Fans of the Super Mario series are likely well acquainted with Wario and Waluigi, the popular evil counterparts to the heroic Mario brothers. Waluigi in particular is one of the series’ most popular side characters, despite mainly being featured in the franchise’s spin-off sports titles.

Recently, Nintendo Dream Web spotlighted an interview with Shugo Takahashi of Camelot Publishing, who were responsible for the creation of Waluigi for Mario Tennis 64. According to this interview, Camelot attempted pitch a “WaluPeach” character to Nintendo after seeing the popularity of Waluigi. “WaluPeach” would have reportedly been a “datenshi” or “fallen angel” type character, serving as a fitting evil mirror to the pure-hearted Princess Peach.

Unfortunately, it seems Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto did not share Camelot’s enthusiasm for the idea. The interview goes on to explain that Miyamoto rejected the concept without even looking at Camelot’s proposed designs, stating that “I know it’s gonna be just like Doronjo, so don’t bother”. For those unfamiliar, Doronjo is an iconic female villain from the 1977 anime Yatterman. You can find an image of her base look below, although Shugo stated that their WaluPeach designs didn’t actually look like the character.

Despite Miyamoto’s misgivings, the concept of a WaruPeach itself is fairly popular among the Mario fandom, so seems possible that an official rendition would have been a big hit like Waluigi was.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.