Bad Peach Almost Became A Real Thing In The Mario Universe

Wario has been plaguing Mario and pals since his first appearance in 1992's "Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins." Mario's yellow-clad rival has been protrayed at various times as either an antihero or a flat-out villain, but in all of his appearances, he's had a kind of confidence that cannot be replicated, making him one of the most beloved bad guys in gaming. He's even gotten a sort-of partner in the form of Waluigi, a wicked counterpart to Luigi with some of the greatest fashion sense in the franchise. As it turns out, this clan of mirror-opposite enemies almost grew even greater with the planned addition of a villainous Peach wannabe in "Mario Power Tennis."

On December 1, character designer Fumihide Aoki suddenly revealed some designs for a character named "Wapeach" (naturally) that are nearly twenty years old. It seems Nintendo did not intend for the concept art and 3D models to be made public, as the images have since been removed from the artist's Instagram account. However, fans quickly snagged screenshots and shared the pictures all over social media. As one might expect from the designer behind Waluigi, Wapeach seems like she could have become a gaming fashion icon, if only Nintendo hadn't nixed the character concept.

I wake up to find out concept art of Wapeach has been revealed and tbh it's not what I was expecting pic.twitter.com/7FIQF7lX69

— No Context Super Mario🎄 (@SuperMarioOOC85) December 1, 2023

Wapeach somewhat sticks to the color scheme that served the other members of her crew, rocking a purple dress with some fun punk rock accents. In addition to a slightly jagged crown on her hooded head, Wapeach would have also accessorized with a spiked bracelet and an occasional axe. Despite her sweet expression, it looks like Wapeach might have really put the hurt on her competitors in "Mario Power Tennis."

In the comments below his post (also screenshot by numerous fans), Fumihide Aoki revealed a few more details of the character, including the idea that she might have been able to boss Waluigi and Wario around, and that he had considered giving Wapeach a dragon companion as a nod to Mario's pal Yoshi. Most interesting of all, the designer hinted that Wapeach might have been revealed to be a member of a disgraced family of royals, had her backstory ever been explored. It's unclear why Nintendo said no to this creation, but fans have immediately become obsessed with her. Within just a few days, fan art and various tributes to Wapeach has popped up all over social media as fans have expressed their love for this once-lost piece of Mario history.