Wario Land

~~Video Game, Puzzle Platformer~~

UKURERE mitai na
tabi wo shiyou
Aruite ikou...

Let's go on a trip
Like a ukelele

Let's go on foot...
—MEDAMAYAKI, Wario Land 4

A Super Mario Bros spinoff. Specifically, a spinoff of the handheld original Mario titles Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. They largely supplanted the original handheld sidescrolling Mario series, which would not be revived until New Super Mario Bros.

The Wario Land series centers on Mario's Evil Counterpart, Wario, in the search for treasure. The games play somewhat similarly to the Mario Bros series, with a few notable exceptions. Wario is much stronger than the Mario Bros., so many of the games revolve around object manipulation and combat. Wario can pick up enemies and objects to attack and solve puzzles, and generally has butt-stomp and charge attacks to deal with enemies. While you can breeze through each level to reach the goal, usually every stage has a number of hidden treasures that must be found on alternate routes to reach 100% completion and the best ending. Instead of Mario, Wario's nemesis in these games is usually Captain Syrup, a Femme Fatale pirate captain and her army of goblin-like pirates.

Like Mario, Wario usually has a variety of power-ups which give him alternate abilities. Unlike Mario, Wario usually has to be hit by an enemy to "power up" and they are usually used for solving puzzles rather than getting from A to B.

The series thus far includes:

See also: Wario Ware, Wario World, and Wario Master of Disguise.

Tropes used in Wario Land include:
  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Two in Crescent Moon Village in Wario Land 4: one in Arabian Nights in said game and one in the Golden Passage in the same game.
  • Accidental Hero: Wario. Saving the world is just a fortunate side effect of his treasure-hunting.
  • Acrofatic: Wario in Super Smash Bros. and the Wario Land games is a far faster and more agile character than you'd expect from someone so overweight, being able to swing extremely high from bars and vines, jump rather high in normal and some other forms, and when shot from a machine in The Shake Dimension, run fast enough to glide across water.
    • Although in Wario Land 2, 3, and 4, one enemy's Status Buff is to make you even fatter so you can break certain blocks by jumping on them.
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: First level of Stove Canyon in the original had a moving wall of instant death lava.
  • After Boss Recovery: In Wario Land 1, money literally rains from the sky once a boss is beaten, as do hearts in one instance.
  • All Just a Dream: One of the endings in Wario Land II - surprisingly enough, not the one you get by failing to wake up at the start of the game.
  • Always Night: Crescent Moon Village, Uncanny Mansion, Hotel Horror, Arabian Night, Bad Manor, Boogie Mansion, Shake King's Shakedown Schooner. Generally averted in Wario Land 3, with its night/day mechanic, but the East side of the music box also fits this trope (until Wario collects the two sun fragments and allows the sun to rise on this side, at least).
  • The Amazon: A certain jungle level from Wario Land 4--Monsoon Jungle.
  • An Axe to Grind: The Axe Ghosts in Wario Land 4.
  • Anti-Hero: Wario doesn't mind helping people out... as long as the price is right.
  • Anti-Villain: Captain Syrup.
    • This is what she appears in Shake It. However, at the end it is revealed that she was just manipulating Wario.
  • Anticlimax Boss: After completing every level and finding every goal and treasure, Wario makes his way to the "Really Final Chapter", here he fights... The Giant Spear Man. Again.
  • Artifact Title: Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land has no ties to the previous two games, aside from starring Wario and Mario making a brief cameo in the ending.
  • Art Initiates Life: Hoggus from Wario Land 4, found in Doodle Woods.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Princess Shokora at the end of Wario Land 4.
  • Auto-Scrolling Level: The Subwarine levels in Shake Dimension, and a few in the original game.
  • Auto Revive: Recovery potions in Shake It.
  • Background Boss: The genies in Wario Land and Virtual Boy Wario Land, and Rudy the Clown in Wario Land 3. The genie in VBWL is a minor subversion - Wario can jump behind it.
  • Badass: Wario himself.
  • Badass Mustache: Wario.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Captain Syrup manipulates Wario all through Shake It, and doesn't suffer any repercussions for it...unless unlimited wealth counts.
  • Balloon Belly / Pop Goes the Human: Helio in Wario Land 3. He has an air pump inside him, and you defeat him by making him cough it up and pumping it until he pops.
    • The "fat" transformation in WLII and WL 3 has this effect on Wario.
    • The bubble boss in Wario Land II also counts, although in this case there's no pump - he just inflates when jumped on.
  • Batman Gambit: Syrup pulls off a nice one at the end of Shake It, having manipulated Wario to save the Shake Dimension and gather treasure...but the Shake Dimension had to give her the endless coin sack for consolation, and took Wario's treasure with it.
  • Bat Out of Hell: Bat enemies, and Catbat
  • Beam Spam: The Shake King in the final form of the final battle in the Shake Dimension somehow has the ability to fire HUGE laser beams and lightning bolts pretty much everywhere. Which is somewhat unexpected, considering the character and what not.
  • Beat Them At Their Own Game: B Bunny in Wario Land 2 and 3. In 2, it's via an odd game of basketball. In three, it's a game of football/soccer. Plus, it's the opponent who has to be used as the ball and thrown in the net/goal.
  • Betting Minigame: In Wario Land 1 (Game Boy), at the end of each level, you have the option of playing a game in which you pick one of two buckets. One has a moneybag which doubles the coins you got in the level, and the other has a 10 ton weight which cuts your coins in half. You can pick up to three times. The Virtual Boy version also has this... with the option of going for 3x coins (one of two buckets are correct), 6x (one of three) or 10x (one of four) with your coins cut in half if you pick the wrong bucket (with a spider in it.)
  • Big Bad: Captain Syrup in the first two games. And in Shake It, sort of.
    • Rudy the Clown in Wario Land 3, and, for some reason, Doctor Mario 64 (he's an Anti-Villain in the latter game.) Also, The Golden Diva in Wario Land 4. And the Shake King in Shake It, being the Big Bad you actually defeat in a boss battle in Wario Land Shake It.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: Uncanny Mansion in Wario Land 2, three out of four of the Sapphire Passage levels in Wario Land 4 (with Fiery Cavern being a Lethal Lava Land level instead), and Bad Manor and Boogie Mansion from Wario Land Shake It!
  • Black and Grey Morality: Our hero is a greedy, selfish prick who operates mostly in his own interest. The villains are much worse.
  • Bonus Boss: Hinyari, of Sherbet Land in the first game. He's also a Skippable Boss, as there's an exit door in the boss arena.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: Beefne, Cave Master, Bloomsday/Scumflower, and others have either lava or water around the arena to fall into.
  • Boss-Only Level: Rudy the Clown, the final boss of Wario Land 3, does this.
    • Every boss in 4 as well.
    • Every boss in Shake Dimension as well.
  • Bowdlerise: In the original version of Wario Land II, birds throw beer at Wario to get him drunk. In the U.S. version, this was changed to "crazy balls".
  • Bubbly Clouds: Above the Clouds of Wario Land 3.
  • Bullfight Boss
  • Busman's Holiday
  • The Cameo: Mario makes a surprise cameo in the ending of the first Wario Land, where he flies by in a helicopter and snatches away a giant statue of Princess Peach from Wario.
  • Cap: Wario Land 4's coin counter maxes out at 999990. Since all the coins and crystals in the game come multiples of ten, it's clear that the extra zero is only there to give Wario's adventure more worth.
  • Cartoon Bomb: Found a lot in Shake It. Found with wings in the first game, except these try to latch on to your head...
  • The Casino: Glittertown, Neon City.
  • Catch Phrase: "HURRY UP!" It was even made into an emblem on the back of his biker jacket in Brawl.
  • Characterization Marches On: Wario himself started out as nothing but a jealous Mario wannabe, who hypnotized Mario's allies and tried to take his place. Starting from Wario Land, he eventually received different character traits, most notably his greed and lack of manners. He also Took a Level in Badass, as he'd now use more direct fighting moves and develop a tougher attitude. Strangely enough, this happened as he became less of a villain and more of an Anti-Hero.
  • Chekhov's Exhibit: The Shake Dimension Globe. Lasts about four minutes in the museum in the intro cut scene.
  • Chest Monster: Found in Boogie Mansion in Wario Land Shake It.
    • Also the arena for Chortlebot Challenge in Wario Land Shake It.
  • Clipped-Wing Angel: The Golden Diva in Wario Land 4, so freakin' much. Her FINAL form is a quivering pair of lips that does nothing but crawl back and forth. You kill it with one blow. LAME.
  • Combo-Platter Powers: Wario. Some powers are just plain bizarre, and most are still pretty unusual with no linked theme.
  • Cool Boat: The SS Tea Cup. Also the Shakedown Schooner in Shake It, although it's only shown in a boss battle.
  • Cool Car: First shows up in the intro to Wario Land 4.
  • Cranium Ride: Interestingly done with platforms that only enemies can walk on in Wario Land II.
    • Also happens in one instance in 3 in order to get a musical coin.
  • Credits Montage: Wario Land 4's ending.
  • Creepy Circus Music: The battle against Chortlebot in Shake It has this. It also gets faster as the boss is more and more damaged.
  • Crossover:
    • Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!, which is really just the western release of a Bomberman game with Wario added to increase sales. This doesn't stop the fans from attributing the game more to Wario than Bomberman. Top billing has that kind of power.
    • Dr. Arewo Stein from the Japan-exclusive Game Boy game For the Frog The Bell Tolls is a recurring character in Wario Land 4.
    • Wario appeared as a helper in one game in the Stafy series. Sadly, said game was never released outside of Japan.
  • Cut and Paste Environments: Secret levels in Shake It! reuse normal level graphics.
  • Damage Discrimination: Oddly enough, in The Shake Dimension, it's positive towards Wario and rather cruel towards the enemies. Because you know, nothing instantly kills Wario, but nearly anything that hurts him, such as obstacles or boss attacks, will completely vaporize any enemy that's in the way. As will water for some reason.
  • Death Course: Most levels, but the only explanation for Launchpad Labyrinth and the secret levels.
  • Decade Dissonance: In Shake It, there's Neon City/Glittertown right next to all this Wild West stuff, next to ancient Aztec type cities, medieval Japan type villages and who knows what else.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: In Wario Land II, after completing the Really Final Chapter and defeating the Giant Spear Man, he follows Wario home.
  • Dem Bones: Skeleton ghosts in Wario Land 4 and Recapitators in Shake Dimension.
  • The Dragon: Bobo in the first two games to Captain Syrup.
  • Dragon Their Feet: The final boss in Wario Land 2? The second in command, the Giant Spearman. On an invisible floor.
  • Drowning Pit: One of The Shake Dimension treasures mentions this happening to someone in a BOTTLE FACTORY.
  • Durable Deathtrap: Most stuff in temples, as well as Rollanratl.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Really weird example, but the Ratl Ruins theme from Shake It actually debuted months before that game's release as Wario's victory music in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
  • Early Installment Weirdness: The original game and VB Wario Land are more linear and contain more elements of its parent series (lives, shrinking down when hit, powerups from blocks, etc.) Starting with Wario Land II, the series dropped those elements and became more based on exploration. (And Wario wasn't killable again until Wario Land 4.) (Well, except for one attack from 3's Final Boss.)
  • Easily-Conquered World: The Shake Dimension.
  • Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo
  • Eldritch Location: The Warped Void from Wario Land 3.
  • Eternal Engine: The Mysterious Factory in Wario Land II and the Curious Factory from Wario Land 4. Also, 40 Below Fridge in Wario Land 4 is this mixed with Slippy-Slidey Ice World.
  • Everything's Better with Penguins: The boss of Sherbet Land in the original is a spiked hat and boxing gloves wearing penguin. There are also basic enemies called Pengoons in the Shake Dimension, and the Penkoons from the original were half penguin, half raccoon hybrids.
  • Everything Is Smashable Area
  • Everything Trying to Kill You: By this, I mean everything, Cuckoo Condor being one of the most obvious examples.
    • For those who haven't played the game: The second form of the boss fires eggs at you, which will either explode if you catch them and hold them for too long, or hatch into ducklings, which will chase you and explode.
      • It's also a giant flying cuckoo clock. Which fires lighting and buzzsaws at you.
  • Evil Chef: Large Fry from Shake Dimension.
  • Evil Counterpart: The Shake King to Wario (Well, eviler).
    • In the first game, Wario himself plays like an evil counterpart to Mario.
  • Evil Tower of Ominousness: Syrup Castle in Wario Land 1 and 2 is a HUGE skull shaped castle on a nearly-as-high mountain. So big a place, in fact, it's got a whole FIVE levels set inside it in the second game, and one of those is just finding the entrance.
  • Evil Versus Evil: Either this or Black and Gray Morality is the case for the story in each game, with Wario going against really, really evil threats in Wario Land 3 and after.
  • Expy: Bloomsday (Scumflower in PAL territories) to Roger the Potted Ghost. Both are bosses rooted in pots which must be pushed off of their arena platform into the bottomless pit behind it (or in Bloomsday's case, the pool of water surrounding the arena).
  • Extended Gameplay: Secret levels in Shake It!
  • The Face of the Sun
  • Fat Bastard: Wario himself.
    • As well as The Shake King, Rudy the Clown, and Large Fry.
  • Feed It a Bomb: You have to feed bombs to both the evil treasure chests and the boss Large Fry in Shake It! to defeat them.
  • Fiction 500: He's got his face on the moon.
  • Flight: Possible with various transformations, including the Jet cap, Vampire Wario, Puffy Wario, and the Shake Dimension Rocket Buckets.
  • Floating in A Bubble: Found in a few of the games, such as Wario Land 3 and 4. Wario Land 2 actually had a bubble boss which did this to throw Wario out the arena.
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Bobo in Wario Land 1 and 2, the guard and look out of the SS Tea Cup.
  • Flunky Boss: Many bosses in Shake It and some in Wario Land 4. Maybe other games too.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: Wario's primary means of attack.
  • Foregone Victory: Wario Land II and 3 had the unique feature of Wario never dying, but simply being pushed away (off a high-up platform, away from a boss...). This did have one exception; being crushed by the Final Boss in Wario Land 3 would kill you, complete with Game Over screen.
  • Frictionless Ice: In Wario Land The Shake Dimension, ice blocks when punched on ice don't stop, but interestingly, many of the puzzles require you to stand in front of them and jump on them while they're moving to reach higher platforms.
  • Frothy Mugs of Water: In Wario Land II, birds throw beer bottles; in the U.S. version, this was changed to "crazy balls". Wario Land 3 averts the trouble in both versions by changing it to a spun-around "Dizzy Wario".
  • Frying Pan of Doom: Large FRY from Wario Land Shake It.
  • Gang Plank Galleon: SS Teacup in Wario Land 1 and Wario Land 2
  • Genie in a Bottle: Subverted in a treasure, played straight in the first two games.
  • Giant Hands of Doom / Raymanian Limbs: The genie in Virtual Boy Wario Land, and Rudy the Clown in Wario Land 3. (Unlike everything else in 3, Rudy's hands can kill you.)
  • Giant Mook: the Giant Gooms littered throughout Wario Land 2's later and hidden levels.
  • Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The genie that shows up as the final boss in the first Wario Land. Granted, the genie is being controlled by the actual Big Bad, Captain Syrup, but there's no reference to it in the game or manual before that point, so its appearance is a bit of a surprise.
  • Gimmick Level: Many, doing the same thing twice in a row is rare, but Launchpad Labyrinth is pretty much THE example in Shake Dimension.
  • The Goomba: The Wanderin' Gooms. There's also varieties, like the Para-Gooms, Pirate Gooms (also known as Spear Men), and Spearheads.
  • Goomba Springboard: A very common tactic for reaching high ledges and items.
  • Greed: Wario in both this and Wario Ware, and practically every major villain in the series has this as a defining trait.
  • Green Hill Zone: Palm Tree Paradise of Wario Land 4.
  • Ground Pound: A standard move in many of the games in the series, with Wario Land 4 and Shake Dimension also having a powered up version if you use the move from a higher enough place.
  • Hailfire Peaks: One level in Wario Land 4 acts like this: after the level timer is hit, Fiery Cavern freezes over, complete with the gorillas turning into yetis and the lava freezing over to provide a different route.
  • Harder Than Hard: Wario Land 4's Super Hard mode, which starts off Wario with one hit-point, adds large amounts of enemies, hides most of the needed treasures, and gives a lot less time for the level escapes and bosses.
    • To let you know how hard it is, you are given fifteen seconds to beat the first boss.
  • Hat of Power: Standard powerups in the first Wario Land.
  • Heart Container: Purchasable in Shake Dimension.
  • Hell Hotel: Wario Land 4's Hotel Horror.
  • Helpful Mook:
    • Many enemies cause transformations that are needed to solve puzzles.
    • Dr. Arewo Stein in Wario Land 4.
  • Here There Be Dragons: The Shake Dimension's map. For bonus points, it's an olde worlde map showing a train, circus, a Las Vegas type city, and the Shake King's pirate ship as hand drawn images.
  • Hub Level: Wario Land 4 has the Golden Pyramid, and Wario Land: The Shake Dimension has his erm... Garage.
  • High Speed Battle: Hot Roderick Race from Wario Land Shake Dimension
  • Hook Hand: Captain Coin from Wario Land 4.
  • Human Cannonball: Cannons in Shake It.
  • Human Snowball: Snowman Wario after stepping on a slope. Yep, he doesn't even need to be skiing or going fast to become an out-of-control giant snowball, just standing on any slightly sloped ground will do until he hits a wall.
  • Idle Animation: Found in Wario Land 4 and Shake It.
  • Indy Escape: Common in Wario Land 1 and The Shake Dimension.
  • Interface Screw: The aforementioned Drunk/Crazy Wario and Dizzy Wario meander back and forth and are difficult to stop.
  • Iron Butt Monkey: Wario. In fact, it's even used as a game mechanic; you have to do some pretty crazy things to your character to get past some obstacles in the second and third games.
  • It's the Journey That Counts: Every bit of subtext in the games imply this; as the page quote illustrates, the background and scenery are very mellow backdrops for Wario's adventures, and his endless quest for money is often either fruitless or a Pyrrhic Victory. Wario, however, is far too tenacious to ever take the implied lesson to heart.
  • Jet Pack: A Jet HAT in Wario Land 1 was one of the main power ups.
  • Jungle Japes: Monsoon Jungle and Mystic Lake in Wario Land 4, the entire area of Jiggle Jungle in Wario Land Shake Dimension.
  • Just Ignore It: One of the plot branches in Wario Land 2 is reached only when you do absolutely nothing at the beginning of the first level.
  • Kill It with Fire: Dragon Helmet in Wario Land 1.
  • Large and In Charge: Averted by Captain Syrup in the first games, pretty much defined by Rudy the Clown and the Shake King in the later games, and used to a degree by the Golden Diva and Black Jewel in some of the other games.
  • Last Lousy Point: The hardest level to get a gold crown on in the 4th game is the tutorial level, as there are only just enough points to earn it.
  • Lethal Lava Land: Stove Canyon in Wario Land 1 and Fiery Cavern, the third level of the Sapphire Passage in 4.
  • Level Ate: Kitchen Island in Wario Land 1
  • Level Goal: A skull-marked door in the original and a door with flashing star symbols above it in Wario Land 2.
  • Load-Bearing Boss: The Golden Diva from Wario Land 4; when destroyed, the pyramid collapses.
    • Don't forget Rollanratl, probably the literal embodiment of this trope taken to the extreme (he fights while holding up the roof, and you can guess what happens when he loses).
  • A Load of Bull: Beefne from Wario Land 1. Amusingly fitting, he imitates some of Wario's trademark abilities.
  • Losing Your Head: The Recapitator enemies in Shake It THROW their heads like a boomerang as an attack and the robots that throw their heads along the floor in Wario Land 4.
  • Luck-Based Mission: Found in Glittertown and Neon City in Shake Dimension, which require you to keep winning at a certain slot machine to meet the required coin amount for 100% completion.
  • Made of Iron: One of the awesome things about most of the Wario Land games is that to solve many of the puzzles and levels, Wario has to get some sort of condition, like being lit on fire or stung by an insect which puffs him up. It's meant to be an opposite to Mario being able to smash every enemy he comes past.
  • Magic Carpet: Found in Arabian Night in Wario Land 4.
  • Malevolent Architecture: Most levels, but Crescent Moon Village and Hotel Horror are obvious examples.
  • Malevolent Mugshot: The Shake King's symbol from Wario Land Shake Dimension is nearly everywhere, including the flag, the boat front, and the intruder alarm in each level. Heck, the image on Malevolent Mugshot is from the Wario Land series.
  • Man-Eating Plant: Cractus from Wario Land 4 and Bloomsday/Scumflower from Wario Land Shake It!! And a few plants in the levels of the latter game.
  • Man On Fire: Required to solve puzzles throughout Wario Land 2, 3, 4, and Shake It!
  • Market-Based Title: The Wii installment was called Wario Land Shake in Japan; it was titled Wario Land: The Shake Dimension in the PAL version and Wario Land Shake It! in North America.
  • Meaningful Name: Practically all the character, enemy and boss names, but the most glaringly obvious has to be Catbat from Wario Land 4... which is pretty much a cat/bat hybrid. Or the Wario Land Shake It! level called Mount Bighill.
    • Wario's name is meaningful as well, a portmanteau of the Japanese word warui, meaning "bad", and Mario. The most approximate translation would be "Bad-io." (English gamers who aren't familiar with "warui" are more likely to think that Wario's name indicates a war-like nature.)
      • Or they may mistake it for the fact that 'W' is an upside-down 'M'.
  • Metroidvania: Wario Land 3 has elements of this, with the treasures in each stage opening up new abilities for Wario, new stages, or removing obstacles in previous stages.
  • Minecart Madness: One of the levels in Stove Canyon of Wario Land 1. A level in Parsley Woods is very similar.
  • Mini Game: Found in all games bar Shake It.
  • Mirror Boss: The Shake King in his first battle stage is essentially a bigger version of Wario, using many of the same techniques.
    • Beefne and Red-Brief J are also this to a lesser extent, using only Wario's Grabbing/throwing and Charging moves respectively.
  • Monster Clown: Rudy the Clown from Wario Land 3 is a literal Monster Clown. Chortlebot from Wario Land Shake It! is a monster robot clown.
  • Mook Maker: Hoggus in Wario Land 4 and some of the bosses in The Shake Dimension.
  • Multiple Endings: Wario Land II has several, but most aren't any better than each other. How many of the treasures you found and kept earned for quickly beating the bosses at the end of Wario Land 4 determines what form Princess Shokora takes, and what bonus images are received at the end of the credits and what vehicle Wario is driving during them is determined by the difficulty level of the file. Also, what new home the genie creates for Wario at the end of the original game is determined by your amount of coins and treasures collected. You also get some bonus images for collecting all the treasures in Wario Land 3.
  • My Little Panzer: Wario's merchandise tries to kill him.
  • Mythology Gag: Wario sometimes uses an Ultra Hand as a special attack (in Shake It!, Master of Disguise, and Mario Tennis) because Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi invented the device.
  • Nice Hat: The hats in Wario Land 1. Got to love the complete insanity of the Dragon and Jet Caps though, complete with fire breathing mechanical dragon and a jet engine shaped like a duck.
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Wario is pretty much made of diamond in every aspect, amplified by Wario Land II or 3 which made him COMPLETELY invincible to damage or being killed. Most damage also won't do more than one heart of damage to him in the games with a health bar, instant kill obstacles are completely nonexistent after the first game, and hey, anything that transforms him, like being set on fire, frozen solid, squashed flat, or the like, is completely harmless to him.
    • Actually, it IS possible to die in Wario Land 3, but you simply have to be caught by the hands of Rudy the Clown. But that just takes you back to the world map. It could freak you out to think it's a real game over, especially after it saves after the scene.
    • Hell, even in Wario Land 1, the only things that can actually hurt Wario are the sharp parts of the enemy (IE: If he bumps into a spear-wielding Goom from behind, he will stun it as opposed to taking damage), and fire/plasma based substances. In fact, 90% of all things that actually CAN hurt you in this series fall into either category. For a character in the Mario Universe, that's still very resilient.
  • Nintendo Hard: Gurgle Gulch and Launchpad Labyrinth in Shake Dimension, among others.
  • No Name Given: Rudy the Clown's name is never mentioned in Wario Land 3. We don't learn his name until Dr. Mario 64.
  • Numbered Sequels: Wario Land II-4.
  • Obviously Evil: Quite a few villains, but the Shake King pretty much defines this image for comparison.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: The escape music in Bad Manor and Boogie Mansion in Wario Land The Shake Dimension have some of this.
  • One Hundred Percent Completion: Achieved by gathering all the treasures.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Captain Syrup in Wario Land 1, although averted in 2, as well as the Shake King in Wario Land Shake It. They basically do a whole lot of evil stuff (sometimes off camera/in cut scenes), send hordes of minions after Wario, and personally just sit around in the darkness waiting for Wario to walk through the door for the final boss battle.
  • Our Monsters Are Weird: See Everything Trying to Kill You.
  • Outside Ride: Train levels in the first game and Shake Dimension.
  • Palmtree Panic: Palm Tree Paradise and Rice Beach.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Treasure in Shake It.
  • Pinball Zone: The Trope Namer.
  • Pirate: Two of the BigBads so far, Captain Syrup and The Shake King, are both type 1 evil pirates.
  • Pointy Ears: Wario.
  • Power-Up Food: Garlic gives Wario different effects depending on the game. Most of the time, it restores health. However, garlic in the first game restores him to normal after being shrunk from a hit, if he's already big then it gives him a Bull Cap. In Wario Land 3, it's a one-off treasure that permanently powers up his bashing attack. In others, eating too much turns Wario into "Fat Wario," who can defeat any enemy by touching it and break through hard blocks.
  • Red Boxing Gloves: In Shake It!.
  • Red Sky, Take Warning: Boogie Mansion in Shake It!.
  • Redundant Researcher: Dr. Arewo Stein plays this role in Wario Land 4.
  • Refusal of the Call
  • Remixed Level
  • Respawning Enemies: In Shake It!, averted in other games.
  • Rewarding Inactivity
  • Ribcage Ridge: Common in Shake It!
  • Ridiculously Cute Critter: The Brown Sugar Pirates and Spear Men.
  • Ring Out Boss: The Bull boss and the Cave Master.
  • Ring Ring CRUNCH: Wario Land II starts off with Wario hunting for and destroying an alarm clock. The clock is not pleased.
    • Or, if you don't want to break character, just sit there and ignore it for about two minutes.
  • Rule of Cool: Cuckoo Condor, Large Fry, Hot Roderick and Chortlebot pretty much define this trope.
  • Rule of Fun: Just like the Mario series it was based on, pretty much. There's also very little plotline in most of these games.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Captain Syrup.
  • Save the Princess: The goal of Wario Land: Shake It!, though of course only because he's promised endless treasure at the end and quickly throws the princess out of his face in the end.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Rudy the Clown from Wario Land 3.
  • Secret Level: A staple of the series.
  • Self-Parody: The series can be seen as a spoof of Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros..
  • Sequential Boss: The Shake King in Wario Land: The Shake Dimension.
  • Shifting Sand Land: Arabian Night in 4, Whoopsy Desert and Disturbing Tomb in Shake It!
  • Shout-Out: Glittertown's music from Shake It! is a redo of the Greenhorn Ruins theme from Wario World Mt. Lava Lava's music also contains an excerpt from Greenhorn Forest's music from the same game.
  • Skippable Boss: Hinyari, the boss of Sherbet Land in the original has an exit door in the boss arena.
  • Slasher Smile: Cractus and Spoiled Rotten, both from Wario Land 4.
  • Sleep Mode Size: In the first game, Wario becomes the smaller Chibi-Wario when his garlic powers are temporarily drained.
  • Sliding Scale of Realistic Versus Fantastic: Between Fantastic and Surreal, usually borderline. Of course, it depends on the level and game. Some early games are fairly standard fantasy, and then you've got The Big Board, the Very Definitely Final Chapter, Doodle Woods and Fiery Cavern. You've got the fairly usual scale in enemies too, pirates and man eating plants? Fantastic or Unusual. Cuckoo Condor, Aerodent, Large Fry and Killer Dolphins? Definitely Surreal. That's without counting Wario's Woods or Wario Blast...
  • Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: It doesn't just fall on the silly end, it pretty much defines it. Don't honestly expect ANYTHING to be treated dramatically, and expect some really, really weird characters and places.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Sherbet Land in the first game, The Frigid Sea in the third, part of Fiery Cavern in the fourth, Slipshod Slopes and Freezing Fields in Shake It!.
    • 40 Below Fridge in Wario Land 4 mixes this with Eternal Engine.
  • Smooch of Victory: Given to Wario by Princess Shokora in Wario Land 4.
    • He would have received one in Shake it!, but instead he pushed the queen out of his way to grab the infinite coin bag.
      • Even worse, the way he's animated in that cutscene makes it look like he's sizing up her chest, before tossing her over his shoulder.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Princess Shokora or Chocolat?
  • Spikes of Villainy: The Shake King in Shake it!.
  • The Spiny: There's literally an enemy almost exactly like the Mario series Spiny in the fourth and fifth games.
    • Interestingly enough, if you look closely, the ones in Wario Land 4 look a lot like yellow Kirbys with spiky helmets.
  • Spring Jump
  • Stalked by the Bell: In Wario Land 4 and Shake It!, finishing a level required hitting a switch then running back to the level's start. 4 had a timer to get back, and if it ran out, your coins would be rapidly leeched away; if those ran out, the level ended in failure. Shake It! just gave you bonuses based on how quickly you got through the level.
  • Stealth Pun: Rollanratl's name is derived from a certain song title.
  • Stepping Stone Sword: Used to get a secret exit that leads to Sherbet Land. In Shake It!, throwing a spork-headed Bandinero at a wall will conveniently provide a similar boost.
  • Story to Gameplay Ratio: Very low in most of the games. Heck, in the latest game, you don't have to see the intro or ending more than once, and after the first time it's just an optional extra to be viewed in a media room.
  • Sub Boss: The Knight mini-boss from Syrup Castle in the original game.
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: It's a Super Mario Bros. spinoff, hence in all games, Wario can breathe underwater forever.
  • Suspicious Videogame Generosity: There's always a power up right before the boss door in the original game.
  • Temple of Doom: Wario Land 4 has the Golden Pyramid, although only the Entry and Golden Passages are actual levels set there.
  • Theme Naming: The maps in the first game all have names related to food; Rice Beach, Mount Teapot, Stove Canyon, S.S. Tea Cup, Parsley Woods, Syrup Castle. The Shake Dimension's continents are named after synonyms for "shake" (e.g., "jiggle", "quiver", "rock", "wiggle", and "rattle").
  • Timed Mission: Getting out of the levels in Wario Land 4 after hitting the switch, boss fights in said game.
  • Time Keeps on Ticking: In the pre final boss cut scene in the first game, and the cut scene in between both phases of the battle vs the Shake King in Shake Dimension.
  • Toy Time: The Topaz Passage in Wario Land 4 and the levels within.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Wario loves garlic, and it's the main health food from Wario World onward, though Wario Ware makes this more pronounced.
  • Traintop Battle: Various levels in the original and Wario Land: Shake It.
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: Exactly what happens to the second boss, Hot Roderick in Shake It. Courtesy of a boxing glove to the face from Wario's unicycle.
  • Underground Level: Some of Rice Beach in the original game, some of Stove Canyon, some of Sherbet Land.
    • There's also Fiery Cavern in Wario Land 4, various in Wario Land 3, pretty much the entire game of Virtual Boy Wario Land and the aptly named Lowdown Depths in Wario Land Shake It.
  • Under the Sea: Ruins at the Bottom of the Sea in Wario Land II.
    • Also a few levels in the original (Sherbet Land for an ice-themed variant, and SS Tea Cup levels as a mix of this and Gang Plank Galleon), and Wario Land 4 had Mystic Lake, which despite not being the sea, had the kind of wildlife more likely found in a Pacific Ocean coral reef.
  • Unexpected Shmup Level: In Shake It!, the subwarine levels.
  • Unusual Ears: Wario.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Syrup Castle of Wario Land 1, which is shaped like a skull.
    • Subverted in Wario Land II, in which there is a "Really Final Chapter" after the skull-shaped castle.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: One of the possible missions in the levels of Shake It! is to clear the stage without killing any enemies. While directly killing them counts as a fail, the game has no problem with, say, knocking them out and leaving them on top of carnivorous plants.
    • Better than that, in the first game you can throw any of the smaller Mooks underneath a "Pouncer" or into a lightning bolt, and you'll get 10x the coins for your trouble.
  • Video Game Flight: Several effects can induce this.
  • Villain Protagonist: In the original game, as his motivation was to steal Mario's statue of Princess Peach back from Captain Syrup so he could hold it for ransom. The later games make him more of an Anti-Hero.
  • Violation of Common Sense: Most transformations, especially setting Wario on fire and the like to solve puzzles.
  • Waddling Head: Gooms, Pirate Gooms, bird type creatures and Bandineros.
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: The first boss in the original Wario Land game.
  • Walking on Water: Wario can do this in Shake Dimension.
  • Warmup Boss: Rollanratl, Spoiled Rotten.
    • Spoiled Rotten becomes a "Wake-Up Call" Boss if you're playing on the hidden S-Hard mode; the alotted time is cut to a mere 15 seconds. It's possible to win without items, but it may take a few tries.
  • Wasted Song: The Golden Passage theme in Wario Land 4 can be heard for a couple of milliseconds before pressing the time bomb and starting the Hurry Up theme. It's a shame because the song is quite creepy, mood-inducing and short, so it would have been perfect for a small corridor between the entrance and the time bomb.
  • Weird Moon: Crescent MOON Village from Wario Land 4 anyone? Stuck in a state of perpetual crescent phase, and way larger than it should be in the sky.
  • What Is This Thing You Call Love?: Mentioned on a treasure in Shake Dimension.
  • World of Chaos: This is by far not a series that makes a whole deal of sense. Basically take the Hollywood Atlas, the Super Mario Bros. stuff and various randomness that makes it nearly a Widget Series in some respects, throw it into a blender, and you've got what's in some of the Wario Land games.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Wario vs Captain Syrup.
    • And Golden Diva, and Terrormisu.
  • Wutai: Mount Bighill and Bamboo Village.
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