Mario Strikers Director Explains Waluigi’s Infamous Crotch Chop
With Mario Strikers: Battle League on the horizon,
The former director of the football series has finally given us the answer to why Waluigi, Nintendo’s fan-favorite black sheep celebrating with its distinctive crotch after a goal is scored. For the uninitiated, the crotch kick involves swinging the arms towards the crotch while moving the hips forward. After scoring a goal in Mario Strikers, Waluigi delivers this suggestive taunt while giggling at the sky. The rotation of his hips may be haunting.
Mike Inglehart, formerly of Next Level Games and Game Director of the original GameCube.
He notes that he and his colleagues at Next Level Games were surprised. That Nintendo didn’t issue them a metaphorical red card asking them to remove the chop. Super Mario Strikers and Wii Mario Strikers charged sat down with people GameXplain and correspondingly, explained the inspiration behind Waluigi’s infamous taunt.
I believed that Waluigi’s taunt was a wrestling reference to being affiliated with a similarly immature faction of the WWE tag team, D-Generation X, who just so casually share the same laugh. But according to Inglehart, the real story behind Waluigi’s taunt is more straightforward and harmless than it sounds. Everyone who thought that Waluigi was telling his opponents to “suck” was utterly wrong. See, he was reminding people to respect his name by writing his first initial with his hands…and his crotch.
“The inspiration for this was, frankly, the form.
Even though it’s a ‘V,’ we thought it was part of the ‘W,’ so it’s his way of connecting with his first initial,” Inglehart said. GameXplain. But Nintendo would indeed interpret Waluigi’s taunt the same way as everyone else, correct? Certainly, Next Level Games had to go into battle in a series of constant encounters with Nintendo to keep the taunt in the game? Nope. Inglehart explained that the offense stayed in the game simply because no one cared or picked it up.
G/O Media may receive a commission
Save $7
Nintendo Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda
Save Hyrule and check the time
Play three complete Legend of Zelda games on this retro-styled Game & Watch The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.
“No one batted an eyelid, so we kind of didn’t bring it up because we wanted it to be there, and of course, it landed the way we expected it to,” Inglehart said.
More: Waluigi debuted 20 years ago, and I have a lot of respect for him
The bombastic series of football battles returns after 15 years with the release of Mario Strikers: Battle League later in the year; one question remains: Will Waluigi makes his famous crotch kick? Inglehart is also curious about the answer to this question. “I’m not sure if he’ll be in the prequel, but I’m very interested to see if he’s still there,” he said. I hope he’s still there.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is scheduled to release on June 10 for the Nintendo Switch.
