Right back at the start of this year, we discovered that after inventing Waluigi, the team behind Mario Tennis, Camelot Software Planning, was planning another 'Wa' variant of Princess Peach. It was a shudder-inducing thought, we'll admit, and one that was rejected by Shigeru Miyamoto before even looking at the designs. But now, those very designs are seeing the light of day.
Fumihide Aoki, the father of Waluigi and character designer on the Mario Tennis GameCube follow-up, Mario Power Tennis, has today shared his initial sketches of "Walpeach", an evil inversion of the Mushroom monarch that was left on the cutting room floor.
The designs were posted on Aoki's Instagram account (@yuzumpo), where the artist has been answering questions about this character who, unfortunately, was never meant to be. The sketches are one thing, but Aoki has also shared a 3D model of the character in full-colour glory so we can really get an idea of what the variant would have looked like out on the court.
Note: It appears the posts have now been removed. Fortunately, you can still find the concepts elsewhere online.
Like we found earlier this year, Aoki references the popular anime Yatterman (specifically the character of Doronjo) as the inspiration behind the character and writes, "I thought it would be nice if she was in a position where she could give orders to Wario and Waluigi". She may look a little younger, but this character was still clearly meant to be the boss.
Of course, for Mario Power Tennis, Walpeach wasn't meant to be. We'd say that there's every chance that the concept could make a comeback in the future, but let's admit it, that's never going to happen. Nonetheless, it's always good to get a sneak peek at would could have been. Let the fan art commence...