Second Chance: Merelda/Merfles

MERELDA/MERFLES

My answer is . . . 

NO

There's nothing here. I added it just on the off-chance there was some power-up element to the Merfles I hadn't paid attention to before, or maybe something Merelda did in a comic, but no. Merelda's mostly the "Damsel in Distress" the entire game, and the Merfles just follow you around. Shake King fills most gimmick rep slots, and I can't see them even being echoes of him, so, just, no.

And that means we're done! Tomorrow, I will cover the movie, plus the . . . at least two new characters I know I can pull from it, and the one stage. And then, I have five more characters I want to check out that occurred to me in this process, though I'm going to test out a possibly faster way to cover them. They are:

1. Mechabowser

2. Wingo

3. Baby Mario & Baby Luigi (Partners in Time edition)

4. Nastasia

5. TV Donkey Kong (Supercade version)

Now is the time. If there is anyone else you want me to consider again before I close the book, please bring them up now. Thanks for reading!

Bandinero

BANDINERO

Across all of Wario's games, he has encountered multiple different forms of small round blobs with feet who act as his most basic foes. Going by names such as Pirate Gooms, Spearheads, and Merumen, all fall into a single basic concept. In Wario Land: Shake It! the most notable of these come as henchmen of the Shake King, helping him take the Merfles hostage.

These are the Bandineros, a sort of full realization of all the various ideas behind these character types, with multiple varieties that mimic concepts introduced in earlier generations. All in all though, they are similar to Goombas, Koopas, and Shy Guys, acting as the most basic of all henchmen.

As a fighter, the Bandinero will incorporate aspects from all the various incarnations the Wario series has seen over the years, with the moveset pulling from all. They will be light and fairly weak, but with a solid speed stat to them and a few clever tricks.

Likelihood rating: Probably not.

Second Chance: Basic Wario Enemies

BASIC WARIO ENEMIES

So, across Wario's games, Wario encountered a general concept of a basic Goomba-style enemies with some generally recurring features. They were all basic round blobs with feet, and most of them came with at least one variety that stabbed something forward. Wario Land I had Wanderin' Gooms, with the spinoff Pirate Gooms who carried spears. In Wario Land II, three Pirate Gooms are constantly following around Captain Syrup and acting as her goofy henchmen. Wario Land 3 had Spearheads with the spears built into their noses, and Para-Gooms who carried around spiked umbrellas they could use as shields. Wario Land 4 had Merumen, who are pretty basic. Finally, we have the Bandineros of Wario Land: Shake It! who appear to be the finalized combination of all these ideas and generally the most iconic. The Bandinero comes with multiple variants, including the Floating Bandinero who can inflate itself, the Pitchfork (the standard stabby version), the Boomdinero who can fire spiky balls from its armor, and the Buccaneros who wield swords.

All in all, if you put them together, I really have no choice but to say . . . 

YES

I think I will call the entire thing Bandinero, and then have certain color swaps be the other guys. Cool? Cool. Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Pitchfork

The Bandinero will thrust forward with a spear, trident, or fork depending on the color swap, basically being a standard stab move.

Side B: Boomdinero

The Boomdinero's armor will appear around it and it will be able to fire a spike ball as a projectile.

Up B: Floating Bandinero

It will suck up a bunch of air and be able to float upwards.

Down B: Para-Goom

It will produce a spiked parasol that it will be able to use as a shield, damaging to anyone who gets too close.

Final Smash: Sabotage

You will have a cutscene of three of these enemies messing with some water works, after which the stage will flood and the players will get washed away.

Entrance: They will rush on then look around confused.

Taunts: Up, they will hold up a bag of treasure they stole. Side, they will poke their spear out sideways. Down, another one will appear and they will bump into each other.

Kirby Hat: Bandinero's bandana

Kart: Based on a pirate ship

Special Move: A short spear will stick out from the kart's side, stabbing anyone who gets too close.

Spirit Battle: A horde battle, with either Captain Syrup or Shake King as support, on The Sweet Stuff.

Victory Screen: A line of them with rush across the screen carrying treasure.

Losing Screen: They will sit and look dizzy as if just thrown.

Color Swaps: Red Bandinero, Pirate Goom, Spearhead, Merumen, Blue Bandinero, Yellow Bandinero, White Bandinero, and Golden Bandinero

Thanks for reading! Next up, a villain who could be a gimmick rep.

Sweet Stuff

Wario Land: Shake It! was the fifth/sixth/seventh installment of the Wario Land series, with a very distinct cartoon style behind it, a shaking mechanic built off the Wii’s remote controllers, and the return of Captain Syrup, who had switched out her S.S. Teacup for a new ship called The Sweet Stuff.

This stage will be a huge-sized stage, completely designed in the game’s cartoony style. At the top right-hand side of the stage will be one of the boiler-looking things that launch Wario at top speed back the way he came so he can get back to the start of the stage. This is part of the reason for the stage’s size, as it will be big enough for any character who enters the boiler to run for a while before running out of juice.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZlrzirY8c

The Shake King

At around this same time, the Wario Land series finally saw a fifth installment, or sixth depending on how you consider Wario World. The game featured a great, cartoony art style and the return of Captain Syrup, this time recruiting him to help her rescue a race of fairies from a bigger, badder evil pirate.

This pirate is the Shake King, a greedy tyrant who took the Merfles and their queen hostage in order to claim their magical bag of unending treasure for himself, a treasure Syrup and Wario are also after. He serves as the main villain of the game, facing Wario in one-on-one battle in the end.

As a fighter, he will be big, heavy, and strong, with a lot of similarities to Wario himself. His moveset will pull from his final boss battle as well as some of the game’s unique mechanics, such as shaking your Wiimote in order to shake loose treasure from objects and enemies.

Likelihood rating: Probably not

Captain Syrup

Wario’s huge success following his introduction saw him replacing Mario as the protagonist of the next Super Mario Land game, now titled Wario Land. The plot would find him adrift after being ousted from Mario’s castle, coming to an island a band of pirates had made their hideout.

These pirates were led by a woman named Captain Maple Syrup. She would menace Wario in this game and return in Wario Land II, seeking revenge for her defeat in the previous game. After that, she fell off the map for a while before returning in Wario Land: Shake It!

As a fighter, she will have decent speed and strength to her, and will also dabble in sneaky moves from time to time. Her moveset will pull from her two games as the main villain and her supporting role in her third game.

Likelihood rating: Could happen

Character Sheet: The Shake King (Wario Miscellaneous)

THE SHAKE KING

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

Let's finish off with the Shake King, the villain of Wario Land: Shake It!. The Shake King is an evil pirate king who has captured and enslaved a race of fairies called Merfles in order to obtain their magical bag of unending treasure. Wario is called in by Captain Syrup and the escaped Merfles to help bring him down. As he is one of the main unique characters of the game, he also functions well as the game's gimmick rep.

First off, the Shake King himself shows the same ability as Wario to grab and shake objects and enemies hard enough to shake a bunch of coins loose. He also jumps and slams and charges with his shoulder. He can throw a line of fireballs and a lightning bolt, create a shockwave, shoot an energy beam, and smash through the floor. The unique gimmicks of the game itself also include being able to throw the shaken enemies against the wall after shaking them, getting launched forward at top speed, spinning on a bar to get higher, using a submarine and a punching-glove car, and flying around inside of a rocket cauldron. I think all of this can work very well.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Shake It!
The Shake King will grab and enemy and shake them violently, sending a bunch of coins flying everywhere. If pressed again, he will then throw the enemy away at top speed.

Side B: Blast Forward
This one is based on the second half of each level, where Wario is launched forward at top speed from a special device. That device will appear around the Shake King and then blast him at top speed across the screen. The player will have to be careful though.

Up B: Rocket Cauldron
Although the spinning bar might work too, I felt the rocket cauldron worked even better, carrying him up higher, with a slight downward damage from the flames.

Down B: Earthquake
This one is based on when the Shake King breaks through the floor in his boss battle. He will jump and punch his fist into the ground, creating a cosmetic crack in the ground and shaking the stage slightly.

Final Smash: Shakedown
This one's a bit unique. But I thought he could grow to gigantic proportions in the background, grab the edges of the stage and shake it violently with all of his might, sending all the players flying.

Entrance: Either he could step outside of the devil-looking things at the beginning of the stage, or he could do the swirl through the telescope that Wario uses to enter the globe.

Taunt: pulling out a dizzy enemy and shaking it to see if there's anything left. Maybe some of his taunts from the game.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's revise our rosters!

Character Sheet: Captain Syrup (Wario Miscellaneous)

CAPTAIN SYRUP

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

Today, let's cover Captain Syrup, Wario's nemesis who finally made her return after a . . . only ten years, really? . . . ten-year absence from the franchise. In Wario Land: Shake It!, she appears at the beginning of the game, as an ally of the Merfles, who ropes Wario into helping them fighting off the Shake King and his forces. For the rest of the game, she basically runs the shop where you can buy power-ups, and that's really about it. At the end of the game, she double-crosses Wario and takes all the treasure for herself using a vacuum cleaner and a getaway car. Really not much to work with, it's just nice seeing her again.

Here's her moveset:

Standard B: Giant Bomb

Side B: Pirate Goom

Up B: Fire Burst

Down B: Electric Beam

Final Smash: Genie

Entrance: Maybe her first appearance laying on a bed in her throne room from the first game. OR maybe running onto the stage, followed by her gooms, reenacting the comedic bit of the last one bumping into the others by mistake OR maybe traveling through the telescope from Shake It!

Taunts: Her little arm pumping animation from the cutscenes of Wario Land II. Or her flirty greetings from Shake It!

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Birdo!

Character Sheet: Wario (Wario Miscellaneous)

WARIO

It's time to cover the Wario characters. We will be making a new roster for Wario, although it will not be populated by the most iconic of Wario characters quite yet. We may also get some new additions to the Mario rosters. Here's who were working with this time around:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Luigi (Revision)
3. Princess Peach (Revision)
4. Toad (Revision)
5. Wario (Revision)
6. Captain Syrup (Revision)
7. Birdo (Revision)
8. Yoshi (Revision)
9. Wanda
10. Count Cannoli
11. Carpaccio
12. Terrormisu
13. The Shake King

The Wario series has kinda struggled over the years to really find its niche in the gaming world, and it really shows in this run of games. Each one has its own general moveset unique from most of the others (though there are some recurring themes). While several games are unique enough that they can rely on gimmick reps to cover them, like Count Cannoli for Master of Disguise and Shake King for Shake It!, I can't quite rely on that for all of them. So let's see what we've got.

Across these games, Wario is seen flying in his plane, dropping buckets and other items onto peoples heads, inflate himself, a bunch of bomberman-related moves that I won't touch on too much, charge forward with his shoulder, breathe dragon fire, jet forward with a helmet, drop a butt bash, punch enemies, pick up enemies and throw them, grab and spin enemies around, roll, suck enemies in, all of the Master of Disguise stuff that I won't touch too much here, shake stuff out of bags and enemies as well as a few other Shake It moves I'll save for possibly the Shake King, light on fire, roll into a snowball, and shrink.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Dragon Helmet
For this move, I actually decided I'd whip back out the Dragon Helmet from the original Wario Land since we've seen it a few times since. Basically, Wario's helmet will appear on his head and spew flames.

Side B: Shoulder Rush
Its still his most iconic move that he uses in almost every single game we've seen so far, so I think I'm going to stick with it.

Up B: Jet Helmet
Wario will whip out his jet helmet from the original Wario Land and use it to jet across the stage in a straight line. Better for getting back to the stage from above it rather than below it.

Down B: Enemy Effect
This one is based more on his movesets from the later games where he gains status boosts from various enemies. When you press the move, he has the possibility of lighting on fire, rolling into a snowball, getting fat, or becoming a zombie.

Final Smash: Wario's Plane
As much as I liked the boss rush from before, it doesn't really fit his whole character anymore. Instead, I'll take after several games in which he terrorizes enemies from his plane, by flying back and forth over them (sorta like Super Sonic), dropping missiles and the occasional bucket, and finally crash landing on the stage.

Entrance: crashing in his jetplane.

Taunts: I still like him throwing his shoe. Maybe the way he wiggles his butt in Shake It. His bashful expression with his index finger on his lower lip.

Thanks for reading! Next time, let's check out his nemesis, Captain Syrup!

Wario Land: Shake It!

WARIO LAND: SHAKE IT!

Wario Land: Shake It! is a game released for the Wii and Wii U that acted both as an attempt to revitalize the Wario Land series and to make use of the shaking gimmick of the two systems. It featured Wario being roped by his old nemesis Captain Syrup into a mission to save a bunch of fairy creatures called Merfles by the evil Shake King.

Wario, Captain Syrup, the Shake King, and the Merfles act as our main characters. Wario, as the playable characters, can run, jump, go down pipes, charge with his shoulder, shake things hard enough to shake out all their money, throw enemies against the wall, slide, get launched forward at top speed, pound the ground, spin on bars, use a submarine with missiles, use a car with a giant punching glove, get himself lit on fire, roll up into a snowball, shrink, and fly inside of a rocket cauldron.

Captain Syrup mainly runs the shop in the game, but at the end, she uses a vacuum to suck up all the treasure Wario had collected for herself. The Shake King on the other hand can also shake things to knock coins loose, jump, slam, charge with his shoulder, throw a line of fireballs, throw a lightning blast, create a shockwave, shoot an energy beam, and bash his way through the floor. All in all, he can also act as the main gimmick rep. As for the Merfles and their princess Merelda, they are mostly NPC characters that don't add much to the gameplay, so not much there.

As for the enemies, Bandineros are our main enemies and bear a distinct resemblance to Captain Syrup's Pirate Gooms. They mostly walk around, hop, and float, and have two variants, the Buccaneros that carry swords, and Pitchforks with literal forks coming out of their heads. From there, we also have Scarracudas that swim, Mummers that blow dust, Flipstings that stink, Turkeyjerks that fly, Shortfuses that shoot spike balls, Nosedozers that drill, Crackpots that hide in pots and throw things, Jellopuses that swim and zap you, Tub-Subs that swim and shoot torpedoes, Volcannons that spew lava, Boomdineros that fire cannonballs, Peek-a-Booms that throw bombs, Pengoons that spit ice, and Recapitators that throw their own heads.

As for our bosses, we have: Rollanratl, a giant statue that drops its head and makes its hands fly in a circle; Hot Roderick, who races you and throws wrenches and tires at you; Chortlebot, a robot clown that shoots its nose at you; Scumflower, a flow that sucks in and blows out at you and spits bandineros at you; and finally Large Fry, a giant fish dressed as a chef that will slam down and try to eat you.

As for our stages, the whole game takes place within a giant magical globe that Wario enters through a telescope. The main hub world is Captain Syrup's ship, the Sweet Stuff (what happened to the S.S. Teacup?). After that we have five main areas, each with their own main biome and several worlds within. First we have Ratl Ruins, which is generally a desert level; then Wiggly Wilds, a wild area complete with a volcano; then Rockin' Range, which has a general Old West feel to it; Jiggle Jungle, a mix between jungle and sky levels; and Quiver Cliffs, a mountainous area with some haunted elements. Finally, we have the Shake King's ship, the Shakedown Schooner.

Items tend to be treasure chests and bags that you can shake and dislodge a lot of money from.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Mario
Luigi: remove bucket
Princess Peach
Yoshi
Toad: pick up and put down
Wario: drop bucket/items, fly in plane, teleport, inflate, shoot blast, thwomp, drop bombs, kick bombs, warp holes, dash, the trouncer, liner, moto, run, jump, charge, dragon fire, jet forward, butt bash, punch, pick up and throw, spin enemies around, roll, suck in, Goodstyle, thief, cosmic, arty, genius, sparky, captain, dragon, wicked, go down pipes, shake things hard enough to shake out all their money, throw enemies against the wall, slide, get launched forward at top speed, spin on bars, use a submarine with missiles, use a car with a giant punching glove, get himself lit on fire, roll up into a snowball, shrink, fly inside of a rocket cauldron.
Captain Syrup: run shop, vacuum
Shake King: shake things to knock coins loose, jump, slam, charge with his shoulder, throw a line of fireballs, throw a lightning blast, create a shockwave, shoot an energy beam, bash his way through the floor, gimmick rep.
Wanda: smack with hammer, break blocks, turn around, create blocks, fly, springs, drop bombs
Count Cannoli: everything Wario can, balloon, giant mechs, bombs, drills, mace fists
Carpaccio: traps, knights with lances and pogo sticks, ice balls, giant ice ball, suck in, icicles
Terrormisu: float, lightning, laser ball, flood with tears, crescent shapes, meteors, lava wave
Birdo
Bomberman: drop bombs
Demon Head: slam claws, rise, breathe fire
Black Jewel: shoot laser, make shockwaves
Red Brief J (sorely tempted): strut, punch, spin, shoot fire, slam

Bosses:
Demon Head
Guard
Dinosaur Fish
Sand Fish
Tank and Operator
Black Jewel
Greenfist
Sandworm
Dino Mighty
Brawl Doll
Clown Around
Dual Dragon
Winter Windster
Spideraticus
Red Brief J
Mean Emcee
Ironsider
Captain Skull
Pharaoh
Kabloom!
Barfatronic Lavachomper
Stuffy the 64th
Rollanratl
Hot Roderick
Chortlebot
Scumflower
Large Fry

Stages:
Stage based on Mario & Wario
Stage based on Wario's Woods
Stage based on Wario Blast!
Cave Level
Water Level
Jungle Level
Desert Level
Haunted House
Factory Level
Castle
Wario's Castle
Treasure Horde
Hub World
Greenhorn Forest
Greenhorn Ruins
Horror Manor
Wonky Circus
Shivering Mountains
Beanstalk Way
Mirror Mansion
Pecan Sands
S.S. Caviar
Smithsnorian Museum
Sneezemore Cave
Poobah the Pharaoh's Pyramid
Ancient Waterworks
Sweatmore Peak
Blowhole Castle
Carpaccio's Lab
Allergia Gardens
Sweet Stuff
Ratl Ruins
Wiggly Wilds
Rockin' Range
Jiggle Jungle
Quiver Cliffs
Shakedown Schooner

Items:
Coins
Bombs
Helmets
Treasure
Garlic
Springs
Goodstyle
Bags of Treasure

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's get into our characters, starting with Mario!