Waluigi may be a minor character in the greater Mario canon, but fans have long latched onto him and the calls for him to appear on the main roster of a Smash Bros. game only continues with every new advancement. While we don’t know if it will ever happen, we can take some consolation in this beautiful fan-made trailer in the meantime. 

Waluigi is a bit of a conundrum for Nintendo. While he was originally designed to be Luigi’s nemesis the way that Wario is to Mario, the character hasn’t been rewarded with the same spotlight his yellow-and-purple-wearing companion has. For the most part, Waluigi has been relegated to the sidelines, appearing most prominently in the Mario Party games, and the Mario-centric sports outings.

Despite this, he remains a beloved character and fans can’t get enough of him. While he’s made it into several Smash games as an assist trophy, hopes for his main roster debut were crushed back in August when a shade of purple in the Smash Ultimate files was misinterpreted as a hint towards the character’s arrival. 

He may not be making an appearance as the final fighter in Smash Ultimate, but at least we have this video from King Bob to make us feel better about it.

Waluigi joins Super Smash Smash Bros… kinda

This trailer, built around the popular Project M mod for Smash Bros. Brawl, examines Waluigi’s full potential as a character – including his legendary tennis abilities. First arriving in Brawl, Waluigi hit the scene looking identical to his appearance in Mario Tennis. As an assist trophy, he would come onto the battlefield carrying his tennis racket and attempt to stomp opposing players into the ground before disappearing into the ether again. While this was originally a fun reference for anyone who played the Mario sports games, the love for Waluigi has grown into something much more serious.

King Bob perfectly encapsulates the community’s feelings around Waluigi. He is a character that feels like he’s been left behind by the other members of his franchise. While it was long thought that anyone who had been featured in a Smash game as an Assist Trophy or Spirit would never make the jump to full-fledged fighter, the perception changed when Min Min made that jump last year as in Smash Ultimate Fighter Pass #2.

The hope for Waluigi isn’t completely dead, as there is one final fighter yet to be revealed for Smash Ultimate, but his prospects don’t look great. If Nintendo were seriously considering him as an option they might have leaned into the incorrect leaks from earlier in the year.

We have a guess for who the final fighter(s) might be, but we won’t know for sure until Nintendo makes an announcement sometime before the end of the year.

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