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 varies slightly across the series, but he is generally a large, 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 {{s|metroidwiki|Space Pirate}} that is sapient and, in some material, capable of speech.

Ridley is directly connected to [[Samus Aran]]'s past. In the ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid e-manga}}'', he led a Space Pirate ambush on an Afloraltite mining expedition on {{s|metroidwiki|K-2L}}, where Samus lived. He attacked her, but ended up killing {{s|metroidwiki|Virginia Aran}}, Samus' mother, when she jumped between the two to save her. {{s|metroidwiki|Rodney Aran}}, Samus' father, then detonated the Afloraltite, killing himself and several Space Pirates, and forcing Ridley to flee.

In ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'', Ridley is a leader of the Space Pirates on planet {{s|metroidwiki|Zebes}}. He, [[Mother Brain]], and the Space Pirates stole and cloned the eponymous {{b|Metroid|creature}} creatures for galactic domination. Ridley, however, was surprised to find the little girl from years ago, now a grown woman, came to defeat him. In the remake ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid: Zero Mission}}'', he had also created a robot replica of himself called {{s|metroidwiki|Mecha Ridley}}. However, this robot was unfinished before fighting Samus, when it was destroyed.

Ridley returned in ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime}}'', revived as the cyborg "'''[[Meta Ridley]]'''". In this new form, Ridley oversaw the experiments of {{s|metroidwiki|Phazon}} on the wildlife of {{s|metroidwiki|Tallon IV}} aboard the [[Frigate Orpheon]]. This backfired, as the creatures mutated into {{s|metroidwiki|Parasite Queen}}s that escaped captivity and ransacked the ship. Meta Ridley again encountered Samus aboard the ship, fleeing to Tallon IV below while she gave pursuit. They then clashed at the {{s|metroidwiki|Artifact Temple}}, where the Chozo architecture turned on Meta Ridley and struck him with several lasers to the chest, knocking him into the {{s|metroidwiki|Impact Crater}}.

Meta Ridley returned with an improved armorskin after [[Dark Samus]] took control of the Space Pirates in ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption}}''. Meta Ridley led the Space Pirate assault on {{s|metroidwiki|Norion}}, but was defeated by Samus. Upon retreating to the {{s|metroidwiki|Space Priate Homeworld}}, Meta Ridley was exposed to massive amounts of Phazon inside the {{s|metroidwiki|Leviathan}}, mutating into ''{{s|metroidwiki|Omega Ridley}}''. This powered-up form became the Leviathan guardian and fought Samus again, but he was again defeated and subsequently cleansed of Phazon.

In ''[[Super Metroid]]'', Ridley's body had completely healed, so he kidnapped the Baby Metroid from Ceres. Samus chased him back to planet Zebes, where there was a rebuilt Pirate base. Samus battles Ridley and the other Space Pirate leaders again, defeating him a final time. When Mother Brain's death caused the destruction of Zebes, Ridley's remains were consumed in the blast, supposedly marking the true death of Samus's longstanding nemesis.

In ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Fusion}}'', the body of Ridley's clone appears, cryogenically frozen, on the {{s|metroidwiki|Biologic Space Labs}} research station. Samus discovers it halfway through her mission, watching it shatter as an {{s|metroidwiki|X Parasite}} absorbed his DNA and exited the body. Samus later encountered the X-mimic becoming the mutant "'''{{s|metroidwiki|Neo-Ridley}}'''" and defeated it, presumably ending Ridley for good.

[[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''.