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Waluigi has grown to become one of the most popular characters in the Mario series — one circuit on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe online confirms as much — but did you know that there was once a design for another evil "Wa" inversion in the franchise, this time focused on Peach?
The prospect of "Walupeach" had never entered the gaming sphere (though we had seen the concept in previous interviews and other sources like the manga), but a recently republished interview with the vice president of Camelot Software Planning, Shugo Takahashi, has confirmed that such a character once reached the design phase.
The 2008 Nindori interview reappeared on Nintendo Dream Web and was brought to our attention by @gosokkyu who provided a translated summary of the contents. It seems that after seeing the success of Waluigi in Mario Tennis, the Camelot team set about trying to make lightning strike twice and began working on the designs for "Walupeach" — a 'fallen angel' take on the classic princess. If this concept sounds horrifying, that's because it probably was. Shigeru Miyamoto must have felt the same, as the legendary Nintendo director shot down the idea before even seeing the designs.
Concerned that the character would be too much like Doronjo (the iconic villain from the 1977 anime Yatterman), Miyamoto ensured that the designs would go no further and the "Walupeach" concept never saw the light of day.
You can find a picture of Doronjo below, just to make it clear how un-Mario such a character would be. Takahashi confirmed in the interview that their designs bore no resemblance to the anime villain (phew) though it was a "datenshi-style character" (think gothic-y fallen angel-looking and you're close enough) so may have carried a similar vibe even if the appearance wasn't there.
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But now this idea has come to mind, we can't help but wonder what the evil princess would have looked like. Would this have been a tall, moustached version of the Mushroom Kingdom figurehead? Or would the approach have been more rock and roll, depicting Peach in a leather jacket and (dare we say) trousers??
Whatever "Walupeach" might have looked like, it seems that the character will never come to fruition — probably a good thing, right? For now, at least, Waluigi remains everyone's favourite bad boy on the block.
Would you like to see a "Walupeach" equivalent in the future? Let us know what she would look like in the comments below!
[source ndw.jp, via twitter.com]
Comments 74
Remember what they took from us! Another global phenomenon! Darn youuuuu!
I still think this would be interesting on Smash and other such games (incl. sports)
Oh, here is my wild idea.
The evil version of Princess Peach is.... Princess Beach
(Imagine this word as the redacted one).
This all sounds familiar as I do recall the idea of a "Walupeach" character having been mentioned atleast once before, although the part about Doronjo (who I only recognize thanks to Tatsunoko vs Capcom) is new to me I think.
Wouldn’t it be WaPeach?
We've heard about this "Warupichi" concept for years but I guess now is when we have actual details. Interesting and creepy. I would still love to have seen the design even if it was nightmare fuel!
It's also interesting how Wario's character designer kept him a secret from Miyamoto. He wasn't allowed to ever see Wario in Super Mario Land 2's development!
Speaking of Doronjo, I'm pretty sure Pokemon's Team Rocket trio, Jessie and James with Meowth, was based on the Doronbo gang.
Personally, I would love to see an evil princess in the Mario universe. Some toad-like henchmen under the Wario bros. would be appreciated too.
The article thumbnail made me expect the worst (good job on that image NL!), but after looking at the article...I'm kinda disappointed we didn't get this!
Would've been better than Pink Gold Peach in Mario Kart, at least.
If twitter said so, then it's automatically true. That's what I learned with the internet.
Bonus points if the tweet has a link on it.
Incidentally, the word “peach” sounds a lot like the word for “illegitimate offspring” in Turkish (“piç”), which resulted in some amusing moments with my cousins when I took my DS and copy of Super Princess Peach (or “Süper Prenses Piç”), among other games, to Turkey with me back in 2008. 😅
Is it controversial to say I've never even been a fan of Waluigi? I always loved Wario as the perfect 'bizarro' Mario but Waluigi, even when I was a kid, struck me as weird and excessive - let alone a 'Walupeach'. Thank God Miyamoto vetoed this one!
In an alternate universe, there is a Walupeach movie.
Evil princess Peach in Mario kart, 3d or 2d Mario game. In smash. It is possible.
I haven't seen Yatterman, so "Walupeach" frankly evokes something closer to the Tron Bonne image in my head (in looks and personality alike), and IMHO it would have been quite amusing to work with. Perhaps, now that the idea has gone public, some fanworks will go to town with it just like they did with Bowsette before.😆
@LUIGITORNADO The Japanese word is "warui", meaning something like "bad", so "warupeach" or "walupeach" would make sense.
NL, that's the kind of forbidden knowledge you should've known better than to unleash it on the internet!
@CornflakeCookie that's a very fair take (even if very controversial). As a kid I also desliked Waluigi because Wario felt like his own person, while Waluigi sounded like a person was born for the sole purpose of antagonizing Luigi. Over the years, his Dick Dastardly appearance and over the top narcissistic personality gained me over. I still think the name stinks (his symbol isn't even his initial, it's an upside down L)
@Preposterous As was the Scorpion Army in Secret of Mana.
I think we're good. The internet has already created evil Peach in the form of Bowsette.
@AvianBlue Was just about to say that.
Can't wait to see the internet go wild with this and produce some funny art
Saw a picture of Mario and Luigi kissing one another online. Please do not do that.
Miyamoto vetoing without even looking makes it seem more like "Walupeach was something someone thought of" more than "almost a thing"
Nintendo! Make Bowsette canon you cowards!
I thought this was already known
In general Miyamoto seems like an incredibly frustrating man to try to be creative around because he seems to think he's the only person who's allowed to be.
I always imagined she'd look like this
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Cardi B - WAPeach
@CornflakeCookie Waluigi is and has anyways been filler. He's not bad, just profoundly boring.
Funnily enough I'd argue we already had someone like Doronjo in a Mario game before this, Valentina from Super Mario RPG.
Kind of a bummer we didn't get "Walupeach", could've been a nice addition to the Mario roster which lacks (luckily less so nowadays) female characters, especially evil ones!
Although in the end maybe it's a good thing, we could've not had the Shadow Queen if there were already an evil version of Peach.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
Eventually every video game character will encounter an evil version of themselves.
There's no way that image is from 1977. checks Nope, there was a modern remake.
Also, just noticed "[Removed - unconstructive feedback]". Really? If that's the standard, the majority of posts (including mine, yes), should be removed
How do you add images here? I was perusing this site with shots from the original show and there's this guy that has the Wario/luigi face with the enormous nose and handlebar mustache.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/evilbabes/images/3/36/Vlcsnap-2018-01-12-20h51m43s901.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20180119124745
I recall reading something similar in an issue of Nintendo Power way back in the day. It was an article about Mario Tennis in which the developer states they had intended to create female versions of Wario and Waluigi, which would serve as counterparts to the dastardly duo. The idea was eventually scrapped however, due to the initial concepts being too disturbing or something like that. I would've liked to have seen those drawings haha.
Well that link didn't work. If you go to this site, it's the 7th image from the last. Doronjo lounging at a pool and the cocktail boy has the wa-look.
https://femalevillains.fandom.com/wiki/Doronjo_(Yatterman)
@CornflakeCookie
He only exists to be a tennis partner for Wario.
I think Tatanga would have been a better choice.
...but doesn't Nintendo already have an evil Peach though?
Captain Syrup.
I mean, she's the villain in the Wario Land games. If they really wanted a "Wah-Peach," they could just use Captain Syrup.
https://www.mariowiki.com/Captain_Syrup
Considering Boyacky, I can see why Miyamoto specifically did not want Yatterman allusions.
However, I don't think Doronjo's sexy villainess would fit as a counter to Peach. Wario and Waluigi are designed as evil exaggerations of the brothers.
Absolutely nothing against Tatsunoko and the awesome character design of his productions. A Tatsunoko / Mario crossover could be pretty awesome.
Probably the least interesting news of the year so far.
Waluigi is a name with an actual meaning behind it (a Japanese pun) but Walupeach sounds like such a contrived name.
Also, if we want Bad Peach, can't we just have the Super Mario Bros. Movie "Daisy", especially that shot at the end.
What about Captain Syrup... she could be this female counterpart
how about giving us a separate character bowsette which would make more sense then walupeach.
I actually like Waluigi, but yeah, a Peach knock-off is a bridge too far.
Removed - discussing moderation
Wapeach is real. Look into wario land 4.
I would like to think to them as “Weach”
@Anti-Matter Princess Bleach? 🤪🤣
@Strumpan Thanks for that info! I never understood why evil Luigi had "Wa" in front of his name, since English, "Wario" is just "Mario" with an upside-down "M." I was about to suggest that after Walupeach, the next character could be Walupetoad, and then Walupetodaisy, and then Walupetodaitoadette...
Whoa, I didn't expect to see Yatterman being mentioned on Nintendo Life. Shoutout to fellow Poles and Italians who grew up with this awesome cartoon.
Waluigi's name is wrong to begin with. Wario name comes from turning the M in Mario upside down, so it doesn't make sense to name Luigi's alter ego Wa-Luigi. It should have been something like Juigi, as it is the closest to turning the L backwards.
@TowaHerschel7
Oh, the other one. Princess (Female dog) 😆
Given Doronjo's personality (and considering Waluigi's) I can see where the veto came from. She'd be whiny and inept...and possibly get her clothes blown off all the time.
@Jiggies Yeah but Luigi is already a pun in Japanese as is so the joke/ word play likely wouldn't stick. If they reversed the L.
Probably for the best. There's no way that Nintendo's PG reputation would survive Walupeach.
@CornflakeCookie that's the point, in my opinion. Wario is pure genius in concept and execution; Waluigi is "so bad it's good" cult favourite material.
@Jiggies Since the word "warui" (or "walui") is the origin of the naming, one might argue that Waluigi is an even better name than Wario.
@Jiggies my friend always insists that Waluigi is clever because Warui means "strange" in Japanese. I maintain that he's in denial about something that's simply a lazy (but so-bad-it's-good) naming exercise.
Can we not just use Captain Syrup as an evil counterpart to Peach instead?
Any chance we can convince them to show the actual design, or do they not have it anymore or perhaps not allowed to do that?
Also, I dunno who Doronjo is, but I'd be ok with that, she looks cool. We also need Captain Syrup in more things please! We finally managed to get Pauline in more games, so why not?
@FantasiaWHT (img)put the link here(/img), just replace the brackets with square ones.
@xmkbest Italian here, unfortunately I think I barely got to watch "Yattaman" at the time since I was slightly too late to the party because of my age, but I do remember hearing the Italian opening as a kid!
Looking at the art style of this particular image, it's probably the more recent one.
That’s it, i’m drawing this. Be back in a bit.
Edit: https://ibb.co/ZXFzFd3 There it is. It sucks, i know.
@JohnnyMind In Poland they were airing a bunch of animes with Italian dubbing in the 90s and they were the best things ever. I still have a sweet spot for the theme songs to this day. Yattaman, Calendar Men, L'Uomo Tigre – these are the jams! 😁
I think that young girl from Wario Ware would be fitting, now (Princess or Queen).
@Anti-Matter And the name would be more in line with Wario's, because it takes the first letter of Marioand turns it upside down. ie peach becomes beach. Waluigi should of been Luigi to Tuigi since T is the closest letter with an upside down Capitol L. Not sure why an evil Peach would have the first four letters of the evil Luigi version. At worst it should be Wapeach. But Princess beach makes the most sense.
@Jiggies it should be Tuigi or Fuigi as an UPSIDE DOWN L likes like either a T or F
If Wapeach doesn't have a jaggy pencil thin mustache and a big ol honkin Jew nose, I won't accept her into my fanfic
@xmkbest Didn't know you had the Italian dubbing of those in Poland, cool! And yes, those are the jams indeed!
@JohnnyMind I guess Poland couldn't afford dubbing back then lol, so we had one guy reading the Polish lines over the Italian audio track.
The amount of games Miyamoto has saved is uncountable.
Old news is old news. Tell us stuff that we don't know.
I call shenanigans on Miyamoto's reasoning, mainly because of what Takahashi said, but also because there's also Jessie, James and Meowth from the Pokémon anime, as well as Princess Devilotte and her crewmates from Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness - who, by the way actually got along well with the Doronjo Gang in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. All I see is Miyamoto just wasting a perfect opportunity.
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