- “I am the great Wart! Bah ha ha!!”
- —Wart, Super Mario Advance
Wart (also known as Mamu) is an evil humanoid frog and the main villain of Super Mario Bros. 2 and that game's base, Doki Doki Panic.
History
Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
Sometime prior to the game, Wart and his army conquered the dimension that lies behind the unnamed storybook that was being read by two children named Piki and Poki, and imprisoned all of its inhabitants. For unknown reasons, Wart stuck his hand through the pages of the storybook and kidnapped the 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 can to go find help, and came across an Arabian family, which consists of Papa, Mama, and their son and daughter, Imajin and Lina. After being informed of the situation, the four heroes jumped through the storybook and embarked on a journey to save the two children, as well as freeing that dimension from Wart's reign. It is unknown if the world of the book and Subcon are the same place or just very similar.
Super Mario series
Super Mario Bros. 2
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Wart had some how entered Subcon, the land of dreams and had begun a conquest of it. His voice is only heard in Super Mario Advance, which features Charles Martinet, the same voice for Mario. Enslaving Subcon's inhabitants to be his soldiers and also, creating monsters using a device called the Nightmare Machine, Wart's victory was assured. In a desperate attempt to save their world, Subcon's original inhabitants, fairies also called Subcons, contacted the great hero Mario in his sleep to ask for his help. They also gave him a hint to beat Wart. The clue was Wart did not like Vegetables. Mario believing the message to be nothing more than a dream dismissed it and later that day went on a picnic to the park with Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool. It was there Mario discovered a door in cave which when the group went through brought them to Subcon.
Mario realizing that the call for help was real convinced the others to help liberate Subcon. After a long journey in which Mario and co. defeated Wart's generals, Tryclyde, Mouser, Birdo, Fryguy, Clawgrip and Robirdo the gang eventually encountered Wart himself. Engaging Wart in combat Mario managed to defeat him by throwing vegetables (which Wart is allergic to) into his mouth. With Wart defeated Subcon was free and after the victory celebration Mario woke up in his bed and was left to ponder if the events that transpired had really happened or if they were all just a dream.
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 that Wart seems to have made a hobby out of kidnapping The King (similar to Bowser and the Princess). 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 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 would eventually reappear 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 worthless droplets of the Apook Corporation. By comparison to "Cloud Nine", in this story, Wart bears a better resemblance to his official artwork appearance.
Nintendo Adventure Books
"Doors to Doom"
Wart made an appearance in the 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.
Club Nintendo
"Wart steht unter Strom"
Wart was the protagonist in the Club Nintendo comic "Wart steht unter Strom" where he was playing 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.
The Legend of Zelda series
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Wart made an appearance in the game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, although here he is referred to by his Japanese name Mamu. Wart was actually helpful to Link in this game, teaching him the third and final song to play on his Ocarina (which opened the way to the last two dungeons).
Link's Awakening, like Super Mario Bros. 2, supposedly took place in a dream world; this creates the possibility that both Koholint Island and Subcon share the same plane of existence and some method of traveling between the two – a method which Wart likely knew about, and used to his advantage, following his defeat in Subcon. Since the Wind Fish woke up at the game's climax, causing the island and all of its inhabitants to disappear, Wart's fate is unknown.
Mario Baseball series
Mario Superstar Baseball
Wart was mentioned in Shy Guy's biography in Mario Superstar Baseball; however, he was directly never seen in the game.
Paper Mario series
Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, Wart is featured in a product that Francis owns wants more of called Cyborg Wart.
Video Game Appearances
| Title | Description | Release Date | System/Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Gallery
- Wart Super Mario Bros. 2.png
Wart, looking worried.
- Wart.PNG
A sprite of Wart in the remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2
- WartTwo.jpg
Wart, looking mad.
Wart, leaping through the air.
The aftermath of Super Mario Bros. 2.
Trivia
- A frog named Wart Jr. appeared in Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: Wild World. It is unknown is 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.
- Interestingly, a mini-boss in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask shares the same name as Wart, though he is a gigantic eyeball.
- Oddly, Wart appears in reels B and C in a Master-view toy released during the run of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Despite being labeled as "King Koopa" the character in the Master-view reels is obviously Wart.
- In Doki Doki Panic/Super Mario Bros. 2, Wart can be easily defeated by merely catching vegetable and jumping behind him (Wart actually starts walking forwards when he is one block away from the wall behind him) and throwing a veggie at his back when he spits a spray of bubbles (he always faced left, no matter where player is). After enough hits, he would be also defeated.
- Wart has a close resemblance to King K. Rool, the main villain from the Donkey Kong Country series.
- In the original Super Mario Bros. 2 (along with its remake on Super Mario All-Stars), when defeated, Wart could still hurt the player if he/she touches Wart during his defeat. In Super Mario Advance however, he'd go through the player without hurting him/her when defeated.
- In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, one of the names that can be gotten from pressing the "RANDOM NAME" button is WART.
- Being a frog, Wart screams, "AH, Ribbit" every time Mario or his friends throw vegetables in his mouth. This only happens in Super Mario Advance though.