Talk:Wario (franchise)

(First topic)

Wario Blast is missing. I think Mario and Wario, too.ChozoBoy 13:12, 6 September 2008 (EDT)

Wario Blast is not missing, and Mario and Wario does not count. Wario is the main antagonist. Also, I think WarioWare games should be added to this list. A Link to the Present 16:00, 24 January 2011 (EST)

The Donkey Kong series article has Donkey Kong as the first game when DK is the main antagonist Commander Code-8

Twenty?

The infobox for this article says there are 20 entries into the Wario series, yet I only count 17. I'd change this number, but I'm not entirely certain if it's the article's problem or mine. Anyone have any idea where the other three came from? 1337star 15:18, 23 June 2011 (EDT)

I counted 18 so they might be counting Mario & Wario and Wario's Woods in there Goomba's Shoe15 (talk)

Coverage

Say, anyone agree it'd be better to move the Wario Land game and character information to the (rather dismal) Wario Land series page and have this page for the one-offs like Wario World and Master of Disguise? --Glowsquid (talk) 21:20, 19 September 2014 (EDT)

Considering Mario (franchise) lists every single Mario game under the sun, reserving an article titled "Wario (series) solely for one-offs is... kinda odd to me. Shouldn't we list all Wario games here and then go into more depth for certain games on the subseries page (Wario Land (series), WarioWare (series), etc.) like we do for the Mario series article? Hello, I'm Time Turner.

(for reference, I consider that page's listing of things already listed on more specific pages to be pointless too). --Glowsquid (talk) 21:34, 19 September 2014 (EDT)

Considering the amount of subseries pages we have, I wouldn't mind if the "main" Mario series page was reserved for one-offs and we could then link to the relevant pages. It'd certainly make it less padded and cluttered. Maybe a proposal could be made about it? Hello, I'm Time Turner.

I'll just drop in and say that the "Partners series" section is wholly unecessary and too loosely connected to have a section in this article Xiahou Ba^{(the Nasty Warrior)} 21:53, 19 September 2014 (EDT)

Logo

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This article's infobox sure is weird. The about file for the logo in the infobox says it's a trace from the box art of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. More specifically, it's the Japanese Wario Land boxart; the English one has Wario's head in the middle of the "O". There are two things I dislike about this:

• a) Shouldn't we be using the English box art as a basis, as this is an English wiki which always favors North American releases for things like article names and box art in infoboxes?
• b) No other Wario games use this branding, like zero, nada, zilch. That's probably because there's no such thing as a plain "Wario" brand game, but still. We can't just go and apply the style of one game to the entire franchise! And on what grounds are we choosing Wario Land specifically? Easiest one of the Wario video game logos to mockup a version unlinked to the game its from, since its probably the only one without something inside the "O"? That's hardly a good reason.
• c) Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 released in 1994. Even if it is the only option for an all-encompassing Wario logo, the visual stylings of that game in no way represent the Wario brand in the 21st century.

I'd rather give up and put both the Wario Land logo and WarioWare logo in the infobox of this article. Even though using two series logos for a franchise page is nonstandard, they're used in North America, are more current, and together represent the totality of modern Wario releases (Wario: Master of Disguise is retro-enough in my book.)Salmancer (talk) 22:58, July 20, 2025 (EDT)

Point B is false; Wario's Woods and Wario Blast both use that. Of course, they're also old. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 00:46, July 21, 2025 (EDT)

The Japanese version of Virtual Boy Wario Land also uses this logo style. rend (talk) (edits) 00:51, July 21, 2025 (EDT)

Noted. Salmancer (talk) 16:29, July 22, 2025 (EDT)

The English logos for Wario's WoodsMedia:Wario'sWoodsLogo.jpg, Wario BlastMedia:WarioBlast Logo.png, and Mario & WarioMedia:M&W in-game logo.png, as well as the Japanese logo for Virtual Boy Wario LandMedia:VBWL-Logo.png, not only use the same formatting as Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, but they all also lack the Wario head in the O, just like the Japanese logo for Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. The former three games I listed are also all one-off games that aren't tied to a specific series (i.e. Wario Land and WarioWare). So, if anything, I'd argue the current logo in the infobox is actually the perfect one to go with at the moment, as its formatting is the most consistently used in the franchise outside of the Wario Land and WarioWare series. Wilben (talk) 02:18, January 28, 2026 (EST)

I just recently found this in-game spriteMedia:WLSML3TitleIngame.png of the logo for Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, which lacks the the Wario head in the O and is used in the English version of the game, which further leads me to believe that the current logo for this article is perfect as is. Wilben (talk) 13:43, February 12, 2026 (EST)

Are Mario & Wario and Wario's Woods Wario games?

This talk page proposal has already been settled. Please do not edit this section or its subsections. If you wish to discuss the article, please do so in a new section below the proposal.

I've noticed an inconsistency on this page : in the infobox and second paragraph of the article, the 1994 game Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 is stated to be the first installment of the Wario franchise, yet the game Mario & Wario, which was released in 1993, is listed in the section for the games and in the template of Wario games. I believe the inconsistency is due to Wario being one of the title characters of the game, but not the protagonist (this is also the case with Wario's Woods). Therefore, I think there should be a poll to decide on wether or not these games should count as being part of the Wario franchise.

Proposer: Brett (talk)

Mario & Wario is a Wario game

Mario & Wario is a Wario game 6-3
Deadline: March 8, 2026, 23:59 (UTC)

Yes

1. Brett (talk) In the original Donkey Kong, the titular character is not the protagonist of the game, yet it is still considered as being the first installment of the Donkey Kong since the gorilla is the title character. Therefore, I think Mario & Wario is a Wario game.
2. Camwoodstock (talk) While Wario is the antagonist, he's the clear through-line between this and other games; that Wario is in them is literally a titular element to them. We definitely agree that the Donkey Kong comparison makes sense, especially considering the other games in the original trilogy of arcade games have different player characters, but Donkey Kong's role in the story is the throughline.
3. Rykitu & Wykitu (talk) Per all.
4. Waltendo (talk) If Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a Donkey Kong game, then the same can be said for Mario & Wario (just as long as it also remains a Mario game).
5. WA-ndering Poplin (talk) Per all.
6. Wilben (talk) Even after considering Hewer's statement below, I'm still leaning more towards support on this one, as the fact that the "Wario" in the official English logoMedia:M&W in-game logo.png is formatted the same as the English logos for Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3Media:WLSML3TitleIngame.png, Wario's WoodsMedia:Wario'sWoodsLogo.jpg, and Wario BlastMedia:WarioBlast Logo.png, as well as the Japanese logo for Virtual Boy Wario LandMedia:VBWL-Logo.png, leads me to believe that there is at least some sort of connection between the games, even if very loosely. If nothing else, I don't see why this game couldn't simply be labeled as both a Super Mario-franchise game AND a Wario-franchise game, similar to how Mario vs. Donkey Kong is considered both a Super Mario-franchise game AND a Donkey Kong-franchise game.

#Hewer (talk) To my knowledge there are fewer official sources that identify a singular "Wario franchise" than there are for Donkey Kong and Yoshi (Nintendo Today! and this Super Smash Bros. website notably only refer to the WarioWare series, but Smash's music and spirit lists do group WarioWare and Wario Land together under a single Wario series). So it makes sense that we have little to go on for whether these games are officially considered part of the franchise. The only reason I'm leaning towards support is the fact that, as mentioned in the above discussion, these games share the same "Wario" logo with each other and the first Wario Land game, which loosely suggests a connection, at least marketing-wise.

No

1. Hewer (talk) You know what, I'm changing my vote here, per the point I brought up in the comments about Wanda's spirit in Smash being classified as a Mario spirit. If Mario & Wario was officially considered a Wario game, they probably would've made the spirit classification match that, but they didn't. The counterargument is that the Mini Mario spirit is also considered a Mario franchise spirit rather than a Donkey Kong one, but the difference with Mario vs. Donkey Kong is that that game is directly derived from earlier installments in the Donkey Kong franchise, whereas Mario & Wario actually predates all the other games in the Wario franchise. The only evidence we have of there being an intentional link is the similar English logos point I mentioned in my original vote, but that was pretty flimsy evidence anyway that I was only using in lieu of any official statement on the matter (which the Smash spirit provides). Smash's tips also seem to imply that Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 is the first game in the Wario franchise, bringing it up as Wario's "first starring role" with no mention of Mario & Wario.
2. DryKirby64 (talk) I lean to "no" for Mario & Wario. I don't think any game where you play as Mario is a Wario game; it's closer to Super Mario Land 2 in that regard. The Wario series' primary distinction is that he is the central character, and the presence of Mario (and Luigi, and Peach) inherently takes that spotlight away from him.
3. Dive Rocket Launcher (talk) Per Hewer. This game doesn't really have anything that makes it identifiable as a Wario game besides having Wario in it, but by that logic, SML2 is also a Wario game. This game isn't at all comparable to MvDK, which clearly incorporates elements of both franchises (especially the Mario characters and Donkey Kong arcade games).

Wario's Woods is a Wario game

Wario's Woods is a Wario game 9-0
Deadline: March 8, 2026, 23:59 (UTC) Closed early on March 1, 2026, 23:59 (UTC)

Yes

1. Brett (talk) Same reason as for Mario & Wario.
2. Camwoodstock (talk) Per our vote for Mario & Wario.
3. Hewer (talk)
4. Wykitu's Woods (talk) Ditto.
5. Waltendo's Woods (talk) Per Donkey Kong 3 being classified as a Donkey Kong game.
6. Wandering Poplin's Woods (SNES) If Yoshi's Safari is (currently) considered to be a Yoshi game, then why shouldn't Wario's Woods be a Wario game?
7. DryKirby64 (talk) Wario's Woods is more concretely a Wario game to me. Wario is much more prominent here than in Mario & Wario, Mario is absent, and the Mario series characters are deliberately less popular picks like Toad and Birdo to make Wario stand out more as the central focus.
8. Yoshi18 (talk) Per all.
9. Dive Rocket Launcher (talk) Per all.

No

Comments (you can suggest other possible solutions)

Why not set this up as a poll proposal? One yes/no vote for Mario & Wario, and another for Wario's Woods. Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 16:28, February 22, 2026 (UTC)

Good idea, I forgot about this feature. Brett (talk) 16:54, February 22, 2026 (UTC)

i don't know how i feel about this being a binary yes-no. Mario & Wario, Wario's Woods and WL:SML3 all predate both Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and therefore, the crystallization of Wario, Donkey Kong and Yoshi as sub-franchises of Super Mario. attempting to cram them into a mold that wouldn't properly exist until years after their release doesn't feel like the right analysis. the games can definitely be linked to Wario's increasing prominence, which ultimately culminated in Wario Land 1 and the proper establishment of the Wario franchise, but inserting them into said franchise feels like claiming Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. are part of the Super Mario Bros. series. — eviemaybe (talk) 16:40, February 22, 2026 (UTC)

Donkey Kong is considered the first game of the Donkey Kong franchise (not Donkey Kong Country), and Yoshi is considered the first game of the Yoshi franchise (not Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island). Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 20:25, February 22, 2026 (UTC)

i don't agree with that one either, to be honest. — eviemaybe (talk) 04:01, February 26, 2026 (UTC)

I think the idea of arcade Donkey Kong not being the first game in the Donkey Kong franchise is a bit bizarre (and contradicts official sources), but I could go either way on the Yoshi puzzle game. Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 19:29, February 28, 2026 (UTC)

I don't know... sure the "titular antagonist" point is valid (to a degree), but I would consider these more of "sub-titles" (not spin-off titles) than "titles". The Wario franchise is divided in two groups: treasure hunting platformer (which includes the Wario Lands, Wario World, and W:MOD) and the microgame collections (the WarioWare). These... aren't really appliable to either: it's Wario messing up with the main Super Mario cast (so that's why "sub-titles": Wario is a prominent figure, but the game isn't really JUST revolved around him). Mariuigi Khed 17:45, February 22, 2026 (UTC)

I just realised that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's spirit list classifies Wanda from Mario & Wario as a Super Mario spirit rather than a Wario spirit. Then again, it also classifies Mini Mario from Mario vs. Donkey Kong as a Super Mario spirit. So at the very least, Mario & Wario should be considered to be in both franchises. Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 11:54, February 24, 2026 (UTC)

I mean, both games are classified as games in both of the titular franchises (through the navboxes) and I did say your latter part in my first vote. [[c:a:t:s|Altendo]] 14:00, February 24, 2026 (UTC)

@Wilben: As I said in my vote, the difference with Mario vs. Donkey Kong is that it actually features elements from both the Mario franchise and the Donkey Kong franchise. Mario & Wario doesn't feature any elements from the Wario franchise, because the Wario franchise didn't exist yet when it came out. (It features Wario himself as the main antagonist, but so does Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins.) Hewer (talk · contributions · edit count) 11:25, March 5, 2026 (UTC)