Wapeach is Officially Revealed

[Randoman]

I saw this article on My Nintendo News, and I felt I should share it and hear what you guys think.

As for my personal thoughts, Wapeach isn't nearly as funny or hilarious looking as I was hoping she'd be. I am pleasantly surprised by the design, though. It's much more cutesy and not as evil looking as I thought it would be.

[Fabulously Olivier]

Walupeachy should have a mustache.

[Saint Rubenio]

Literally just Purple Peach. Of course, she could never have gotten a massive red nose and a permanent toothy grin. Because God forbid the female character not be conventionally attractive.

[BrightBow]

A cute little gremlin, but doesn't strike me as particularly Wah.

[lenticular]

I hate myself a little for even thinking this, but the design -- especially the black sketches -- kinda reminds me of Bowsette.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

She doesn't look particularly "evil" or "mischievious", outside of a darker outfit. Maybe the "horns" were supposed to be devil horns? But they look kinda like cat ears, which are innatelly cutesy. I do like the "goth"-ness of her outfit, at least.

I feel like they could've done more to make her look "weird". Like, Wario is chubby with a wide pink nose, while Waluigi is lanky with a pointy pink nose. Perhaps Wapeach could've been given a drooping nose, a la Squidward, in the same bright pink shade? Maybe an upside-down crown (flat on the top, pointy on the bottom) too, as a counterpart to Peach. Actually, a stylized fez could work to that end. And if they don't want to give her a mustache, at the very least, she could be rocking a unibrow.

As for the name, "Wapeach" isn't the worst... bit perhaps they could do something more localized? Like, Peach is a fruit, so her counterpart should be named for a vegetable. In light of her purple outfit, how about Princess Eggplant?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

That getup belongs in Nights before Mario

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Doesn't look very Mario-ish, but...it's leagues better than a certain other internet-created Peach monstrosity that I shall not name.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

21 hours ago, Zapp Branniglenn said:

That getup belongs in Nights before Mario

I read this as though "Nights Before Mario" were a game title... any potential for this crossover?

[Zapp Branniglenn]

1 hour ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I read this as though "Nights Before Mario" were a game title... any potential for this crossover?

I'm more interested in if the real origin of these images was Yuji Naka violating a non-compete clause to redesign Peach for a game that never saw the light of day. The last thing he was doing before he went to prison was giving us The Dish on various companies. Who's keeping him quiet? 🤔🤔🤔

[Jotari]

Let's bear in mind this is concept art, not an actual reveal. So all of these criticisms about her not looking dastardly enough are probably exactly the reason the character never did see the light of day. WaPeach is also not an actual localization, it's just been what she's called in lieu of an actual offical name (following the naming scheme of "wa", from waru the prefix for bad in Japanese, with the character name). Likely they would have given her a more natural sounding name, especially if she had been put in a 90s game. Honestly were probably lucky Waluigi didn't come out with a name like Jeff or something.

[Interdimensional Observer]

2 hours ago, Jotari said:

Let's bear in mind this is concept art, not an actual reveal. So all of these criticisms about her not looking dastardly enough are probably exactly the reason the character never did see the light of day.

It is on record that Miyamoto reportedly dismissed the character concept before he even saw what this Waru-Peach idea looked liked. He thought she'd end up looking like this lady.:

Doronjo, from the 1970s childrens' anime Yatterman. A comical villain whose ridiculous plans are foiled by the titular hero character every time. Apparently rather influential in Japanese popular entertainment, including a likely inspiration for the beloved anime version of Pokemon's Team Rocket.

To the right and left are Doronjo's two lackeys, the taller one being generally built like Waluigi. The designer for Waru-Peach being the one who designed Waluigi, and Wario being fat like the other grunt, I can see how Miyamoto would've instantly guessed what Waru-Peach would've looked like -even if he was wrong.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Interdimensional Observer

[Lord_Brand]

I think that design is cute, but ironically too far removed from Peach in attire. Wario and Waluigi both wear similar clothes to Mario and Luigi, just with different colors and fitted to their physiques.

Way I see it, Wapeach doesn't need to look ugly, just exaggerated. Take Peach's traits and turn them up a little, you know?

Incidentally, I made my own version: https://www.deviantart.com/crossfire7/art/Wapeach-Crossfire7-Version-999290276

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

6 hours ago, Lord_Brand said:

Incidentally, I made my own version: https://www.deviantart.com/crossfire7/art/Wapeach-Crossfire7-Version-999290276

I quite like the design! Has a very "femme fatale" vibe. It'd be especially cool to see this sort of "Evil Peach" if they ever revive the Wario Land series.

[Lord_Brand]

Thanks! Funnily enough, the Wario series does in fact have a femme fatale in the form of Captain Syrup, and also has had a couple princesses who are a lot more like Peach in personality, Shokora and Merelda. But we haven't seen many "femme fatale princesses" in video gaming, so a character that combines the two would be quite novel.

Speaking of Syrup, she would actually make a lot of sense as a Wario-associated counterpart to Peach. She's worked with Wario for her own gain before, wouldn't be hard to imagine her recruiting him and Waluigi to help her win/steal the prize of a sports tourney or some such. She'd also be a fun character to add to the Kart and Party series. Shoot, I could see Syrup getting her own series, just as Wario got his. Shake It! established that Syrup is willing to do heroics for reward, so a game starring her could follow through on that.