Wario can use his mustache to conduct electricity. ...It works the same way jamming a butter knife into a toaster does.
It takes tremendous amounts of energy to override the sheer level of gravity constantly pressing down on it by Wario's willpower. The imposing forces mirror the Earth's core, and are just so great that Wario's mustache is literally forced to stay solid by how densely the energy field is packed in. However, this only prevents individual hairs from going all over the place, it does not affect anything other than overall orientation.
Hence why Wario can pull at his mustache and have it immediately snap back into proper shape.
This is also why the only times his mustache will get fucked up are during times like his concentration is somewhat fucked.
Wario does not style his mustache using anything other than sheer force of will.
Ashley's headband is a family heirloom and has been passed down for generations on her mother's side.
Ashley and Penny occassionally do magic+science experiments together.
Young Cricket and Master Mantis both come from the Chai Kingdom.
Dr Crygor and Dr Shitain have knew each other since college and are good friends as they share many things in common, due to their distance though, they don't really talk often.
The Frog Switches used to enter areas in the Golden Pyramid are a precursor to the warp paintings in 64 and Odyssey. They stopped using them a long time ago due to the creation of the latter making them unneccessary and also after numerous reports of extreme dizziness after using them.
Wario, when particularly lazy, often sends out Waluigi to do his errands for him.
Waluigi doesn't really care for the WarioWare employees. He doesn't hate them, but he isn't particularly close to them either and when Wario offered him a job, he declined, preferring to do his own thing instead of working with or under Wario for something he isn't interested in.
Nao Komori is Sal-Out's real name with the latter being a stage name.
I always envisioned Wario as starting out as a dweeby loser who didn't really have much of anything to do with Mario, very insecure and kind of lacking in stamina (note how slowly he gets around in Wario Land 1; that's him pacing himself-- energy conservation).
Personally, I like to think that Wario is just some street rat that grew up picking pockets an' stuff (and that's where the greed and gluttony come from, in addition to Wario already liking the stuff-- a heart once starved, and all that). He didn't have anything at all going for him, really, no purpose in life, a real nobody with no interests other than food and money because he was an urchin. (Note: I personally discount his appearance in Yoshi's Island DS as being canon, because it's just a remake of an established title and only included the extra children as gimmicks. In other words, SMW2: Yoshi's Island is canon, Yoshi DS is not. So when I say that we don't know anything of Wario's past, I mean it's completely shrouded in mystery. As far as I'm concerned, Wario is a name that he took for himself, to distinguish that he was kinda Mario but at the same time "fuck that guy, I'm-a WAARIO." Because really, let's be honest, that's the kind of name you come up with for yourself, not one that you'd force on your children, because at least it's you that suffers from any teasing and not someone else. I wouldn't in a million years name my kid "Tahu" or "Pokey" but for me it'd be an absolute joy to throw the name around and be referred to by, and it's probably the same deal for Wario.)
This is about as far as I can explain without going to an even more considerable amount of detail: it'd take a while to be able to truly articulate my position, and as you can see, this disjointed ramble is the best I can do with whatever amount of time, but I'll try to summarize.
Little Orphan Street Waat sees a whole bunch of Mario stuff everywhere around the time of Mario Bros. 2 or smth, is like "hey I kinda resemble this guy," and decides to copy his every move so maybe he can end up in the same place; insecure cuteass humble beginnings Wario finds himself, starts to develop as a person through the interactions he'd never had the chance to have before then, due to always needing to hide away-- love of food and money comes from being a penniless starving child nobody, everybody who knew him was kind of nyehhh towards due to his larger size, and perceived 'unhinged dullard' status as a result of his cock-eye and habitual fixed grin.
Since nobody gave a shit about him, he kind of had to teach himself damn-near everything, and since he'd always been seen as an idiot, in true WAArio fighting spirit, became this scholarly-ass man that we see in his earliest appearances. Of course, since knowledge and cunning was all that he had, he was kind of boring and a nuisance to everybody that interacted with him, which only made him irritated and disheartened, and all the more determined to be a part of their lives. That is, until the events of Wario Land occur-- suddenly, a whole new world opened up to Wario, and all of a sudden, he was starting to do his own things. Instead of competing with Mario to try to buy Peach some Samus doll, he fucked off to some forest and conquered the whole damn territory... granted, not hard to do when there's only like three people in it.
From there, he continued to experiment in different venues (see Wario Blast and the aforementioned Wario's Woods) before getting his shit stolen from Captain Syrup, and the ensuing adventure caused him to 1) settle on his passion: treasure hunting and exploration and 2) (eventually) develop a taste for short-sleeved shirts. At some point after the adventure, he decided to do something about his shitty stamina, and thus took up weight lifting, and because he's-a gotta show off those sick pythons, he started wearing t-shirts more often than the usual yellow cardigan. His intellect would disappear from his speech (a compensatory tactic to offset his goofy appearance, no doubt), instead being funneled into learning how to program.
He eventually sees some incredibly gaunt man at some point while strolling through town-- the guy tries to pick his pocket, but Wario picks his instead, proceeding to taunt him. Then, halfway recalling his own shitty start, he gets an idea, and offers Waluigi the chance to help-a him out, cause there's this doubles tennis tournament and I want'a get the boatload of cash that comes with the trophy.
Later on, after spending all the stuff from whichever Wario Land on various things, he gets the idea to open up WarioWare as a means of getting fast cash. One thing that's of note is Wario's lack of castle-- this just further symbolizes Wario's change of mindset, how he no longer gives a fuck about whatever the hell Mario's doing, and now cares more about experience over possessions (including the experience of getting a bunch of cash with as few individual moves as possible).
• I think his name isn't really "Wario", it's just a name he invented to insult/taunt Mario or still wants remember his ex-childhood friend;
• I like to think he is like a weird uncle/dad-figure to the kids in WarioWare, most of them doesn't show their parents: 9-Volt has his mother but his father is absent (for being a firefighter and not being always there for his son due to his work), Kat & Ana's father left and seclude himself in the mountains, Ashley's parents are also absents.
Really the whole thing reminds me of Zeke and Luther, how the latter was born on a Leap Day, and as such is (legally speaking) 1/4 his age.
That's more-or-less what I headcanon 18-Volt as being, pretty much. It would definitely give us an explanation for why he's just sitting on his front porch for his version of Gamer. Perhaps he had no choice but to go back and re-do a whole bunch of grades, because he lacked the qualifications for some job, and needed to graduate elementary school. His and 9-Volt's friendship is more-or-less a Marty & Doc Brown situation, where despite a sizable age gap they had just the right amount of friend chemistry.
18-Volt is a grown-ass man who pays a mortgage. That porch we see him playing Game Boy on for Gamer's Free Play mode is his. He was unfortunately born on a Leap Day, and thus is legally 9 years old . Luckily for him, he managed to become friends with 9-Volt, who was more mature than his classmates and plays the same Nintendo games from 18-V's youth. In other words, he is the Doc Brown to 9-Volt's Marty McFly.
In-universe, Wario did all of, or at least a majority of, the programming for the original WarioWare. The reason he needed his friends was for gameplay mechanics, art assets, and story.
This is to an extent implied in the intro: the way he sits at the computer before falling asleep is like a cat waiting to pounce. It isn't that he's at a loss for the programming, it's a loss for game concepts.
This notion that Wario is extremely competent in the field of electronics and programming is supported by the existence of the Telmet.
His friends' lack of experience in the game creation field could also explain why they're all microgame$, rather than something even so fleshed out as minigames. Every single minute little idea his friends could come up with was turned into its own concept in miniature.
The friends' involvement with art assets, spreading the work amongst themselves, would explain the large number of varied art styles seen not just throughout the game, but within each stage.
The assets for most of the Nintendo games were recreations done by 9-Volt. Others, like the R.O.B., were probably a bit abstract, and didn't really have a template. 9-Volt isn't exactly a prodigy, he's just really manic for game stuff, so I can see him doing the former but not the latter.
The style seen in certain parts of the story cutscenes (namely the "Running Late" painting from Mona's stage & the greyscale stills from Jimmy's stage), and any with a similar look to Hot Dog Hog, were done by the same member of the team.
What if the real reason why Donkey Kong Jr. never reappeared as a playable character was because he got stuck at Captain Syrup's purgatory level?
Bearing in mind, Mario Kart DD and Game & Watch remakes revealed that DK Jr. isn't an unique character but a species, hence why Pink DK Jr. was conceived.
In-universe, Wario did all of, or at least a majority of, the programming for the original WarioWare. The reason he needed his friends was for gameplay mechanics, art assets, and story.
This is to an extent implied in the intro: the way he sits at the computer before falling asleep is like a cat waiting to pounce. It isn't that he's at a loss for the programming, it's a loss for game concepts.
This notion that Wario is extremely competent in the field of electronics and programming is supported by the existence of the Telmet.
His friends' lack of experience in the game creation field could also explain why they're all microgame$, rather than something even so fleshed out as minigames. Every single minute little idea his friends could come up with was turned into its own concept in miniature.
The friends' involvement with art assets, spreading the work amongst themselves, would explain the large number of varied art styles seen not just throughout the game, but within each stage.
The assets for most of the Nintendo games were recreations done by 9-Volt. Others, like the R.O.B., were probably a bit abstract, and didn't really have a template. 9-Volt isn't exactly a prodigy, he's just really manic for game stuff, so I can see him doing the former but not the latter.
The style seen in certain parts of the story cutscenes (namely the "Running Late" painting from Mona's stage & the greyscale stills from Jimmy's stage), and any with a similar look to Hot Dog Hog, were done by the same member of the team.
Hmm , you certainly do have some valid points, but why would Wario willingly do all the hard work? He's not the type for that, and wasn't that the reason he hired his friends in the first place? If Wario did indeed much of the programming in Mega Microgame$, there would probably be no microgames at all, because his programming and game developing skills are certainly of a much higher level.
What if the real reason why Donkey Kong Jr. never reappeared as a playable character was because he got stuck at Captain Syrup's purgatory level?
Bearing in mind, Mario Kart DD and Game & Watch remakes revealed that DK Jr. isn't an unique character but a species, hence why Pink DK Jr. was conceived.
He doesn't really look like DK Jr., but maybe that's just because of the "Wariofied" artstyle. But I still don't think it's him.
DK Jr was replaced because the DKC series gave us Diddy Kong, who was a much better Kong than DK Jr.
5-Volt probably had 9-Volt in her teenage years, so she is probably in her mid twenties.
5-Volt is a single mom because her husband is probably away in another area.
9-Volt is probably autistic (coming from an actually autistic person who also likes videogames, more generally Nintendo and has a hyperfixiation on them)
18-Volt got held back in school.
The reason why Ashley is so aloof is because she lost her parents at a young age.
Given Mona's fixation with noses being funny do you think it was her idea to make that part of the Wario logo? Back in the "Made in Wario" times, the icon was all of Wario's features (think those floating Wario balls from the Castle at the end of Mario Land 2). From there we can assume the Friends got more creative input over time, and it's possible this is where the now-iconic Nose/Mustache combo comes from.
Hmm , you certainly do have some valid points, but why would Wario willingly do all the hard work? He's not the type for that, and wasn't that the reason he hired his friends in the first place? If Wario indeed did much of the programming in Mega Microgame$, there would probably be no microgames at all, because his programming and game developing skills are certainly of a much higher level.
If you look at any one of his adventures one comes to know Wario is the sort who won't lift a finger if it's OTHER people's business unless it benefits him at all. He's willing to put hours in if it's for his own sake (see: Wario Land n).
In the case of WarioWare it was not a case of lacking the ability, but lacking creativity. Like I probably mentioned in my original post, this is the man who created the Tel-met. However, the idea of using a device to "jump into the TV!! wOoAhh!!" is something that even those people who think drugs are required for artistic expression could think of.
Wario employed his friends because he needed creative ideas for fun gameplay. In other words, he had all his friends write all of the individual ideas for games they had. They'd supply the visuals or concepts for the visuals and (potentially) music for their individual microgames. Wario would implement their ideas and supplied assets. (Slight tangent: Since Wario is capable of drawing in multiple styles it's safe to say he'd be capable of implementing whatever the idea's supplier could not (to give an idea, the famous "Sniff!" was likely drawn by Wario). This in itself could potentially be another key factor behind Wario trying to take all the profits for himself at the end. Wario canonically cannot stand cheaters, therefore he would need some valid reasons for why he could deserve all the profits.)
Also, it is precisely because he's such a high level programmer that he thought to make these ideas into microgames. Very few of them would work outside of that context, but with the addition of a 4 beat time limit, each idea could now have enough merit to put into the game. In other words, this was a clever way to put in as much content as possible while using only those barest ideas his non-programmer friends came up with. That lack of programming background coupled with Wario' lack of creativity (outside of implementation) is why the ideas aren't very deep, and why most of them wouldn't have much lasting appeal outside of the context they end up in.
In conclusion, Wario is a bum when other people come to him, but he'll put in the work if it's for himself. He's very much capable of designing games, and implementing game ideas in a creative way, however the ideas themselves he struggles with. A key factor behind "You Greedy Punk!!" may have been Wario chipping in for other people's visuals (because why else would he reach out to assist someone if he didn't plan to take something in return)
If you look at II and 3, there's no in-game entity that tells Wario the names of the treasures he finds, or how to use them, in the case of 3. We can potentially draw from this that Wario knows enough to make educated guesses about the treasures he finds, and knowing that some of these treasures had an intended purpose (note how we the player never trigger the cutscenes, and how it is almost always Wario instigating the event that occurs). You could argue Rudy was there to guide him, but his influence was limited to Wario needing to approach the temple before giving any information.
You get the info for treasures from the Pause Menu. The pause menu also has the How to Use Wario's Moves tutorials. Wario obviously will know how to use his own move set*. Rudy likely would not, as we've already established the limits to his power, and he's the only truly sentient guy in there besides Wario. In-game, the tutorials are Wario picturing how to apply his new-found power to his situation, with us the player sitting in on the daydream.
Unfortunately I can't think of any headassery to explain the "Map Updated" twinkling the levels do on the Map when a new level path is unlocked that would actually be plausible
*This reminded me of something that always bothered me, but for whatever reason I instantly thought of a new headcanon that kicks ass. In WL3, the reason Wario starts out with almost none of his moves from II is because of the Music Box. The world inside works different to the outside world on a fundamental level (it'd kind of have to: who forgets how to swim). The compression had a slight disorienting effect, and worked like Goku and Krillin's weighted clothing/turtle shells. By working past it, he achieved Limit Break.
The effect of becoming so small was not being able to tap into his potential (because that would be like reaching for the moon ack ack ack).
By the end of the game, Wario has negated the effects of this compression. Using the Magic Clothing treasures, he was able to "amplify the signal" and little by little, channel his full strength. As such, all his old powers came back but stronger & more efficient than they were even in II: the effects of huge power conducted through a small body.
"AAhhh, it was just a matter of getting used to this world is all! I was ALWAYS this strong!!"
Extra thing for fun: the differences between the Real World, the Music Box, and the Painted Worlds are what's responsible for the different ways damage is handled in II, 3, and 4. In the real world, attacks damage Wario's net worth. In the music box, he has no bank account, and also has zippers on his pockets because he learned from last time (note how you never lose coins from taking damage after II hmm?? That's the real reason why. zipped up pockets. WARIO SUPPORTS RIDGE WALLETS. Waaa get one of thrieteen wario relatred design ,i keep my money safe and secute with ridge wallets. its sleek its secure i *slaps thigh twice* its made of metal, use my discou).
Taking damage in the Painted World, his tether to the painted world loses some of its stability. Note how only by going in and back out with the initial tether intact lets you take stuff with you back to the real world. Losing all hearts causes the tether to break.
Much like disconnecting a USB during a File Transfer, Wario is no longer connected to the "system." The transfer is cancelled, and the "files" remain in their original file path. Oops, I accidentally made another headcanon explanation aarrachgahsjd. whatever it's fun.
It's like Mario 64's relationship with taking stars from their painted worlds, only Wario doesn't need resuscitation from a fucking FAT, CHOLESTEROL induced HEART ATTACK he gets every time(!) he gets kicked out of the painting. GAME OVER?? I BARELY KNOW 'ER
Given Mona's fixation with noses being funny do you think it was her idea to make that part of the Wario logo? Back in the "Made in Wario" times, the icon was all of Wario's features (think those floating Wario balls from the Castle at the end of Mario Land 2). From there we can assume the Friends got more creative input over time, and it's possible this is where the now-iconic Nose/Mustache combo comes from.
Okay, this may be one of the very few times that I've actually been convinced by someone else's headcanon, but the only thing here that may keep it from actually being "true" is that it, in your description of it at least, requires Wario to have known Mona already during this game's events, which may very well be possible (It has been stated that the Wario Car was designed by Dr. Crygor, so he must've known him since at least WL4), so why not Mona much earlier?
If you look at any one of his adventures one comes to know Wario is the sort who won't lift a finger if it's OTHER people's business unless it benefits him at all. He's willing to put hours in if it's for his own sake (see: Wario Land n).
In the case of WarioWare it was not a case of lacking the ability, but lacking creativity. Like I probably mentioned in my original post, this is the man who created the Tel-met. However, the idea of using a device to "jump into the TV!! wOoAhh!!" is something that even those people who think drugs are required for artistic expression could think of.
Wario employed his friends because he needed creative ideas for fun gameplay. In other words, he had all his friends write all of the individual ideas for games they had. They'd supply the visuals or concepts for the visuals and (potentially) music for their individual microgames. Wario would implement their ideas and supplied assets. (Slight tangent: Since Wario is capable of drawing in multiple styles it's safe to say he'd be capable of implementing whatever the idea's supplier could not (to give an idea, the famous "Sniff!" was likely drawn by Wario). This in itself could potentially be another key factor behind Wario trying to take all the profits for himself at the end. Wario canonically cannot stand cheaters, therefore he would need some valid reasons for why he could deserve all the profits.)
Also, it is precisely because he's such a high level programmer that he thought to make these ideas into microgames. Very few of them would work outside of that context, but with the addition of a 4 beat time limit, each idea could now have enough merit to put into the game. In other words, this was a clever way to put in as much content as possible while using only those barest ideas his non-programmer friends came up with. That lack of programming background coupled with Wario' lack of creativity (outside of implementation) is why the ideas aren't very deep, and why most of them wouldn't have much lasting appeal outside of the context they end up in.
Fair enough. I didn't see it like this, but it does indeed make sense, and the sole reason I didn't see this before is becasue I actually forgot just how intelligent Wario actually is. This might be because of the more recent games, in which his intelligence aspect isn't as highlighted as it used to be.
Spoiler: I thought of extra headcanons while writing that reply and accidentally distracted myself with them. Also I turned it into a spoiler because it took up a lot of space If you look at II and 3, there's no in-game entity that tells Wario the names of the treasures he finds, or how to use them, in the case of 3. We can potentially draw from this that Wario knows enough to make educated guesses about the treasures he finds, and knowing that some of these treasures had an intended purpose (note how we the player never trigger the cutscenes, and how it is almost always Wario instigating the event that occurs). You could argue Rudy was there to guide him, but his influence was limited to Wario needing to approach the temple before giving any information.
You get the info for treasures from the Pause Menu. The pause menu also has the How to Use Wario's Moves tutorials. Wario obviously will know how to use his own move set*. Rudy likely would not, as we've already established the limits to his power, and he's the only truly sentient guy in there besides Wario. In-game, the tutorials are Wario picturing how to apply his new-found power to his situation, with us the player sitting in on the daydream.
Unfortunately I can't think of any headassery to explain the "Map Updated" twinkling the levels do on the Map when a new level path is unlocked that would actually be plausible
*This reminded me of something that always bothered me, but for whatever reason I instantly thought of a new headcanon that kicks ass. In WL3, the reason Wario starts out with almost none of his moves from II is because of the Music Box. The world inside works different to the outside world on a fundamental level (it'd kind of have to: who forgets how to swim). The compression had a slight disorienting effect, and worked like Goku and Krillin's weighted clothing/turtle shells. By working past it, he achieved Limit Break.
The effect of becoming so small was not being able to tap into his potential (because that would be like reaching for the moon ack ack ack).
By the end of the game, Wario has negated the effects of this compression. Using the Magic Clothing treasures, he was able to "amplify the signal" and little by little, channel his full strength. As such, all his old powers came back but stronger & more efficient than they were even in II: the effects of huge power conducted through a small body.
"AAhhh, it was just a matter of getting used to this world is all! I was ALWAYS this strong!!"
Extra thing for fun: the differences between the Real World, the Music Box, and the Painted Worlds are what's responsible for the different ways damage is handled in II, 3, and 4. In the real world, attacks damage Wario's net worth. In the music box, he has no bank account, and also has zippers on his pockets because he learned from last time (note how you never lose coins from taking damage after II hmm?? That's the real reason why. zipped up pockets. WARIO SUPPORTS RIDGE WALLETS. Waaa get one of thrieteen wario relatred design ,i keep my money safe and secute with ridge wallets. its sleek its secure i *slaps thigh twice* its made of metal, use my discou).
Taking damage in the Painted World, his tether to the painted world loses some of its stability. Note how only by going in and back out with the initial tether intact lets you take stuff with you back to the real world. Losing all hearts causes the tether to break.
Much like disconnecting a USB during a File Transfer, Wario is no longer connected to the "system." The transfer is cancelled, and the "files" remain in their original file path. Oops, I accidentally made another headcanon explanation aarrachgahsjd. whatever it's fun.
It's like Mario 64's relationship with taking stars from their painted worlds, only Wario doesn't need resuscitation from a fucking FAT, CHOLESTEROL induced HEART ATTACK he gets every time(!) he gets kicked out of the painting. GAME OVER?? I BARELY KNOW 'ER
Whoa, I didn't expect you to go all existentialist philosophy here, but I feel the need to point one thing out:
Video game characters losing powers and abilities in new games is extremely common, even if it doesn't make much sense and extends to skills as mundane as, say, swimming or doing a certain move they've been doing countless times before. TV Tropes has an entire trope page for it:
However, this might in some cases actually be logical, because the character knows that he doesn't need certain abilities to clear the adventure, and as such isn't willing to use them. This might be an example of in-universe character intelligence without that character flat-out being aware of being a character in a video game, and not being able to use certain tactics because it would make that game too easy, but of course this is also just a convenient way for developers to justify this phenomenon, although it is very rarely acknowledged as such.
Also, Wario no longer losing coins because he now has zippers on his pockets? That might be the most creative headcanon I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot, believe me.
Okay, this may be one of the very few times that I've actually been convinced by someone else's headcanon, but the only thing here that may keep it from actually being "true" is that it, in your description of it at least, requires Wario to have known Mona already during this game's events, which may very well be possible (It has been stated that the Wario Car was designed by Dr. Crygor, so he must've known him since at least WL4), so why not Mona much earlier?
Well, what I was actually referring to was WarioWare, inc.'s JPN title "Made in Wario" to try to put in mind a very specific time frame. Bringing up the Wario Balls was just to put the particular image I was talking about in mind so I didn't have to describe it outright. The icon for Made in Wario's soundtrack was basically that same face that was on the Wario Balls is what I meant by that whole thing.
How you interpreted that did raise an interesting possibility, though. Realistically, they probably wouldn't have met (or become friends at least) 'til post-WL1 at the earliest. That's because I doubt Mona would've meshed with Wario's personality at the time. He still hadn't grown out of his fixation with one-upping Mario.
Mona's always struck me as being very mature despite being late high school/early college age. The reasons for that may directly correlate with why she works so many jobs, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms. With that in mind, one can look at why she's crushing on Wario through a particular lens. When one has that mental disposition, of a fairly chill and reasonable adult, you can bring yourself to take a step back and see that there is a certain respectability to Wario's selfish life style.
Wario doesn't just do anything he wants to, he does everything that he wants to. He's always willing to go off on a new hare-brain scheme when it occurs to him. Not only that, but he's got the willpower, the strength, and intelligence needed to just reach out and take it. This world is Wario's we're just living in it.
He absolutely loves accruing wealth, but he doesn't hoard it: he loves big spending (if it's on himself). For him, it's not about having money, it's about getting money. In Gold, he spends all that money on the Stadium for the microgame tournament-- as part of a scheme to make money.
Though he himself might disagree, he's a high-stakes gambler in his own way. Though what he gambles with is what he invests in, rather than money itself. What I believe he's after is basically summed up as "High Risk, High Pay, High Adventure" (with the emphasis on Pay, of course).
However, before the Kitchen Island adventure sparked his love for treasure hunting, he was a loser. The only thing we really saw him doing, usually, was trying to find a way of getting one over on Mario, or trying to interact with Mario's friend group (thinking with Nintendo Comics in mind here especially, as it's our main source of Early Wario). He hadn't formed his own social group yet, and didn't have much desire to, either. Compared to today, he wasn't even a money-grubber. Beating Mario was higher on his list than accruing wealth. NOT hot.
I've alluded to this before, but I think Wario's Woods was the start of his priorities shifting. After Wario Land 1 gave him a taste of what life outside of Mario was, he started branching out towards seeking his own, selfish interests. He annexed a forest, but Toad defeated him there-- he still hadn't quite broken away from Mario, but that basically drove him back the rest of the way. The events of VBWL and II happened, solidifying the prospects of treasure hunting, & defeating the tricky bastards who would prevent him from doing so. Fuck Mario, this is what life was all about.
So, with the context behind my position out of the way, I think Mona would've become friends with Wario most likely sometime after the events of II, while working at one of her many jobs. Wario is the kind of guy who could potentially want to buy anything, and it is known that Wario splurges after each adventure. So, it's very likely one of the places Wario patronized happened to have Mona working there. (And another, and another...)
Fair enough. I didn't see it like this, but it does indeed make sense, and the sole reason I didn't see this before is because I actually forgot just how intelligent Wario actually is. This might be because of the more recent games, in which his intelligence aspect isn't as highlighted as it used to be.
They kind of brought it back with Gold. Networking, investing, organizing a large-scale BeybladeDuel Monsters microgame tournament, and being a competent emcee on top of all that, takes brains. He claims that his brain has no wrinkles but most people don't know that diagram was doctored.
Whoa, I didn't expect you to go all existentialist philosophy here, but I feel the need to point one thing out:
Video game characters losing powers and abilities in new games is extremely common, even if it doesn't make much sense and extends to skills as mundane as, say, swimming or doing a certain move they've been doing countless times before. TV Tropes has an entire trope page for it:
However, this might in some cases actually be logical, because the character knows that he doesn't need certain abilities to clear the adventure, and as such isn't willing to use them. This might be an example of in-universe character intelligence without that character flat-out being aware of being a character in a video game, and not being able to use certain tactics because it would make that game too easy, but of course this is also just a convenient way for developers to justify this phenomenon, although it is very rarely acknowledged as such.
Of course it's common. My point in writing that spiel was to provide an in-universe explanation for this happening. Why the hell would Wario purposely nerf himself when that would keep him from getting the goodies. The trope annoys the hell out of me when I look at it from any perspective other than a game designer's, and on the other side of that I like when there is an in-game explanation, especially if it can be swallowed without much difficulty.
I understand where you're coming from with the last paragraph. Maybe you even had the same example of Metroid Prime in mind, or perhaps Other M, even, what with the "Requesting Permission to Use Morph Ball" thing. Although giving an explanation for lacking powers you know you should have is, in itself, worth being applauded, it works best if you know that it legitimately can't be helped even from the story's perspective.
That's the key point Prime hits (or at least swings at) that M doesn't, I think. Samus gets that major short circuit thing that demotes her from Rook to Pawn, and you the player aren't so bent because Samus didn't have a say in it happening either. With Other M, players who don't give as much of a shit will complain because technically it's Samus herself that's responsible.
In both cases the game goes directly against players' obvious desire to have a bunch of shit with which to do a bunch of shit, however unlike with Prime, M's in-game reason for her lack of weaponry doesn't hold up to scrutiny from the trigger-happy. They don't hold any gratitude towards Adam, so they hate him, and even resent Samus herself to varying degrees depending on the player for being so subservient as to get in the way of their fun when they know she's supposedly still packing all that heat from the end of Super.
I've gone off on a tangent again but my point in all that rambling was: Passing grade if your sequel has a story explanation for stripping last entry's endgame abilities, bonus points if I can swallow it as a player. That's the philosophy I was going for in making one for Wario Land 3 taking away WLII's abilities.
Like, if Wario was the star of Other M, the reason for all his weapons being gone would be because he pawned them all off.
During the opening monologue (which is still Samus, because Wario is asleep at the wheel) you see the receipts for all his guns on his dashboard. As a bit of game design genius: one of them is under his foot and his snoring is blowing it back and forth. The player's eyes are drawn to the movement, and the familiar sound of Receipt Paper.wav anyone would recognize will strengthen the chances of the connection being made with the multiple drawings of guns and number figures on each paper.
It's an explanation that is outright placed before you but it's presented in a way that's subtle enough to also give the player a feeling of "ha HA. man, i'm so observant uwu." It explains why you're lacking in firepower, but it also makes for a funny gag, and it works for the character. Handling it in this way results in that feeling of "ah. Of course " and sits well with the audience.
This explanation for lack of powers wouldn't sit so well if we received it in a situation where we feel that desire to use that power. One of the classic methods of teaching new gameplay mechanics (or lack thereof) is introducing the concept in a safe environment for the player, after all. I would lowkey feel spiteful if we got this same explanation but as part of "witty banter" - especially if it was triggered by trying to use the power.
Also, Wario no longer losing coins because he now has zippers on his pockets? That might be the most creative headcanon I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot, believe me. ((Thank yoouuuu!!))
: ))) I wouldn't have thought of it, honestly, if it weren't for these yellow parachute pants I own. They have zips on all four pockets. I'd never come across it before & haven't since.
Well, what I was actually referring to was WarioWare, inc.'s JPN title "Made in Wario" to try to put in mind a very specific time frame. Bringing up the Wario Balls was just to put the particular image I was talking about in mind so I didn't have to describe it outright. The icon for Made in Wario's soundtrack was basically that same face that was on the Wario Balls is what I meant by that whole thing.
How you interpreted that did raise an interesting possibility, though. Realistically, they probably wouldn't have met (or become friends at least) 'til post-WL1 at the earliest. That's because I doubt Mona would've meshed with Wario's personality at the time. He still hadn't grown out of his fixation with one-upping Mario.
Mona's always struck me as being very mature despite being late high school/early college age. The reasons for that may directly correlate with why she works so many jobs, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms. With that in mind, one can look at why she's crushing on Wario through a particular lens. When one has that mental disposition, of a fairly chill and reasonable adult, you can bring yourself to take a step back and see that there is a certain respectability to Wario's selfish life style.
Wario doesn't just do anything he wants to, he does everything that he wants to. He's always willing to go off on a new hare-brain scheme when it occurs to him. Not only that, but he's got the willpower, the strength, and intelligence needed to just reach out and take it. This world is Wario's we're just living in it.
He absolutely loves accruing wealth, but he doesn't hoard it: he loves big spending (if it's on himself). For him, it's not about having money, it's about getting money. In Gold, he spends all that money on the Stadium for the microgame tournament-- as part of a scheme to make money.
Though he himself might disagree, he's a high-stakes gambler in his own way. Though what he gambles with is what he invests in, rather than money itself. What I believe he's after is basically summed up as "High Risk, High Pay, High Adventure" (with the emphasis on Pay, of course).
However, before the Kitchen Island adventure sparked his love for treasure hunting, he was a loser. The only thing we really saw him doing, usually, was trying to find a way of getting one over on Mario, or trying to interact with Mario's friend group (thinking with Nintendo Comics in mind here especially, as it's our main source of Early Wario). He hadn't formed his own social group yet, and didn't have much desire to, either. Compared to today, he wasn't even a money-grubber. Beating Mario was higher on his list than accruing wealth. NOT hot.
I've alluded to this before, but I think Wario's Woods was the start of his priorities shifting. After Wario Land 1 gave him a taste of what life outside of Mario was, he started branching out towards seeking his own, selfish interests. He annexed a forest, but Toad defeated him there-- he still hadn't quite broken away from Mario, but that basically drove him back the rest of the way. The events of VBWL and II happened, solidifying the prospects of treasure hunting, & defeating the tricky bastards who would prevent him from doing so. Fuck Mario, this is what life was all about.
So, with the context behind my position out of the way, I think Mona would've become friends with Wario most likely sometime after the events of II, while working at one of her many jobs. Wario is the kind of guy who could potentially want to buy anything, and it is known that Wario splurges after each adventure. So, it's very likely one of the places Wario patronized happened to have Mona working there. (And another, and another...)
They kind of brought it back with Gold. Networking, investing, organizing a large-scale BeybladeDuel Monsters microgame tournament, and being a competent emcee on top of all that, takes brains. He claims that his brain has no wrinkles but most people don't know that diagram was doctored.
Of course it's common. My point in writing that spiel was to provide an in-universe explanation for this happening. Why the hell would Wario purposely nerf himself when that would keep him from getting the goodies. The trope annoys the hell out of me when I look at it from any perspective other than a game designer's, and on the other side of that I like when there is an in-game explanation, especially if it can be swallowed without much difficulty.
I understand where you're coming from with the last paragraph. Maybe you even had the same example of Metroid Prime in mind, or perhaps Other M, even, what with the "Requesting Permission to Use Morph Ball" thing. Although giving an explanation for lacking powers you know you should have is, in itself, worth being applauded, it works best if you know that it legitimately can't be helped even from the story's perspective.
That's the key point Prime hits (or at least swings at) that M doesn't, I think. Samus gets that major short circuit thing that demotes her from Rook to Pawn, and you the player aren't so bent because Samus didn't have a say in it happening either. With Other M, players who don't give as much of a shit will complain because technically it's Samus herself that's responsible.
In both cases the game goes directly against players' obvious desire to have a bunch of shit with which to do a bunch of shit, however unlike with Prime, M's in-game reason for her lack of weaponry doesn't hold up to scrutiny from the trigger-happy. They don't hold any gratitude towards Adam, so they hate him, and even resent Samus herself to varying degrees depending on the player for being so subservient as to get in the way of their fun when they know she's supposedly still packing all that heat from the end of Super.
I've gone off on a tangent again but my point in all that rambling was: Passing grade if your sequel has a story explanation for stripping last entry's endgame abilities, bonus points if I can swallow it as a player. That's the philosophy I was going for in making one for Wario Land 3 taking away WLII's abilities.
Like, if Wario was the star of Other M, the reason for all his weapons being gone would be because he pawned them all off.
During the opening monologue (which is still Samus, because Wario is asleep at the wheel) you see the receipts for all his guns on his dashboard. As a bit of game design genius: one of them is under his foot and his snoring is blowing it back and forth. The player's eyes are drawn to the movement, and the familiar sound of Receipt Paper.wav anyone would recognize will strengthen the chances of the connection being made with the multiple drawings of guns and number figures on each paper.
It's an explanation that is outright placed before you but it's presented in a way that's subtle enough to also give the player a feeling of "ha HA. man, i'm so observant uwu." It explains why you're lacking in firepower, but it also makes for a funny gag, and it works for the character. Handling it in this way results in that feeling of "ah. Of course " and sits well with the audience.
This explanation for lack of powers wouldn't sit so well if we received it in a situation where we feel that desire to use that power. One of the classic methods of teaching new gameplay mechanics (or lack thereof) is introducing the concept in a safe environment for the player, after all. I would lowkey feel spiteful if we got this same explanation but as part of "witty banter" - especially if it was triggered by trying to use the power.
: ))) I wouldn't have thought of it, honestly, if it weren't for these yellow parachute pants I own. They have zips on all four pockets. I'd never come across it before & haven't since.
Your whole point of Wario being some Mario-obessed reverse fanboy at first is a view I've heard before, but never did anyone explain it in such a detail, and with such credibility. It's definitely true that Wario from before the Kitchen Island affair (in a storyline-wise chronological manner, as opposed to the timeline in which the games were released) is an entirely different Wario than the treasure hunter persona he started to develop during that game's events, and it's also true that Wario can be seen as some sort of gambler who wagers in capital rather than money itself and is more focused on getting money than having it, however I feel the need to correct you on the Nintendo Comics thing: these do indeed provide us an insight in "early Wario" but one has to wonder whether they can be regarded canon to the storyline from the games. Comparing material about the same fictional setting but from different media should always be done with great care.
his concentration is somewhat fucked.
. Luckily for him, he managed to become friends with 9-Volt, who was more mature than his classmates and plays the same Nintendo games from 18-V's youth. In other words, he is the Doc Brown to 9-Volt's Marty McFly.
, you certainly do have some valid points, but why would Wario willingly do all the hard work? He's not the type for that, and wasn't that the reason he hired his friends in the first place? If Wario did indeed much of the programming in Mega Microgame$, there would probably be no microgames at all, because his programming and game developing skills are certainly of a much higher level. 
" and sits well with the audience.