Waluigi's Smash Snub

About

Waluigi's Smash Snub refers to jokes about noted Super Mario character Waluigi being absent from the upcoming Super Smash Brothers video game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Nintendo promised "every" character who has ever been in a Super Smash Brothers game would appear in Ultimate, and promised the additions of characters Daisy and Ridley, but not Waluigi, who fans were hoping to see in the title.

Origin

On June 12th, 2018, Nintendo gave a Nintendo Direct presentation during E3 2018 with much of the information given being about the upcoming fifth installment in the Super Smash Brothers series, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. The major announcement was that every fighter who has ever appeared in a Smash game would be available in Ultimate, as well as Nintendo characters Daisy and Ridley. However, Waluigi was absent from the roster.

Spread

The announcement disappointed fans of Waluigi, who shared their negative reactions on websites such as Twitter. That day, Twitter user @GenjiShitmada^[1] tweeted a picture of a Waluigi doll lying dirty on the ground with the Smash Bros reveal tagline "Everyone Is Here." The post (shown below, left) received more than 34,000 retweets and 87,000 likes in 24 hours.

Twitter user @sir_stride^[2] posted a variation of the Try Not To Cry meme featuring Waluigi with the caption "Waluigi is still an assist trophy #NintendoE3." The post (shown below, center) received more than 2,000 retweets and 6,000 likes in 24 hours. Throughout the day, people continued to post variations on the theme of Waluigi being left out (example below, right)

Several media outlets covered the reaction, including Polygon, ^[4] Mashable, ^[5]and more. Twitter published a Moments^[6] page about the reaction.

That day, The Washington Post^[3] published an opinion piece entitled "Waluigi was robbed and humiliated by Nintendo, and his fans are furious." In the piece, author Gene Park writes, "It gets worse. Suddenly, 17 minutes into the presentation, Waluigi makes an appearance. And it is yet another affront to decency. Waluigi is a mere “assist” character. Assist trophies are basically soulless effigies of other characters that players can pick up, bringing the depicted creature to life for mere seconds. They’re golems."

Twitter user @Jacon_Pinecone tweeted about this phenomenon. They wrote, "Not only was Waluigi de-confirmed but they disrespect him as they do it."

Humorous reactions to Waluigi's snub were covered by Smosh.^[7]

Various Examples

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