What do Wario and Japan’s richest man Masayoshi Son have in common?
For those unfamiliar with Nintendo (who have experienced an excellent return to form with the Switch), Wario is Nintendo’s ‘’middle child’’. Nintendo is famous for imaginative, zany characters and Mario, of course. But of all the characters Nintendo has created none are a match for Wario.
Originally positioned as a rival to Mario and Luigi, Wario is driven by a lust for money and hatred of the famously nice brothers in red and green. He has since become a cult figure following his 1992 debut in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. Wario, according to Edward-Evans Thirlwell of Eurogamer, is ‘’not just to oppose Mario but to undermine what he represents.’’ Wario was created by Hiroji Kiyotake — once Shigeru Miyamoto’s protege and later rival — Wario’s creation and subsequent franchise sit as a series of punkish, irreverent ‘’fuck you’s’’ to Miyamoto and his politically correct golden boy.
So while Mario is the benevolent force for good, with a penchant for princesses, and a distaste for giant turtle-dragon fusions, Wario’s cause is less noble but much more interesting. Wario is all about money. Jewels, gold, mainly gold. Wario does not care what form it comes in so long as it pays. He will barge, punch, belly-flop, crush, spin, throw, fart and destroy anything that stands in the way of his goal. Wario is the ruthless, anti-establishment, profit-hungry investor of Nintendo’s wacky world. His aims are not idealistic, not driven by a universal duty to justice. He’s not trying to save Hyrule or Onnett. Wario is driven by chaos, greed, wealth and material goods. Making Wario the most human of all Nintendo’s characters.
Mmm, Capitalism.
So what could the farting, belching, jewel-hoarding nuisance of Nintendo’s roster have in common with Japan’s richest man, Masayoshi Son?
Masayoshi Son is the high-stakes investor whose legend increases with every acquisition he makes. As the founder of Softbank, he leads their ‘Vision Fund’ and has taken Silicon Valley (and the world) by storm over the last few years pouring money into ride-sharing companies, co-working spaces, FinTech services, AI, healthcare tech and more. Son has money in a lot of the tech which keeps the world moving — and moving forward. Son’s seemingly scattergun approach has inspired both awe and ire, mostly because it's rare to see an investor bet so big with such consistency. Especially one who hails from Japan. Son is a man of humble beginnings. He started building his empire with simple arcade games, importing them from Japan to the US while studying Economics at UC Berkley in the 1970s. To date, Son has led investments in Boston Dynamics, Alibaba, Slack, Zune, Didi and most infamously - WeWork.
Son’s vision (and Vision Fund) has been over thirty years in the making. The obvious comparison would be Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. A different strategy, where Buffett hedges bets based on value — looking to invest small and grow big. Whereas Son goes big to grow bigger. They have a different way, but Son is clearly following the model set by Buffett. He wants to be remembered. A legacy of his own, different from all his peers. Sound familiar?
I don’t think Wario has the faculties for introspection or even has a strategy to get what he wants, but he certainly wants, more and more, all the time.
What Son and Wario share most in likeness might be their case of imposter syndrome. Masayoshi Son is only Japanese by naturalisation, he is actually Korean. Son’s parents emigrated to Japan at a time where relations between the two countries were not as they are now. He was bullied by classmates. Beaten up and pelted with rocks, often going home bloodied. So they adopted another surname ‘’Anmoto’’ to stay safe. Perhaps it is this otherness amongst peers, which drives the need to prove oneself time and time again, is what makes Son and Wario kindred spirits. As well as being good at making money.
It may sound bizarre, but Wario is an entrepreneur in his own right — self-made, unlike his nemesis, whose inherited estate bustles at the seams. But Wario’s business savvy is unmatched in Nintendo lore — a man whose properties (see Wario Ware series —innovative minigame collection which held 100 games that lasted 5 seconds max. It also directly shaped the first wave of mobile gaming) match the tech industry. If Mario is the pampered rich kid who keeps the wheel turning — then Wario is the self-made man who worked five different jobs to fund his many enterprises, exhibiting the grit and resilience so many books are written about nowadays. Buffett and most big investors’ stories are closer to Mario’s than Wario’s or Son’s.
Both Wario and Son are outsiders who want to change the balance of power. Their difference amongst a cascade of ‘cookie-cut’ contemporaries is what gives them an edge. They have different goals, of course, Wario is not interested in what the people think, less giving back to them. But both men exist in systems with old-world rules in place. And where others see these rules as ‘part of the game’, these chaps see the rules as blockers. You don’t pull off the world’s second-biggest IPO ever by simply following the rules, do you?
