Ridley
- For fighter info, see Ridley (SSBU). For his cybernetically-enhanced form, see Meta Ridley. For the Japanese smasher, see Ridley.
Ridley | |
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{{{content1}}}
{{{content2}}} Official artwork of Ridley from Super Metroid and his clone from Metroid: Other M. | |
Universe | Metroid |
Debut | Metroid (1986) |
Smash Bros. appearances | SSB Melee Brawl SSB4 (Wii U only) Ultimate |
Most recent non-Smash appearance | Metroid Prime Remastered (2023) |
Console/platform of origin | Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System) |
Species | Unknown |
Gender | Male |
Place of origin | Zebes[1] |
Created by | Makoto Kanoh |
Designed by | Hiroji Kiyotake |
Article on Metroid Wiki | Ridley |
Ridley (リドリー, Ridley) is a character from the 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 Zebes, Ridley is a vicious, yet highly intelligent member of the Space Pirates, 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 made his debut in Brawl as a boss in Adventure Mode, returned as a stage hazard in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and transitioned into a playable character in Ultimate.
Origin
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 Space Pirate that is sapient and, in some material, capable of speech.
Ridley is directly connected to Samus Aran's past. In the Metroid e-manga, he led a Space Pirate ambush on an Afloraltite mining expedition on K-2L, where Samus lived. He attacked her, but ended up killing Virginia Aran, Samus' mother, when she jumped between the two to save her. Rodney Aran, Samus' father, then detonated the Afloraltite, killing himself and several Space Pirates, and forcing Ridley to flee.
In Metroid, Ridley is a leader of the Space Pirates on planet Zebes. He, Mother Brain, and the Space Pirates stole and cloned the eponymous Metroid 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 Metroid: Zero Mission, he had also created a robot replica of himself called Mecha Ridley. However, this robot was unfinished before fighting Samus, when it was destroyed.
Ridley returned in Metroid Prime, revived as the cyborg "Meta Ridley". In this new form, Ridley oversaw the experiments of Phazon on the wildlife of Tallon IV aboard the Frigate Orpheon. This backfired, as the creatures mutated into Parasite Queens that escaped captivity and ransacked the ship. Meta Ridley encountered Samus aboard the frigate, fleeing to Tallon IV below while she gave pursuit. They then clashed at the Artifact Temple, where the Chozo architecture turned on Meta Ridley and struck him with several lasers to the chest, knocking him into the Impact Crater.
Meta Ridley returned with an improved armorskin after Dark Samus took control of the Space Pirates in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Meta Ridley led the Pirate assault on Norion, but was defeated by Samus. Upon retreating to the Space Pirate Homeworld, Meta Ridley was exposed to massive amounts of Phazon inside the Leviathan, mutating into Omega Ridley. This powered-up form became the Leviathan guardian and fought Samus, but he was again defeated and subsequently cleansed of Phazon.
In Metroid: Samus Returns, Ridley arrived on planet SR388 just as Samus returned to her ship with the Baby Metroid in tow. Ridley's body was still partially healing with cybernetic prosthetics, now known as "Proteus Ridley". After an arduous battle, Proteus Ridley was left incapacitated on the planet's surface as Samus fled for the Ceres Station to deliver the Baby Metroid.
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 battled Ridley as one of the guardians to Tourian, 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.
However, Ridley's legacy lived on. In Metroid: Other M, Ridley was unintentionally cloned via a DNA sample from Samus' armor after their battle in Super Metroid. The result was initially a small creature dubbed "Little Birdie", which Samus encountered on the Bottle Ship. Later on, it evolved into a Mystery Creature that ambushed Samus before being repelled by Galactic Federation soldiers. After escaping, he evolved into his most recognizable form. Samus met the reborn Ridley in the Geothermal Power Plant, going into a state of shock until Anthony Higgs supposedly sacrificed himself to protect her. Samus fought the cloned Ridley, but he escaped once more, only to be cornered by a Queen Metroid and drained into a lifeless husk.
In Metroid Fusion, the husk of Ridley's clone appeared, cryogenically frozen, on the Biologic Space Labs research station. Samus discovered it halfway through her mission, watching it shatter as an X Parasite copied his DNA. Samus later encountered the X-mimic as the mutant "Neo-Ridley" and defeated it, presumably ending Ridley for good.
In Super Smash Bros.
Ridley appears on Planet Zebes, flying in the background. His appearance is based off of his Super Metroid sprite.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ridley has a cameo in the opening movie of Super Smash Bros. Melee, fighting Samus, when Samus jumps over him and shoots several missiles. As the opening movie was part of the game's initial reveal, this scene led to fan speculation that Ridley would be a playable character, though this ended up not being the case. Like in Super Metroid, Ridley is carrying the baby Metroid's capsule, though unlike in Super Metroid, Samus has both the Varia Suit and Missiles.
Trophy
- Ridley
- The head of the Space Pirates on Zebes, Ridley soars through space on wicked wings. Ridley may look like a mindless monster, but he's actually quite intelligent. After the SR-388 incident, where Samus captured the infant Metroid, Ridley took the Space Academy by storm, annihilating the complex and taking the Metroid back.
- Metroid (8/89)
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ridley | |
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A boss in | Brawl |
Universe | Metroid |
Location | The Research Facility II (Brawl) |
In an interview with the gaming magazine Nintendo Power, when asked if Ridley was considered as a playable fighter in Brawl, Masahiro Sakurai replied that making Ridley playable would have been impossible without putting their best efforts into it. He commented that Ridley may have been "a little slow" as a fighter.[2]
Hacking of Brawl reveals incomplete Assist Trophy data for Ridley; presumably, Ridley was initially planned as an Assist Trophy but was instead included as a boss.
A remix of Ridley's theme from Super Metroid and Meta Ridley's theme from Metroid Prime both appear in Brawl, the latter being directly ported from the game. In addition, Ridley's lair in the Metroid series, Norfair, is featured as a stage.
Role in the Subspace Emissary
Ridley is the fifth boss in the Subspace Emissary. Samus and 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 Thunder. 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 Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu, and R.O.B..
Ridley and his Meta Ridley form are resurrected by Tabuu, their true leader, in The Great Maze to face down the heroes. Oddly enough, they are resurrected as separate beings.
As a playable character
- Main article: Ridley (SSBB)
Like all Brawl bosses, Ridley can be played as in Boss Battles through hacking, which will assign debug controls to Player 3. The moveset assigned is notably quite incomplete, missing a few attacks and having glitches with others. Ergo, he is much weaker than in his true boss appearance.
Moveset
Ridley spends most of his time in the air over the abyss. Characters with strong aerials have an easier time, but in a pinch, up smashes can be used. Most of his attacks are either relatively slow or well telegraphed, which means that staying alert can help the player avoid a lot of damage. The hardest attacks to dodge are his claw sweep (not his tail sweep) and loop-de-loop, but by paying attention to his attack order, they can be predicted. Ridley has a move during his battle similar to Dyna Blade in Kirby Super Star. He stomps on the ground, then takes to the background and jets straight ahead into the camera view and flies up. He had done this before during a fight with Samus in Super Metroid, but he did so to escape instead of attack. A similar type of attack was employed by Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime. It is similar to Master Hand and Crazy Hand's Jet attack.
On higher difficulties of The Subspace Emissary, defeating Ridley usually earns something valuable.
Like all bosses, Ridley can be controlled with hacks in Boss Battles Mode. The start button will, like all bosses, self-destruct him.
Origin of attacks
Most of Ridley's attacks are completely made up for Brawl; however, there are a couple of attacks that are somewhat retained from the Metroid series. The attack that Ridley does when he flies into the background of the stage and tries to ram into the player looks very similar to how Ridley flew away at the beginning of Super Metroid. Also, in Super Metroid, Ridley will often use his tail as a weapon by whipping it at Samus. In Brawl, Ridley does use his tail as a weapon, but not as a whip.
Moveset gallery
HP and damage taken
Damage taken | ×1.0 | ×1.0 | ×1.1 | ×1.3 | ×0.7 | ×1.0 | ×1.3 | ×1.0 | ×1.0 | ×1.0 | ×0.9 |
Like all bosses in Brawl, Ridley gains an additional ×0.6 damage resistance modifier when fought in co-op mode, effectively gaining 67% more health. This modifier is applied whenever the second player is in-game and is no longer applied if the second player loses all their stocks.
Trophy
- Ridley
- The leader of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. He plans to steal the baby Metroid from Samus for his own use. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail. As the culprit behind the murder of Samus's parents, the connections with Samus run deep.
- A high-ranking official of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. He plans to steal the baby Metroid from Samus for his own use. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail. As the culprit behind the murder of Samus's parents, the connections with Samus run deep.
- : Metroid
- : Super Metroid
Stickers
Name | Game | Effect | Fighter(s) |
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Ridley | Metroid | Attack +30 | |
Ridley | Metroid: Zero Mission | Attack +25 |
Ridley (Metroid) |
Ridley (Metroid: Zero Mission) |
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Following Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS's release and the day prior to the American release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Sakurai stated that Ridley's size was a factor in his exclusion from the playable roster, despite being aware of significant fan demand for the character. Sakurai felt that scaling the character down, as well as other necessary changes like having to prevent him to be able to fly freely, would make him less threatening than he appears in the Metroid games, thus providing an inaccurate portrayal of his original role as a dangerous boss.[3]
When Sakurai first revealed the Pyrosphere stage for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, 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 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 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.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS marks Ridley's only complete absence from a Super Smash Bros. title.
Attacks
- Launches a fireball. 12%
- Moves across the ground while slashing 3 times, damaging any fighter in Ridley's path. 25% (First Hit) 10% (Second hit) 20% (Third Hit)
- Goes into the background, and charges into the foreground, which will hurt fighters who come into contact with Ridley. This is the first move Ridley will use whenever he appears, as he enters using it. 30% (Sweetspot) 12% (Sourspot)
- Stomps onto the ground. 15%
- Lets out a roar. This can push back opponents.
- Performs a single slash while darting to the other side of the stage. 15%
- Shoots his tail through the stage while clinging through the ledge. Ridley can do this up to three times. He only uses this after increasing strength. 25%
- Shoots out a much bigger fireball. After it lands, a shockwave of fire will spread across the ground Only uses this after increasing strength. 30% (Fireball)
- Shoots out three fireballs at once.
Trophy
- Ridley
- Samus's long-standing rival in battle. In this game, he's a common foe to all the fighters in the Pyrosphere stage. However, if you manage to launch him or knock him over, he'll become an ally to whoever dealt the last blow. Defeating him in a timed battle nets you +1 KO.
- : Metroid (08/1987)
- : Super Metroid (04/1994)
- Samus's long-standing rival in battle. In this game, he's a common foe to all the fighters in the Pyrosphere stage. However, if you manage to launch him or knock him over, he'll become an ally to whoever dealt the last blow. If you can defeat him during a timed battle, you'll get +1 KO out of it!
- : Metroid (01/1988)
- : Super Metroid (07/1994)
- Little Birdie
- It may be hard to believe, but this is a younger version of the infamous Space Pirate Ridley. No matter how cute he is, don't think that you can love him and take him home—his next form is lizard-like with a sharp tail, and he has no problem turning his caring owner into a tasty snack!
- : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)
- Everyone knows Ridley as a terrifying evil space dragon, but would you have guessed he looked like this as a baby? He's kind of cute and creepy at the same time. Don't let his innocent act fool you into thinking he'd make a nice pet, though – once he sheds his skin and enters his reptile phase, you'll just become his next meal!
- : Metroid: Other M (09/2010)
- Mystery Creature
- What once was a cute little bird has changed into a lizard-like creature. It still has some white feathers from its previous form, but that's where the similarities end. Is there something in its blood that drives it to confront Samus whenever possible? Her parents were Ridley's victims, after all.
- : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)
- If Little Birdie is Ridley's cute baby years, this must be his awkward teenage phase. The feathers on his back are the only real clue that it's the same creature. Is there something in Ridley's genes that make him hate Samus so much? The original Ridley killed her parents, and now this one is out to get her too!
- : Metroid: Other M (09/2010)
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
As a playable character
After many years of only appearing as either a boss or a cameo in the Smash series, Ridley finally makes his playable debut as an unlockable newcomer, being revealed during the Nintendo E3 Direct on June 12, 2018. His inclusion as a playable fighter was largely cemented by popular demand both within the previous installment's Fighter Ballot and long afterward, particularly in the West.
Much like Zero Suit Samus in both SSB4 and Ultimate, Ridley uses a composite design original to the Smash series; in his case, he is primarily based on his Super Metroid appearance, with some embellishments and elements that his clone in Metroid: Other M featured, resulting in a more realistic and detailed design compared to his design in Brawl. Meta Ridley is also featured as an alternate costume for Ridley. An official Ridley amiibo was confirmed the same day as his reveal and launched alongside the game itself.
Spirits
Fighter spirits
Primary spirit
No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Base | Max | Base | Max | Base | Max | Ability | Series |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
291 | Omega Ridley | ★★★★ | 2 | 4260 | 10652 | 2311 | 5778 | 1708 | 4271 | Weight ↑ | Metroid Prime Series |
Support spirit
No. | Image | Name | Class | Cost | Ability | Series |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
289 | Little Birdie | ★★ | 1 | Stats ↑ after Eating | Metroid Series |
Names in other languages
Language | Name |
---|---|
Japanese | リドリー, Ridley |
English | Ridley |
French | Ridley |
German | Ridley |
Spanish | Ridley |
Italian | Ridley |
Chinese | 利德雷, Ridley |
Korean | 리들리, Ridley |
Dutch | Ridley |
Russian | Ридли |
Portuguese | Ridley |
Gallery
Ridley's debut appearance in Metroid, which inspired his depiction in Ultimate[4]
Trivia
- Ridley's tail is the only invulnerable part of Ridley's body in every Metroid game in the series following the first. However, in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, 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).[5][6] 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, "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.
- Ridley's character trailer tagline in Ultimate, "Ridley Hits the Big Time!", is likely a jab at the aforementioned meme regarding his size.
- In his home series, Ridley was at his smallest in the original NES game Metroid, where his hunched posture makes him only slightly taller than Samus. According to senior localization manager Nate Bihldorff, this was a major inspiration for Masahiro Sakurai when Ridley was scaled down for Ultimate.[4]
- In SSB4, Ridley is the only non-playable character to have a unique stock icon in the final build of the game. Strangely, the icon derives from his Brawl design.
- In Brawl, Ridley is unable to shoot fireballs as he did as an attack in past Metroid games, although Meta Ridley is capable of doing so. Ironically, Meta Ridley never had the ability to shoot fireballs, instead possessing the ability to fire a long beam of plasma from his mouth.
- 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.
- Ridley is currently the tallest playable character to date, succeeding Samus in SSB and Bowser since Melee.
References
- ^ In the original Metroid manual, Ridley is described as a native of Zebes. However, this is not referenced again in later story materials, which depict Ridley and the Space Pirates as having conquered Zebes after it was originally inhabited by Chozo.
- ^ http://sourcegaming.info/2016/04/29/duflupdate/
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Gordon, Justin (2018-07-24). Masahiro Sakurai designed Ridley in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate based on his appearance in the original Metroid for the NES. EventHubs. Retrieved on 2018-10-26.
- ^ http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=71872&
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20061107182538/www.smashbros.com/jp/toukou/index.html
Bosses | |
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Super Smash Bros. | Master Hand · Metal Mario · Giant Donkey Kong · Fighting Polygon Team |
Melee | Master Hand · Crazy Hand · Giga Bowser · Fighting Wire Frames (Male · Female) |
Brawl | Master Hand · Crazy Hand · Petey Piranha · Rayquaza · Porky · Galleom · Ridley · Duon · Meta Ridley · Tabuu · Fighting Alloy Team (Red · Blue · Yellow · Green) · False characters |
Smash 4 | Master Hand · Crazy Hand · Master Core · Fighting Mii Team |
Ultimate | Master Hand · Crazy Hand · Rathalos · Galleom · Giga Bowser · Galeem · Dharkon · Dracula · Ganon · Marx · Fighting Mii Team · False characters |
Smash Tour | |
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Red items | Back Shield · Black Knight · Bob-omb · Boo · Bunny Hood · Daisy (Baseball) · Darkrai · Dixie Kong · DK Barrel · Energy Tank · Franklin Badge · Hammer · Home-Run Bat · Kat & Ana · Latias & Latios · Magnus · Majora's Mask · Mecha-Fiora · Metal Box · Mr. Resetti · Mr. Saturn · Ore Club · Phosphora · Plasm Wraith · Poison Mushroom · Rocket Belt · Sidestepper · Steel Diver · Super Mushroom · Super Scope · Ultimate Chimera · Wolfen · X Bomb |
Blue items | Ashley · Boss Galaga · Bus to the City · Chain Chomp · Dillon · Doc Louis · Excitebike · Ghosts (Luigi's Mansion) · Great Fox · Isabelle · POW Block · Riki · Snorlax · Super Star · Tetra · Timmy & Tommy · Tingle · Yellow Wollywog · Zinger |
Green items | Porky Minch · Proto Man · Substitute Doll |
Random events | Banzai Bill · Flying Man · Iridescent Glint Beetle · Kamek · Koffing · Metal Face · Metroid · Nabbit · Reaper · Ridley · Souflee · Tac · Yellow Devil |
Metroid universe | |
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Fighters | Samus (SSB · SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Zero Suit Samus (SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Ridley (SSBU) · Dark Samus (SSBU) |
Assist Trophies | Metroid · Dark Samus · Mother Brain |
Bosses | Ridley · Meta Ridley |
Stages | Planet Zebes · Brinstar · Brinstar Depths · Frigate Orpheon · Norfair · Pyrosphere Brinstar Escape Shaft (Adventure Mode) |
Item | Screw Attack · Power Suit Piece |
Enemies | Geemer · Kihunter · Metroid · Reo · FG II-Graham · Joulion · Zero |
Other | Gunship · Kraid |
Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
Music | Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate |
Masterpieces | Metroid · Super Metroid |