The average gamer knows who Mario is. In fact, not knowing Mario is surefire proof that you are not a gamer. Mario is the godfather of video game icons, and at least a rudimentary knowledge of his games and the cast of characters that surround him is necessary in order to proudly call yourself a player of video games. My mother and father have never played a video game in their life, but I have made sure they know of Mario and his fame.
If you’ve played even a single Super Mario game, you probably have met some of Mario’s friends and enemies. You have Luigi, Peach, and Toad as some of Mario’s allies, and you have Wario, Bowser, and King Boo as some of his opponents. This list is not about them. This list is about Waluigi, the most confusing, divisive, and nonsensical character ever to be spawned in the Mario series. I might take some flak from some of Waluigi’s fans for stating that, but that’s the way it goes when you engage in the high-risk work of list-writing. (Isn’t it weird that Waluigi has hardcore fans? That’s weird, right?)
Everything about Waluigi screams befuddlement and oddness. Waluigi is one strange cat even if you just look at the most basic facts about him. And we are not going to look solely at the most basic facts about him. Read on if you want to learn some facts about the character of Waluigi that just don’t make any sense.
25 Waluigi The Waterbender
Waluigi has the weirdest ability to summon water to him whenever he wants. He doesn’t even have to ingest a flower or some other plant in order to do this. He just can. He shows this ability in Mario Power Tennis. A large blob of water just appears at Waluigi’s command, and he uses it to swim over to the ball.
Seeing Waluigi display his water abilities totally makes me think he’s more powerful than Mario, who needs some floral herbs in order to power up.
24 Waluigi’s Plans For World Domination
Bowser might try to steal Mario’s princess whenever he’s the villain of the story, but Waluigi has set his eyes much higher when he’s the main villain of a game (which has happened only once).
In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Waluigi has plans to take over the world that you must foil. How is he planning to do this, you might ask? Well, apparently Waluigi has hypnotic dance moves at his disposal. Remind me never to make fun of a Goomba ever again.
23 More Than Just A Symbol
The upside-down “L” on Waluigi’s hat and gloves is not just a snazzy fashion accessory. In Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games, Waluigi shows off his never-before-seen ability to shoot his “L’s” as a projectile.
The symbol shoots off from him in the form of L-shaped energy, and he uses this as a weapon. I wonder if people realize that if Waluigi could do that with his upside-down “L,” there is no reason for Mario, Wario, or Luigi not being able to do the same thing.
22 Sole Reason For His Existence
The number one confirmation that Waluigi is a cast-off character who was cobbled together from nothing is the reason why he was made in the first place. Unlike Bowser, who was made to be Mario’s antagonist, Waluigi was made as a second thought.
Waluigi was created to be Wario’s tennis partner.
That is the number one reason for his existence. If Mario Tennis had not been created, odds are we would never have seen Waluigi come into being.
21 Where Does His Power Reside?
One of the ways that Waluigi stands out from the crowd of Mario characters is his long legs. Bowser may be larger than Waluigi, but no one else can match Waluigi in terms of leg length.
Turns out that most of Waluigi’s powerful moves come from his legs.
He can jump higher than Luigi, and in Super Mario Strikers, his Drop Rocket technique relies heavily on leg power. Waluigi’s legs are long not just for looks, but for utility as well.
20 How Did He Get His Own Island?
Waluigi always comes across to us as this poor, down-on-his-luck bad guy. Where Bowser appears strong and malicious, Waluigi appears petty and scheming. You just know that if you confronted Waluigi head-on, he would run from you screaming.
So how in the world did he get his own island in Mario Party 3? Waluigi’s island is filled with traps that you have to look out for. (Isn’t it just like Waluigi to try and take you down with hidden traps and bombs?)
19 Bobbing In The Air Like A Fool
If anything could be said to make Waluigi more ridiculous, you should take a look at him swimming in the air without water. I mentioned earlier how Waluigi can summon water (randomly) from out of nowhere and use it to swim from one place to another. He also sometimes swims and bobs in the air as if he’s in water, even though no water is to be seen.
It’s absurd! Not only is that move nonsensical, but it looks utterly ridiculous. And with a mustache like that, Waluigi doesn’t need to look any more ridiculous.
18 Same Birthday
Luigi and Waluigi share more than just a penchant for wearing overalls. As it turns out, Luigi and Waluigi share the same birthday.
The two of them are the same age.
I don’t know what exactly it is about Waluigi’s features, but he seems like he’s older than Luigi, don’t you think? Maybe Luigi’s bulbous nose gives him a youthful aspect. Maybe Waluigi’s elongated chin ages him tremendously. Either way, the two polar opposites are of the same age.
17 Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do
Just like Bowser has a thing for Mario’s girl, Princess Peach, Waluigi has a thing for Luigi’s girl, Daisy. Bowser clearly doesn’t stand a chance with Peach since he constantly steals her away to his castle, but Waluigi could be a contender for Daisy if he just stopped being so weird.
Bowser is a giant dragon-lizard thing. Waluigi is a human being (I think). There should be no obstacle to their romance. Of course, Waluigi’s fans have given Waluigi the happily ever after with Daisy that he will never have in reality.
16 Who Is The Brains Of The Operation?
Waluigi has often been described as the intelligent one in the pairing of him and Wario. Where Wario is the brawn, Waluigi is the brain. But calling Waluigi the smarter of the two is like calling a sewer a cleaner place than a garbage dump.
Despite purportedly being the dominant schemer of the two, Waluigi’s schemes never work. I don’t think you can qualify for being a genius if two plumbers keep foiling your carefully laid plans. So please stop calling Waluigi the brains of the operation.
15 Dedicated Fans
Perhaps the most astonishing fact about Waluigi is the fact that he has fan games. (Or maybe the most astonishing fact is that he has fans period.) There are people in the world who adore Waluigi so much that they have gone out of their way to create games with him as the star character.
Look, I’m not trying to say that Waluigi isn’t cool in his own way, but I’m not sure what makes him worthy of his own game. I mean, swap his villainous exterior for a friendly one and give him a red shirt underneath his overalls, and he’s basically Mario.
14 Smashing No One
Okay, so I get that I have been pretty anti-Waluigi this entire list, but even I have to admit that it makes no sense why Waluigi isn’t a playable character in Smash. There’s definitely enough fan support for Waluigi to garner him a spot on the roster.
But, sad to say, it still hasn’t happened. And, if I’ve heard correctly, Waluigi still won’t be appearing as a playable character in the latest Smash game made for the Nintendo Switch. I’m sure Waluigi fans will be disappointed.
13 Auntie Em, It’s A Twister!
Another one of the strange abilities that Waluigi can just do is the ability to turn himself into a tornado. In Mario Power Tennis, Waluigi can spin himself rapidly around in a circle so fast that he becomes a living twister.
In this state, he can just deflect any enemies that come near him. I wonder why he doesn’t just use this ability all the time to defeat his foes. But, alas, he only pulls this trick out of his hat is when he engages in a friendly game of tennis.
12 I Thought We Were Friends
This particular factoid about Waluigi creeped me out. Apparently, Wario once placed Waluigi on a rack and stretched him out so that he could be taller. Don’t you think that sounds a little…painful? Aren’t Wario and Waluigi supposed to be friends? Why would Wario place his friend on a rack just to make his legs longer?
This sounds a little too medieval for any kind of friendship, if you ask me. And perhaps Waluigi should keep his distance from Wario from now on.
11 What Exactly Is Their Relationship?
We know that Wario and Waluigi are close, but what is the exact nature of their relationship to each other? Nobody really knows. It’s been said that they are brothers, just like Mario and Luigi.
It has also been said that they are cousins.
Yet other sources say that they have no familial relation to each other and that they are just really good friends. It is the great unanswered question of our day and age. What is the connection between Waluigi and Wario?
10 Irises Of Doom
I’ve played tennis myself (not just the video game kind), and there have been times when the person I’m playing against has given me unbridled looks filled with a competitive spirit. None of those stares have compared to Waluigi’s.
Whenever he scored against you, his eyes would glint with a malicious red sheen. It’s the kind of gaze that makes you think he’s going to find out where you live one night and murd-alize you while you’re sleeping.
9 All The Voices
This little tidbit might surprise you. The voice actor who does the voice for the titular hero of the Mario series also does the voice for the melancholy Waluigi. Charles Martinet is the man behind the overalls and big nose of everyone’s favorite villain. (I’m just kidding about the “favorite villain” part.)
It makes no sense to my incredulous brain that one man is responsible for the differently pitched “Wahhs” of all these Mario characters. It is, quite frankly, amazing.
8 Look At Those Mad Teleportation Skills
Just like his ability to turn into a tornado, Waluigi has even more tricks up his sleeve that don’t make any sense. In order to get from place to place quickly (got to hit that tennis ball), Waluigi can teleport.
He disappears in a puff of smoke and then reappears a few feet away from where he disappeared. You can call it whatever you like, but I’m pretty sure that’s teleportation. What the heck, right? Not even Mario can do that. At least not as far as we’re aware.
7 Where Is His Solo Game?
So…where is Waluigi’s solo game? Not that I personally believe he should have one, but so many other side characters have their own game, it seems a tad odd that Waluigi does not.
Luigi has his haunted mansion to explore, and even Yoshi gets his own woolly world. Where’s the love for Waluigi, Nintendo? (I bet you anything that they get insane requests of this sort from crazed Waluigi fans.) One game is all Waluigi needs to become a better Mario villain.
6 What His Symbol Really Means
The upside down “L” that is Waluigi’s symbol is not just an inverted letter to make him appear like the opposite of Luigi. (Though that is one function it serves.)
The upside down “L” is also the symbol for the Greek letter Gamma.
This symbol on Waluigi’s wardrobe is meant to emphasize the chaos that he constantly strives for. It is an appropriate symbol for Waluigi to sport. But I think the Gamma symbol is too cool for him, and I’d prefer to think of it as an upside-down “L.”
