Luigi

Luigi (ルイージ) is a video game character created by Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the younger brother of Nintendo's official mascot, Mario. Luigi first appeared in the arcade game Mario Bros., where he was featured as a main character alongside Mario. Since his debut, Luigi has appeared in many games in the Mario series, most often accompanying Mario as a central protagonist, but has also starred as the main character in Mario Is Missing! and Luigi's Mansion. In most games of the main series where a two-player mode is available, Luigi fills the role of the second player's character, but he has also appeared occasionally as a playable character in a single-player game, either as part of a secret revealed in-game or an unlockable.

While Luigi was originally created as a character identical to Mario except for being colored green instead of red, his rise in prominence in the Mario series lead to the adoption of a personality and style of his own. He is normally depicted as cowardly, but when he does get the courage to step up, he can be tough and overcome his fears. His voice is performed by Charles Martinet, the same actor who provides the voice for Mario, Wario, Waluigi and other characters in the Mario franchise.

Concept and creation
The events leading to Luigi's creation began in 1981, during the development of Donkey Kong, where the famous Nintendo 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. Miyamoto had been inspired by the game Joust to create a game with a simultaneous two-player mode, which lead to his development of the game Mario Bros. in 1983, with Luigi filling the role of Mario's brother as the second playable character. In accordance with Nintendo's marketing policy of naming and promoting individual characters, 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". While Mario was originally portrayed as a carpenter in Donkey Kong, the duo of Mario and Luigi in Mario Bros. were styled as Italian plumbers. Software constraints of the time (similar to those that gave Mario his distinctive look in Donkey Kong) meant 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.

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 shoes to contrast with Mario's red cap and overalls and brown shirt and shoes. With the release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (known as The Lost Levels outside Japan), Luigi became more distinguished from Mario. In that title, Luigi was a better jumper than Mario; he jumped higher and fell more slowly, though with less accuracy and also had less traction when walking. 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. Super Mario Bros. 2 was largely spearheaded by the Nintendo of America division, and as such, the Japanese headquarters was not immediately influenced by this change in Luigi's look. Thus, in Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988-Japan; 1990-US), and in Super Mario World (original Super NES version) (1990-Japan; 1991-US) Luigi was once again a palette swap of Mario with green clothing. From the 1992 game Super Mario Kart onwards, Luigi's newly distinguished appearance and color scheme were adopted by Nintendo.

Actor portrayal
Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Wario, and Waluigi. When Luigi's 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 has a much higher pitched voice similar to Mario's (the same voice from the Japanese Mario Kart 64). 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. In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's voice is made up of clips from Mario's voice taken from Super Mario 64, with raised pitches. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he has his own voice instead of a pitched-up version of Mario's.

Characteristics
Although Luigi is a plumber, like his brother, other facets of his personality vary from game to game. In Super Mario Galaxy, he is featured as a directly playable character once the player has collected every star using Mario. As in earlier games, Luigi can jump higher than Mario, but has less traction on the ground. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has a trophy of Luigi that states Luigi to be "Mario's younger twin brother". Super Smash Bros. Brawl also features his Final Smash, Negative Zone, and is described as showing Luigi's darker side from living in the shadow of his brother Mario.

Age
In many games and game manuals, Luigi is said to be the younger of the Mario brothers. In the Paper Mario series, 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, and includes a scene where the infant brothers are delivered by the stork to their parents. (Mario emerges from the sling first, making him the "older" twin) 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 Luigi is a slightly younger twin in his profile, while numerous Japanese sources state that Mario and Luigi are twins. Also, Super Paper Mario implies that they may be twins (Luvbi, a character in the game, refers to Mario and Luigi as twins despite Luigi calling Mario "big bro" on more than one occasion both before and after Luvbi's statement). Another Nintendo source in the form of Super Smash Bros. Brawl has a trophy of Luigi that states Luigi to be "Mario's younger twin brother". On the other hand, Solid Snake's Codec conversation, as well as the Paper Luigi trophy, both state that Luigi is the younger brother, with Colonel Roy Campbell even calling Luigi a "kid brother." In addition to this, Mario acts like a traditional older brother towards Luigi.

Abilities
In most of his video game appearances, Luigi's abilities are either identical to those of Mario or with slight variations. Since Super Mario Bros., Luigi and Mario have made extensive use of items to extend their abilities, such as the Super Mushroom, which allows the player's character to grow larger, the Fire Flower, which allows him to throw fireballs, and the Starman, which grants Mario or Luigi temporary invulnerability. In Super Mario 64 DS, Luigi can turn invisible to walk through certain objects.

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, although he is not as fast as Mario. The traction 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. However, he has a higher speed than Mario and is more agile than the other characters but, unlike Mario, cannot perform a wall-jump.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Luigi runs faster and jumps higher than Mario, but yet again has lesser traction. Also in levels that require the player to swim, Luigi loses air faster than Mario when performing the spin move underwater.

Appearance in the Mario & Luigi series
In the Mario & Luigi (and, to a lesser extent, Paper Mario) series, Luigi tends to use electricity and electrical attacks, compared to Mario's use of fire-based abilities. In Super Paper Mario, he adopts the name "Green Thunder", reflecting this nature. Other abilities in the series include being able to shrink Mario with his hammer or to be knocked under the ground himself using the "Mole" ability, and to use Mario as a springboard to perform a hi-jump. 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, 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 also applies to the sequel, Partners in Time.

Appearance in other games
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 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 he is often depicted as being slower and less agile than Mario in many games, in Super Mario 64 DS he is slower than Mario but as fast as 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...". 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, being a better jumper with lower traction and stability, as well as having superior speed. Apart from this trait, his in game abilities are the same. One difference is his animation, 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.

In every game of the Super Smash Bros. series, Luigi is an unlockable character. An alternate form of Luigi, Metal Luigi, appears in the Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, can use a "negative zone" to attack enemies, which is composed of dark energy formed as a result of spending his life in his brother's shadow.

Relations
With the debut of Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, Luigi gained a rival character, Waluigi, who has a similar 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.

Baby Luigi
Baby Luigi is the infant form of Luigi, similar to Baby Mario. His two costumes depict him in diapers and baby clothes. However, he appeared in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! alongside his older self. Baby Luigi first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where he is kidnapped by Kamek then rescued by Baby Mario and Yoshi. Like his older self, Baby Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet.

Baby Luigi appears in Yoshi Touch & Go, where Yoshi rescues Luigi by throwing eggs to hit the Toadies carrying him. In the multiplayer mode, the second player's Yoshi carries 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 has playable appearances in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Super Sluggers.

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 pink and red instead of the normal green and blue), 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. Luigi appears in Super Mario Galaxy, in which he helps Mario after being rescued from the Ghostly Galaxy 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 and every purple coin collected, though Mario will be absent, resulting in two Luigis.

From the mid-1990s onward, Luigi's appearances became increasingly restricted to multiplayer-themed spin-offs of the Mario franchise. The first of these was Mario Kart and its subsequent releases, which were followed by games such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and more recently in the Mario Party series. Aside from his prominence in multiplayer spin-offs, Luigi has appeared in a starring role in two games; first in 1991 educational game Mario is Missing!, then in 2001, in Luigi's Mansion for Nintendo GameCube. In each of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero, because Mario, the main protagonist 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. His latest appearances have been in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. He has also appeared in Mario Super Sluggers and Mario Kart Double Dash!!.

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 yellow 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, although he is not as brave as his brother.

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 to 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 did not appear.

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 has also appeared in several Robot Chicken sketches, always alongside Mario. In one sketch, he and Mario accidentally appear in Vice City, from the Grand Theft Auto series, while another features them competing in a Cannonball Run-styled car race.

Mario and Luigi have cameos in Cartoon Network's show Chowder as restaurant workers.