Thanks to Hamada and Tris for helping with edits.
Wario is one of my favorite headliners in this medium. The guy’s unapologetically materialistic and egotistical, contrasting his purer counterparts and making him one of Nintendo’s most entertaining characters. Even Wario’s associates tend to burst with personality, from his part-time sidekick Waluigi to longtime arch-rival Captain Syrup. However, not everyone in the anti-plumber’s inner circle boasts a memorable presence, something that’s true of the stone we’re appraising today.
The Black Jewel, seen in Wario World’s opening cinematic (Image: Nintendo)
When he’s not attending Mario’s socials or lackadaisically running his game company, the draffsack Wario hunts for treasure in the Wario Land series. One of his platforming series’ offshoots was the 2003 GameCube brawler Wario World, a favorite among the Source Gaming audience. Wario Land traditionally welcomes new antagonists with each installment, an example developer Treasure followed by pitting Nintendo’s ardent anti-hero against a flinty evildoer…
The Black Jewel’s History
Wario World’s opening cinematic introduces the Black Jewel by delineating its backstory. Oblivious to its destructive conquests of yore, Wario retrieved the crystal and left it in his basement. Unfortunately, Wario’s castle proved to be the perfect environment to reinvigorate the diamond; it emerged from the chest Wario stored it in, transformed his treasures into monsters, obliterated his home, and left a transdimensional hellscape in its place. Satisfied with its mischief, the Black Jewel then retired to a larger chest in Treasure Square, World’s hub area.
Unlike most of Wario’s other rogues, the Black Jewel infiltrated and tore apart his world. (Image: Nintendo)
Strong-willed as ever, Wario set out to undo the Black Jewel’s malicious acts, eventually procuring the keys required to challenge it. After dramatically setting the stage, the angry Ametrine faced off against Wario on Treasure Square’s distorted remnants. Once the battle begins, Wario frees the imprisoned Spritelings, who incapacitate the Jewel, which allows the gannet to pummel it, while the rock nonchalantly emits lasers. Curiously, World’s Japanese release improved upon this, making the Jewel more proactive and giving it a unique theme during the scuffle’s second phase. All the Jewel’s done since Wario World is appear in the game’s manga adaptions and get briefly referenced by the man in Fortune Street, a Monopoly-esque Wii crossover by Square Enix.
So, what’re my thoughts on the Jewel?
Conceptually, the Jewel’s an interesting idea for a Wario antagonist, because greed is one of the protagonist’s defining traits and the Jewel exploits that. It’s through Wario’s covetous stupor that the gemstone entered his possession, and its transmogrifying of his treasure and home gave the ogre a vested interest in this crusade – losing his wealth is even the sole thing Wario said could depress him. The Black Jewel’s body is, despite its name, primarily an intimidating, deep purple, a color befitting of the character; purple has become linked with royalty throughout history, and its darker shades “evoke feelings of gloom, sadness, and frustration.” Gems of this hue are also said to “calm confrontations” and “remove perceived spiritual obstacles,” both of which are ironic in light of the Jewel’s nature.
In another appreciated detail, the Black Jewel gets temporarily damaged as Wario and the Spritelings rough it up. (Image: Nintendo)
Those faint praises are all the positives to the Black Jewel, however. Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi, in his design notes for the anniversary film Dark Side of Dimensions, shared his belief that a “simple design is the most beautiful design.” Simplicity can certainly yield elegant, strong character designs, but the Jewel demonstrates a danger to simplicity – it’s boring. The Jewel’s just a Palatinate purple cabochon with an eye and four useless pink tentacles dangling from its underside, cementing it as the blandest Wario nemesis visually. And given how Wario platformers are known for their crude, warped personality, it’s a letdown how World’s focal antagonist was bereft of any, failing to demonstrate anything in its dialogue or animations.
Unfortunately, its poor aesthetics are equalled by the unsatisfying fight it offers. The Byzantium bogey drops any pretenses of being an imposing figure when Wario directly confronts it, letting down its reality-altering theatrics, weighty backstory, and unique premise. Treasure could’ve capitalized on Wario’s lust for valuables, using it as a conduit to inform the Jewel’s fighting style. Perhaps the diamond, feeding on the glutton’s greed and vanity, could’ve possessed the golden Wario statues that populated World, or weaponized his treasure in some other way? If Wario has enough coins in World, he effectively has unlimited continues – maybe the antagonistic Amethyst could have countered this by sucking his riches away? Western players were instead stuck with a poor man’s version of Banjo-Kazooie’s climax, and even the Jewel’s improved showing in Japan isn’t lustrous.
A rock-hard, reality-warping eldritch abomination should be capable of more impressive feats than throwing treasure chests. (Image: Nintendo)
Wario World maintains a relatively secure position within its franchise’s iconography, with Wario Land: Shake It!, various Mario titles, and the Super Smash Bros. series calling back to it. However, World’s villain has been thoroughly abandoned. Nintendo hasn’t formally revisited the Jewel, nor is there any fan demand requesting them to. Wario’s joke about it in Fortune Street was a cute homage, and it might be the last acknowledgement the sparkler ever gets.
Congratulations, Black Jewel! You actually thought you could outwit the great Wario?
Although the Jewel’s been forgotten by most, Wario’s now (probably) relaxing in a newer, better castle. He wins, he wins! (Image: Nintendo)
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I always forget that this Wario villian exist, even when I do think about Wario World. I agree, Black Jewel is boring and one of the biggest letdowns in final bosses history imo (especialy if a game is part of a famous franchise such as Wario). The design of all the other bosses before it are honestly more interesting in comparison (only Big Scorper and Ironsider made me yawn, still they are not as bad as Black Jewel).
Hey, Greatsong!
Yeah, I get what you’re saying – people remember Wario World fondly, but that affection is never extended to the Black Jewel. When I was talking about this article with Hamada and Voyager, I told them I consider the rock to be the most nothing character I’ve ever written about. Wario has a solid pedigree of memorable characters and the Jewel’s premise is compelling, but it lets that all down with a bland design and unimpressive fight.
On the plus side, the next time I cover a Wario character, whenever that’ll be, it’s guaranteed to be someone more interesting!