Wanda

Wanda is a fairy who first appeared in the Japanese-only Super Famicom release, Mario & Wario. In this game, she played an important role of being the sole playable character who had to guide Mario and his friends (blinded by buckets from Wario) towards their goal by providing safe paths for them to take.

Although Wanda's first appearance did not come to the United States, she reappeared in another SNES puzzle game, Wario's Woods, which was also the last (licensed) game released for the NES. In both versions of Wario's Woods, Wanda played the role of Toad's helper as he attempted to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Wario.

After only appearing in two games with Wario's name in the title, Wanda has yet to make a returning appearance.

History

Mario & Wario

Wanda guiding a blinded Mario through one of the levels of Mario & Wario. Her role is to create a safe pathway for the blinded heroes.

In the game Mario & Wario, the player controlled Wanda using the Super Famicom Mouse, providing a safe pathway for the aimlessly-wandering Mario, Princess Peach, and Yoshi, who have had buckets dropped on their heads by Wario. She was able to create safer pathways by utilizing her wand to alter the surroundings of the environments and obstacles that were in the way of the blinded heroes. If she was not able to clear the obstacles in front of the blinded characters, the level would not be able to completed as the blinded characters would not be able to reach their target destination. In the ending, Wanda would be seen presenting the "THANK YOU" message on the screen as the finally bucket-removed heroes defeat Wario and celebrate Wanda's victory.

This game marked Wanda's first and last appearance as a playable character in the Mario series.

Wario's Woods

File:Wario's Woods Demonstration.png

Wanda (top) creating bombs with her wand to help Toad clear monsters in Wario's Woods (SNES).

In both versions of Wario's Woods, Wanda called upon the help of the Mushroom Kingdom hero, Toad, to help save her home of the Peaceful Forest (later to be known as Wario's Woods) from Wario's attack. Along with Birdo, Wanda stayed along the sidelines as Toad took on Wario's monsters and his elite minions. However, she plays a key role by helping Toad clear out monsters by providing him with bombs. Ultimately she played an important role as she helped Toad tremendously to save the Mushroom Kingdom and her home by thwarting Wario's plans through defeating his monsters and minions as well as Wario himself.

While Wanda helped Toad throughout the game, there are times when she could not. Such times include the moments where the antagonistic Wario replaces Birdo on the screen. As Wario makes his appearance, he will replace Wanda with a Pidgit that will simply shower down more monsters on Toad's battlefield instead of providing bombs like Wanda did. However, she will return once Wario leaves and Birdo returns to support Toad.

Super Mario-Kun

Wanda on the cover of the 11th issue of Super Mario-Kun.

Wanda makes a notable appearance in the eleventh issue of the Japanese exclusive manga series Super Mario-Kun. The portion that she appears in is based on the story from Wario's Woods. Additionally, her role mimics that of her role from that game. In this issue, Wanda arrives to Peach's Castle Garden and searches for help in order to support her as she tries to stop Wario and his plans. Eventually, Wanda finds the heroes Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Yoshi throughout her search and the four agree to help her on her quest to stopping Wario.

Sprites

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  Mario & Wario

• WandaWW.gif

  Wario's Woods (SNES)

Trivia

• Wanda was the first female character to be the solo star in a Mario series game.

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