Luigi


 * For fighter info, see Luigi (SSB), Luigi (SSBM), and Luigi (SSBB).

Luigi (ルイージ) is a character in the Mario series. He is the younger brother of the more-famous Mario, but is still a prominent character (and second only to his older brother) in the series of the same name. He has featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Character description
Two years after his older brother, Mario made his first appearance in the Arcade classic "Donkey Kong". Luigi would make his first appearance in Mario Bros. for the arcade as the character the second player would control. His appearance is a palette swap of Mario, except colored with green instead of red. He was named after a pizza parlor which was near Nintendo of America's headquarters called "Mario & Luigi's".

Luigi would then once again be featured in the world-famous Super Mario Bros. for the NES, which saw the two brothers traveling through the Mushroom Kingdom for the first to rescue Princess Peach (then called "Princess Toadstool") from the evil Koopa King, Bowser. Here Luigi was clad in white overalls and hat compared to his usual green color scheme. In Super Mario Bros. 2 (both the U.S. and Japanese versions) he would be established as actually having a superior jumping ability to Mario, but having worse traction. However, the U.S. Version did establish that Luigi was both taller and thinner than his older brother. In "Super Mario Bros. 3", Luigi once again looked no different than Mario.

Over the years, while Mario appeared in more and more games, Luigi started taking a backseat to his older brother, even being left out of some games entirely. While he appeared as the solo playable character in Mario is Missing, this was not a "true" Mario title. The most notable of these was Luigi's complete absence in the world-famous Super Mario 64 which garnered some controversy.

However, he would soon make his first appearance in a fighting game in Super Smash Bros. and following that, garnered the spotlight in his own game Luigi's Mansion which launched the GameCube. Since then, Nintendo has made a more conscious effort to include Luigi in more games, playable or otherwise, he starred alongside Mario in the Mario and Luigi games for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS and was a playable character in Super Paper Mario (after appearing as a non-playable character in the first two Paper Mario games). He has even been made into a playable character in Super Mario Galaxy after the game is beaten as Mario. Things have since been looking up for Luigi, and while he is less famous than Mario, he is a popular character among gamers.

As a playable character

 * Main article: Luigi (SSB)

Luigi's first appearance in a fighting game is the original Super Smash Bros. as one of the four secret playable characters. He can be unlocked after completing the Target Test with all of the original 8 playable characters. Luigi's abilities are almost identical to Mario's, but with a few differences. His B-move is also a Fireball except colored green rather than red, and is not affected by gravity like Mario's, so it floats in the air. His B-Up is also an uppercut third jump called the Super Jump Punch, but it does only 1% damage if the hit is indirect. If the hit is direct, it can do up to 25% damage. His B-Down move is called the Luigi Cyclone which is similar to the Mario Tornado, but it sends the opponent flying away from Luigi almost straight up and is often used as a combo finisher. Luigi's taunt is also the only one that does damage.

In Single-player
In the game's single-player mode, you and a randomly chosen ally will fight Luigi and Mario in a team battle on Peach's Castle. Because of this, Luigi is the only secret character to be featured in the game's single-player mode.

As a playable character

 * Main article: Luigi (SSBM)

Luigi returns in Melee as a secret character. He can be unlocked in the adventure game by finishing the first stage with the number "two" in the timer, which will cause Luigi to take Mario's place in the subsequent battle, or by playing 800 VS. matches. Luigi's new B-Forward move gives him a unique ability, the Green Missile. Luigi charges up, and when this is finished, launches himself forward as though he were a missile. (Hence the title) This can be used as a recovery move along with his Super Jump Punch. He also has many all-new Normal Moves.

In Single-player
Luigi can appear in the adventure mode if the player finishes the first stage, Mushroom Kingdom Adventure, with the number "two" anywhere in the timer, a cutscene will occur which will show Luigi taking Mario's place in the upcoming battle. The player will then have to battle a team of Luigi and Peach. If you have unlocked Luigi, Metal Luigi will appear on the Battlefield stage alongside Metal Mario.

Luigi is featured in the following Event Matches:
 * Event 31: Mario Bros. Madness: Your character battles a team of Mario and Luigi in a 2-minute unlimited-stock match in the Mushroom: Kingdom stage. Whoever gets the most KOs wins, much like in a standard time-match.
 * Event 35: Time for a Check-up: You play as Luigi as you battle a team of Dr. Mario and Peach on the Yoshi's Island: Yoshi's Story, with each character having 1 stock and the match timed for 3 minutes.
 * Event 38: Super Mario Bros. 2: In this match, your character must battle against Mario, Luigi, and Peach in an unlimited-time 2-stock match on Mushroom: Kingdom II. The odds may seem especially stacked against the player, but the opponent team is subject to friendly fire. The character selection and stage are a direct throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. 2, an NES sequel to Super Mario Bros.
 * Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Luigi is the second opponent you must fight in this series of staged battles. Your character battles him on the Mushroom Kingdom II stage, and your character has 2 stock while Luigi has one. With a timer of four minutes, you must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life you have: Marth, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Mr. Game and Watch.
 * Event 42: Trouble King 2: You play as Luigi against a giant Bowser on the stage Poke Floats, with both players having 2 stock each.

Trophies
By tradition, Luigi as a playable character is featured on his personal 3 trophies. His normal trophy is acquired by beating the Classic mode with Luigi on any difficulty, and his Smash Red and Smash Blue trophies are acquired the same way by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.

Another trophy that features Luigi is Vacuum Luigi.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Luigi is once again an unlockable character and can be unlocked by playing twenty-two vs matches, completing Classic Mode, or by getting Luigi to join your party in The Subspace Emissary. Luigi also features his own unique voice acting, rather than just Mario's voice clips sped up.

Trophy Info
''Mario's younger twin brother. He's shy and quiet and overshadowed by his sibling, but he's actually quite talented. His jumping ability surpasses Mario's, and his all-around skills let him overcome any problem. He's a bit cowardly and really afraid of ghosts. Even so, in Luigi's Mansion, he was charged with cleaning up a whole house full of spirits.''


 * Mario Bros. (1983)
 * Luigi's Mansion (2001)