Ridley: Difference between revisions

{{forfighter|SSBU=y}} ''For his cybernetically-enhanced form, see [[Meta Ridley]]. For the Japanese smasher, see {{Sm|Ridley}}.''

|image = {{tabber|title1=Super Metroid|tab1=[[File:Ridley sm Artwork.png|250px|Official artwork of Ridley from ''Super Metroid'', the basis of his appearance in most ''Super Smash Bros.'' games.]]|title2=Other M|tab2=[[File:MOM Ridley Concept Art.png|250px|Concept art of Ridley's clone from ''Metroid: Other M'', the basis of his appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''.]]}}

|lastappearance = ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Dread}}'' (2021, cameo)

'''Ridley''' ({{ja|リドリー|Ridorī}}, ''Ridley'') is a [[character]] from the {{uv|Metroid}} series, and a major antagonist throughout the majority of the series, in which he generally acts as one of the later bosses. A draconic creature hailing from {{s|metroidwiki|Zebes}}, Ridley is a vicious, yet highly intelligent member of the {{s|metroidwiki|Space Pirate}}s, and is one of its most prominent leaders, alongside [[Mother Brain]]. He is also the arch-nemesis of the ''Metroid'' series' protagonist, [[Samus Aran]].

Ridley, also known by the identifier '''Geoform 187''', is one of the main antagonists of the ''Metroid'' series, the other being [[Mother Brain]]. His appearance has varied slightly across the series, but in each game he is a large, yet slender, winged alien that resembles a dragon or pterosaur. In spite of his bestial appearance and fearsome mannerisms, he is by no means a mindless animal, but a high-ranking [[Space Pirate]] general that is sapient and, as shown in the comics, capable of speech.

Ridley is directly connected to [[Samus Aran]]'s past and present. In the ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid e-manga}}'', he gained enough favor with the Space Pirates that he became one of their highest ranking officials. He was the leader of an ambush of an Afloraltite mining expedition on {{s|metroidwiki|K-2L}}, where Samus happened to be. He considered her cute, but decided to kill her out of mercy. However, he accidentally killed {{s|metroidwiki|Virginia Aran}}, Samus' mother, when she jumped between the two. {{s|metroidwiki|Rodney Aran}}, Samus' father, then detonated the afloraltite, killing him and several space pirates. Ridley and the survivors were forced to flee.

In ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'', Ridley appears as the military leader of the Space Pirates and as a boss in the area with his name. He, his counterpart [[Kraid]], and all the Space Pirates desired to capture and clone the eponymous [[Metroid (creature)|Metroid creatures]] for use in galactic domination. Ridley, however, was surprised to find the little girl from years ago, now a grown woman, having come to fight and kill him. Samus eventually defeats Ridley, but he barely survives the encounter and manages to slip away. In ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid: Zero Mission}}'', he is revealed to be a master engineer and has created a robot replica of himself named {{s|metroidwiki|Mecha Ridley}}. However, this robot was unfinished before being tasked to attack Samus, where it was defeated and destroyed.

Ridley would mangage to return to the space pirates on the [[Frigate Orpheon]] and is revived as a cyborg called "'''[[Meta Ridley]]'''". In this new form, Ridley oversaw the experiments of {{s|metroidwiki|Phazon}} on the creatures of {{s|metroidwiki|Tallon IV}}. This would backfire as the creatures mutated into {{s|metroidwiki|Parasite Queen}}s that would escape captivity and force the Pirates to evacuate. Ridley would again encounter Samus and the two would briefly fight on the ship before he escapes to the planet below. They would clash once again at the {{s|metroidwiki|Artifact Temple}}, where the Chozo architecture would turn on Ridley and fire several lasers through his chest cavity, and he would limply fall into the {{s|metroidwiki|Impact Crater}}.

Ridley would somehow survive this encounter and be revived again with an improved armorskin. During the events of ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption}}'', Ridley leads the Space Pirates in an assault on {{s|metroidwiki|Norion}}, but is shot in the mouth and defeated by Samus. Still not killed, Ridley is lured to the core of the {{s|metroidwiki|Space Priate Home World}} and is tricked by a {{s|metroidwiki|Leviathan}} into being exposed to massive amounts of Phazon and mutating into ''{{s|metroidwiki|Omega Ridley}}''. In this powered-up form, Ridley acts as the guardian of the core and has another battle with Samus, but is ultimately defeated.

In ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid: Samus Returns}}'', Ridley arrives on Planet SR388 as Samus returns to her gunship on the planet's surface with the lone Baby Metroid in tow. Here, Ridley's body has partially healed with cybernetic prosthetics and he is known as "'''{{s|metroidwiki|Proteus Ridley}}'''". After a long and hard-fought battle, Proteus Ridley is ultimately left incapacitated on the planet's surface as Samus leaves for the Ceres Station to deliver the Baby Metroid.

In ''[[Super Metroid]]'', his body has completely healed and he successfully kidnaps the baby Metroid that Samus found in ''Metroid: Samus Returns''. Driven by intense rage, Samus chases him back to planet {{s|metroidwiki|Zebes}}, the Pirate base in ''Metroid'' and ''Zero Mission'', and in the process of rescuing the baby, Samus battles Ridley and the other Space Pirate leaders again. Samus ultimately leaves Ridley and the space pirates to die when Zebes explodes, which supposedly marked the final and true death of Samus's longstanding nemesis. However, though the original Ridley is dead, his legacy continues to linger on.

In ''[[Metroid: Other M]]'', Ridley is unintentionally cloned via a DNA sample found on Samus' armor after the events of ''Super Metroid''. The result is initially a small white owl-like creature dubbed "{{s|metroidwiki|Little Birdie}}", which Samus later encounters on the {{s|metroidwiki|Bottle Ship}}. Later on, it evolves into a {{s|metroidwiki|Mystery Creature}} and eventually assaults Samus on sight after being assailed by Galactic Federation soldiers. After escaping the attack, the mysterious creature evolves its final and most recognizable form. Samus then re-encounters this reborn Ridley inside the Geothermal Power Plant in the Pyrosphere area of the Bottle Ship. Having thought she had eliminated him for good at the destruction of Zebes, his presence drives such a shock into her that she becomes unable to speak or move, until {{s|metroidwiki|Anthony Higgs}} supposedly sacrifices himself trying to protect her. Enraged by the loss of her friend, Samus attempts to kill Ridley once more. Having suffered heavy injuries from the battle, Ridley flies away. He is later attacked by the reincarnated {{s|metroidwiki|Queen Metroid}}, being left as a lifeless husk.

In ''[[Metroid Fusion]]'', the body of Ridley's clone, cryogenically frozen, reappears on the {{s|metroidwiki|Biologic Space Labs}} research station, which Samus encounters halfway through her mission there, to witness it shatter, while an {{s|metroidwiki|X Parasite}} mimicking him exits the body. Samus later encounters the X-mimic becoming "'''{{s|metroidwiki|Neo-Ridley}}'''" and defeats him, presumably for the final time.

[[File:RidleyMeleeCameo.png|thumb|right|Ridley makes a cameo appearance in ''Melee'' in a fight with Samus for a Metroid during the opening movie.]]

|image = {{tabber|title1=Brawl|tab1=[[File:RidleyBrawl.jpg|250px]]|title2=Wii U|tab2=[[File:Ridley Portrait (SSB4).png|250px]]}}

|location = [[The Research Facility II]] (''Brawl'') <br> [[Pyrosphere]] (''Wii U'')

Ridley is the fifth boss in the Subspace Emissary. {{SSBB|Samus}} and {{SSBB|Pikachu}} must fight him at the end of the [[Research Facility II]]. In the cutscene prior to the battle, Ridley ambushes and grabs Samus, flying upward and scraping her along the walls. Pikachu breaks Samus free from Ridley's grasp using {{b|Thunder|Pokémon}}. In the first battle, Ridley has higher health and uses moves ranging from claw swipes to a move similar to [[Rayquaza]]'s ExtremeSpeed to a tail swipe across the entire stage. [[Meta Ridley]], his form in ''Metroid Prime'', later attacks {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}, {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}}, {{SSBB|Olimar}}, Samus, Pikachu, and {{SSBB|R.O.B.}}.

| Blasting Roar || A or B || Ridley roars and flaps his wings violently, which causes the wind to appear that pushes the player back slightly. Damage can be taken by making contact with his head as this starts. || 2

| Flying Stomp || A^ || Ridley lands then jumps up, and then drops down, trying to stomp on the player. Because Ridley always drops down on the same spot the player was when Ridley jumped up, it can be dodged by running to the opposite end of the stage. Notably, this is the only aiming boss attack that will still aim for the player when the boss is controlled via hacks.|| 3

| Claw Sweep || Av || Ridley flies low and sweeps the stage with his claws. He screeches before this, unless being controlled by a human. || 2

| Fly Off || A<, A>, B<, or B> || Ridley initiates Slamming Rush, but if he is controlled by a human, he can't do it. However, if being controlled by a human, he can still return to the platform with moves like Flying Stomp.|| 1

| Background Ram || B^ || Ridley jumps up and then flies toward the player from the background, similar to Master Hand's jet attack, but with an erratic flight pattern. Unlike Master Hand's attack, Ridley will aim both horizontally and vertically, but it locks its target location considerably earlier, and so will usually miss if the player is continuously moving. || 3

| Tail Sweep || Bv || Ridley scrapes the stage with his tail. At low percentages, it covers half the stage. At higher percentages, it covers the whole stage, sometimes turning around at the end to double back. Sometimes he will use this attack twice in a row. It can be easily dodged by jumping over his tail. || 1 or 2

! Characters

[[File:Ridley SSB4.png|thumb|right|200px|The shadow of a dragon-like creature on [[Pyrosphere]], which was the first visible confirmation of Ridley's appearance.]]

When Sakurai first revealed the [[Pyrosphere]] stage for {{forwiiu}}, he mentioned that a character from "Samus' past" may appear at any second. Furthermore, Ridley's shadow appeared on the stage in the April 2014 Nintendo Direct, in the section which discussed the [[Yellow Devil]]'s role as a stage boss on [[Wily Castle]]. Ridley was ultimately confirmed to appear as a unique stage boss in the {{forwiiu}} 50-Fact Extravaganza, over a year after Pyrosphere was revealed.

Like Samus and Zero Suit Samus, Ridley matches his physical appearance from ''Metroid: Other M''. In battle, Ridley will appear and attack players. He will use attacks based on where opponents are standing. Unlike other stage bosses, however, damaging Ridley enough will cause him to fight alongside the fighter. Damaging him enough after he joins a player's side will KO him, adding another point to the player's KO total, even if he is on the player's side. Ridley may gather energy from the purple vats under the ledges, increasing his strength. Curiously, his stock icon (used in the KOs row of the results screen) is of his ''Brawl'' artwork.

{{for3ds}} marks Ridley's only complete absence from a ''Super Smash Bros.'' title.

[[File:Ridley SSBU.png|thumb|right|Ridley, as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.]]

Ridley vs Samus NES.gif|Ridley's debut appearance in ''Metroid'', which inspired his depiction in ''Ultimate''<ref name=RidleyNES>{{cite web |url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2018/jul/23/masahiro-sakurai-designed-ridley-super-smash-bros-ultimate-based-his-appearance-original-metroid-nes/ |title=Masahiro Sakurai designed Ridley in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate based on his appearance in the original Metroid for the NES |accessdate=2018-10-26 |last=Gordon |first=Justin |date=2018-07-24 |publisher=EventHubs }} </ref>

*Ridley's tail is the only invulnerable part of Ridley's body in every ''Metroid'' game in the series following the first. However, in {{forwiiu}}, his tail counts as part of his hurtboxes.

*Ridley had historically been a strong contender for the fan community's most-wanted playable character; an official survey on the Japanese version of ''Brawl'''s [[Smash Bros. DOJO!!]] featured Ridley receiving four separate requests from fans to be playable, with only [[King Dedede]] having more (with five).<ref>http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=71872&</ref><ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20061107182538/www.smashbros.com/jp/toukou/index.html</ref> Requests for the character increased even further for ''SSB4'', leading to another boost to the character's popularity. A significant number of players, however, had opposed the inclusion of Ridley, primarily under the claim that including the character would require scaling him down to an unrealistic size; as a result, "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ridley-is-too-big Ridley is too big]" had become an in-joke in the community, particularly in reference with other characters that would require significant scaling for ''Smash Bros.'' appearances.

*In ''Ultimate'', Ridley became the first [[boss]] in the series to become a playable character, resulting in him being the only stage boss not to reprise his role in ''Ultimate''.