Luigi
| Luigi | |
|---|---|
| 'Mario' character | |
| File:Luigi (Mario Party DS).png Luigi in Mario Party DS | |
| First game | Mario Bros. (1983) |
| Created by | Shigeru Miyamoto |
Luigi is a fictional character created by Nintendo's game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is portrayed as the younger brother of Nintendo's official mascot, Mario. Luigi first appeared in the arcade game Mario Bros., where he was featured as the main character alongside Mario. Since his debut, Luigi has appeared in many games throughout the Mario series, often accompanying Mario as the central protagonist, but at times starring as the main character of his own games.
While Luigi was originally created as a character identical to Mario except for being colored green instead of red, his rise in prominence throughout the Mario series lead to the adoption of a personality and style of his own. His voice is performed by Charles Martinet, the same actor who provides the voice for Mario, as well as other characters throughout the Mario franchise.[1]
Concept and creation
The events leading to Luigi's creation began in 1981 during the development of Donkey Kong, where designer Shigeru Miyamoto had created Mario (then known as "Jumpman") hoping that he would be able to recast the character in a variety of different roles in future games.[2] Miyamoto had been inspired by the game Joust to create a game with a simultaneous two-player mode, which lead to his creation of the game Mario Bros. in 1983 with the inclusion of Mario's brother as the second playable character. [3] In accordance with Nintendo's marketing policy of naming and promoting individual characters,[2] the new character was given the name Luigi, which was inspired by a pizza parlor near Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, called "Mario & Luigi's".[4] While Mario was originally portrayed as a carpenter in Donkey Kong, the duo of Mario and Luigi in Mario bros. were instead styled as Italian plumbers. Software constraints of the time meant that Luigi's first appearance was restricted to a simple palette swap of Mario designed to represent the second player. Graphically and in terms of gameplay, the characters were completely identical except for their color schemes. These constraints would also play a role in determining the look of Mario and Luigi that would be reflected in their future appearances. The limited pixels and colors the programmers had available at the time meant they could not animate the characters' movement without making their arms "disappear". Making their shirts a solid color and giving them overalls fixed this. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears, and they could not animate hair, so Mario and Luigi received a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems.[5]
After the success of Mario Bros., Luigi was introduced to a wider audience in 1985 with the release of the console game Super Mario Bros. Once again he would function as a second-player palette swap of Mario, this time appearing with matching white hat and overalls and a green shirt and green shoes to contrast with Mario's red cap and overalls and brown shirt and brown shoes. It wasn't until the release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as "The Lost Levels" outside Japan) that Luigi began to become more distinguished from Mario. In that title, Luigi was a better jumper than Mario; he jumped higher and fell more slowly, though he did jump with less accuracy and traction. In 1988, a version of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki 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 character of "Mama" was redesigned as Luigi in his new taller, thinner look, marking the introduction of the new design to English-speaking audiences. Luigi's newly distinguished appearance and color scheme were later adopted in Japan as well, and has since remained consistent in most subsequent promotional art and in-game appearances.
Actor portrayal
Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth. Unlike Mario, whose voice has remained the same since its debut in Mario's Game Gallery,[citation needed] 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 Mario Kart 64). It is a theory that the Japanese voice actor gave Luigi a higher-pitched voice, and it was simply carried over. He retained this higher voice in Mario Party 2. In Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Party 3, 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 Mario Kart Super Circuit, Luigi's voice was the same high voice from the Japanese Mario Kart 64 like the words "Here we Go!", "Bingo!" and "Wow, whoah, wow, wow, whoah!". In Super Smash Brothers Melee, Luigi's voice is made up of clips from Mario's voice taken from Super Mario 64. In Super Mario Strikers, the beginning credits randomly have different characters say "Nintendo" or "Next Level Games".
Characteristics
Although Luigi is as kindhearted as his heroic brother, other facets of his personality seem to vary from game to game. In the Mario & Luigi series he is often portrayed as reluctant, cowardly and timid, whereas the Paper Mario series makes him a more laid-back, but still somewhat cowardly, personality who tends to embellish his own accomplishments and abilities in the hopes of sharing some of Mario's fame. He also tends to be more willing to help with Mario's quest, but does not get the opportunity to do so until Super Paper Mario (where he cowers behind a rock in the Underwhere until you speak to him). His latest appearance in Super Mario Galaxy has Luigi being someone awkward and a bit cowardly, but committed to helping Mario/himself recover the Power Stars and rescue Peach from Bowser. He also helps Mario/himself find his first Green Power Star, but gets himself into more trouble than the star is worth in the process.
Luigi has been depicted as being less recognizable than his brother, and perhaps under-appreciated. A running gag in the Mario & Luigi series has most of the supporting characters (especially Bowser and his minions; In the Mario & Luigi series, he refers to Luigi simply as "Green 'Stache") having difficulty remembering Luigi's name (with the exception of Princess Peach and Toadsworth). This gag was continued into Super Mario 64 DS, Super Princess Peach, and Super Mario Galaxy. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Luigi garnered fame after a series of best-selling novels entitled Super Luigi were written about him, which tells the true (albeit exaggerated) story of his quest to save a princess from a faraway kingdom, which Mario can hear at various points on his adventure to find the Crystal Stars. In Paper Mario, the player is able to read Luigi's diary, which is both for comedy, and help in the game. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time at one point he is said to have one or several deep, dark and embarrassing secrets that he wishes no one to know. However, this is not a major plot point, and is likely stated for comedy rather than the intent of being taken seriously as character development.
In many games and game manuals, Luigi is said to be the younger of the Mario Brothers. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and more recently in Super Paper Mario, he refers to Mario as "big brother". However, in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it is stated that he is Mario's twin. It includes a scene where the infant brothers are delivered by the stork to their parents. From this scene, it is possible to infer that Luigi is actually the younger twin, as 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". The Official European Mario Megastar website states that Luigi is a slightly younger twin in his profile, while numerous Japanese info states that Mario and Luigi are twins. Also, for the first time in North America since the original release of Yoshi's Island, Super Paper Mario recently implies that they may be twins (Luigi refers to Mario and Luigi as twins despite Luigi calling Mario "big bro" on more than one occasion). The most recent Nintendo source in the form of Super Smash Bros. Brawl confirms Luigi to be, "Mario's younger twin brother."[6] Despite this, Mario acts like a traditional older brother towards Luigi.
Powers and abilities
In most of his video game appearances, Luigi's abilities are either identical to those of Mario or with slight variations. Beginning with Mario Bros. and throughout the Super Mario Bros. series, Luigi's most commonly-seen abilities have revolved around jumping, stomping, 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 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 become Fire Luigi and 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.: The Lost Levels (originally released in Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2), Luigi is distinguished as being a better jumper than Mario, but has lower traction, making the character more difficult to control. In Super Mario Bros. 2 (later released in Japan as Super Mario USA), Luigi is again the best jumper, better than Peach (or Princess Toadstool, as she was known as in North America at the time the game was released), Mario or Toad, although he is not as fast as Mario.[7] The traction characteristic appears in Super Mario 64 DS, where Luigi can run across a small amount of water with a running start using this power. However, he is the same speed as Mario and is surprisingly more agile than the other characters. Unlike Mario, however, he cannot perform a wall-kick.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, Luigi appears as an unlockable character. In general, his moves are similar to Mario's, but in defiance of the usual assumption that Mario is stronger, Luigi’s attacks tend to be more powerful. He is better at jumping and running than Mario, but lacks coordination and traction. His special moves are similar to Mario's, the main difference being that his fireballs are green and are not affected by gravity. His low traction makes him a difficult character to maneuver; however, his strong smash attacks, balanced moveset, speed, and nearly limitless horizontal recovery capacity (i.e. the ability to charge himself up like a rocket can be used as an attack or repeatedly to recover back on stage) makes him a powerful opponent under the experienced player. An enhanced form of Luigi, Metal Luigi, appears in the Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee (as long as Luigi is unlocked) as Metal Mario's partner. He has more attack power than the regular Luigi and is harder to knock out. Comparing both Metal Bros., Metal Luigi is a bit stronger than Metal Mario. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, when Luigi obtains the Smash Ball, he produces a large force field (known as the Negative Zone) with psychedelic colors and performs a dance that hinders his opponents and plauges them with a wide range of negative aftereffects.
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Luigi is given the ability to harness and release electricity with the technique known as the "Thunderhand". Mario, on the other hand, attains control of fire with the "Firebrand" technique. Electricity may in fact be Luigi's "element" with which he attacks (similar to Mario's fire). Signs of this are that he gets the Thunderhand in Superstar Saga, his team symbol in Super Mario Strikers is a lightning bolt, and he adopts the name "Green Thunder" and the motto "The Green Thunder strikes like lightning!" in Super Paper Mario, during his time transformed into the evil Mr L. He also has the ability to shrink Mario with his hammer and be hit underground, and the ability to be turned into a surfboard and do a hi-jump on top of Mario. Luigi's stats are slightly different from those of his brother's, with Mario being the stronger and faster of the pair, while Luigi has higher defense and stache points (as is the case throughout the Mario & Luigi series, he is even referred at times as Mr. Green Stache); the latter implying that he is extremely charming (also of note is that, unlike Mario, Luigi's artwork portrays him wearing red-white-striped socks under his overalls, which are unique to the Mario & Luigi games). This applies to the sequel, Partners in Time, as well.
Like his brother and most other Mario series characters, Luigi is shown to be quite skilled at various sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, golf and go-kart racing.
Luigi's ability in Mario Golf is vastly different to Mario's ability. Luigi hits with considerably less power but with more control than Mario. In the Nintendo 64 version, his shots curve to the left, while Mario's shots curve to the right. In the GameCube version (Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour), Mario's shots go straight and high, while Luigi's shots continue to curve to the left and go lower. Luigi's abilities resemble Wario's abilities in the Mario Golf series more than he does Mario's abilities. Luigi is also the first character that is able to be unlocked in the Nintendo 64 version, whereas Mario is one of the last characters.
Luigi's speed and agility differ in many games. While it is true that he is often depicted as being slower and less agile than Mario in many games, in the Mario Kart games he is faster, in Super Mario 64 DS he is as fast as Mario and Yoshi and is the most agile of all the characters, and in Luigi's Mansion, if you examine the treadmill in the gym, Luigi comments, "I've always been a good runner..." (although that might be a joke about his fear, and lack of heroism compared to Mario). It would seem that Nintendo is slowly developing Luigi to form a more balanced counterpart to Mario. While the earlier incarnations of Luigi usually featured a character of comparable strength with better jumping but lacking in overall control, Luigi is now usually attributed with superior speed, jumping, and overall maneuverability, but with hindered strength and other physical disadvantages such as being too light to perform a task, as seen most prominently in Super Mario 64 DS.
In New Super Mario Bros., Luigi, along with Mario, gets three new abilities. The first is the blue Koopa shell. This power-up transforms him into Shell Luigi. When running fast enough, he curls into the shell. He can also duck into the shell, allowing enemies to pass by without harming him. The shell also increases maneuverability underwater. The second is the Mini Mushroom. Its effect is the opposite of the Super Mushroom, in that it shrinks Luigi to half-size. This allows him to jump higher and slow his falls. He can also run on water. The third is the Mega Mushroom. This power-up allows Luigi to crush things like enemies, pipes, even the end-of-level flag. He also gains the ability to do a wall-kick like Mario.
In Super Paper Mario, Luigi has the highest jump ability of all the characters, similar to how he was in Super Mario Bros. 2. His abilities include an extreme jump that shoots him off the screen, enabling him to reach high areas that the other three playable characters (Mario, Bowser and Peach) could never otherwise reach, also delivering a devastating uppercut to any enemy above him. However, as is the case in the Lost Levels, Luigi has lower traction than the other playable characters. He also has a mysterious connection to the dark powers of the Chaos Heart, which Dimentio manipulates to his advantage.
In Super Mario 64 DS, after obtaining the power flower, Luigi is able to turn into Vanish Luigi. In this form he is practically invisible and can walk through certain enemies and obstacles (similar to Vanish Mario in Super Mario 64). This would seem to further the meek and timid personality of Luigi portrayed in several games, such as the Mario & Luigi series.
In Super Mario Galaxy he appears to have followed the Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels template insofar as being a better jumper with lower traction and stability, as well as having superior speed. Apart from this trait in handling, his in game abilities are the same. One notable difference is his animation, which is portrayed as being more frantic, and his triple jump, where he kicks his legs for extra height as in Super Mario Bros. 2 as opposed to Mario's somersaults.
Relations
With the debut of Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, Luigi gained a rival character, Waluigi, who has the same relationship to Luigi as Wario does to Mario. Waluigi has since appeared in the Mario Party and Mario Kart series, Mario Power Tennis, and other games featuring Mario's supporting cast. While the two have a tendency to hate each other, Luigi has the greater chance of brushing off the squabbles and moving on, leaving Waluigi to revel in his frustration and anger. Waluigi wears purple, a color Luigi once wore in the game Wrecking Crew.
One of the more notable relationships regarding Luigi is with Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, whose debut role was as resident damsel-in-distress to be rescued by Mario in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. The possible concept of a relationship between Luigi and Daisy began with NES Open Tournament Golf; in it, she served as Luigi's caddie, just as Peach was Mario's caddie. This is the first possible implication of a relationship between the two, spawning the rumors that are mentioned in Daisy's trophy biography in Super Smash Bros. Melee: "After her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips started portraying her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach." When Luigi and Daisy are paired on the same team in a Mario Party, they are called the "Steady Sweeties."
Nintendo has not explicitly said anything regarding their supposed relationship. As a result, the relationship between Daisy and Luigi, if any exists, is widely debated by fans. Another possible relationship is between Luigi and Princess Peach, because in several different titles, Luigi is seen kissing Peach at the end if he is the one who rescues her, just as she does with Mario. Another possibility in Super Mario Galaxy is a crush of Luigi to Princess Rosalina, as he often enough asks Mario to make sure she knows he originally found a particular star, and in the grande finale galaxy after obtaining all 100 purple coins the mailtoad will give you a surprise and it gets posted on the wii message board and Luigi's picture is one with him, the Toad brigade, and Rosalina while Mario's is with Peach.
Baby Luigi is the infant form of Luigi, similar to Baby Mario. However, he appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! alongside his older self. It is generally accepted that this game does not have a story line and merely offers extra playable characters for greater variety. Baby Luigi first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where he was kidnapped by Kamek, then rescued by Baby Mario and Yoshi. Like his older self, Baby Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet.
Baby Luigi 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's kart of choice in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a converted baby carriage. He also appears in Mario Superstar Baseball as an unlockable character and is a speed type player.
Baby Luigi stars in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time with his older self, along with Baby Mario and his older self. Baby Luigi's 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 Princess Peach travels to the past Mushroom Kingdom and the travel goes terribly wrong. They must battle the evil Princess Shroob to restore order to the shattered past of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Like Baby Mario, Baby Luigi will have a playable appearance in Mario Kart Wii.
Appearances
Mario series
Luigi's first appearance was in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player. He retained this role in Wrecking Crew (dressed in purple), and in subsequent releases of the console based Mario Bros. series; Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros. 3, as well as Super Mario World. The American version of Super Mario Bros. 2 marked the first occasion where Luigi was available as a primary character, a role he would rarely be given in later releases.
Spin-offs
From the mid-1990's onward, Luigi's appearances would became increasingly restricted to multiplayer-themed spinoffs of the Mario franchise. The first of these was Mario Kart and its subsequent releases, which were followed by games such Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and more recently in the Mario Party series. Aside from his prominence in multiplayer spinoff's however, Luigi was featured in a starring role on two occasions; first in the 1991 educational game Mario is Missing!, then ten years later in Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001. In each of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero because Mario, the typical hero of the franchise, is the one in need of help. Luigi's solo appearances were also notable for their departure from the platforming-based gameplay of almost all games he had featured in previously.
Other game appearances
Luigi's appearance in Super Paper Mario as the fourth playable character, is his first major role in a Mario game in quite some time. In the game he also plays double duty as an enemy, becoming Mr. L, also known as the Green Thunder, when being mind-controlled by the villain Count Bleck, and becoming the final boss upon being transformed into a giant clown puppet and possessed by Dimentio becoming Super Dimentio. After Mario, Peach, and Bowser defeat Super Dimentio, Luigi returns to normal.
Luigi also appears in Super Mario Galaxy, where after Mario rescues him from the Ghostly Galaxy, he helps Mario by collecting three power stars, except Luigi has to be rescued from the galaxies he found them in. He becomes a playable character (whose moves and attributes are slightly different from Mario's) after all 120 stars have been found,[8] though Mario will be absent, resulting in two Luigis. He also appears in the Super Smash Bros. series, the most recent game in that series being Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[9] Like many of the characters in the game, Luigi's design was updated specifically for Brawl, gaining more detailed overalls and gloves, as well as slightly rolled up pant legs. His final smash is Negative Zone, where traps his foes in a strange universe with numerous disadvantages for them. These are drastically reduced attack power, greater launch distance when hit, increased likelihood of slipping, steady increase in damage percentage, dizziness, sudden sleepiness, uncontrollable taunting, and decreased movement speed, with the strange ailment of flowers growing out of the enemy's head. In the Subspace Emissary, Luigi is knocked out by King Dedede as soon as he is introduced, but joins him and Ness later on to stop Tabuu.
Other media
Luigi made his animated debut in the 1986 OVA Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach. In the film, he was voiced by Yū Mizushima and had a different color sceme than he has today, sporting a blue cap, blue overalls, and a red shirt. This was because he was not yet given a consistent color sceme. In the OVA, Luigi was very greedy, always thinking of ways to make money, and even left Mario at one point to look for coins. He was also a little more serious than his brother Mario, who constantly would daydream about Princess Peach.
Luigi later made an appearance in the third of a trilogy of OVAs released in 1989, in which the Mario characters acted out the story of Snow White. He appears at the end of the video to save Mario and Peach from the Wicked Queen, portrayed by Bowser (called "Koopa" in Japan).
Luigi regularly appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, airing from 1989-1990, which cast Danny Wells as both his live-action portrayal and voice. Like his brother, Luigi's voice actor changed in later cartoons, in his case to Tony Rosato. Even though he was not the starring character in the show, Luigi managed to appear in every episode of the three DiC Mario cartoons (91 episodes in total), in one of which Mario himself made no appearance.
Luigi played a different role in the Super Mario Bros. film, where he was portrayed by John Leguizamo. He was a more easy-going character in contrast to the cynical Mario (played by Bob Hoskins) in the film. Because he was played by a younger and more relatable actor, as opposed to Bob Hoskins, Luigi was presented as the main character for the movie, gaining the affection of Princess Daisy. Luigi was so much younger that Mario was the one who raised him.
Reception
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References
- ^ "Charles Martinet--Voice Over". Nintendoland.com. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
- ^ a b Demaria, R: "High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games", page 238. McGraw Hill-Osbourne, 2002
- ^ "Mario Bros. Arcade". International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
- ^ "Mario Bros. Arcade". International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
- ^ "Nintendo's Shining Star: The History of Mario". Gamecubicle. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
- ^ "Brawl Central: Luigi Trophy Information". Brawl Central. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ "Super Mario Bros. 2 Instruction Booklet", pages 7-9. Nintendo, 1988
- ^ Fletcher Black, "Super Mario Galaxy Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide", p. 336.
- ^ http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/characters/hidden03.html Smash Bros. DOJO!!
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