what he thinks flirting is.
It’s also strange because he does seem to be so focused on doing bad and we’ve never really seen him act on his feelings. Unfortunately, Daisy seems to really dislike him and it’s a slim chance we’ll ever see Waluigi actually find love.
17 He's Got Some Control Over Water
We’re not really sure how or why, but it looks like Waluigi is actually a waterbender of sorts! The awkward and lanky villain seems to be akin with the water element in the same way Mario is akin with fire.
Could you imagine Waluigi as a full waterbender?
Since both Mario and Luigi have their own elements, it would only make sense that Wario and Waluigi have that same ability with their own element. Waluigi has some water powers and is a pretty powerful swimmer from what we’ve seen in the sports series game; yet another gift that was probably given for having such strong legs.
16 He's Not Really A Villain
The interesting thing about Waluigi and Wario is that they aren’t exactly villains the same way characters like Bowser are. Whereas Bowser is seen almost exclusively being a villain and capturing princesses, we’ve seen Wario and Waluigi do plenty of things that don’t really hurt anyone.
They tend to mostly show up to be competitors in spin off games, so it’s almost like they’re just sore losers in competition with Mario and Luigi rather than actually trying to be bad guys.
15 He's Not Wario's Brother
Since Mario and Luigi are brothers, it’s a common misconception that Wario and Waluigi are also siblings. The truth is that they’re really just friends; although they may still share some familial relation to the Mario brothers!
We really need to see what this family tree looks like...
Wario seems to have just teamed up with Waluigi for the criminal shenanigans they tend to get into. We’re not sure what their real background story is in relation to each other, but we do know that these days you tend to only ever see them working together.
14 He Might Be Mario's Cousin, However!
Despite not canonly being Wario’s brother, he may still be a cousin to the Mario brothers! Some of their official and fan sources suggest that there’s still a relation to Mario and Luigi, it’s just not as close.
Since we know nothing about the parents of these characters, it’s hard to get an official family tree, but at the very least we know there’s a chance that they’re still relatives! It certainly would make sense for cousins to be butting heads in competition.
13 He' Actually Pretty Passive Aggressive, Among Other Things
If you notice both the voice lines and the way Waluigi acts, you’ll notice he’s not always the nicest guy on the block. He often chants for his victory, accuses others of cheating and then says he’ll cheat, but worst of all, he tends to be exceptionally upset when he loses.
He's a pretty rude dude.
We all understand how frustrating it is to lose a game, but Waluigi always seems to take it to the max. And the cheating thing? Come on dude, you can be better than that!
12 His Voice Actor Used Personality Traits For The Voice Lines
Waluigi’s own voice actor, Charles Martinet, has even discussed the strange attributes that make Waluigi what he is. He described the lanky character as “self-pitying” and played off that emotion to create a lot of his voice lines.
This makes a lot of sense considering the voice lines seem to indicate that Waluigi thinks the world is working against him. With how much bad luck he seems to have, we can’t exactly blame him, but it’s still sad to see that this was the emotion that built his voice in the first place.
11 We First Saw Him In The 2000s Mario Tennis
We talked a little bit about how Waluigi was only made to be a partner for Wario, which makes sense since we first were introduced to this character in the 2000s Mario Tennis.
Do you remember your first reaction to Waluigi?
We have to wonder what people’s original reactions were when they saw this insanely strange character walk onto the court; he is fairly strange looking, even compared to Wario. Since these players are usually a two on two match, Waluigi was given the task of being the counterpart to Luigi so that Wario had a partner that made sense.
10 He's Only Playable In Spin-Off Series
In addition to not having his own solo game and not really ever being the only sole villain of a major game, you can only play was Waluigi in any spin-off series. Games like Mario Kart and Mario Party are usually the places where you can commonly play him, but you’ll never really see him in a major game.
That being said, there are plenty of fans who’ve decided Waluigi deserves better and, if you look online, there are plenty of fan-made games that feature the purple villain.
9 He Received Mixed Reception From Fans At First...
While Waluigi has become popular over time, partially thanks to memes, he didn’t always have the kind of support he has now. In fact, when Waluigi first came out, people weren’t exactly sure what to think of him.
Not everyone seems down with the WAH!
In a lot of ways he was a really uncomfortable character and some have even pegged him as a lame character in the Mario series. However, it wasn’t all that bad considering that he still had a few fans who adored his traditional cartoon villain look.
8 But These Days He's The Most Popular!
In recent years, we’ve seen Waluigi’s fan base grow considerably. There’s one big reason for this; memes. The character started popping up in viral internet memes and slowly over time people began to actually love his character.
We’re a little upset that despite this new fan base there hasn’t been any new information added to his backstory. He still has very little history in compared to his partner, Wario, which makes him seem like a much more two-dimensional villain rather than a decent character.
7 He Was Actually Created By Camelot, Not Nintendo
You may think that because Waluigi is a Nintendo character that he was created by his current company; this isn’t true! Waluigi was first conceptualized and created by Camelot Software Planning.
One of his voice lines is actually about Camelot!
Waluigi was created by the employee Fumihide Aoki and would appear in the golfing Mario series that was also produced at Camelot. While Nintendo was not his original home, it is certainly the one that he’s thrived in since; mostly because they own the rights to him and all of his games anyways.
6 We Didn't See Him In Mario Kart 7
If you’re upset that we aren’t seeing Waluigi in the new Smash Bros, you were probably just as angry that we didn’t actually see Waluigi in Mario Kart 7 either.
We have to wonder if they just tend to forget that this character even forgets for rosters, which is really sad considering he seems to be one of the most neglected Mario characters. It doesn’t seem like there was really a reason why the developers made this decision, but it was certainly a letdown.