Much like how 64 Mario is some brand of mysterious but harmless little creature, i posit that 8-bit Wario is some kind of fucked up and mischevious cryptid or youkai of some description.
Like, you can recognize him as Wario, but this feels like... A personified essence of him with no earthly needs, only a want for chaos and misery on a petty and unbelievably sparse scale for what he's capable of.