Waluigi

Waluigi was deliberately created to be a selectable character in various multi player games. He has appeared in several games, although none of them are main games in the Mario series. His first appearance was in Mario Tennis games for the Nintendo 64, as Wario's doubles partner. Later, along with Princess Daisy, he joined the Mario Party series's roster in Mario Party 3 and has been a playable character in every main entry in the series since. He also appeared in Super Mario Strikers.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, there are two Badges that Mario can wear to change his appearance. One of them is the L Emblem, which puts Mario in Luigi's clothes, and the other is the W Emblem, which puts him in Wario's clothes. When Mario puts on the W Emblem and the L Emblem at the same time, he changes into Waluigi's clothes.

Waluigi plays his first role in a game plot in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, in which he is one of the characters, along with Bowser, attempting to wreak havoc on the Mushroom Kingdom's music.

He is again a playable character in the Mario Kart Series, appearing at the start in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and as an unlockable character in Mario Kart DS.

Appearance

Waluigi has a hat and gloves with a Γ symbol. Mario's evil counterpart, Wario, wears a "W", which is also an upside-down "M". Likewise, Waluigi is noted as Luigi's evil counterpart, and this is most likely the reason that he wears a "Γ". Nintendo used the vertical mirror image of the "L".

Name

Waluigi's name has a dual-meaning in Japanese. The Japanese word "warui" (悪い, "warui"?) means "bad" or "evil" ("Warui" is also a condescending way of apologizing, as opposed to "gomennasai", or "sumimasen" which are more polite). This means that Waluigi's name is a portmanteau of "warui" and "Luigi" and essentially means "Evil Luigi". Many believe his name to be a cheap offshoot of Wario's name rather than being derived from Luigi's name.

Additionally, the name Waluigi would be pronounced in Japanese as waruiji, which rearranges the syllables of ijiwaru, the Japanese word for "mean-spirited".

Note that in Japanese, the same sound is used for L and R.

Criticism

Waluigi is disliked by some Nintendo fans due to the lack of originality behind his creation and his clunky name. He is also disliked because of his role in the Mario universe as a "filler" character – that is, a character who serves as a partner to a previously established character or as an extra player in games like the Mario Party or Mario Kart series.

Relationship to Wario

Waluigi's relationship to Wario is unclear. It appears that they might be related since they share some facial and mental characteristics, but Waluigi's Super Smash Bros. Melee trophy says that it is indeed unclear if they are brothers or not. It can be inferred that they are at least good friends.

However, according to Nintendo of Europe, Waluigi and Wario are brothers. Nintendo of Europe's "Wario's Warehouse" articles from a few years ago had Wario refer to Waluigi as "his dimwit brother." Nintendo of Europe's Mario Kart DS site has a description of the Waluigi Pinball course that refers to Waluigi as Wario's younger brother.

Nintendo of America also mentioned Waluigi and Wario's brotherhood. Nintendo of America's old Mario Tennis 64 Page says Wario and Waluigi are indeed brothers. Also, Wario and Waluigi's team name in Mario Party 5 - the "Wicked Bros." - also implies that they are brothers.

It should be noted that Wario's relation to the Mario Bros is that he is their cousin. About the time of Mario Kart 64's release, Nintendo Power had an article in the form of a letter to Mario from Wario signed with "Your Cousin, Wario." This would mean that Waluigi is also a cousin to the Marios.

Although Nintendo adopted the use of the name "Mario" as a double for the characters' last name from the movies to make sense for why Luigi is a "Mario Brother." It is unclear if the same can be said for Wario & Waluigi, meaning they could also bear the Mario last name or even be "Wario Bros." or maybe even something else. The term "Wicked Bros." shouldn't be taken seriously at this time as their official last name, but more so as their personalities.