Wario (universe)

The Wario universe refers to the ' series' collection of characters, stages, and properties concerning the sub-franchise of the world-famous ' game franchise centered on the series greedy anti-hero Wario. The series is split into major subseries in it's self, those being Wario Land and WarioWare. The Wario Land series is a much more cartoonish series of platformers with mayhem, weird humor and eerie imagery. Wario Land is generally a more deranged take on the normally cheery and kid-friendly Mario archetype while WarioWare is a series consisting of collections of many fast-paced and quirky "microgames", minigames lasting only a few seconds that are played in rapid succession, with many paying homage to Nintendo's other franchises and lesser-known titles. Its symbol is a "W" for Wario, it can be seen on his cap and on the back of his gloves.

Franchise description
Wario began a sub-series 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 (who was commanded by Wario). The sequel, , 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 is up Mario to oust him. Wario made several other appearances as a villain in Mario games, including a Japan-only Super Famicom game named , 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. In the puzzle game , Wario launches an assault on the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Toad, Wanda and Birdo to stop him.

After being 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 sub-franchise of Mario. The first of these games was , 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 ' sees Wario trying to find his way out of a giant cave while collecting money, the Game Boy Color's ' continues the rivalry between Wario and Captain Syrup as they try to steal loot from each other. In Game Boy Color's ', Wario is now trapped in a Music Box World and must battle Rudy the Clown, and in ' for Game Boy Advance, Wario journeys through a pyramid he hears is packed with treasure. Following a seven-year gap, Japanese video game company, Good-Feel, Inc., developed  for Wii, where Wario ventures through the Shake Dimension to rescue Queen Merfle, her loyal pixie-like creatures called Merfles and get his hand on the Bottomless Sack. All of these games were some variant of Wario trying to get his hands on material riches.

The Wario name eventually suddenly became synonymous 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 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 ' or battling Mother Brain in the original '. 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), Game Boy Advance (', which used a motion sensor to make turning the Game Boy Advance around a gameplay maneuver), Nintendo DS (', making heavy use of the DS' features; and ', which lets the player create their own games), Wii (', making use of the Wii Remote's capabilities), Wii U (', a party game that utilizes the Wii U GamePad), Nintendo 3DS (', which amalgamates various game gimmicks from past WarioWare games, like button pressing, touch controls and the console's gyroscope), and Switch (, in which characters throughout the series can directly interact with each microgame).

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 mixed negative press, including ' for GameCube for its ease and length, and ' for Nintendo DS for uninspired design in comparison to the previous Wario Land games. However, Wario himself is considered a "regular" in the standard Mario universe nonetheless. Many games such as the Mario sports games and Mario Kart games feature a second "evil twin" character named Waluigi, and Wario is has been prominently featured in the each game of the ' series since 2008's '.

In Super Smash Flash
Wario was not recognized as a distinctive universe in Super Smash Flash, and it was not treated as one either, for there were no playable characters and stages based on the franchise. The Floating Islands stage from Adventure mode invariably takes its tilesets from Wario Land 4, but still, the property for this stage falls on the  universe due to Wario's absence.

Common enemies
It should be noted that as all the enemies present in the Floating Islands also come from Wario Land 4, but unlike the latter, it could be said they actually belong to the Wario universe, no matter what. This classification merely a technicality, though.


 * Beezley: A bee enemy that can sting Wario, so he could become Puffy Wario. In Super Smash Flash, they chase after the player and deal damage on contact, any hit will take it out easily.


 * Mayu Bird: A horrible bird-bat creature with fangs that shares the same behavior as Beezley or Crystal Bird, in that is always trying to hurt the player. Even if its fangs point in an downward direction, is still possible to beat it by below, unlike in Wario Land 4, where Wario would be harmed should he touch its fangs.


 * Pearl Bird: A flying, fat bird-like creature that originally lurked in puzzle rooms, it is not an enemy at all, in fact, he acts as a kind of helper because it shoots from its mouth inoffensive crystal balls that Wario can grab and throw for his beneficence. In Super Smash Flash, it plays the role of an enemy and behaves exactly the same as Beezly.


 * Spear-Mask: This enemy originally came in three variants. The Angry Spear-Mask, which is the version who appears in the game, wears a red robe and a mask. Angry Spear-Mask simply chases after the player; and he will charge at player with his spear over his head, any attack will beat it once for all.

In Super Smash Flash 2
Wario is recognized and treated as a distinctive new universe in Super Smash Flash 2. It focuses heavily on the Wario Land and WarioWare games, to bring balance to the content among the two Wario sub-series.

Characters

 * ': The franchise's first playable character. Wario is dressed in his traditional purple overalls from the Mario'' series as default. Unlike how Wario is presented in the official ' games, it was by decided developers that Wario should port his traditional overalls outfit rather than the biker outfit, as the first is considered the most standard appearance of Wario.

Stages

 * Emerald Cave: A stage hailing from the platforming Wario Land series, this particular area is based on the Palm Tree Paradise level from Wario Land 4. The stage comprises a flat area with wooden plank covering some hole in the stage, when these planks get this destroyed, it allows the player into the cave beneath the stage where there a hole in the middle of it.


 * WarioWare, Inc.: A stage hailing from the WarioWare series, particularly the Variety Tower from Mega Microgame$!. Occasionally, the stage takes player from the main "elevator" into a microgame, which awards players who complete it with a random effect. Eight microgames are available, such as one telling players to "Dodge!" an incoming car, and another telling players to "Shake!" the apples off of a tree by attacking it.

Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Flash series
The following list consists of media from the Wario universe that appears in Super Smash Flash and Super Smash Flash 2.


 * Shoulder Bash, Wario's side special move in SSF2, originates as his signature ability from this game.
 * Wario's twelfth costume in SSF2 is based on his in-game sprites in both this game and .


 * Wario's on-screen appearance in SSF2 has him exiting from a purple Warp Pipe, which originates from this game.
 * Wario's victory pose in SSF2 originates from his animation after defeating a boss in this game.
 * Several enemies in SSF, including Beezley, Mayu Bird, Pearl Bird, and Spear-Mask, originate as enemies in this game.
 * Their sprites in SSF are taken from this game.
 * The sprites for Floating Islands and the in SSF are taken from this game, particularly the Palm Tree Paradise level.
 * The stage Emerald Cave in SSF2 originates as Palm Tree Paradise, the first level of Emerald Cave in this game, and features the hazard of breakable blocks around an underground cave to reference where secret treasure can be found in this game.
 * Palm Tree Paradise, a soft guitar remix of the theme that plays on Monsoon Jungle in this game, plays as Emerald Cave's main music track in SSF2.


 * Wario's eighth costume in SSF2 is based on his biker uniform that first appeared in this game.
 * The stage WarioWare, Inc. in SSF2 originates from the Variety Tower level in this game and features various randomly occurring microgames as hazards.
 * Six of the microgames on this stage originate from this game, including "Button Masher", "Crazy Cars", "Dodge Balls", "High Treeson", "Jumpin' Rope", and "Sole Man".
 * Wario Ware Inc, a funky remix of the main menu and title themes from this game, plays as WarioWare, Inc.'s main music track in SSF2.


 * Wario's neutral attack, forward throw, and down throw in SSF2 are based on attacks he performs in this game.


 * The microgame "Don't Move!" on WarioWare, Inc. in SSF2 originates from this game.


 * Ashley’s Theme, an instrumental remix of Ashley's Song from this game, plays as WarioWare, Inc.'s alternate music track in SSF2.


 * Allergia Gardens, an upbeat remix of the theme that plays in the final episode in this game, plays as Emerald Cave's alternate music track in SSF2.


 * Wario's crawling and pummel animations in SSF2 originate from this game.
 * Wario's down smash in SSF2 originates as the Earthshake Punch from this game.
 * The victory theme of Wario in SSF2 is a remix of the theme that plays when Wario successfully rescues a Merfle and brings him back to the beginning of the stage in this game.


 * Ashley's Theme in SSF2 contains voice clips of Ashley taken from this game.

Trivia

 * , during his initial reveal, was part of the Wario universe despite having never taken part in any single Wario game sans for minor cameos. He has since been changed to be part of the Mario universe instead, however.