Luigi

Illustration from the instruction booklet for the NES version Mario Bros. The characters were identical in appearance when rendered in black and white.

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.: The Lost Levels|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 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.

Character

Although as kindhearted as his heroic brother, Luigi is 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. 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. He's also clumsier, although in some incarnations he is considered to be a better jumper than Mario. 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's adventuring companions (excluding his brother) all seem to dislike him and believe he is incompetent. However, in and around the town of Rogueport in the same title, Luigi is discovered to have an intense fan following, suggesting that there is at least one place in the world where Luigi actually eclipses his brother in fame.

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".

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 to harm.

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 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 simular 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. Luigi has the lowest traction of all the playable characters in the game. It is unknown if he will be in Brawl.

In [[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]], Luigi is given the ability to harness and release electricity, the fireball-throwing equivalent of his brother.

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.

Mario Tennis also saw the return of the long-unused character Daisy, who is now believed by some to be Luigi's counterpart to Mario's Princess Peach. 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) 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.

Baby Luigi

Baby Luigi being captured with Kamek's minions Toadies in Yoshi Touch & Go.

[[Image:Babyuigi.jpg|thumb|Baby Luigi as he appears in [[Mario Kart: Double Dash!]]]]

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 rides along with Baby Mario in [[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]] in a converted baby carriage and appears in Mario Superstar Baseball as unlockable character with speed ability on Team Yoshi.

Baby Luigi yawning before going up to bat in Mario Superstar Baseball.

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.

Voice

Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Waluigi, Wario, and Toadsworth.

Luigi in other media

Luigi attacks Bowser in a scene from an obscure anime video.

Though Luigi has become less prominent 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.

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.

Cameo appearances

• 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 Luigi's face avatar along with a Bowser's one in a side-room in the Hyrule's Castle Garden, where Young Link meets Young Zelda for the first time, the room cannot be accessed, but it can be seen from a window.

Trivia

• 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]].

See also

• List of Mario series characters
• Hot Mario Bros

References

External links

• [Official Nintendo Website]
• [Super Mario Wiki], a wiki dedicated to everything Mario
• [Super Mario Bros. Headquarters]
• [KLOV's page on Mario Bros.]

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