The debut of Wario as Mario's nemesis in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was a big success for Nintendo, as the greedy and twisted counterpart of their world-famous mascot went on to star in his own series in Wario Land, that would eventually spawn a second spinoff in WarioWare. Not bad for a character originally born of a Writer Revolt on part of the developers.
Several years later, Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 saw the debut of Waluigi, a character created by series developer Camelot Software Planning to be Wario's doubles partner. As Wario was designed as an exaggeration of Mario's attibutes, Waluigi's crooked mustache, and gangly and lanky appearance grossly exaggerates that of the other famous super brother Luigi. Waluigi, while he has yet to have his own breakout game appearance, still lurks in the shadows as a darkhorse and enjoyed by the fanbase for his memetic potential and hilarious mannerisms. So with the successful creations of Wario and Waluigi, fans speculated on which Mario-verse character should get the "Wa" treatment next, and came up with an easy candidate: Princess Peach. What would a "bad" Princess Peach look like? Numerous fan arts and fan theories would spring up on who the Mushroom Kingdom Princess' wicked nemesis would be and what she would look like. Developer interviews and comments over the years would only fuel further speculation of this missing evil princess.
In December 2023, the fans would finally get their answer when Waluigi creator Fumihide Aoki (under his user name yuzumpo), posted concept art images of "Wapeach" on his Instagram account, finally answering several questions on the legendary lost Mario character. Wapeach was a thing, and not only was she spoken about, she actually existed at one point and was set to appear in 2004's Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo Gamecube, with a completed t-pose model of the character. Her petite size, cute looks, cat-like suit, and punk strap boots made the internet absolutely explode with fanart and many lamenting the loss of a famous Dummied Out character of the Mario franchise.
According to lore by Aoki himself
, Wapeach's backstory was that she was a descendant from fallen royalty, has potentially extraterrestrial origins, and merely masquerades as a princess and naturally resents Princess Peach for her title and status. She looks sweet and cute on the outside but has a hidden frightening personality. Her "cat ears" would shift positions depending on her mood. Wapeach's concept art even had her wielding an axe (You can use your imagination on what she was going to use it for). Wapeach's role was to be a "boss" to Wario and Waluigi who would do her bidding as her henchmen, forming a Terrible Trio of sorts.
The story behind why "Wapeach" was rejected by Nintendo vary, with a few conflicting stories and assumptions that are not true. The original word on the street was that Wapeach was turned down because Shigeru Miyamoto assumed a "Wa" princess would be ugly, but it turns out that wasn't the actual reason. Aside from being an on-the-nose Doronjo expy, Wapeach was vetoed due to lacking a doubles partner in tennis, though Aoki had considered a dragon character taking a hypothetical Yoshi role.
But the story doesn't end there. Shortly after the reveal of Wapeach, Aoki's Instagram posts on Wapeach were deleted and the account was made private, before disappearing completely. The reasons why are unknown. Many assume Nintendo caught wind of the reveal and shut it down to keep the secret of Wapeach's existence from getting out, but the cat(girl) is out of the bag. The Wapeach is real, and it doesn't look like she's going back in the shelf again anytime soon.
Wapeach's tropes include:
- Ambiguously Human: Even minus her Expressive Ears, Wapeach looks "off" with her overly cute face and small frame, resembling a little gremlin more than an actual human. Aoki stated she could possibly be an alien.
- Blush Sticker: Wapeach has these on her face, to accentuate her cuteness.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Most Wapeach interpretations depict her as petit and child-like, in obvious contrast to Peach. As Wapeach is an exaggeration of Peach's cuteness.
- Cat Girl: Wapeach's outfit gives her the impression of this with its distinctive ears. It's unknown as to those are her actual ears or not.
- Cats Are Mean: Wapeach wears a distinctive suit that makes her resemble a cat.
- Cool Crown: She wears a very long and skinny crown on her head.
- Cute Is Evil: A very cute girl who looks like a little girl wearing a cat suit, but is dangerous and scary.
- Edible Theme Naming: Some fans choose to call Wapeach by a fruit name to pair her more with Peach's name. Some popular alternate names include Plum(a purple fruit) or Apricot(like a peach, but smaller and less sweet).
- Evil Counterpart: She's the "Wa" counterpart to Princess Peach, and inverts twists everything about her. For instance, while Mario and Luigi are good guys who will willingly help Princess Peach, Wapeach domineers over Wario and Waluigi and orders them around like her henchmen.
- Expressive Ears: The "ears" on Wapeach's cat suit would shift depending on her mood.
- Expy: Wapeach was explicitly based on Doronjo as a tribute to Yatterman, much like how Waluigi was based on Boyacky.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Looks like a cutie on the outside, but is frightening and scary when angered.
- Happily Adopted: Some fanart depict Wapeach as a lone little kid that Wario and Waluigi just happened to find one day and decide to take her in and act as her surrogate parents. This character dynamic is a parody on the franchise tradition of how the Mario Bros. rescue Princess Peach.
- Interpretive Character: Fanart depictions of Wapeach's relationship to Wario and Waluigi tend to very. She's the domineering "leader" of the trio who orders the pair around to do her bidding, or a Tagalong Kid that the pair found and keep around because they like her. While some aim for both: Wapeach is a Spoiled Brat Leader Wannabe who desperately tries to get the duo in line as her minions, but since this is Wario and Waluigi we're talking about, it doesn't work out very well for her.
- The Man Behind the Man: Was originally conceived to be Wario and Waluigi's "boss" who orders them to carry out her schemes.
- The Napoleon: Wapeach looks like a pre-teen girl and quite small in stature compared to the other Mario characters, but she bosses Wario and Waluigi around with her scary temper.
- Oddball Doppelgänger: Much like Wario and Waluigi to the Mario Bros, Wapeach is an exaggerated and twisted version of her counterpart Princess Peach. While Peach is cute, Wapeach exaggerates her cuteness with her child-like appearance, bigger eyes, and blush stickers on her cheeks. She also exaggerates Peach's cat-like eyes into a full blown cat suit. Her cat "ears" also parody Peach's distinctive bangs on her hair. Finally, Wapeach's crown is very long and skinny as a parody of Peach's crown, with the jewels on them inverted. Her relationship to Wario and Waluigi is also a parody to Mario and Luigi's relationship with Peach. Mario and Luigi go out of their way to help Princess Peach, Wario and Waluigi dote on Wapeach because she's a literal child, and they do things for her because Wapeach bosses them around with her temper.
- Older Than They Look: It isn't clear how old Wapeach really is, but she has the appearance of a preteen girl.
- Purple Is Powerful: Wapeach's design has her wearing a purple cat suit and punk boots, though since purple is Waluigi's color, Aoki considered making it black. Some fanarts make it black, however.
- The Rival: Originally designed to be Princess Peach's nemesis. Wapeach is a Fallen Princess who despises Peach for her status.
- Spoiled Brat: As the "Anti-Peach", who is kind and generous, Wapeach is often depicted as selfish and entitled. She isn't a Royal Brat because she's only pretending to be royalty.
- Terrible Trio: Had she stayed on, she would form this dynamic with Wario and Waluigi.
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: A very small and petite girl, but bosses Wario and Waluigi around like a tyrant with her fiery temper.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Where Wario has garlic and Waluigi has eggplant, Wapeach has cherry tomatoes.
- Vague Age: As is common for Mario characters. While Wapeach does resemble a little girl she also is likely a pre-teen at her youngest.
