Whatever Happened to Wart?

[vovat]

I'm sure anyone who cares at all about the subject (and perhaps even some of you who don't) know that Super Mario Bros. 2 wasn't originally conceived as a Mario game at all. After it was changed into one for American audiences, however, many of the characters became staples of the series. Shyguys and Bob-ombs have become regular members of the Koopa Troop, and Birdo takes part in a few games as well (mostly sports ones, where he/she/whatever is often paired with Yoshi, because gender-ambiguous dinosaur-like creatures have to stick together). But the game's major villain (and my default icon) Wart pretty much disappears after his one starring role. His page on the Mario Wiki mentions an appearance in Link's Awakening (under his Japanese name Mamu) and a few mentions, as well as his son appearing in Animal Crossing, but it doesn't look like he crossed paths with Mario after the first time.

In the original Doki Doki Panic, Wart kidnaps two children by reaching his flipper out of a storybook. I think I heard somewhere that the game was based on an anime. If that's true, I have to wonder if Wart/Mamu ever appeared in it. He never appeared in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cartoons, even though most of his minions did. They pretty much all worked for King Koopa, though, with Mouser making frequent appearances as the reptilian ruler's right-hand man (er, right-hand MOUSE, that is). Wart did show up in one of the Mario comics, looking more like a crocodile than a frog or toad. If he ever did appear alongside Bowser (whether in a game or some derivative medium), I have to wonder if they'd be allies or rivals.

Anyway, if any Nintendo representatives happen to be reading this, bring back Wart! {g}

Comments

[jadavisofmo.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

"I think I heard Kamek talking some shit about Wart. I think he fed him his own children just to fuck with him..."

You could argue that Wart was a villain in a dream, and "Link's Awakening" was also a dream, so on one hand, when it comes to the Nintendo universe in the games, he doesn't exist.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Fair point, although that wouldn't explain how Shyguys and Birdos exist outside the dream world. Or did Mario dream about both real and imaginary creatures?

[jadavisofmo.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

That is the other hand. Don't forget Ninjis. I can't remember seeing many of them, but one was lurking near the end of Bowser's Castle in Super Mario World.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Am I misremembering, or were they in the last world of SMB3, too? I think I might be, but....

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the only SMB2 enemy to also appear in SMB3 was the Bob-omb. There were definitely Ninjis in SMW, though, as well as Sparks (they looked like flame creatures instead of weird discs with eyes, but they did the same basic thing).

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you're right! Where did Wart go?

And I didn't know that Mario 2 wasn't meant to be a Mario! That's one of the first NES games I played regularly. I still love it 20-ish years later, lol.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was originally another game with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer, but it starred an Arabian family instead of the Mario gang. The Japanese SMB2 eventually came to the States as "The Lost Levels," while the SMB2 that we know was called "Super Mario USA" over there. (I assume the original Doki Doki Panic went out of production, so the Mario makeover might have actually saved it.)

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's pretty interesting. An Arabian family, huh? Hm!

[revme.livejournal.com]

Kinda makes sense with some of the stuff, like the flying rug and all.

And, you know, little ninja kitties. They totally have those in Arabialand.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the giant mice that throw bombs!

One odd detail from the changeover is that the mother became Luigi.