Ridley

Ridley is a character from the Metroid Series, and quite an important boss, generally one of the last ones. He is a pterosaur-like monster with claws and wings. His attacks include a charge attack, fireballs (a lot of small ones or a few big ones), and a grab attack, in which he grabs Samus, damaging her.

Character description


Ridley, the codename for his "official" name Geoform 187, is a Space Pirate General. In spite of his fearsome and bestial appearance and mannerisms, however, Ridley is by no means a mindless beast; he is sentient and can speak.

Ridley is directly connected to Samus Aran's past and present. In the Metroid E-Manga, he has gained enough favor with the Space Pirates that he is now one of their figures of highest authority. He attacked and decimated 3-year-old Samus's homeworld of K-2L in a raid for fuel and resources, and Ridley himself killed Samus's mother when she jumped in to protect her daughter. Unwittingly, he created his own worst enemy in Samus for this.

In Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission he appears as the leader of the Space Pirates and as a boss in the area with his name, and in Zero Mission the final boss is a mechanical Ridley. He, his counterpart Kraid and all the Space Pirates want to capture the Metroids for, of course, evil purposes.

A cyborg version of Ridley, called Meta Ridley, was a major antagonist in Metroid Prime and reappeared in addition to a new version called Omega Ridley in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

In Super Metroid, he kidnaps the last Metroid, a hatchling found by Samus. It ends up as the main mission of the game, and having to find the Metroid hatchling, the player battles once more Kraid, Mother Brain and others.

In Metroid Fusion, Ridley's cryogenically frozen remains appear, and Samus later fights an X Parasite mimicking him.

In ''Super Smash Bros.
Ridley appeared on Planet Zebes, flying in the background.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
He has a cameo in the introduction sequence of Super Smash Bros. Melee fighting Samus, when Samus jumps on top of him and shoots several missiles. He appears to have the baby Metroid.

Trophy description
''The head of the Space Pirates on Zebes, Ridley soars through space on wicked wings. Ridley may look like a mindless monster, but he's actually quite intelligent. After the SR-388 incident, where Samus captured the infant Metroid, Ridley took the Space Academy by storm, annihilating the complex and taking the Metroid back.''


 * Metroid (1989)

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A remix of Ridley's theme from Super Metroid and Meta Ridley's theme both appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In addition, Ridley's lair in the Metroid series, Norfair, is also featured as a stage. Hacking shows that Assist Trophy data of Ridley was found, but, unfortunately, Ridley doesn't appear as an assist trophy despite his other numerous references.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Ridley appears as a boss during the Subspace Emissary, in which Samus and Pikachu must fight him. In the cutscene prior to the battle, Ridley ambushes and grabs Samus, flying upward and scraping her along the walls. Pikachu breaks Samus free from Ridley's grasp using Thunder. In the first battle, Ridley has higher health and uses moves ranging from claw swipes to a move similar to Rayquaza's Extremespeed to a tailswipe across the entire stage. The tailswipe can do major damage (The move can do around 70% damage if other person at 0% damage) on harder difficulties and the extreme speed move is a main killing move. He flies from one side to the other and is similar in style to Master Hand in the way of how it attacks and then pauses. Meta-Ridley, his form in Metroid Prime, later attacks Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, C. Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu, and R.O.B.

Ridley and his Meta-Ridley form are resurrected by Tabuu, their true leader, in the Great Maze to face down the heroes. Oddly enough, they are resurrected as separate beings

First OR Second Move
- Ridley scrapes the stage with his tail. At low percentages, it covers half the stage. At higher percentages, it cover the whole stage, sometimes twice and is dodgeable by jumping.

First Move
- Ridley flies away from the screen to the right/left, and then rushes at you horizontally. It is dodgeable by sidestepping or jumping.

- Ridley does a loop-de-loop and damages anyone who makes contact. This can be dodged by jumping into the middle where he will just circle you.

Second Move
- Ridley roars and flaps his wings violently, which kicks up wind that pushes you back slightly. Damage can be taken by making contact with his head as this starts.

- Ridley flies low and sweeps the stage. He screeches before this.

Third Move
- Ridley jumps up and then tries to stomp on you. It can be dodged by running to the opposite end of the stage.

- Ridley jumps up and then flies toward you from off-screen, similar to Master Hand's punch. It is dodgeable by air dodging.


 * On higher difficulties defeating Ridley usually earns something valuable.

Trophy Stand Strategy


Obtaining a trophy of Ridley can be quite a hassle, considering that most of his time is spent in the air. On top of this, a Trophy Stand takes a considerable amount of time to appear. It is advised that at least one character has a sticker that increases trophy stand drops, like Big Boss because the effect remains active for the whole fight. Also, it's best to play on the Very Hard or Intense difficulty, because the drop chance is higher. If your unlucky enough to get the stand towards the fight's beginning, drop it when you sense a move that you have difficulty avoiding in case you die; the next character can retrieve it. Lower his health significantly, but not too much incase a Blast Box/ Bob-omb etc appears and Ridley detonates it whilst your waiting for the Trophy Stand. The best chance of turning Ridley into a Trophy is when he is readying his third move, when he crouches to take off. If you miss this chance, if he does the stomp move, you can get him as he lands. This is the best opportunity because other times he normally floats over the edge of the stage and the trophy drops into the abyss below. Alternatively, you could risk doing this and chase the trophy with a fast faller, but it is not advised. You may also want to risk throwing it when he rushes across the screen, but you must have quick reflexes to achieve this!

Trophy Info
''The leader of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. He plans to steal the baby Metroid from Samus for his own use. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail. As the culprit behind the murder of Samus's parents, the connections with Samus run deep.''


 * Metroid (1989)
 * Super Metroid (1994)

Trivia

 * Ridley has a move during the first battle similiar to Dyna Blade in Kirby Super Star. He takes to the background and jets straight ahead into camera view and flies up. He had done this before during a fight with Samus in Super Metroid, but not as an attack. A similar type of attack was employed by Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime.


 * On the official Japanese polls Ridley was voted for 4 times to be playable. The highest vote was for King Dedede with 5.