Waluigi is a recurring character found in the Mario series who was made to rival Luigi. Waluigi mainly appeared in spin-off games like Mario Tennis and Mario Party 3. Waluigi is known to be Wario's partner ever since Waluigi made his initial appearance in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. The details of Waluigi's past are unclear since he has no confirmed background, although he has evidently been antagonizing the Mario Bros., especially Luigi. In his debut as seen in the opening of Mario Tennis, where he and Luigi confront each other, it is implied that they have been fighting for quite some time.
Despite the appearance of all three main plumbers in Super Mario 64 DS, Waluigi was nowhere to be found. This was due to him being an extra playable character meant to be unlocked by linking Super Mario 64 DS with the cancelled game Wow! Waluigi using a similarly unreleased application known as the StarPass. Due to this, Waluigi could never be unlocked, without the help of the Personalization A.I. However, several rumors regarding him have been discussed.
Theorizing[]
Unlocking Waluigi[]
The supposed "Purple Prizes" magazine, likely based off of a personalized copy. This scan has been attributed to Nintendo Power UK, a non-existent publication, leading some to question it's accuracy.
Several members of the Super Mario community have speculated about a possible way to unlock the lanky plumber in Super Mario 64 DS. However, there isn't a clear way to do so. The most prevalent method to "unlock" Waluigi was Purple Prizes, a magazine which claimed Waluigi was unlockable. The instructions are as follows:
It claims only the best players could find the character. He could be unlocked after gathering all the stars and "being the fastest foot racer in the land". Achieving this, the secret door would unlock. The player would have to race the Rabbit King, who is supposedly the leader of all the rabbits found inside the game. The article also claims that Waluigi's special ability is 'Spring Jump', and that his Power Flower allowed the player to run extremely fast. This was either falsified, or based off of a personalized copy.
The Purple Rabbit, as seen in the Super Mario 64 DS manual.
Waluigi Remnants[]
Several people have speculated of several assets in the game hinting towards Waluigi. The most common link is the purple dots on the floor of the Rec Room. Every other colored dot is tied to a character, except for the purple one. This was likely implying Waluigi's presence.
Despite no traces of Waluigi being in Super Mario 64 DS, a purple rabbit can be seen in the US instruction manual for the game[2]. While this could be chalked up to poor printing of the pinkish rabbits belonging to Mario, this rabbit's coloration is distinctly purple hinting that these could've belonged to Waluigi at one point.
Phenomena[]
An image of Waluigi in game.
Super Mario 64 DS Manifestation[]
Unlocking[]
In Super Mario 64 DS, several reports have mentioned unlocking Waluigi, likely due to the Personalization A.I. spawning them in, despite the fact Wow! Waluigi was meant to be the way Waluigi was unlocked. The most common way is finding the Negative World, most commonly by collecting all 150 Power Stars and then grabbing the Power Flowers in the mirror room in an upside-down L formation and entering the white room. In the Negative World, several claim there will be a painting of Waluigi that leads to the Piranha Pit. Beating the Big Piranha Plant in this level would unlock Waluigi, taking the place of the extra door in the character select room.
An image of Waluigi in the hallway of Bowser in the Dark World.
Another supposed way of unlocking Waluigi involves the Black Box, a supposed hole in Princess Peach's Castle that could be accessed with the cannon in the Castle Grounds. This usually contains an extra level of some kind, sometimes reported to be a flooded version of the Castle Grounds similarly to the Sunken Castle found in the original game nicknamed the Submerged Castle, leading to the key to unlock Waluigi. This key is usually a key with an upside-down L, signifying Waluigi, though it can be the unused Big Star Key, a bigger version of the keys dropped by rabbits to unlock minigames in-game, potentially as a placeholder for the model if it can't be loaded for any reason.
An image of what the door that contains Waluigi might look like.
A third and simpler method is simply fighting the Rabbit King in Rabbit Meadow after finishing the rest of the missions if they appear. This is usually considered the "Purple Prizes" method, as it matches fairly well with the magazine's instructions on how to unlock Waluigi. Another simple method is by finding a 151st Power Star somewhere in the game. When involved with Waluigi, this usually involves one of the harder methods to find it, and can be part of a longer process to unlock the purple plumber as a playable character.
An image of a level map in SM64DS displaying Waluigi's cap somewhere in the level.
The final method is reportedly finding the Purple Rabbit, which can spawn after collecting all 8 Glowing Rabbits or collecting every rabbit in the game. They can reportedly drop the key to Waluigi or can appear normally as Waluigi's rabbit equivalent. These minigames are usually completely new ones not seen anywhere in the standard game, or even the unused minigames found referenced in the files of the game.
An image of a Waluigi painting in place of Chief Chilly Challenge.
Waluigi himself usually has the moveset described in Purple Prizes, supporting the theory that it was based off of a personalized copy. He has an extremely high jump, and the Power Flower allows him to run incredibly fast in a form called "Warpspeed Waluigi." Alternatively, some have claimed he can throw Bob-ombs similarly to Yoshi's eggs, see secrets around the game that act as more gameplay upon unlocking Waluigi, a watered-down version of the Magic Gloves from Wow! Waluigi, or somehow use lightning abilities, potentially referencing Luigi's lightning powers in the Mario & Luigi series. The later abilities are much less commonly reported, however. Notably, some say that Waluigi can't ground pound, requiring him to have a unique King Whomp rematch.
Waluigi Mode[]
Main Article: Waluigi Mode
If one were to cheat or pirate Super Mario 64 DS, an anomalous mode of the game named Waluigi Mode were to be unlocked where the game becomes excessively harder, usually requiring cheats, as well as Waluigi appearing as a major antagonist, due to him being considered the "master of cheating". He will appear around the game, making the player's life harder, such as throwing Bob-ombs at them or stealing Power Stars, eventually culminating in a true final boss fight against them upon clearing Bowser in the Sky in a throne room. This boss fight, dubbed Dazzling Waluigi, has never been completed, and code suggests that if it were to be completed, the save data would be deleted and the DS would potentially even be bricked.