Luigi

Luigi in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Luigi
Species	Human
Hair color	Brown
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Mario (brother)
Voiced by	Charles Martinet
Debut	Mario Bros.

The younger of two twin siblings, Luigi is often considered the least popular of the duo. This is not altogether true, since he has his own fan club in the Mushroom World and has been known to go on adventures himself. Although not nearly as popular as his older brother, he does have several key advantages. While not nearly as graceful, he has proved himself to be superior in jumping to Mario on many occasions. He has also been known to be more inclined to technology than his brother, though that alone may just be attributed to circumstances.

Background

Early Years

Luigi as a toddler.

Though often a hero, Luigi started off his career as the kidnapped victim in need of rescue. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island while still a baby, he and the stork were captured by Kamek and had to be rescued by Baby Mario with the aid of the clan of yoshis. Baby Luigi was again kidnapped in Yoshi's Island DS and after being rescued, it is revealed he was part of seven star pieces.

Baby Mario and Baby Luigi also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, where they were shown to already know the Baby Princess Peach. The three often played together and foiled Baby Bowser's early attempts to capture the princess. The two babies also teamed up with their adult counterparts on a time-traveling adventure to defeat the alien Shroobs. It is possible that the Baby Mario Bros. made several other visits to the future, as Baby Luigi appeared as a playable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Wii.

Adult Life

Player 2

Later in life, Luigi accompanied Mario in Mario Bros., where the two battled a variety of strange monsters in the sewers. They also worked together as part of a demolition crew in Wrecking Crew, competing with Foreman Spike. In Super Mario Bros., they then embarked their first known adventure in their adult years to stop Bowser and save the princess, repeated again in Lost Levels. In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario's 'dream' involved Luigi (As well as Peach and Toad) working together with Mario in order to save the dream world of Sub-con from Wart.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, the duo worked together to save the seven kings of various lands, traveled through Dark Land and saved the princess again. In Super Mario World, the two took a much deserved vacation with the princess, but Bowser's plans once more foiled their good time, and they had to save the yoshis and the princess. Luigi also played a role in Mario & Wario, where he waited at the end of the stage and removed the bucket (or whatever object Wario had dropped) from the head of Mario, Yoshi or Peach. He also showed up at the end of Wrecking Crew '98 and became playable in Multiplayer Mode.

At this point Luigi seemed to stop actively being involved in adventuring and contented himself to watching the house while Mario was on an adventure. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, he only truly appeared at the end leading the parade. His wish (to be as good a plumber as Mario) was also seen at Star Hill, and he also hosted the instruction manual. This role of staying behind to watch the house was most clearly seen in Paper Mario, when Mario often visited Luigi at their house during his adventure. Luigi also led the parade at the end once more.

Return to Adventuring

However, Luigi was forced back into the adventuring scene to face one of his greatest fears - ghosts - in Luigi's Mansion. Luigi had won a mansion in a contest he didn't enter. He enlisted Mario's help to investigate the mansion, but Mario disappeared. So Luigi went alone and found that the mansion was haunted by countless ghosts. Luckily he met with Professor Elvin Gadd, who entrusted Luigi with ghost-busting technology such as the Poltergust 3000. With this equipment Luigi explored the mansion and captures all the ghosts, eventually saving Mario after King Boo was defeated. The mansion, being an illusion made by the ghosts, disappeared afterwards, but Professor E. Gadd used the money Luigi gathered during the adventure to buy him a new mansion. However, Luigi does not seem to be inhabited it.

Mario and Luigi working together again.

Though left out of key adventures, he was reluctantly pulled into Mario's adventure in the Beanbean Kingdom in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga when Bowser initiated Luigi into the Koopa Troop. Luigi faced the stigma of not being recognized as much as his famous brother and tookj much abuse. At one point, he also dressed up as Princess Peach in an attempt to fool Cackletta and Fawful that, for the most part, worked. Luigi later busted some moves in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix to recover the four Music Keys (though he is the inherent Player Two).

Luigi also appeared in Super Mario 64 DS (despite being infamously left out of the original) where he was invited to Peach's Castle for cake with Mario and Wario. However, it was a trap by Bowser with all three being captured. Luigi was held within an area guarded by King Boo, and after Mario rescued him he became a playable character. Luigi then could rescue Wario in turn as the four went on their quest to defeat Bowser. In Super Princess Peach, the Mario Bros. were both captured by Bowser after being made vulnerable and emotional by his Vibe Scepter and were held prisoner at Vibe Island. Luigi was held at the Giddy Sky (the second-to-last world) and protected by a Giant Kamek until Peach defeated him and rescued Luigi. At the end of the game, he is comically knocked to the side in classic Luigi fashion by Peach when she runs to hug to newly-freed Mario. The group then returns home together.

The brothers teamed up with their younger counterparts after they traveled back in time to save the Mushroom Kingdom from the Shroob invasion in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. However, when they attempted to access the Star Shrine in their campaign against the Shroobs, they were stopped by the talking gate which judged Luigi unworthy to pass through do to their cowardliness. Instead of leaving him behind, Mario and the babies helped Luigi to prove himself worthy by finding and striking the rare Aurora Block. After passing the test, the door continued to grill Luigi and bar his passage by saying he would be alone forever, but then the door revealed that that was just another part of the test, to test Mario and Luigi's support of each other. They had passed, so the door allowed them to pass through, and also asked Luigi to forgive him and told him that he was actually like a multi-faceted and beautiful gemstone, just in need of some polishing. They were eventually successful in destroying the Shroob menace.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Luigi was content to stay at home until he received an urgent letter from the Waffle Kingdom. Leaving home at that moment, he set out to rescue the Princess Eclair by reuniting the lost pieces of a magical compass. He was anxious to tell Mario of his travels, though his many companions seemed to paint a different version of his story. In fact, his adventures became so popular that a smash hit book 'Super Luigi' was released in several volumes and becomes a best seller. Despite rescuing the Princess Eclair, he wasted no time to leave her behind and return to Rogueport and tell Mario the rest of his story. This is because he had actually been fooled by the minister, Crepe, into defeating the Chestnut King (whom had actually been turned into a monster by Crepe) so Crepe could take over the kingdom. Luigi did not realize the truth until after he defeated the Chestnut King, at which point he battled Crepe, and left Eclair to live happily ever after with the Chestnut King, who was her fiancee.

Further Wii/DS Adventures

Super Paper Mario

Luigi was accidentally whisked away by Count Bleck along with Bowser, Princess Peach and the Koopa Troop at the beginning of Super Paper Mario. After awakening, Luigi attacked Bowser and the Chaos Heart in confusion, causing everyone to be teleported away. Luigi wound up elsewhere in Bleck's castle. Luigi attempted to escape with a pair of Goombas, but he was eventually ambushed. Nastasia used her hypnotic powers to brainwash Luigi. With no memory of his former life, Luigi was now a masked bad guy called Mr. L.

Luigi as Mr. L

As Mr. L, he battled his brother (neither recognized the other) in Chapter 4-4: The Mysterious Mr. L. After being defeated in one-on-one combat, Mr. L boarded his own special robot, dubbed the "Brobot". The Brobot was still defeated. After returning to Count Bleck's lair, Mr. L claimed superiority to all of Bleck's other minions, and said that his defeat was only because he was scouting Mario's strength. Mr. L battled Mario again at the end of Chapter 6 in his modified Brobot L-Type. Once more Mr. L was defeated. He was ashamed to show his face before the count again, so Dimentio decided to literally grant his wish and sent Mr. L to the Underwhere.

Luigi regained his memory after being sent to the Underwhere and remained there, huddled in fear until Mario found him. Together the two brothers were able to get their lives restored by Queen Jaydes. Luigi joined Mario's party for the remainder of the game and became the fourth of the four warriors of prophecy destined to stop Count Bleck's Chaos Heart from destroying all worlds.

In "Chapter 8-3: Countdown to Destruction", Luigi stayed behind to battle Dimentio. Luigi won, but was knocked out afterwards, and Dimentio planted a special seed in his head. Luigi later regained consciousness and caught up with Mario to help him fight Bleck. After Bleck's defeat, Dimentio caused the seed to grow and took control of Luigi's mind. He forced Luigi to fuse with the Chaos Heart and become the new vessel for "Super Dimentio". Mario, Bowser and Peach were able to defeat Super Dimentio and restore Luigi to normal.

Super Mario Galaxy

In Super Mario Galaxy, Luigi heads into space to help Mario collect Power Stars and save the princess, though he finds himself imprisoned in the Ghostly Galaxy after obtaining only one. After Mario arrives to rescue him, he hands over the star and returns to the Comet Observatory. Luigi heads out to collect stars three more times over the course of the game, each time finding one and then getting himself stuck in a "perilous" situation. He will send letters to Mario via the Mailtoad with pictures of his current location; Mario can then go save him and earn the star.

Once Mario has completed the game with all 120 stars in tow, Luigi becomes available to play. His controls are the same as Mario's, though he jumps higher and retains his momentum when running, sliding around even after he has stopped. Luigi does not replace Mario for the opening cutscene, instead jumping straight to the Gateway Galaxy; Rosalina still refers to Peach as his "special one" however, the same as she does to Mario. Collecting all 120 stars with Luigi as well unlocks the Grand Finale Galaxy, where both brothers can go to earn a 121st star.

In an odd sort of paradox, Luigi will still have to rescue himself during the Luigi in the Haunted Mansion mission of the Ghostly Galaxy. Neither seems too concerned by their simultaneous existence, and the rescuee Luigi passes it off as coincidence, saying that in a galaxy so full of people at least one had to look the same as himself. No definite reason for the two Luigis is given otherwise, though Rosalina does refer to them as twins.

Other Games

The brothers explore Bowser's body with Starlow's guidance.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario and Luigi were trapped in Bowser's body after he inhaled them while under the influence of Fawful's Vacuum Mushroom. Guided by Starlow, the brothers explored Bowser's body and helped Bowser with various situations from within his body in order to progress further into his body and find Princess Peach. They found her just as Fawful swiped her for use in reviving the Dark Star. Mario and Luigi then set out to find the Star Cures, which Dr. Toadley used to form the Miracle Cure that destroyed Fawful's blockade of Peach's Castle. They then hunted down and battled the Dark Star after Bowser swallowed it, and during the final battle between Bowser and Dark Bower, Mario and Luigi destroyed the Dark Star Core (which had bonded with Dark Fawful's remains) after Bowser swallowed it. They were then regurgitated from Bowser as a result of Dark Fawful's self-destruction, and they proceeded to beat an enraged Bowser again over the end credits, although they later helped the princess to send Bowser a cake out of gratitude.

Sports

Luigi is playable in the following sports games:

• Golf: Luigi first competes in NES Open Tournament Golf, and is also playable in Mario Golf 64, Mario Gold GBC, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Golf: Advance Tour (where he is unlockable by transferring experience from Toadstool Tour).
• Kart Racing: Luigi is playable in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (as Mario's partner), Mario Kart Arcade GP, Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, and Mario Kart Wii.
• Tennis: Luigi is playable in Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis 64, Mario Tennis GBC, Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis: Power Tour.
• Baseball: Luigi is playable in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers.
• Soccer: Luigi is a playable captain in Super Mario Strikers and in Mario Strikers Charged.
• Basketball: Luigi is playable in Mario Hoops: 3-on-3 and Itadaki Street DS.
• The Olympics: Luigi is playable in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

Luigi is also playable in every Mario Party game - Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party Advance, Mario Party 7, Mario Party 8, Mario Party-e and Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party, Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2 and Mario Party DS.

Personality

Luigi's personality is much more defined than his brother's. A coward at heart, he is deathly afraid of ghosts. Although it is hinted at that he and Daisy are an item, there has been no significant development in this relationship. He is often used to dejection as so often he is referred to 'that green guy' to people who only recognize Mario. Despite this, he still admires his brother. He even secretly wishes to be as good a plumber as his brother. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, when his brother needs rescuing, Luigi has himself hypnotized to think he is Mario, so he'll be brave enough to rescue him. Although he may seem to have a habit of over exaggerating and cowardice, he's still a reliable hero who will come to the aid of his friends if Mario is not there to do it first.

Abilities

Although in the original game Mario and Luigi are interchangeable, later games give Luigi unique abilities to separate him from Mario. Luigi can usually jump higher than Mario, but is slower (but is sometimes faster to the point of being unwieldy) and less powerful. He is also often shown with a type of skidding run in his jump due to lesser traction, and he is sometimes more agile than Mario. In Super Mario 64 DS, he is agile enough to temporarily walk on water. Like Mario, he can also utilize a variety of power-ups that change his form and give him new abilities.

Luigi also has particular abilities from game to game. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Luigi learns the Thunderhand, in which he generates electricity. This is later echoed in Luigi's Mega Strike in Mario Strikers Charged, which involves electrical control and is known as Thunder Luigi. In Super Mario 64 DS, his Power Flower ability echoes the Vanish Cap to make him invisible, so he can become Vanish Luigi. In Super Paper Mario, his special ability is the Spring Jump, where he winds himself up and shoots upward into the air, which sends him offscreen while allowing him to bypass obstacles and hit enemies in midair.

In the Smash Bros. games, Luigi is initially a clone of Mario, but he is slowly developed to be more different throughout the games. Luigi is unique in that his taunt (in which he lightly kicks at the ground) can do one percent damage as well as acting as a Meteor Smash if it connects correctly. Within the series, he uses the following special moves:

• Standard Special Move: Fireball- Luigi fires green fireballs. Unlike Mario's fireballs, they are not affected by gravity and will travel in a straight line.
• Side Special Move: Luigi Missile- Introduced in Melee. Luigi charges up and then launches himself to the side in the manner of a missile. It has a chance of misfiring, and Luigi may also get temporarily stuck in a wall.
• Up Special Move: Super Jump Punch- Luigi jumps up into the air to punch at opponents. If used correctly it becomes a more powerful fire jump punch, with green fire surrounding Luigi's fist as he strikes. In Brawl, he will then flip upside down and fall to the ground.
• Down Special Move: Luigi Cyclone- Luigi spins around with his fists extended, performing a spinning punch.
• "Final Smash: Negative Zone-' Luigi's bizarre Final Smash used when Luigi activates a Smash Ball in Brawl. The area is entrapped in a bizarre void with a variety of random effects such as slowing time, decreasing power, dizziness and trapping players in endless taunts.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Luigi starred in the edutainment title Mario is Missing!, which was his first starring role (preceding Luigi's Mansion by years). In this game he traveled across various locales and learned about them in order to search for and rescue Mario from Bowser's clutches, with the aid of Yoshi. He also appeared as the second player in Hotel Mario.
• Luigi is a secret playable character in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In the first game his moveset was identical to Mario, but he received his own unique moveset for Melee.
  • In Super Smash Bros., Luigi is unlocked by completing Bonus Practice I with all of the original eight characters.
  • In Melee he is unlocked by completing 800 Vs. Mode matches or by meeting and defeating him in Adventure Mode. Luigi only appears in Adventure Mode if the first stage is cleared with a 2 in the seconds digit, in which case before the next battle with Mario and Peach, Luigi would suddenly appear and bounce off of Mario's head, then taking Mario's place in the battle. had three unlockable trophies along with a fourth "Vacuum Luigi" trophy unlocked by having Luigi's Mansion data on the same memory card as Melee.
  • In Brawl, Luigi is unlocked by completing 22 brawls, beating Classic Mode without continues or by getting him to join the party in "The Subspace Emissary". He has two main trophies - one being his normal one while the second is of his Final Smash - along with a Paper Luigi trophy. There are also stickers of him from Luigi's Mansion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Super Paper Mario, with Mario from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, with Baby Luigi from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and in a special Super Mario Bros. sticker.
  • Within "The Subspace Emissary", Luigi was first seen at the side of a road cowering at the Waddle Dees that passed by. He was then attacked by King Dedede, who turned him into a trophy and left him out in the open to lure Wario away from his hovering carrier, which contained more trophies. Dedede stole Wario's carrier with the trophies and had the Waddle Dees retrieve Luigi then bring him to his castle. King Dedede placed a special badge on Luigi which was set to revive him from trophy form at a later time. Luigi and Ness were ultimately revived by the badges after the rest of the heroes were trapped in trophy form within Subspace. Luigi and Ness then revived Dedede (whom had been turned into a trophy himself after his castle collapsed on him), and together they traveled into Subspace, forming a bond as they found most of the heroes and revived them (while Kirby found the rest). After being mocked by Wario, they proceeded towards the final battle with Tabuu.
  • Along with Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Yoshi, Luigi can exclusively equip the following stickers for the Subspace Emissary:
    • 1-Up Mushroom (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Bowser (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix)
    • Bowser (Mario Kart 64)
    • Bowser (Super Paper Mario)
    • Coin (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Dice Block (Mario Party 8)
    • Dr. Mario (Nintendo Puzzle Collection)
    • Koopa (Super Mario Strikers)
    • Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
    • Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
    • Luigi & Baby Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time)
    • Mario (Mario Kart DS)
    • Mario & Luigi (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)
    • Mario & Yoshi (Super Mario Sunshine)
    • Mega Rush Badge (Paper Mario)
    • Mushroom (New Super Mario Bros.)
    • Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball)
    • Peach (Super Mario Bros. 2)
    • Peach (Super Princess Peach)
    • Rawk Hawk (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
    • Red Fire (Mario Kart: Double Dash!!)
    • Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Bros.)
    • Toad (Mario Party 6)
    • Toad & Toadette (Mario Party 7)
    • Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball)
    • Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers)
    • Yoshi (Mario Party 2)
    • Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
    • Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go)
• Luigi was included as a Gamecube exclusive character in the Electronic Arts games NBA Streets V3 and SSX On Tour.

Other Media

• Luigi has made multiple animated appearances. His first was in the OVA Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach. In this movie he was portrayed as being a greedy moneymaker and was always abandoning his brother for any way to get money.
• In the three-part anime OVA based on Super Mario Bros. 3, Luigi makes a brief appearance at the end of the Snow White segment, appearing from nowhere to defeat Bowser.
• In the Super Mario Super Show, he was portrayed by Danny Wells for both the animated and live-action sessions of the episode. He managed to appear in all 91 episode of the three DiC Mario cartoons, a feat not even Mario managed to accomplish.
• In the 1993 major motion picture, Luigi is portrayed by John Leguizamo. The movie is notable for being the first time Luigi and Daisy are portrayed as a couple. In the movie Mario and Luigi are not twins, in fact Luigi was actually raised by his older brother.

Trivia

• Like Mario, his original outfit was different. He used to wear green overalls with a white shirt.
• Luigi's name origins are uncertain, although Miyamoto has stated that Nintendo of America named him; it is believed that he is either named after a Mario & Luigi's Pizza, or the name was possibly chosen simply due to being a popular Italian name.
• Besides being available in competitive play, Luigi is playable in adventure mode of New Super Mario Bros. by holding the L and R buttons together when starting the game. However, his abilities are the exact same as Mario.