is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Luigi is the younger brother of Nintendo mascot Mario. He first appeared in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player, and has retained this role in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and other titles. The first game he was available as player one was in Super Mario Bros. 2. His first starring role was in the 1991 educational game Mario is Missing which was developed and published by the Mindscape Group rather than Nintendo; his only other starring role to date was in Luigi's Mansion for the Gamecube in 2001. In both of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero because Mario, the normal hero-character within the franchise, is the one in need of rescue.
Luigi's name was inspired by a pizza parlor near Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, called Mario & Luigi's. His name may also be a pun on the Japanese word ruiji (類似, ruiji?), meaning analogousNakao, R: "Random House Japanese-English English-Japanese Dictionary". Random House, 1997, a play on the fact that his sprite was the same as Mario's in his original appearances.
Luigi's voice is performed by Charles Martinet, the same actor who provides the voice for Mario, as well as many other characters within the franchise.
Luigi's first appearance was in the arcade game Mario Bros. in 1983. During the development of the earlier Donkey Kong, designer Shigeru Miyamoto had created Mario with the hope in mind that he would be able to recast the character in a variety of different roles in future games.Demaria, R: "High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games", page 238. McGraw Hill-Osbourne, 2002 With Mario Bros., Miyamoto had been inspired by the game Joust to create a game with a simultaneous two-player mode. Luigi's first appearance was a simple palette swap of Mario, designed to represent the second player, while the first player controlled Mario himself. In accordance with Nintendo's marketing policy of naming and promoting individual characters, Luigi was given a name, but the only definite biographical detail provided for the new character was that he was Mario's brother who was also a plumber. Graphically and in terms of gameplay, the characters were completely identical except for their color schemes: Mario wore red while Luigi wore green.
The arcade version of Mario Bros. featured Luigi (right) in his debut appearance as a simple palette swap of Mario.
Luigi was introduced to a wider audience in the breakthrough hit Super Mario Bros., functioning again as second-player palette swap of Mario. It wasn't until the Japan-only sequel Super Mario Bros. 2 was released that Luigi began to become distinguished from Mario. In that title, Luigi appeared as taller and slimmer than his brother, and was a better jumper with less accuracy, similar to the character of "Mama" in Miyamoto's Doki Doki Panic of the same era. In 1988, a version of Panic with the graphics altered to represent characters from the Mario franchise was released in the United States as Super Mario Bros. 2 after the Japanese sequel was deemed to be too difficult for American audiences. In this version, the "Mama" character was redesigned as Luigi in his new taller, thinner look, marking the introduction of the new design to English-speaking audiences. His appearance has since remained consistent in promotional art depicting Luigi, as well as most of his in-game appearances.
Much like his brother, Luigi's outfit colors have gone through some changes. In the original Mario Bros., Luigi was given green overalls with a white shirt and hat, to allow the player not to confuse him with Mario while playing a 2-player game. When the original Super Mario Bros. was released, his overalls and shirt colors were swapped, however when touching a fire flower, he would don a red shirt, utilizing the same sprite as Mario. It was not until Super Mario Bros. 2 that Luigi donned his traditional blue overalls green shirt/hat combination. The white shirt/green overalls are now used to signify when a fire flower is received (and is also an alternate costume for Luigi in Super Smash Bros. Melee).
Although as kindhearted as his heroic brother, Luigi is portrayed as timid and even a bit of a coward, especially in the presence of ghosts or when forced to do tasks that seemingly are impossible for him to accomplish. Despite this facet, when in the face of intense adversity (ghosts included), he is known to work up his courage and resolve and eventually get the job done, proving he is much braver than is believed or portrayed. He also cries a lot in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the Star Gate even tells him he might die in Shroob Castle because he is a crybaby (strangly, he crys a lot more than his baby self, Baby Luigi. It also seems that Baby Luigi is a lot braver). He's also clumsier, although he is a better jumper than Mario (generally in games where he is selectable rather than in a 2 Player game). He does tend to be self-conscious whereas Mario is carefree and headstrong. He is also described as being smarter than Mario in the Mario Party instruction manual."Mario Party Instruction Booklet", page 6. Nintendo, 1998
In more recent games, Luigi has also been depicted as being less recognized than his famous brother, and perhaps underappreciated, echoing Luigi's less prominent role in the Mario franchise in real life. In the Mario and Luigi series, most of the supporting characters seem to have difficulty remembering Luigi's name, including his enemies. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Luigi became an esteemed author, writing a series of bestselling novels entitled Super Luigi, which tell the "true" story of his quest to save Princess Eclair of the Waffle Kingdom. His tale made him quite famous especially in the town of Rougeport, where the books are sold as the game progresses. However, any of Luigi's companions Mario talks to in the game will tell him that he shouldn't believe a word Luigi is saying.
Luigi is usually said to be the younger of the Mario Brothers. In the game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it is stated that he is Mario's twin. Confusingly, a later port of that game (Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3) does not refer to Mario and Luigi as twins, but simply as brothers. Yoshi's Island also includes a scene where the infant brothers are delivered by the stork to their parents. It is possible to infer from this scene that Luigi is actually the younger twin, as both are delivered together, but Mario is the first to emerge from his sling. This is backed up by the European version of the port, which has selectable languages, all of which use a term meaning "twins" or "twin brothers". Finally, selecting the Japanese text in any NTSC version of Super Smash Bros. Melee will describe Luigi as Mario's twin, finalizing that they are indeed twins. However, in most other games, Luigi will almost always be referenced as Mario's younger brother.
In the game Luigi's Mansion he supposedly wins a mansion in a contest that he never enters. He and Mario decide to meet up at the mansion to check it out. However, Mario gets there early and is kidnapped by King Boo. Luigi goes on a journey through the mansion in order to get rid of all the ghosts and save Mario. After he does so, the mansion disappears, having only been an illusion created by the Boos. However, Luigi found a large amount of treasure during his adventure through the mansion. The Treasure turned out to be real. At the end of the game, Luigi used the money to build himself a real mansion. The inside of the mansion, unfortunately, has never been seen, and the mansion has never been mentioned since, although it can be seen in the background of the Luigi Circuit course in Mario Kart: Double Dash
Also in Double Dash
, there is a battle course placed inside the mansion. It also appears in Mario Kart DS as a normal race course.
Powers and abilities
In most of his video game appearances, Luigi's abilities are either identical or similar to Mario's with slight variations. Beginning with Mario Bros. and throughout the Mario Bros. series, Luigi's most commonly seen abilities have revolved around jumping, stomping on, and knocking over small enemies, as well as using his fist to either disrupt or break bricks above him. Since Super Mario Bros., Luigi and Mario have also made extensive use of items to extend their abilities, the most notable of which being the Super Mushroom, which allows the player's character to grow larger, the Fire Flower, which allows him to throw fireballs until damaged, and the Starman, which grants Mario or Luigi temporary invulnerability. For the most part, Luigi's abilities are comparable to those of Mario.
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi is distinguished as being the best jumper out of Mario, Peach, and Toad, jumping higher than any other character, but he's not as fast as either Mario or Toad."Super Mario Bros. 2 Instruction Booklet", pages 7-9. Nintendo, 1988 In the previous Lost Levels, Luigi also jumps higher than Mario, but has lower traction, making the character more difficult to control. This characteristic also appears in Super Mario 64 DS, where Luigi can run across a small amount of water with a running start using this power.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, Luigi appears as an unlockable character. His special moves are similar to Mario's. His fireballs are green and travel in a straight line. His tornado attack is very weak, unlike Mario's. His super jump punch is his most deadly special move; if it connects, it sends his foe straight up in the air, causing much damage. If it does not connect it will only cause 1% of full damage. In Melee, when the characters were given a new special move, Luigi gained the ability to launch himself forward like a rocket, damaging the first enemy he comes in contact with (his first special move not based on Mario's). Luigi has the lowest traction of all the playable characters in the game. It is unknown if he will be in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Luigi is given the ability to harness and release electricity with the technique known as the Thunderhand, the fireball-throwing equivalent of his brother. Mario, on the other hand, would attain control of fire with the Firebrand technique. Combined, they are referred to as the Hand Powers, and both are learned at Oho Oasis, which the Mario Bros. inadvertantly crashland onto after the Beanstar breaks into four pieces. Later on in the game, the brothers will learn their Bros. Techniques for the Hand Powers by the Jellyfish Sisters.
Relationships with other characters
With the debut of Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, Luigi gained a rival character in the form of Waluigi, who represents Luigi's evil counterpart in the same way Wario is considered Mario's counterpart. Waluigi has appeared since in the Mario Party series, Mario Kart games, Mario Power Tennis, and just about every other game featuring Mario's all-star supporting cast. While the two have a tendency to hate each other's guts, Luigi has the greater chance of brushing off the squabbles and moving on, leaving Waluigi to revel in his frustration and anger. Looking at their history of conflicts, it is inferred that Luigi eventually comes out the better man in most every situation, consistently trouncing his nemesis on numerous occasions and in equally numerous contexts. At the end of his singles tournament in Mario Tennis, Waluigi is strutting about on the pedastal holding up his trophy while Luigi looks on. While Waluigi is gloating towards the crowd and especially to the younger Mario brother, Luigi, obviously unphazed, simply waves him off and walks away, leaving his demented alter-ego to pose furiously towards him as if frustrated by his counterpart's insolence.
There has been evidence that Luigi, like Mario, is in love with, or at least adores, Princess Peach. A cutscene in Mario Power Tennis when players win any tournament with Princess Peach shows her blowing kisses to both Mario and Luigi, who both hover a little and swoon. This belief is reinforced by older forms of media involving the Mario Bros. and Princess Peach. The trio are nonetheless very good friends between each other, at the very least. It should also be noted that (even though it may have been only a comical parody of some of Mario's actual adventures, and the princess is never actually seen with Luigi, let alone exists) during the stories Luigi tells about his adventures in the Waffle Kingdom, he becomes romantically inclined toward Princess Eclair, whom Luigi is trying to rescue.
At any rate, one of the most notable and talked-about relationships regarding the green plumber involves Princess Daisy, leading monarchy of Sarasaland, who is now believed by many to be Luigi's counterpart to Mario's Princess Peach as well as overall love interest. The possible concept of a relationship between Luigi and Daisy began with NES Open Tournament Golf, Daisy's only appearance in her extended absence between her debut game Super Mario Land for the Game Boy and her reemergance in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 over ten years later; in it, she served as Luigi's caddy, much as Peach was Mario's caddy. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Daisy's trophy biography states, "After her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips started portraying her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach." In Mario Tennis, when Luigi is selected for the doubles tournament, his doubles partner will be Daisy. In Mario Superstar Baseball, Luigi and Daisy are "buddy players," and they share good chemistry.
Baby Luigi is a character in Nintendo's Mario series, similar to Baby Mario. He is the infant version of Luigi, although he has appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash
alongside his older self. It is generally accepted that these games do not have story lines and merely offer extra playable characters for greater variety. Baby Luigi first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where he was kidnapped by Kamek, only to be rescued by his brother Mario (Baby Mario at the time) and Yoshi. Like his older self, Baby Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet.
Baby Luigi more recently appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go, where Yoshi must rescue Luigi by throwing eggs in order to hit the Toadies carrying him. In the multiplayer mode, the second player's Yoshi will be carrying Baby Luigi instead of Baby Mario.
Baby Luigi also stars in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, along with Baby Mario, his older self, and Mario. His abilities in battle appear to be identical to those of Baby Mario. The game explains the co-existence of the two sets of brothers in this game by saying that Mario and Luigi are sent back in time after an experiment with Princess Peach goes terribly wrong. They must battle the evil Princess Shroob to restore order to the shattered past of the Mushroom Kingdom.
For the newly announced game Yoshi's Island 2, Baby Mario, Baby Peach, and Baby Donkey Kong have been confirmed to be ride on Yoshi's back when their preschool's students vanish and a huge island appears over Yoshi's Island. It is currently unknown if Baby Luigi is among the vanishing children or if he will be a late addition for one of the babies who can ride on Yoshi.
Unlike Mario, whose voice has remained basically the same since its debut in Mario's Game Gallery, Luigi's voice has fluctuated between high and low-pitched varieties throughout games. When his voice was first introduced in Mario Kart 64, it was considerably lower in pitch than Mario's (although it was high pitched in the Japanese version); however, in Mario Party, he possessed a much higher pitched voice which was similar to Mario's (the same voice from the Japanese MK64). It is a theory that the Japanese voiceactor gave Luigi a higher-pitched voice, and it was simply carried over. He retained this higher voice in Mario Party 2 and also had a high voice in Super Smash Bros; it is possible that the SSB voice, however, is not a different voiceactor, but rather Mario's voice elevated to a higher pitch. In Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Party 3, however, his voice returned to a lower state. Since then, with the exceptions of Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Super Smash Bros. Melee, games have consistently given Luigi a medium-pitched voice. In Super Mario Strikers, the beginning credits randomly have different characters say "Nintendo" or "Next Level Games". Luigi sounds shaky and frightened when saying either logo. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, Luigi is given a voice similar, yet slightly higher than, Mario's.
Luigi attacks Bowser in a scene from an obscure anime video.
Though Luigi has become less promiscuous in the games lately, he would accompany Mario in all of his jumps to other forms of media, with the exception of the Saturday Supercade, which came out at roughly the same time as his first appearance.
Luigi as he appeared in the American cartoons.
His film debut came in the obscure 1986 Mario anime movie, The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, where he was voiced by Mizushima Yu. He does not appear in the three Super Mario Bros. 3 OVA films until the end of the Shirayukihime story.
Afterwards, Luigi was a regular on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, which cast Danny Wells as both his live portrayal and voice actor. Like his brother, Luigi's voice actor changed in later cartoons, in his case to Tony Rosato. He also appeared alongside Mario in several comic book incarnations, including the Nintendo Comics System.
John Leguizamo as Luigi in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. feature film.
Luigi played quite a different role in the Super Mario Bros. movie, where he was portrayed by John Leguizamo. There, Luigi was a more easy-going character in contrast to the cynical Mario of the film. Because he was played by a younger, more relatable actor (as opposed to Bob Hoskins, who played Mario), Luigi was presented as the main character for the movie, even gaining the affection of the Princess (Daisy). Luigi is so much younger that Mario was the one who raised him. The film implies that their parents died shortly after Luigi was born, leaving Mario as Luigi's only "parents". One odd note; the brothers do not acquire their iconic outfits until well into the film, and oddly enough Luigi has a tendency to wear red clothing while in plain-clothes, while Mario has a tendency to wear green. In addition, Luigi's moustache is missing.
*In Nintendogs, the player can find Luigi's hat. *In Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: Wild World, you can find a "Lil' Bro's Shirt"& Lil'Bro's Hat" a green shirt with Luigi's L logo on it & a green hat with his logo. *Luigi also appeared in a Warioware: Touched mini game. The player unravels a green shirt on the third level of "Spin a Yarn." After the shirt is unraveled all the way, Luigi jumps, making an L-shape. *In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, there's a few paintings in the courtyard at Hyrule Castle, in a room that cannot be reached. One of the paintings is of Luigi. If Link were to use his Slingshot to shoot the painting(s), he is rewarded a Red Rupee.
*Luigi has disguised himself as Princess Peach twice; once in the Super Mario Adventures comic that ran in Nintendo Power in an attempt to rescue Mario (leaving the real Peach in his own clothes), and again in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in order to save the real Peach and recover the Beanstar. Similarly, he has dressed as a bride during his adventures in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. His Bob-omb counterpart Jerry was apparently horrified at this sight, and only stayed with Luigi to prevent it from ever happening again.
