Wendy O Koopa

2019Coordinated prank / gaming character memedead

Published March 24, 2026

Also known as: #ProjectWendy

Wendy O. Koopa is a Koopaling villain from Nintendo's *Super Mario* franchise who became a minor meme in early 2019 thanks to #ProjectWendy, a coordinated YouTube prank that flooded the platform with videos claiming she was the most overpowered character in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*. First appearing as a mini-boss in *Super Mario Bros. 3* in 19881, Wendy existed mostly as a recognizable but unremarkable Nintendo villain until Smash Bros. content creators turned her into a brief internet joke.

smash bros memesnintendo memesprank memesgaming

Overview

Wendy O. Koopa is one of the seven Koopalings, Bowser's children in the *Super Mario* series. She's the only female Koopaling and has appeared across dozens of Nintendo titles since the late 1980s. In *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*, Wendy is available as one of several alternate skins for the Bowser Jr. fighter, not a standalone character2.

Her meme status comes almost entirely from a single coordinated event: the #ProjectWendy prank of January 2019, where prominent Smash Bros. YouTubers simultaneously uploaded videos praising Wendy as if she were a top-tier competitive pick. The joke worked because Wendy is so far from anyone's idea of a dominant fighting game character.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube
Key People
Alpharad, Slimecicle
Date
2019

Wendy O. Koopa debuted as a mini-boss in *Super Mario Bros. 3*, which released in Japan on October 23, 19881. In the game, she's one of seven Koopalings who stole magic wands from the kings of the Mushroom World, and players fight her at the end of one of the game's worlds1. The Koopalings as a group were one of many new additions to the *Super Mario* formula in that game, alongside the world map system, the Super Leaf power-up, and airship levels1.

For the next three decades, Wendy appeared across numerous Mario titles without generating much internet attention on her own2.

How It Spread

On January 21, 2017, YouTuber ProSafiaGaming uploaded a compilation video covering all of Wendy's boss battles across her 20-year history in Nintendo games2.

The real meme moment came on January 1, 2019, when YouTube was suddenly flooded with *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* content praising Wendy2. The flood turned out to be a coordinated prank organized by Alpharad and other Smash Bros. YouTubers, tagged #ProjectWendy. The goal was to make it look like Wendy, a minor alternate skin for Bowser Jr., was somehow the most broken character in the game2.

Alpharad's own #ProjectWendy video pulled in over 350,000 views, while fellow YouTuber Slimecicle's contribution hit over 280,000 views2. The sudden wave of identical praise for such an obscure character confused plenty of viewers who weren't in on the joke.

The prank spilled onto Twitter, where users riffed on the absurdity. User @groenboys posted a photoshopped *Simpsons* still referencing #ProjectWendy that picked up over 120 retweets, and @afrohawk52 made a "Jeb Wins" parody riffing on the trend2.

How to Use This Meme

The #ProjectWendy format is less a reusable template and more a specific prank structure: pick an obscure or weak character and flood a platform with sincere-sounding praise videos all at once. The humor comes from the mismatch between the dead-serious competitive analysis tone and the completely unremarkable subject.

If someone references "Wendy O. Koopa" in a meme context, they're typically either calling back to the 2019 prank or using her as shorthand for an underwhelming pick presented with false confidence.

Cultural Impact

#ProjectWendy was a notable example of coordinated creator pranks on YouTube, where the platform's algorithm briefly surfaced Wendy O. Koopa content to confused viewers who had no idea it was a joke. The prank demonstrated how a handful of mid-size gaming creators could manipulate trending content through coordinated uploads, a tactic that's been repeated in various forms since.

The event didn't break into mainstream media but was widely discussed within the Smash Bros. and gaming YouTube communities as a funny start to 20192.

Fun Facts

Wendy O. Koopa's name is a reference to Wendy O. Williams, the punk rock singer of the Plasmatics. All seven Koopalings were named after musicians or celebrities1.

In *Super Mario Bros. 3*, the game's visual design was deliberately styled to look like a stage play, with bolted-on scenery and drop shadows. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto later confirmed this was intentional1.

Urban Dictionary describes Wendy as "the charismatic, beautiful, smart, tomboyish lone female of Bowser's 8 kids"3.

She's technically not a standalone fighter in *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* but an alternate costume for Bowser Jr., making the #ProjectWendy hype even funnier2.

Frequently Asked Questions