Wart
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Wart (known in Japan and some Zelda games as Mamu) is an old anthropomorphic frog king and the main villain of Super Mario Bros. 2 and its first model, Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. He is the leader of his troop known as the 8 bits, and an evil archnemesis of Mario. Wart's information in the game's instruction booklet says, "He is the most mischievous of all in the world of dreams. He created monsters by playing with the dream machine."
History
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
Sometime prior to Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Wart and his army conquered the dimension that lies inside the unnamed storybook that was being read by two children named Piki and Poki and imprisoned all of its inhabitants, including the ones that protect that world. He now rules over that dimension, got his army and his enslaved soldiers all scattered around seven parts, with their leaders, around the world. For unknown reasons, Wart sticks his hand through the pages of the storybook and kidnapped the two children, pulling them through the book and then having them locked within a cage. The two kids pleaded for help, and then the green dressed monkey Rūsa, presumably their pet, ran out of the room as quickly as he could to go find help and comes across an Arabian family, which consists of Papa, Mama, and their son and daughter, Imajin and Lina. After being informed of the situation, the Arabian family jump through the storybook and embark on a journey to save the two children and free that dimension from Wart's reign.
After all of his army and leaders has been defeated by the Arabian family when traveling through the world, Wart engages the family in battle in the castle. Wart can spit multiple bubbles (five bubbles) at the four heroes and can destroy the vegetable projectiles produced by the machine of his room. Conventional attack methods are ineffective against the tyrannical amphibian. The Arabian family has to throw vegetables in his mouth when it's open, defeating him after four hits. After Wart's defeat, the inhabitants and the dimension are saved, so are the two kidnapped children, who return with the Arabian family back to their world, when the game ended.
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 2
Wart made his first official appearance in the Mario series with Super Mario Bros. 2. Sometime prior in the game, Wart somehow entered Subcon, the world of dreams, and begins a conquest of it. Enslaving Subcon's inhabitants to be his soldiers and also creating monsters using a device called the Nightmare Machine, Wart's victory is seemingly assured, as it expands the magnitude of his army, the 8 bits. With the 8 bits all across the world, he had his leaders in each of the lands of Subcon. In a desperate attempt to save their world, Subcon's original inhabitants, the fairies (also called Subcons), contact the great hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, in his sleep to ask for his help. They also give him a hint to beat Wart, which is his distaste for Vegetables. Mario, believing the message to be nothing more than a dream, dismisses it and later goes on a picnic to the park with Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool. Mario then discovers a door in a cave, leading to Subcon.
Mario, realizing that the call for help is real, convinces the others to help him liberating Subcon, the inhabitants and the Subcons. After a long journey in which Mario and friends defeat Wart's 8 bits and the generals, Tryclyde, Mouser, Birdo, Fryguy, Clawgrip, the Birdo species, and Robirdo, saving some lands of Subcon, the heroes eventually encounter Wart himself in the castle of Subcon. Engaging Wart in combat, Mario has to defeat him by throwing vegetables six times into his open mouth when he spits many bubbles. He also has the same behavior and abilities in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, and became more resistant at vegetables. With Wart defeated after swallowing many vegetables, Subcon is free from Wart's reign, including inhabitants of the world. After the victory celebration, Mario wakes up in his bed and is left to ponder if the events that transpired really happened or if they are no more than products of a dream, then continue sleeping.
Super Mario Advance
In Super Mario Advance, the remake of Super Mario Bros. 2, Wart's new voice is now heard which features Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario and Luigi. In this game, Wart spoke clear sentences such as, "I am the great Wart!" and "Ah, rabbit!". He even has a new leader, Robirdo.
BS Super Mario USA
Wart once again appears in all four installments of BS Super Mario USA for Satellaview. BS Super Mario USA is a considered sequel, directly following his past events in Super Mario Bros. 2 and before his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Wart returns to Subcon with the 8 bits and leaders for one more conquest in the world, attacking the kingdom and its king, also stealing the Gold Statues of his old nemesis, Mario, as a thanks for saving Subcon as the world's hero. He also scatters them all and gives some of these statues to the generals of the 8 bits. Wart can be found in every tube in Subspace, where his room is actually identical to that of the final room of Subcon's Castle (World 7-2) from Super Mario Bros. 2. He possesses the same behavior when fighting him, and the Nightmare Machine produces vegetables like the last time. However, Wart and the 8 bits have still lost against Mario, with Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool and his antagonism was finally over.
Like Mouser and Birdo, Wart could casts randomly his evil spell on Mario when he appears as a portrait in the screen, but could be stopped only when Princess Toadstool gets mad.
Nintendo Comics System
"Cloud Nine"
Wart made an appearance in the Nintendo Comics System issue Cloud Nine. In the comic Wart, disguised as a bed salesman, abducts King Toadstool and also tries to flood the Mushroom Kingdom. Notably in this story, Mario mentions Wart had abducted the king on at least one previous occasion. Wart looked more like a crocodile than a frog in the comic.
"Duh Stoopid Bomb!"
Wart was also briefly mentioned in a later Nintendo Comics System story entitled Duh Stoopid Bomb!, where his name is seen on Wooster's list of people who think King Toadstool is dumb.
"Tanooki Suits Me"
Wart eventually reappears in the comics in the story Tanooki Suits Me, in which Bowser plans to sell him pieces of artwork that he had stolen from the Mushroom Castle's Royal Art Gallery for a huge profit. However, a disguised Mario is stolen along with the artwork and, upon discovering Bowser's plot, manages to fool Wart into believing that the artwork is nothing more than worthless droplets of the Apook Corporation. By comparison to Cloud Nine, in this story, Wart bears a better resemblance to his official artwork appearance. Wart also appears to have some resemblance to a crocodile/alligator.
Nintendo Adventure Books
- “Right here in the Land of Outrageous Dreams. It's a most excellent dream, Dude. Far superior to that conquer-the-world stuff. Now I dream of skating the most radical inclines possible. That short fungus doctor dude helped me turn Subcon into this raucous skate park. Gnarly, don't you agree?”
- —Wart, Doors to Doom
Wart made an appearance in the Nintendo Adventure Books book Doors to Doom. Dr. Sporis Von Fungenstein had convinced him to convert the denizens of Sub-Con into surfers, and when the Mario Brothers meet Wart, he is friendly and playing a Game Boy. He tries to trade a garage door opener for one of their hats.
In the later book Dinosaur Dilemma, Wart has a cameo as one of the guests invited to the party Bowser is holding at his Dinosaur Island Castle, in honor of being chosen as the recipient of that year's Snowbell Prize. The text introduces Wart as "the king of the Land of Nightmares".
Club Nintendo
Wart is the protagonist in the Club Nintendo comic "Wart steht unter Strom," in which he plays Game Boy and got involved in a fight with Mario due to him simply throwing the batteries of his Game Boy away. Wart looked just like a smaller version of Bowser in this comic. This may be considered as a mistake, since later appearances of him in the magazine refer to him as Bowser.
Cameos
The Legend of Zelda series
Wart made an appearance in the Legend of Zelda series, namely The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, along with other Nintendo characters from the Mario series. In his appearance, he is called Mamu, his original Japanese name. Wart resides in the pond beneath the Signpost Maze, with his two frogs. Instead of being an antagonist, he plays a role of a supporting character who helps Link in his quest by teaching him one of the ocarina songs, the Frog's Song of Soul for 300 Rupees. Once he taught him the song, he could never be seen again.
Mario Superstar Baseball
Wart was mentioned in Shy Guy's biography in Mario Superstar Baseball; however, he was directly never seen in the game.
Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, Wart is featured in a product that Francis owns and wants more of called Cyborg Wart. It is said that in this comic book, in contrast to his major appearances as an antagonist, he is a protagonist.
Personal Information
Physical Description
Wart's appearance is very similar to that of Bowser and Prince Froggy (though Prince Froggy appeared 9 years after Wart). He is the first one of the frog race starting in Super Mario Bros. 2 before others, regardless his first appearance in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. Wart is an over-sized greenish frog with claws and fangs, with a big white round belly. Wart has no eyebrows, though he has big eyes and black little pupils. He has four claws on each of his hands, while he had two on each of his massive feet. He wears a big blue cape, a big kingly golden crown, a big necklace with golden bracelets. His arm is large but not as large as his huge legs. To look more menacing, Wart had to look like a bit more like a crocodile.
Wart's appearance is not always the same. Despite Wart's original looks in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario All-Stars and BS Super Mario USA, Wart first looked more like Bowser from Cartoons in the Nintendo Comics, with a more crocodilian face, a somewhat tail similar to that of Bowser's himself. His belly is exactly the same as his, and he wore gold chains. However, Wart did had an entirely similar appearance to that of the King Koopa, his appearance was a combination of frog, crocodile and turtle. Secondly, Wart was more like a toad and was less bigger in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, his artwork is identically to a toad.
Personality
Wart is known to be prideful, rude and menacing, but selfishly persistent. He wants to rule over Subcon, making it as his as its king. As he knows Wart would be refused by the inhabitants of Subcon to accept him, he would attack the land, with the help of the 8-bits to enslave them to become his soldiers and servants. He would probably do that to the rest of the worlds or kingdoms, no matter how hard and risky it may be for him, never giving up until he succeeds, even though he ever fails at it once or more. It was shown more in BS Super Mario USA, when Wart returns to "replace" the king of Subcon. Despite he knows himself to be really evil, Wart can have a calm attitude as shown when Link met him, being more of a an ally of the game for Link, unless Mario, Luigi and/or one his friends shows up instead of Link, he will start to fight one of them. Instead of conquering Kolohint Island, Wart spent most of his time traveling throughout the world.
Powers and Abilities
Since Wart is a frog, he possess the abilities that any frog has and especially has affinity with water. He spits multiple bubbles, which seemingly look poisonous and is his signature move, however, his usual abilities. He can choose to shoot many water bubbles or spit a long breath of water. Wart can also use magic, and put a curse on someone, as revealed that the curse he put on Mario during his sleep did not work according to the Instruction Manual of Super Mario Bros. 2, but he can put a spell on an entire world. Wart could not be harmed, not even a bomb will injure him, unless a vegetable is thrown at him six times (four times in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic), Wart will lose but has managed to survive all of this many times of defeats. He did fallen down after defeating him in BS Super Mario USA, he caused an earthquake, which shown he could shake the ground too because of his strength. In Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Wart is able to struck his huge hand to the outside world, as shown to be very huge in the outside world, it also prove that he could travel from world to world, wherever he wishes to, including in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
Gallery
Video Game Appearances
| Title | Description | Release Date | System/Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic | Boss | 1987 | Famicom |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | Boss | 1988 | NES |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | Non-Playble Character (Uses Japanese name Mamu) | 1993 | Game Boy |
| Super Mario All-Stars | Boss in Super Mario Bros. 2 remake | 1993 | SNES |
| Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World | Boss in Super Mario Bros. 2 remake | 1994 | SNES |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX | Non-Playable Character (Uses Japanese name Mamu) | 1998 | Game Boy Color |
| Super Mario Advance | Boss | 2001 | Game Boy Advance |
| Animal Forest | Indirect appearances- his son Wart Jr. appears as Non-Playable Character | 2001 | Nintendo 64 |
| Animal Crossing | Indirect appearances- his son Wart Jr. appears as Non-Playable Character | 2001 | Nintendo GameCube |
| Mario Superstar Baseball | Referenced in Shy Guy's bio, does not physically appear | 2005 | Nintendo GameCube |
| Animal Crossing: Wild World | Indirect appearances- his son Wart Jr. appears as Non-Playable Character | 2005 | Nintendo DS |
| Super Paper Mario | Referenced on Francis' to-buy list as a comic named Cyborg Wart does not physically appear. | 2007 | Wii |
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Referenced as his name comes up as a random name, does not physically appear. | 2008 | Wii |
| Animal Crossing: City Folk | Indirect appearances- his son Wart Jr. appears as Non-Playable Character. | 2008 | Wii |
| Super Mario All-Stars - 25th Anniversary Edition | Boss in Super Mario Bros 2. remake. | 2010 | Wii |
Names in Other Languages
Trivia
- A frog named Wart Jr. appeared in Animal Crossing, Animal Crossing: Wild World and Animal Crossing: City Folk. It is unknown if he is meant to be a relation or an allusion to Wart, as they do not look similar, and apart from Wart Jr.'s latent desire to take over the world, share nothing in common.
- Oddly, Wart, mislabeled as "King Koopa", appears in reels B and C in a Master-view toy released during the run of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
- In the original Super Mario Bros. 2 (along with its remake in Super Mario All-Stars), Wart could still hurt the players if they touch his defeated body. In Super Mario Advance however, he becomes intangible to the players once defeated.
- In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that can be gotten from pressing the "RANDOM NAME" button is "WART".
