It's Waluigi's Time!
"Waluigi has been rejected from games for far too long..."
—Official description
The story that changed SMG4 forever.
The Waluigi Arc refers to the first official SMG4 Story Arc, notable for several reasons; It was the first big project for the show under the recently renamed GLITCH Productions, was notably Darker and Edgier than almost anything seen prior on the show at that point, introduced Tari into the show as a means to generate interest in Meta Runner, which would be first teased at the end of the arc, and while it wasn’t the first "blooper" story to be released in two or three-parts, it was the show’s first overarching storyline to span multiple episodic installments. It was the first arc of Season 8 in 2018, and was succeeded by The Rapper Bob Arc.
The story begins with Waluigi obtaining his secret power developed from being rejected from being a fully-playable character in Super Smash Bros.. With his new powers, he decides to wreak havoc on the Mushroom Kingdom for a lifetime of rejection, becoming a major villain in the process.
Main Episodes:
Note: Episodes marked with * are not counted as official episodes, but are still connected to the plot.- "Stupid Mario Tennis Aces"* note
- "Waluigi's Time"
- "Mario And The T-Pose Virus"
- "The Mario Café"
- "Mario The Ultimate Gamer"
- "Mario SAW"
- "Mario The Scam Artist"
- "The Mario Carnival"* note
- "The Mario Convention!"
- "Mario and the Waluigi Apocalypse"
- "War Of The Fat Italians 2018"
The Arc provides examples of:
- Arc Villain: Waluigi, who discovers the Power of Rejection and uses it to terrorize the Mushroom Kingdom, later deciding to host his own Smash Bros as revenge.
- Big Brother Instinct: This arc brings out the best in SMG4!Mario in this regard, where he shows concern when something bad happens to Luigi on at least three separate occasions ("Mario and the T-Pose Virus", "Mario SAW", and "The Mario Convention").
- Big Damn Heroes: Tari uses her gaming skills to destroy Waluigi's staff, which is followed by Wario taking him to SMG3 in order to be talked down.
- Book Ends: The arc begins when Master Hand accepts Waluigi, only for him to lose his new form and being rejected again, causing him to turn to villainy. At the end of the arc, Wario accepts him for real, ending the arc.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Waluigi's Time" serves as this for Waluigi, which explains his discovery of the Power of Rejection, and becoming the Arc Villain.
- Enemy Mine:
- Saiko teams up with SMG4 and Mario due to the threat of the T-Pose zombies in "Mario and the Waluigi Apocalypse". Specifically, there's no point in having fans if they're all brainwashed.
- SMG3 joins forces with the heroes to stop Waluigi, believing himself to be the only villain. Later becomes a temporary Heel–Face Turn as he gets a new show and retires from villainy until "A Day In the Life Of Everyone", when his show is cancelled, and later events would lead him to become the villain all over again.
- Face–Heel Turn: Waluigi snaps from being denied entry into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a fighter in Waluigi's Time (where he was the "face" during the video) and establishes himself as an antagonist in the videos following after. He only goes back to being his normal self after Wario apologizes for mistreating him.
- Filler:
- The only arc-relevant thing that happens in "The Mario Café" is that everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom hates Waluigi… which is all a part of his plan.
- In the actual arc, "The Mario Carnival" is pretty irrelevant; all that really happens that was relevant to the arc is the reveal of Tari's cybernetic arm (and to a lesser extent, paving the way for the reveal of Meta Runner), the beginning of Meggy and Tari's friendship, and that Wario has gone missing (later revealed to be him setting out to find his brother).
- From Nobody to Nightmare: For many years of SMG4's canon, Waluigi was just your average guy that got into schemes with Wario. Then "Mario and the T-Pose Virus" happens, and he launches a plan that turns him into one of the series' most dangerous villains.
- Gainax Ending: In a way. After Tari gets SMG4 to destroy Waluigi's staff, Waluigi then forces the main cast into one last rap song... which is interrupted by Wario coming back and saying he's sorry, which stuns everyone. Wario then takes Waluigi to SMG3, who is in fact a therapist, to solve their problems. It ends with Wario and Waluigi crying and embracing each other as everyone else cheers. Bob's the only one to note this.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Luigi in "Mario SAW" and Meggy in "The Mario Convention", both for Mario from Waluigi. Luigi to save Mario from lava (which was actually warm Kool-Aid), Meggy to save him from a T-Pose bomb Waluigi was about to unleash.
- In Medias Res: "Mario The Scam Artist" happens in between Mario SAW and The Mario Carnival, but aired after both of them.
- Karma Houdini: Yes, Waluigi has been depowered and redeemed, but he still caused a lot of destruction in the Waluigi Arc. You would think that he should be held accountable for his actions. Said destruction is also hilariously glossed over, although you know SMG4.
- Laughably Evil: Even after becoming a legitimate threat after unlocking the Power of Rejection, Waluigi's still shown to have retained his goofy side in Mario SAW. There's also something silly about his rap battle in War of the Fat Italians 2018, and the challenges he makes Mario and SMG4 do.
- Lava Is Boiling Kool-Aid: Played quite literally when Luigi sacrifices himself for Mario in Mario Saw only to quickly realize that he had fallen in warm Kool-Aid.
- Logical Weakness: The Power of Rejection draws from his feelings of being rejected many times, so if he feels any sort of acceptance – even if it's just by one single person – the power fades away. In the end, he's defeated when Wario apologizes and accepts his brother.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: While compared to later arcs, this one doesn't affect the world too much, the arc's events would be acknowledged from then on by the fact the Waluigi still has access to the Power of Rejection whenever he gets mad. A good example is in the 10th Anniversary Movie where Waluigi briefly goes into Rejection-Mode after SMG4 invites Rob and Steve to the party but not him but immediately reverts when SMG4 says he can come too.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Waluigi starts out about as pathetic as any villain can be, but once he discovers the Power of Rejection, which grows the more people reject him, Waluigi carries out some truly dangerous schemes such as starting a Zombie Apocalypse and putting the Mario Bros. through a gauntlet of Death Traps, all so he can grow stronger the more people will reject him for his actions. This ends up making him one of the most dangerous villains in the series.
- Out of Order: "The Mario Carnival" was uploaded a week before "Mario the Scam Artist" but very obviously takes place after it. See below.
- Patient Zero: Shroomy is this arc's, taking the poison T-pose mushroom directly from Waluigi. The second time, Meggy is the closest to the T-pose bomb when it goes off after knocking Mario (the intended target) out of the way, but she isn't the only one instantly turned into a T-pose Zombie.
- The Power of Hate: Waluigi can call upon this to make others feel the pain of rejection he has suffered. His master plan is to have everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom hate and reject him so he can achieve his final form and take revenge upon everyone. By the "Waluigi Apocalypse" he possess compete control over an army of obedient zombies and Master Hand under his thumb.
- Stealth Prequel: "Mario the Scam Artist" ends up being the prequel to "The Mario Carnival", the latter of which was released earlier, as revealed by its ending of Mario heading off to Bob's carnival scam. SMG4 arranged the videos accordingly in the Waluigi Arc playlist to fit the timeline.
- Took a Level in Kindness: At the end of "Mario the Scam Artist", Wario has a Heel Realization and leaves to find Waluigi in order to make amends for his mistreatment of him. After the 2018 WOTFI, he does reconcile with Waluigi, bringing the arc to an end.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Waluigi definitely shows shades of this in his rejection-fueled rage.
- The first thing he does once he discovers his power is pass the pain of his rejection onto Mario and Luigi. This might not sound so bad, but they both showed sympathy for him in his lowest point.
- "Fishy Boopkins Plays VR Chat", which took place during the events of the arc, ends with Waluigi turning him into a T-Pose Zombie. Bear in mind that Boopkins believed in Waluigi after the latter defended and connected with the former in "Stupid Mario Tennis Aces".
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Boopkin's instance for Waluigi to try and get accepted into Smash bros. causes the events of "Waluigi's Time" to play out.
- Master Hand's continued rejection of Waluigi from Smash Bros. leads Waluigi to discover the Power of Rejection, and kick-starts the arc.
- Wham Episode:
- "Mario and the T-Pose Virus" ends with a startling revelation from Shroomy, its Patient Zero; Waluigi was the mastermind behind the outbreak by having him eat a T-Pose shroom.
- "Mario The Scam Artist" ends with Wario having a Heel Realization after Mario stands up to him for Luigi's sake, and decides to go out and search for Waluigi. It ends with The Reveal that the episode is actually a prequel to “The Mario Carnival”.
- "Mario Saw" starts off as a Darker and Edgier parody of Saw, but the ending has the masked kidnapper revealed to be Waluigi, who did all of it to make Mario reject him, which allows him to gain his final form.
- The Mario Convention starts out as just another ridiculous adventure, only for Waluigi to drop a powered-up T-Pose shroom and infect everyone but SMG4, Mario, and Tari, the latter of whom is left inside the convention building. Master Hand shows up to stop Waluigi, but he's become so powerful that he effortlessly defeats him and turns him into a general.
- Zombie Apocalypse: The T-Pose Zombies, minions of Waluigi, are brainwashed people stuck in the T-Pose by the Power of Rejection, and spreads the plague by touch. "Mario And The T-Pose Virus" and "Mario and the Waluigi Apocalypse" is all about this.
- Zero-Approval Gambit: Waluigi deliberately makes himself the most hated person in the Mushroom Kingdom by starting the T-Pose virus epidemic so he can bring his Power of Rejection to full strength. When Mario remains the only person left who wants to be his friend (if only so he can get free food), Waluigi makes Mario reject him as well by putting him and Luigi through a Saw-style Death Trap.
