Ridley (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

This article is about Ridley's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Ridley.

“	Joining the battle from the storied Metroid series, Ridley's long tail and sharp claws let him unleash a torrent of devastating attacks. His Final Smash is a powerful stream of plasma breath intense enough to bring down Samus's starship.	”
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Ridley
Universe	Metroid
Also appears in	SSBB (boss) SSBWU/3DS (Stage hazard)
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Plasma Scream
Character Statistics
Number of Jumps	3
Can Wall Jump	No
Can Wall Cling	No
Can Crawl	No
Can Glide	No
Has a Tether	No

Ridley is a newcomer fighter from the Metroid universe who makes his first playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. To date, he is the largest Smash Bros. fighter in Smash Bros. history to be an eligible fighter, although his size was reduced compared to his original appearance to fit with other fighters.

When unlocked, he is fought at Norfair.

Attributes

Strengths

• Above average stats make Ridley effective in overpowering, outmaneuvering or outlasting his opponents.
• Impressive aerial movement despite being a tank.
• Many melee attacks have excellent range, mostly due to Ridley's long tail.
• Plasma Breath is a projectile that bounces across the floor.

Weaknesses

• Despite his speed, Ridley's large hurtbox makes him a large target for enemy attacks.
• Dependent on precision, because his tail attacks are pathetic if they do not hit their Sweet spots.
• Many of Ridley's deadliest moves are high risk / high reward.

Moveset

• All of Ridley's tail attacks have a Sweet spot at the tip.

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack: Swipes with his left claw, then with his right, then swings his head right to bite his opponent, the full combo dealing 8.5% damage. Alternatively, it can continue into a rapid jab where he continuously stabs his tail into the opponent dealing a minimum of 9.7% damage.
• Forward Tilt: Grabs his tail and thrusts it into the foe. Can be angled. Deals 10% on tail sourspot, 13% on spear sweetspot.
• Up Tilt: Swings his right wing upward. Ends quick enough to combo into itself. Deals 7% damage.
• Down Tilt: Turns around and swings his tail along the ground. Deals 6% damage. 9% on sweetspot.
• Dash Attack: Leans forward and quickly bites. Deals 12% damage.

Smash Attacks

• Forward Smash: Unleashes a short-range fire blast. Deals 20% base damage.
• Up Smash: Flips upward, kicking with his legs. Deals 17% base damage.
• Down Smash: Jumps into the air, stretches his wings out, and slams them onto the ground when he lands. Deals 16.1% base damage.

Other attacks

• Floor Attack (Front): Swings around with a claw swipe.
• Floor Attack (Back): Thrusts his tail Back them forward whilst getting up.
• Floor Attack (Trip): Attacks in the front and back with his claws. Deals 6% damage.
• Ledge Attack: Swipes low to the ground with his left claw.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial: Spins his entire body around similar to a backwards Charizard's N-air. Active for the majority of the animation. Deals 12% on tail tip, and 9% and 5% on his early and late leg hitboxes.
• Forward aerial: Jabs his tail forward multiple times. Deals 5.9% damage for each jab for a maximum total of 17% damage on all sweetspots.
• Back aerial: Does a backward roundhouse kick with his left leg. Deals 15% damage
• Up aerial: Shrugs his wings upward while closed. Deals 14% damage on sweetspot, 10.2% on sourspots towards the centre of his wings.
• Down aerial: A stall-then-fall stomp with both feet. Deals 14% damage on spike hitbox.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel: Stabs his tail into the opponent. Deals 1.6% damage.
• Forward Throw: Ridley simply tosses his foe forward. Deals 9% damage.
• Back Throw: An under-handed toss backwards. Deals 11% damage. Ridley's go-to kill throw.
• Up Throw: Ridley throws his foe up and stabs them with his tail. Deals 12% damage. Most powerful of Ridley's throws.
• Down Throw: Ridley slams his opponent downward. Generic combo throw. Deals 7% damage.

Special Moves

Ridley's Special Moves
	Ultimate
Standard Special	Plasma Breath
Side Special	Space Dragon Rush
Up Special	Wing Blitz
Down Special	Skewer
Final Smash	Plasma Scream

Taunts

• Side Taunt: Ridley flips and flexes quickly, demonstrating his acrobatics.
• Down Taunt: Ridley stands up straight while giving a sadistic smirk.
• Up Taunt: Ridley roars and flaps his wings violently.

On-Screen Appearance

• Swoops down from the sky and roars as he lands.

Idle Poses

• Ridley extends his wings out a little before shaking his body around.
• Ridley scratches his chin and snarls.

Victory Poses

• The camera catches Ridley mauling and scratching at something. He then turns around and smirks. Likely reference to when Ridley first met Samus in the Metroid manga.
• Ridley screeches while flying. He flips to land and strikes a pose.
• Ridley lands from soaring in the sky, then strikes a menacing stance.

In competitive play

To be added

Palette Swaps

Gallery

Ridley's Meta Ridley palette

Ridley using his Final Smash.

Ridley's splash screen. Ridley Hits the Big Time!

Ridley with Kirby on Mushroom Kingdom U.

Ridley taunting on Pokémon Stadium 2.

Ridley using a Hammer on Wrecking Crew.

Ridley taunting on Wily Castle.

Luigi, Ridley, King K. Rool, and Incineroar on Spirit Train.

Bowser, Incineroar, Ridley, King K. Rool, Ganondorf, and Wolf on Midgar.

Videos

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - A Piercing Screech - Nintendo Switch

65 Ridley – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Trivia

• Ridley is the first character to be a playable character that was a former boss; although Giga Bowser and Petey Piranha did return as Final Smashes.
• Meta Ridley is one of Ridley's alternative palettes.
• Ridley's promotional art pose is very similar to Bowser's promotional art in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
• According to an interview with Sakurai, Ridley's down taunt is his favorite because it shows how big Ridley truly is.
• After Ridley's Final Smash, Samus' destroyed Gunship can be seen crashing in the background.
• During his reveal trailer, the method in which Ridley dispatches Mega Man is highly reminiscent of how the Alien Queen killed the android Bishop in the movie Aliens. The Metroid series is known for copying elements from the Alien film series, hence the reveal trailer doing the same.
• Some of Ridley's palette swaps are references to either variations of the character, or other representations of him. In order, his red color references his appearance on the North American box art of Super Metroid, his dark blue color is a reference to Neo-Ridley, his green palette represents his appearance in Metroid: Zero Mission, the bright purple color swap is a reference to his original sprite in Metroid, while the golden color swap is a reference to the Golden Statues found in Super metroid, and his light grey Meta Ridley color swap is a reference to Robo-Ridley.
• Ridley is the only male character from the Metroid series to be playable in Smash, and the only Metroid representative to not be a variation of Samus Aran.