Wario (universe)
The Wario universe refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties concerning the subfranchise of the world-famous Mario game franchise centered on series anti-hero Wario. A series with much cartoon mayhem and humor that is sometimes scatological, Wario is a more deranged take on the normally cheery and kid-friendly Mario archetype, and its appearances in Super Smash Bros. Brawl adheres to this aesthetic.
Franchise description
Mario began a subseries of platformers on Game Boy called Super Mario Land, of which its first entry depicted Mario leaving his personal island and castle to rescue the newly debuted character Princess Daisy from an alien entity named Tatanga. The sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, was the debut for the character Wario, who served as an "evil twin" to Mario and an antagonist figure who was the final boss; he took over Mario's castle and island for himself while Mario was away, and it's up to the latter to oust him. Wario made several other appearances as a villain in Mario games, including a Japan-only Super Famicom game named Mario and Wario where Wario would drop a bucket on the heads of either Mario, Peach, or Yoshi from his airplane, and it is up to a fairy named Wanda to help them to level exits, and in the puzzle game Wario's Woods, Wario launches an assault on the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Toad, Wanda, and Birdo to stop him.
After beng established in several games as an outright villain in the Mario universe, Wario was from then on portrayed in a less malicious anti-hero light, becoming the protagonist of his own games, most of which were platformers at first, hence establishing somewhat of a subfranchise of Mario. The first of these games was Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, where the antagonist party, the Brown Sugar Pirates led by a woman named Captain Syrup, steals a Peach statue from Mario, and Mario is trying to retrieve it; as Wario, the player must steal it for himself before that happens. After a Virtual Boy Wario adventure named Wario Land sees Wario trying to find his way out of a giant cave while collecting money, the Game Boy Color's Wario Land II continues the rivalry between Wario and Captain Syrup as they try to steal loot from each other. In Game Boy Color's Wario Land 3, Wario is now trapped in a Music Box World and must battle Rudy the Clown, and in Wario Land 4 for Game Boy Advance Wario journeys through a pyramid he hears is packed with treasure. (As a side note, early in the game Wario encounters someone disguised as Mr. Game and Watch; the game was released after Super Smash Bros. Melee.) All of these games were some variant of Wario trying to get his hands on material riches.
The Wario name eventually suddenly became synonynous with a form of off-kilter mini-gaming unique for its time. In 2003, the first of a new series called WarioWare was released for Game Boy Advance, and it received many outstanding reviews and awards for its attempt at a new genre; a collection of over 200 outrageously themed timed micro-games, games short and small enough that most of them require a single timed button press or two, thrown at the player in rapid succession with the barest minimum of instructions popping up on screen each time ("Jump!" or "Haze!" as examples). The games thematically ranged from anywhere between helping maidens nose-sucking strands of snot and avoiding giant hot dogs on wheels to avoiding obstacles in the original F-Zero or battling Mother Brain in the original Metroid. The game also introduced a diverse cast of strictly Wario characters not yet seen in any standard Mario game. In the years to come, new WarioWare games were produced for GameCube (as a port of the Game Boy Advance game), the Game Boy Advance (WarioWare Twisted!, which used a motion sensor to make turning the Game Boy Advance around a gameplay maneuver), Nintendo DS (WarioWare Touched!, making heavy use of the DS' features), and most recently the Wii (WarioWare: Smooth Moves). All these games have been considered staples of gaming for their respective systems.
Perhaps as a result of the new respect for the Wario franchise as a mini-game-proficient game series, new standard platforming games released in between have received some negative press, including Wario World for GameCube for its ease and length, and Wario: Master of Disguise for DS for standard design uninspiring in comparison to the previous Wario Land games, as well as a lot of scatological humor. But Wario himself is considered a "regular" in the standard Mario universe nonetheless, in many games such as the Mario Sports games and Mario Kart alongside a second "evil twin" character named Waluigi, and Wario and perhaps other Wario properties are set to feature in 2007's Wii fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Wario was not recognized as a distinctive universe in Melee, and it was not treated as one either, for there were no playable characters and stages based on the franchise. There were trophies for Wario and Waluigi, however, and the Bucket trophy may be considered a Wario property in Melee as well. In addition, one of Mario's alternate color swap costumes in both SSB and SSBM is a yellow and purple color scheme matching the standard Wario attire seen on Wario's trophy.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Wario is recognized and treated as a distinctive universe in Brawl, however. It features Wario as the franchise's first playable character; however, Wario has been the only Wario property seen in the trailers for Brawl thus far. Wario is dressed in his biker jacket as he is seen in the WarioWare series. The developers have stated that Wario, in an attempt to embody the Wario series' off-kilter and sometimes scatological nature, will build up "gas" over the time of the match, and he will be able to use it as a form of atomic flatulence. In the Nintendo World 2006 trailer, Wario was first seen in actual battle; his animated motions however are oddly jerky and at an unusual framerate. Whether this is an intentional quirk or merely unfinished animation that had to be shown on the trailer right then is unknown.
