Wario (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Wario's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Wario.

Unveiled at E3 2006, Wario (ワリオ) makes his first playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Wearing his WarioWare outfit, Wario has an attack where he builds up flatulence over time and later releases a deadly fart called the Wario Waft, which was highly exaggerated in the trailer by making it a bigger explosion of fart than it is in the actual game, similar to the exaggeration of Dimensional Cape. Wario moves with a Mr. Game & Watch-like stop-motion gait (similar to his movement in WarioWare cutscenes).

Wario currently ranks 7th on the tier list due to his heavy weight, great horizontal directional influence, small size, great recovery, approach game, amazing air game/mobility combined with an amazing Air dodge, unpredictability, great matchups, very low amount of weaknesses, and his amazing Wario Waft KO move.

Attributes
Wario is a unique, unorthodox addition to the Smash Bros. series. He is a heavy character, so he is hard to KO, but he has amazing mobility in the air, possessing the third-fastest lateral air movement (behind Yoshi and Jigglypuff), arguably the fastest air speed acceleration, almost no loss of speed when changing direction and with a solid set of aerials to go with it. His air speed combined with his great air dodge (both fast and still moves very fast at the same time) allows him to be a great camper despite his lack of a solid projectile. He can even run out the timer against certain slow characters. However, this requires him to take the percent or stock lead to force the opponent to approach. His fast air speed makes up for his slow dash speed and roll. Some of Wario's moves are laggy, but this is not severe, as Wario's overall attack speed isn't bad, especially on his aerials. Wario is one of the few characters in the game that can punish low lag moves, due to his amazing air mobility, often with dair that is also hard to not get punished with. His recovery is deceptively good when all options are available, thanks to his Wario Bike, Wario Waft, and his aerial movement. On the downside, Wario has situational recovery. This is because if the Wario Bike is used on the ground, he can't recover with it until it is destroyed. Wario Waft has to be charged to give Wario good recovery distance, and Corkscrew is a poor recovery move in general, due its mediocre distance and inability to auto-sweetspot the ledge until near the ending of the move. He thrives on surprise and deception, and he can vary his approaches like few can. One of Wario's most notable attributes is his size, which is rather small for a heavyweight (the smallest), meaning he is not easy to hit (about the same size as Mario, only a tad wider). Wario can crawl, although it is not entirely useful for dodging attacks but good for landing down tilts while approaching the character.

Wario boasts one of the best Smash Boosts in the game, which allows him to cover great distances and string together attacks in a relatively short amount of time, often effective after a Chomp at lower percentages. Other abilities include his ability to juggle with his Up aerial, KO opponents at low percentages with his forward smash or even lower with an almost fully charged Wario Waft which at that point can KO as low as 50% with start-up of only 5 frames, and use Chomp to stop projectiles and interrupt certain moves, many of them powerful, commonly used approaches (e.g. Jigglypuff's Rollout), because Chomp behaves like a grab. Chomp is one of his better moves. It has very fast start-up goes through any spot dodge due its extreme duration, goes through shields because it's a grab and beats any non-disjointed move and non-invincible moves (certain moves makes him take full damage but still grabbing the opponent). It can also be reversed (although it cannot be used to change momentum). It can also be used to eat items, and explosives makes him take slight damage, but also creates a hitbox that deals decent damage with fairly high knockback. His Wario Bike, when thrown at an enemy, is the only projectile in the game that can spike (with the exception of the pitfall item), and it is quite large. Because of his limited KO moves he should not use them too much for racking up damage (although they are all very good KO moves when fresh). He has also very good grab game: his forward throw does 13% damage and also KOs lightweights in the edge at about 150% if they have good Directional Influence. Also, he can chain grab with down throw on several characters until high percentages.

He only has a few main problems. For one, Wario has poor range on his attacks (except his jab, his grab and more noticeable, his Forward Tilt), especially in his smashes. This is compensated for by his unpredictable and fast approach, and the fact that attacking his motorcycle breaks it up to yield temporary projectiles, which, with his glide toss (and the unusual bouncing properties of the wheels), make up for his poor range which is not a big problem unless the opponent has long range, priority and speed like Marth. Another problem, though minor, he has poor get up rolls and a poor get-up attack, making him fairly easy to tech-chase him when he's on the ground. Another problem would be that his unusual jump break animation coming out of a grab leaves him extremely vulnerable to attacks and infinite grab releases; however, to compensate that lag, his dominantly aerial fighting style makes him one of the most difficult characters to grab due to characters being completely safe from grabs in midair. While these issues aren't overly crippling, and not all characters have a grab release option against Wario, including Meta Knight and many of those with one who have trouble grabbing Wario, a Wario has to stay very deceptive and slippery to avoid getting nailed by his poor range and getting grabbed by those who have a grab release option on him.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Left hook, then right hook. Decent knockback, sending the victim directly up. 6% per punch, 12% total if both fists hit opponent. Slow for a jab, but still good. Has decent range and a slight disjoint. 1st jab can even set-up a forward smash
 * Dash Attack - Trips and falls flat on his face, sliding a small bit. Very fast start-up, but has lots of ending lag that makes it a very punishable move. Can be canceled for DACUS. 7% in early frames, 5% later.
 * Strong Side - Wario swings his right fist in a circle then thrusts it forward. Has slight start-up but little ending lag with great range, including a slight disjoint. Tilt control pad/stick to aim up or down. Good KO move at about 130%. Stronger when up angled and weaker when down angled. Wario's longest ranged non-projectile. May be based off of an attack from Wario's look-alike Booster in Super Mario RPG. Deals 13%
 * Strong Down - Stabs his index finger at the ground in front of him. Quite quick compared to his other moves, but has ending lag. Below average range, but not that bad and has enough priority to beat Meta Knight's down tilt. Has a disjointed hitbox. 8% damage
 * Strong Up - Raises both hands above his head, raising the roof. Decent vertical launcher. 10% damage

Smash

 * Forward Smash - His trademark Dash Attack from the Wario Land games and Wario World, grants him super armor while moving forward. Very fast but with poor range and easily punished when shielded, it has a long ending lag. Wario runs in place while charging. His 2nd best KO move after Wario Waft. High knockback. 19-26%
 * Up Smash - Head grows as Wario spins, hitting multiple times with the head. Poor range, but deals very good damage and has good priority. Best used for Dash attack cancel. Can KO at high percents, although the knockback isn't too high. 15-21%
 * Down Smash - Spins on the ground, bashing foes with his head. First hit has good knockback, subsequent hits had gradually weaker strength and knockback and final frames are very punishable. Somewhat similar to Wolf's neutral-air. A poor move in general (Even Ike can punish a Perfect Shielded one with a guaranteed Forward Smash). 13-18%

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Crawls up the ledge and flips onto his back, attacking with his head. 6%
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Crawls up the ledge and slides his hand across the ground. Similar to his down tilt. 10%
 * Floor Attack - Directly spins from his position with his right fist out. 6%
 * Trip Attack - Attacks with both hands in front of him, then attacks with his legs behind him. 5%

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Accompanied by a gradually lowering sound of falling, Wario extends his hands and fingers, then spins in place. A quick move to use in the air, and has two hitboxes, the first being stronger than the second. Great for spacing and hard to punish. Also great when short hopping with it out of shield. 9% initially, then 4% for a total of 13%. It can hit more than once when opponents are at no damage rate.
 * Forward Aerial - Sticks his foot a short distance forward. Very short ranged and very little damage, but very high speed, surprisingly strong, high priority and last a long time. Best used for "Wall of Pain" style attacking. Can set up a half charged Wario Waft. 7% damage if inflicted within the first few frames, 5% later (cannot hit the same target twice). Has good momentum cancelling, and is also a very useful edgeguarding move.
 * Back Aerial - Throws his head backwards, hitting with it, entire body horizontal. Similar to his forward air only stronger with longer end lag and much longer landing lag. If he lands while performing this, he will fall onto his back. Slightly disjointed hitbox. 10%
 * Up Aerial - Claps above his head with hands and feet. Very quick start-up, high knockback, can KO easily with low delay. The hitbox is his whole body, even where he doesn't clap, and has a slight horizontal disjoint. This is a great move to use on floaty characters with poor aerial defense. One of the best Up airs in the game, although it stales extremely quickly. 17%
 * Down Aerial - Turns upside down and spins, drilling with his head. Has decent knockback, is very hard to use DI out of, and is very effective if used after a short-hop without fast-falling. One of his main damage rackers due how long it lasts and how good it is for shield-stabbing. Deals 2% 6 times, then finishes with a knockback hit dealing 4% for a total of 16%. Can easily combine with other moves like his Forward Smash, Up Aerial, or Chomp if the very last hit does not connect.

Grabs and Throws

 * Standing grab: Average range and fast speed.
 * Dash grab: Good range.
 * Pivot grab: Good range, including a disjointed grab box.
 * Pummel - Pokes his opponent on their torso. A fairly quick pummel. 2%
 * Forward Throw - Wild Swing-Ding from Wario World; spins foe around and throws him/her forward. The lighter the character the faster he spins them. The best throw for racking up damage. Usually starts KO at about 150% in lighter characters and in the edge with good DI. Identical to Mario and Luigi's back throw, except Wario spins the opponent, and the spin doesn't hurt other foes. 12%
 * Back Throw - Hits them backward with his butt. Wario briefly wiggles his behind with an open mouth. 9%
 * Up Throw - Throws them into the air and jumps up, headbutting them. Good against characters with poor air defense/easy to juggle characters. Can lead to rising fully charged Wario Waft against many characters, and also put them in a good position for Up Aerials. 10%
 * Down Throw - Throws the victim on the ground and sits violently on top of them, who is then knocked behind Wario. Probably based on the ground pound move the Wario Land and Wario World. Wario is capable of chaingrabbing with this, even chain grabbing 0-death on Bowser or 50-death Falco and Wolf. Can also chain grab certain characters in walls. Deals 4% when landing on the victim, then 3% after they are released. 7% total

Taunts
Up: Belly-laughs so hard (as heard by the Wii-mote when selecting Wario), his jaw unhinges, so he has to manually put it back with his hands. If he is holding the back tire of his bike, it looks as if he is biting it.

Side: Accompanied by a "wiggly" sound similar to the one heard while using Corkscrew. Wario wiggles his butt at the screen with his hands extended in each direction, and he teasingly snickers. Wario seems to float as the bottoms of his shoes are touching each other. His shortest taunt.

Down: Wario faces the screen, holds up three fingers with his left hand that seem to form a "W" for Wario, and then does the same with his right hand after putting away his left hand. Then, he holds them both out at the same time. Wario utters "Wah!" three times for each time he holds up a hand, the third "Wah!" having the most enthusiasm.

While riding Wario Bike (in any direction): Wario faces to his right and does his signature "W" sign at the screen with both hands and then picks his nose with his left hand. Another trick considered a taunt is when Wario does a wheelie by gently holding up on the control stick, where he stands on the back of his seat and flaps his right hand based on how fast he is going up and down.

Role in The Subspace Emissary


After Kirby does battle with Petey Piranha to free the princesses, one of the cages in which Petey holds either Princess Zelda or Princess Peach will break, depending on which cage the player damaged more while battling Petey. The Princess who the player saves will escape with the player; the other will be injured and trapped beneath their wrecked cage. Wario drops heavily into the stadium with a Dark Cannon. Blasting the princess, Wario traps her in the form of a trophy and takes off with the trophy on his shoulder. He is revealed to be a member of the Subspace Army.

Wario then hunts down Lucas in an abandoned zoo, dispatching Porky to corner him and weakening him. Porky is defeated by Lucas with the help of Ness, but Wario appears and captures Ness, who is hit defending Lucas.

Upon finding the trophy of Luigi, Wario lets his guard down and picks up the trophy. Wario is ambushed by Waddle Dees and then loses his trophies to King Dedede who steals his Cargo. Wario tracks Lucas and his partner, the Pokémon Trainer, down and fights them. Wario is defeated and left behind. When Galleom's Subspace Bomb detonates, the area of Subspace expands and absorbs Wario's trophy. Wario confronts King Dedede later on the steps to the Great Maze, and he is stunned to see Luigi and Ness beside him. King Dedede, Luigi, and Ness point to the Great Maze to show it to Wario, who thinks that they are pointing to his nose (Wario was standing between King Dedede and the Great Maze). Thus Wario starts to pick his nose. Realising that he can't fight all of them, he instead drives his bike to the top and beats them there. He also aids the heroes in their battle against Tabuu.

Although he works for the Subspace Army, he had no specific allegiance to Master Hand, only following his orders because he enjoyed doing so.

On-Screen Appearance
Crashes in sideways on his bike while laughing, jumps off, and his bike explodes while he dusts himself off.

Idle Poses

 * Crosses his arms, fists clenched
 * Scratches his bottom

Victory Pose
Victory Theme: Wario Series Theme
 * He does a donut on his bike, makes a "W" sign with his hand, saying "Yes!", then pulls on his mustache and makes the "W" sign again, process repeats.
 * He laughs gloatingly and then falls over, rolling on his back.
 * Pats his belly, releasing a fart that after smelling, results in an "Oooh..." from Wario.

Wii Remote Choice
Wario does his signature belly laugh, also heard when initiating his upward directional taunt.

Credits Music

 * WarioWare, Inc. Medley

Cheer

 * "Wario! Cha-Cha-Cha!"

Trivia

 * Due to his dodgy walking animation, if he is walking backwards on conveyor belts in custom stages, he cannot walk onto another conveyor belt.
 * Wario is the only character to have a move based off of a game that was released after the release of Brawl: Wario Land: Shake It!. Wario's crawling animation is also based off of this game.
 * Despite Wario Land being an action-based game series, most of Wario's moves don't come from any of his games, but are unique to Brawl, much to the disappointment of many fans.
 * When riding the motorcycle over an embedded Pitfall, Wario will be shot off of his bike, usually resulting in a One-hit KO.
 * If one uses Captain Falcon's Final Smash on Wario just as he gets on to his Bike without knocking him out, the bike remains on the stage stood up as though Wario were about to climb on, but invisible. It is not known what causes this. Wario cannot use his Bike unless he is standing next to the invisible one (at which point it becomes visible) or destroys it.
 * Wario never blinks. In fact, the only times his eyes are closed are during his sleeping animation, dizzy animation, and the first few frames of getting hit.
 * Wario is the only playable villain not to be seen revived in The Subspace Emissary.
 * Biker Wario's buttons show a W, and underneath it says "Made In". This is a reference to the Japanese name for the WarioWare series, "Made in Wario".
 * Wario is the only character that has 12 different costumes.
 * If Wario is weilding a Hammer/Golden Hammer and stays in one place, he will be floating and swinging instead of standing. This is similar to his side taunt where he sticks his butt at the screen and laughs, and it will look like if he was a metrodome.