There's something majestic about Waluigi's lanky purple frame. At least, that's what his fans will tell you. His pointy shoes have been gracing games in the Mario Extended Universe, and his star has only grown on the periphery of Nintendo's heart. Cries of joy happen any time my friends pick his assist trophy and watch him stomp everyone into the ground in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His wry laugh has haunted many a game of Mario Party and many a tennis match where controller meets floor. His moonwalking serve has so far made him the star attraction of Mario Tennis Aces' marketing campaign. 

He is the Luigi to Mario's Wario, a trickster whole obsession with cheating and insecurities make him a unique kind of villain within the world of Mario. And he started his life out as the perfect foil. Designer Fumihide Aoki was struggling with finding a doubles partner for Wario in the original Mario Tennis and eventually settled on a rival for Luigi, the first new (mostly) human character designed for the game. His design was overseen by Yoichi Kotabe and Shigeru Miyamoto himself, who once played around with giving both him and Wario love interests akin to Princesses Peach and Daisy. The idea died, but hearing him squeak while serving the ball was a delight.  

Interestingly, Waluigi has only ever been featured in Mario spin-off games, usually of the Tennis or Party variety. He's starred in all but one of the Tennis games, every Party game since the third (he was only available in that game's multiplayer mode), every Golf outing since Toadstool Tour, and every Kart excursion since Double Dash. He's even the main antagonist in Mario's Dance Dance Revolution spin-off, trying to conquer the world through dance. He's like that family friend your parents used to tell you about and are astonished actually exists when they show up on your doorstep bearing presents and a sinister stare.

His supporting role in these games has been a constant comfort to Mario fans young and old to the point where the memes have become relentless. His status exists equally as a moon-walking tennis dad and a deconstructed mirror image, an ironic sex icon and the literal God of Destruction. He's crossed over into Sherk and Dragon Ball territories of unquantifiable memedom, confusing but deeply entertaining all the same. 

Even Nintendo themselves are getting in on the fun.

Nintendo's relationship with the character has been spotty and questionable among the fanbase. Rumors of Nintendo's hatred for the character have spread across the internet for years, but none have been actively confirmed. In fact, outside of Miyamoto explaining why he never gave Wario and Waluigi love interests, the company's opinion on the character is virtually unknown. It only further plays into the character's charms. 

Not that those charms ever translated to him being well-liked in the games. His first appearance in Tennis revolves around his attempts to become more popular than Mario and Luigi because according to his voice actor Charles Martinet, "Waluigi feels that good things are always happening to others and not to him, causing him great frustration." He's an insecure doppelganger just looking for some validation in the form of total Mushroom Kingdom domination. 


Whatever you may think of Nintendo's least favorite purple-trousered son, he's not going anywhere anytime soon. He's a comic foil, an inept villain, and a Mushroom Kingdom denizen who just needs a little bit of love. Whether or not that love is ironic probably doesn't bother him too much.