Why is Wario not in Mario games anymore?

[Mario123311]

Darn, It's been ages since I last posted here. But the title should be pretty self explanitory, While Wario still appears in things like the Mario spin-offs (Kart, Sports, Party, etc) he hasn't appeared in an actual Mario adventure/platformer since SM64DS. While you could make the argument that it could be because of his own subseries, Land and Ware. Both of them have been seemingly dormant for a while, with Ware only getting really revived in 2017.... No sign of Land though.

Like, if they aren't going to use Wario for his own franchise, the least they could do is use him in an actual Mario game again. I was heavily dissapointed when he wasn't in New Super Mario Bros. 2, A game that probably would have been drastically improved with his inclusion. I don't know what the deal is behind this, There's been theories ranging from Miyamoto himself having an aversion to Wario (due to the Land games not being made by him, personally) to Nintendo just not knowing what to even do with him. Like, for gods sake: Wario is a Mario character. His main appearance was in a Mario game. Yet we haven't seen him have any part of the actual Mario series since the 2000's. Having him as an antagonist would especially be interesting again, but I just would like to see him appear more like he did back in his hayday. He used to be so much more of a bigger deal.

 

[tahutoa]

Darn, It's been ages since I last posted here. But the title should be pretty self explanitory, While Wario still appears in things like the Mario spin-offs (Kart, Sports, Party, etc) he hasn't appeared in an actual Mario adventure/platformer since SM64DS. While you could make the argument that it could be because of his own subseries, Land and Ware. Both of them have been seemingly dormant for a while, with Ware only getting really revived in 2017.... No sign of Land though.

Like, if they aren't going to use Wario for his own franchise, the least they could do is use him in an actual Mario game again. I was heavily dissapointed when he wasn't in New Super Mario Bros. 2, A game that probably would have been drastically improved with his inclusion. I don't know what the deal is behind this, There's been theories ranging from Miyamoto himself having an aversion to Wario (due to the Land games not being made by him, personally) to Nintendo just not knowing what to even do with him. Like, for gods sake: Wario is a Mario character. His main appearance was in a Mario game. Yet we haven't seen him have any part of the actual Mario series since the 2000's. Having him as an antagonist would especially be interesting again, but I just would like to see him appear more like he did back in his hayday. He used to be so much more of a bigger deal.

wario hasn't appeared in any mario titles because the thought of nsmb2, wherein mario ruins the economy by crippling the market value of Coins, sickened him, so he refuses any and all requests from miyamoto to appear in a game until he gets an official apology letter from both mario and nintendo

 

[GreenToxic]

wario hasn't appeared in any mario titles because the thought of nsmb2, wherein mario ruins the economy by crippling the market value of Coins, sickened him, so he refuses any and all requests from miyamoto to appear in a game until he gets an official apology letter from both mario and nintendo

This shall be the plot of New Super Mario Bros. 2 2

 

[Glowsquid]

There's been theories ranging from Miyamoto himself having an aversion to Wario (due to the Land games not being made by him, personally)

Something among these lines is probably the correct answer, but rather than framing it as Miyamoto being a moustache-twirling egotist who wants to keep everything he personally didn't touch outside his games, it would be more accurate to say Nintendo is made up of multiple divisions with their own personal, creations and history, and that there's a gentleman's agreement to not use the other guy's character in your stuff, both out of creative respect and because it's just easier to use your own creations.

In an old Luigi's Mansion 3 interview, Kensuke Tanabe said he couldn't speak about Waluigi's role in a future game because "[he's] not in charge of him". There's probably a lot of backroom discussions about what games a character can appear in, what roles they can play, etc.

 

[Koopaul]

What's interesting is that Wario did appear in SM64DS. Daisy also found her way into Super Mario Run. I feel like the mainline Mario games are have the freedom to use whatever they want. But spin offs made by different studios are more restricted. Remember that recent interview about Paper Mario?

It makes sense. Mario Odyssey is one of the strangest and most unique Mario games ever. But then you look at the Mario sports titles which haven't had unique human characters in years. Or recent Mario Parties which haven't had unique hosts or NPCs.

I honeslty think, if they wanted to, Wario could easily be in a mainline Mario game. They just don't want to. You have to considering how some Mario games don't even have Yoshi or Luigi. Wario is kind of down the line on the Mario character priority list. The only way I see him appearing is if the game already features Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Toad, Toadette, and Rosalina. And even then I think he'd be competing with Daisy.

I think Wario got lucky in SM64DS. They wanted to make a 4 player mode and needed characters with a similar build to Mario.

 

[Yikes Spike]

I'd say because Wario was created by a different development team and they have to ask them to supervise for every game they add him.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

Something among these lines is probably the correct answer, but rather than framing it as Miyamoto being a moustache-twirling egotist who wants to keep everything he personally didn't touch outside his games, it would be more accurate to say Nintendo is made up of multiple divisions with their own personal, creations and history, and that there's a gentleman's agreement to not use the other guy's character in your stuff, both out of creative respect and because it's just easier to use your own creations.

In an old Luigi's Mansion 3 interview, Kensuke Tanabe said he couldn't speak about Waluigi's role in a future game because "[he's] not in charge of him". There's probably a lot of backroom discussions about what games a character can appear in, what roles they can play, etc.

But would it though? I mean, it's not like the individual Nintendo subdivisions each have their own copyrights on characters that, say, would make it legally ipossible for NOA to use characters, game elements, etc. developed by the Japanese team, or vice versa, as it would probably severly limit cooperation and the development of certain games.

 

[Glowsquid]

But would it though? I mean, it's not like the individual Nintendo subdivisions each have their own copyrights on characters that, say, would make it legally ipossible for NOA to use characters, game elements, etc. developed by the Japanese team, or vice versa, as it would probably severly limit cooperation and the development of certain games.

Brand control, behind-the-scenes ego struggles, not stepping over each others plan for their respective projects, etc etc.

It's like, all marvel comics are set in the same fictional universe (mostly), but that doesn't mean the Spider-Man writer can have Iron Man randomly show up in the spider-man comic and do whatever he wants.

 

[Koopaul]

I don't know. Mario Kart Tour can put Wario in a cowboy outfit and Camelot can turn Wario into a monster possessed by a tennis racket. I don't know if there's as many restrictions on Wario as we all think. Even if these guys do have to ask another studio to use Wario it doesn't seem like it's that hard to achieve. He's everywhere! Just not in mainline games.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

I don't know. Mario Kart Tour can put Wario in a cowboy outfit and Camelot can turn Wario into a monster possessed by a tennis racket. I don't know if there's as many restrictions on Wario as we all think. Even if these guys do have to ask another studio to use Wario it doesn't seem like it's that hard to achieve. He's everywhere! Just not in mainline games.

That's what I was thinking as well. But as Glowsquid stated, there may still very well be restrictions on how far they're allowed to go. It would indeed be quite strange to see, for example, Donkey Kong appearing a in a mainstream Mario platformer (Not counting Mario vs. Donkey Kong).

 

[Siegfried]

I think it's simply due to the stubbornness of the dev team and their unwillingness to stray from the mould. Keep in mind the Super Mario Land games (and by extension, Wario) was developed by a different team unrelated to Miyamoto and his flock. Had this team continued to develop Mario-related titles, I have no doubt that Wario would be seen as a more prominent character in the series. He was even going to feature as a villain once more in the cancelled VB Mario Land. But seeing as this team no longer exists, Miyamoto's team continues to lead development on new Mario titles and likely have no interest in including non-core characters in mainline games. That could change though, as Miyamoto is increasingly stepping down from his producer role, and Odyssey was a lot more creative in it's presentation.