Wario (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

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

Wario
Universe	Wario/Mario
Also appears in	Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	B (10)

Wario 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 10th on the tier list (the second highest ranked sub-series Mario character) due to his unique attributes as a fighter (e.g. small size, heavy weight, and great horizontal directional influence), great recovery when all recovery options are present, good 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 other hand, Wario's recovery is extremely situational, because he can't recover with the Wario Bike if it's lying on the ground, the 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.

Wario thrives on surprise and deception, and he can vary his approaches like few can. One of Wario's most notable attributes is his size (about the same size as Mario, but a tad wider), which is rather small for a heavyweight (the smallest), meaning he is relatively difficult to hit. Wario can also crawl, although it is not entirely useful for dodging attacks, so it is usually used 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. His DACUS is also very useful for retrieving tires at a distance that he's bounced off the ground. 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 let him grab the opponent). It can also be reversed (although it cannot be used to change momentum), as well as be used to eat items, and doing so to an explosive 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 (and thus hard to avoid). Because of his limited KO moves, Wario should not use them too much for racking up damage (although they are all very good KO moves when fresh). He has also a 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 his down throw on several characters until high percentages.

Despite Wario's powerful speed attributes, he is still prone to frequent slipping and/or vulnerability.

He only has a few main weaknesses. For one, Wario has poor range on his attacks (except his jab, his grab and more noticeably, his Forward Tilt), especially with his smashes, which is not a big problem unless the opponent has long range, priority, and speed like Marth. 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), makes up for his poor range. Another problem, though minor, is that Wario has poor get-up rolls and get-up attacks, making him fairly easy to tech-chase when 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 have trouble grabbing Wario, a Wario player 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.

Moveset

Wario's Moveset
	Move	Description	Segment		Damage	Angle	Hit Frames		BKB	KBG	WBKB	Type
Neutral	Double Punch	Left hook, then right hook. Decent knockback. Slow for a jab, but still good. Has decent range and a slight disjoint. 1st jab can even set up a forward smash.	Hit 1	Fist	6%	60	8	10	15	50	0
				Body	5%
			Hit 2		6%	75	17	19	60	90
F-Tilt	Power Punch	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. Good KO move at about 130%. Oddly, his voice plays at an earlier time when angled up. Wario's longest ranged non-projectile. May be based on an attack from Wario's look-alike Booster in Super Mario RPG.	Angled Up	Arm	14%	*	14	17	22	98	0
				Body	11%
			Angled Side	Arm	13%
				Body	11%
			Angled Down	Arm	12%
				Body	10%
U-Tilt	Palm Push	Raises both hands above his head, raising the roof. Decent vertical launcher.	Clean	Body	10%	90	12	14	65	74	0
				Right hand		83
				Left hand		97
			Late	Body	6%	90	15	23	40	50
				Right hand		80			30
				Left hand		100
D-Tilt	Ground Stab	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. Has a disjointed hitbox.			8%	75	5	9	50	60	0
Dash	Dive	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. Half of the late hit cannot hurt airborne opponents.	Clean		7%	70	4	5	60	75	0
			Late		5%	120	6	23	40	40
U-Smash	Head Swirl	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 DACUS. Can KO at high percents, although the knockback isn't too high.	Hits 1-5	Head	1%	95	12, 14, 16, 18, 20		15	70	0
				Body					40
			Hit 6		10%	90	22			97
D-Smash	Body Cyclone	Spins on the ground, bashing foes with his head. First hit has good knockback, subsequent hits have 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).	Clean		18%	30	9	18	30	80	0
			Mid		10%		19	30	20	85
			Late		5%		32	45	10	90
F-Smash	Shoulder Ram	His trademark Dash Attack from the Wario Land games and Wario World. A combination of super armour and transcendent priority makes the attack extremely difficult to interrupt; it can only be halted if Wario is grabbed or hit from behind by an attack strong enough to clank with it. Very fast but with poor range and easily punished when shielded, it has long ending lag. Wario runs in place while charging. His 2nd best KO move after Wario Waft. High knockback.			19%	*	10	12	30	77	0
Nair	Wonky Spin	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. Great for spacing and hard to punish. Also great when short hopping with it out of shield. Both hits can connect at very low percentages.	Clean		9%	40	4	5	30	100	0
			Late		4%	*	15	38	20
Fair	Drop Kick	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. Has good momentum cancelling, and is also a very useful edgeguarding move.	Clean		7%	*	5	6	20	100	0
			Late		5%		7	17	15	80
Bair	Backwards Headbutt	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. Slightly disjointed hitbox.			10%	*	9	11	20	100	0
Uair	High Clap	Claps above his head with hands and feet. Very quick start-up, high knockback, can KO easily with low delay. The hitbox covers 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.	Null		17%	75	8	9	30	80	0
Dair	Body Drill	Turns upside down and spins, drilling with his head. Has decent knockback, is very hard to 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. Can easily combine with other moves like his Forward Smash, Up Aerial, or Chomp if the very last hit does not connect.	Hits 1-6	Head	2%	110	9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19		0	100	30
				Body		270					20
			Hit 7		4%	*	21		20	180	0
Pummel	Poke	Pokes his opponent in the torso. A fairly quick pummel.			2%	*	5		40	100	0
F-Throw	Wild Swing-Ding	Spins the 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% on lighter characters near the edge with good DI. Identical to Mario and Luigi's back throw, except the spun opponent doesn't hurt other foes.			12%	45	46		60	65	0
B-Throw	Butt Blast	Hits them backward with his butt. Wario proceeds to briefly wiggle his behind with an open mouth.	Hit 1		2%	30	20		50	120	0
			Hit 2		7%	45	21		60	60	0
U-Throw	Vertical Chuck	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-airs.	Hit 1		4%	*	24		30	100	0
			Hit 2		6%	90	25		60	72	0
D-Throw	Gravity Pound	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 in Wario Land and Wario World. Wario is capable of chaingrabbing with this, even chain grabbing 0-death on Bowser or 50-death on Falco and Wolf. Can also chain grab certain characters against walls.	Hit 1		4%	*	22	29	30	100	0
			Hit 2		3%	130	30		60	18	0
Floor (back)	Spin Punch	Wario spins around with his fist extended.	Hit 1		6%	*	16	17	80	50	0
			Hit 2				20	21
Floor (front)	Double Poke	Wario pokes both forwards and backwards.	Hit 1		6%	*	16	17	80	50	0
			Hit 2				21	22
Floor (trip)	Clap Kick	Wario makes two kicks to either side.	Hit 1		5%	*	19	20	60	50	0
			Hit 2				30	31
Edge (<100%)	Grounded Headbutt	Crawls up the ledge and flips onto his back, attacking with his head.	Body		8%	*	31	33	0	100	110
			Rear		6%
Edge (100%+)	Quick Punch	Crawls up the ledge and slides his hand across the ground. Similar to his down tilt.	Arm		10%	20	53	55	0	100	90
			Rear			*
Neutral Special	Chomp	Wario opens his mouth and bites opponents.	Grab				3
			Bite		2%	*	21	24	0	30	100
			Release		5%	45			60	70	0
			Bite (no grab)		15%	70	5	6	80	100	0
			Explosive		13%	*	17		50	110	0
Side Special	Wario Bike	Wario gets on his bike and drives around. The bike can be thrown and broken.	Drive		7%	*			60	70	0
			Wheelie		4%	25			50	80
			Thrown	Front	7%	*			50	0
				Back	8%
				Middle	9%
			Tire		4%
Up Special	Corkscrew	Wario leaps into the air while spinning.	Hit 1	Back side	5%	85	7	8	0	100	110
				Front side		115
				Back hand		85					90
				Front hand		105
			Hits 2-11	Body	1%	95	9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20, 21-22, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28				80
				Hands		90					65
			Hit 12		4%	70	29	30	60	130	0
Down Special	Wario Waft	Wario lets loose a huge fart, depending on how long it's been since he last did it.	Uncharged		0%	*	16	18	0	1	0
			Slightly charged	Center	10%	45	10	11	60	70
				Sides	8%				20	30
			Mostly charged		21%	45	5	8	50	66
			Fully charged	Clean	40%	35	9	10	50	30
				Late	20%	80	11	16	0	100

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.

In competitive play

 

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Wario in the SSE

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 fires at Ness. Ness dodges all of Wario's cannon shots and learns that Ness is too skilled to get hit. He then fires at Lucas, who was vulnerable, and Ness is shot when he pushes Lucas aside. Wario then takes away Ness, and Lucas runs away in fear.

Upon finding the trophy of Luigi, Wario lets his guard down and picks up the trophy, apparently elated to find the brother of his enemy Mario. Wario is ambushed by Waddle Dees and then loses his trophies to King Dedede, who steals his Cargo. Realizing that he needs to redeem his failure, 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.

Other

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 butt.

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!"

Costume Gallery

Wario's WarioWare ("biker") outfits

Wario's overall ("classic") outfits

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.
• 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.
  • Also, despite his crouch in Wario Land shrinking Wario to half his size (for purposes of a platform game), his crouch in Brawl is next to useless.
• Wario never blinks. In fact, the only times his eyes are closed are when he is asleep, stunned, or being hit.
• 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". Also on the back of his WarioWare outfit, it reads "Hurry Up!".
• Wario is the only character in the Super Smash Bros. series to have two sets of costumes.
• If Wario is wielding a Hammer/Golden Hammer and stays in one place, he will be floating and swinging instead of standing.
• Wario, even though he wields the Home-Run Bat with his hands, swings the bat in his side smash with the bat held in his mouth.
• Although Wario still has the same voice actor (Charles Martinet) as in his own games, in Brawl, it is somewhat less cartoonish than in said games - the same applies to Luigi and Mario.
• Wario is the only character in Brawl with more than 3 taunts.
• Wario is the only character to have two poses when selecting him. When he's in his biker outfit, he has his hands in a position of clapping with his mouth open. In his classic overalls, Wario has his arms out while making his signature "W" with his fingers.
• Wario is the only character that can ride a vehicle without using a Final Smash.
• If Wario hits a static Deku Nut while on his bike, he is launched with enough force to be instantly KO'd.

External links

• Wario's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Subspace Emissary Screenshots
• Wario Character Guide at SWF
• Wario's hitbox size of each of his moves