Luigi (SSBM)

“	Luigi has worse traction than his brother, but he's a more powerful jumper.	”
—Trophy description of Luigi.

Luigi in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	A (13)

Luigi (ルイージ, Ruīji) is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Luigi is markedly similar to Mario, though his moveset and attributes (such as traction and aerial mobility) are different in many ways, making him a semi-clone.

Luigi currently ranks 13th on the tier list, in the A tier, placing him in the dead centre immediately above his older brother Mario. Luigi is notable for having some of the best aerials in all of Melee; they are very fast, very powerful and have very low ending and landing lag. Luigi's wavedash is the longest in the game, taking him nearly half the distance of Final Destination at a high speed (only slightly slower than Captain Falcon's dash). Luigi also has a wide array of efficient combo and KO moves both in the air and on the ground. Luigi's traction in the lowest in the game; while it gives him an excellent wavedash, it also limits some of his approaches on the ground if he's not wavedashing, as well as his out of shield options (as he often gets pushed too far away for fast follow-ups when his shield is hit). His approach options are generally poor; he struggles to approach on the ground despite his excellent movement due to his short range and lack of disjointed hitboxes, while his aerial approaches are hampered by his high short hop and slow falling speed (giving him one of the worst SHFFLs in the game) and his extremely poor aerial mobility. This problem is compounded with his difficulty in forcing opponents to approach (mainly as a result of his very poor projectile). Additionally, his recovery is easy to edgeguard, being very linear and slow despite covering a large distance.

Unlocking Luigi

To unlock Luigi, the player must clear the first level of Adventure Mode with a 2 as the second digit of the seconds portion of the clock. (Example: XX:X2^XX). After this requirement is met, a cinematic plays when the player finishes the level, showing Luigi replacing Mario in the level to battle alongside Peach. The player must then defeat Luigi within one minute. After Adventure Mode is completed, the player will face off against Luigi.

Alternately, playing 800 versus matches will also give the opportunity to unlock Luigi.

When fought against, Luigi appears in Mushroom Kingdom II.

Attributes

While Luigi may initially appear to be a clone of his older brother Mario, similar to Dr. Mario, Luigi is a semi-clone of Mario. Many significant differences are present between their ground, aerial, and special attacks, and Luigi possesses several unique moves. Luigi's attributes can also wildly vary from Mario's; Luigi's air speed, dashing speed, and traction are amongst the lowest in the game, whereas Mario's are about average. Luigi's jumps are also much higher than Mario's. Luigi has the longest and fastest wavedash in the game as a result of his low traction.

Luigi's primary advantage in this regard is his impressive ground movement. Luigi's wavedash functions as his primary method of movement on the ground, allowing him to traverse large distances very quickly and with a great deal of maneuverability. Luigi can combine his excellent wavedash with a variety of powerful smash attacks to produce some of the best wavesmashes in the game. His down smash is highly versatile, acting as combo starter due to its completely vertical knockback, as a juggling move, or as a KO move at high percentages. His forward smash has extremely high knockback scaling (135; the highest in the game), making it a powerful KO move (if a risky one due to its high ending lag). His up smash has invincibility on his head and is effective at KOing on the upper blast line and on floaty opponents, in addition to outprioritising attacks from above Luigi.

Luigi also has a variety of powerful attacks in his arsenal; all of Luigi's aerial attacks are extremely solid. His neutral aerial has high, completely vertical knockback, making it excellent for both starting and continuing combos, and his forward aerial has quick startup and high knockback (at the Sakurai angle; 45° against aerial opponents), making it a useful attack for both KOing and edgeguarding. In addition to these, Luigi's down aerial is among the most flexible attacks in the game. While it has slightly slower startup than his forward air, it launches at the same angle yet has less ending and landing lag. At lower percentages, forward aerial has more knockback than down aerial. The upper hitbox of the attack (near Luigi's hips) is a meteor smash, although it is difficult to land and generally more situational than the regular hit. His back aerial has good range and works well for setting up edgeguards, while his up aerial is useful for hitting opponents above him and has low knockback which allows it to combo effectively into more aerials (such as a down or neutral aerial) on floaty opponents, and also works as a somewhat situational edgeguarding tool. Luigi's up special can act as a powerful vertical finisher if sweetspotted, though it leaves Luigi in a helpless state and is very laggy; it is very punishable if the sweetspot is missed or the opponent avoids the attack (such as by shielding it). As a result, its use is often restricted to punishing very laggy moves (such as Sheik's Vanish) unless it can be edge cancelled.

Luigi's grab game is also good. Although his grab range is merely average, it is still much longer than Mario's and his aforementioned long wavedash allows Luigi to extend its reach. His throws have many varied uses. Both his down throw and up throw function as combo starters, leading into juggles with moves like up tilt, neutral air, and down smash; fast fallers such as Fox and Falco are generally more susceptible to up throw, while down throw is more suitable for floaty characters like Marth. Up throw is also a viable chain grab on fast-fallers at low percentages. His forward throw and back throws can set up a variety of edgeguards, with his back throw having sufficiently high knockback to function as a kill move at high percentages.

Luigi's strange variety of attributes, however, acts as a double-edged sword. Despite a highly effective wavedash, Luigi's movement without wavedashing is poor; his dash is slow and his short initial dash animation gives him a very short dash-dance. Additionally, Luigi's projectile, Fireballs are poor; they have low hitstun, travel slowly, and have high ending lag, making them some of the more situational projectiles in the game. In addition, Luigi's air game, despite his powerful aerials, lacks much need synergy with his stellar ground movement due to his low air speed. Furthermore, it leaves him highly vulnerable to juggles, as he cannot reach the ground effectively to escape them (this is one of the major factors in his poor matchup with Marth, who is capable of both starting and maintaining juggles on Luigi very effectively). A very high short hop and a low falling speed also gives Luigi among the worst SHFFLs in the game, even with his low-lag aerials.

Luigi also suffers from a poor recovery. While his two primary recovery moves, Super Jump Punch and Green Missile have decent range (and Green Missile can be used repeatedly when recovering high), they are extremely linear in trajectory; Super Jump Punch does not move Luigi horizontally at all and Green Missile moves him horizontally and then causes him to fall significantly during the high ending lag. The slow and linear nature of these moves make is recovery easy to edgeguard on reaction. He can also recover using the Luigi Cyclone, which gives vertical and horizontal distance. However, the Cyclone needs to be "charged" before it allows Luigi to rise while using it. The move becomes charged when it is completed or is interrupted while Luigi is touching the ground; the charge will be lost if the move finishes or is interrupted while Luigi is not touching the ground. It also requires intense button mashing to rise (with the maximum height being attained at 14 presses of the B button per second); many Luigi players must hold the controller in a different way to normal (such as balancing it on their leg) to be able to press the B button fast enough to utilise the Cyclone as an effective recovery move.

Luigi also suffers from being a character that requires a somewhat large amount of technical skill and relies heavily on situational attacks; a majority of Luigi's attacks have to timed properly with a wavedash to be at their most effective. Additionally, Luigi is over-reliant on wavedashing; a highly effective Luigi player must have perfect control over his wavedash distance. Using a long wavedash does him little good for offensive purposes up close, and a short wavedash hampers safe retreat. Furthermore, the frequency with which a Luigi player needs to wavedash increases the chances of jumping or airdodging accidentally compared to other characters, which increases the number of opportunities for the opponent to punish. Despite his mobility, Luigi has lacks many particularly safe approaches on the ground, and his aerial approaches are very poor, which generally leaves him vulnerable to characters with good zoning ability.

Moveset

For a gallery of Luigi's hitboxes, see here.

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Luigi's neutral attack combo is a three-hit attack consisting of two jabs followed by a hip bump. Useful as a low-damage opener. Because the third strike of the combo knocks the opponent away with a medium amount of lag, many players elect to omit the third strike of the combo. Luigi can repeat the first strike of the neutral attack by Jab cancelling. The attack consists of two jabs, both doing 1-3% damage, and the last hit does 2-5%.
• Dash attack - 10% damage (if all hits connect). Luigi dashes forward and attacks his opponent with a flurry of punches. It hits five times and does moderate damage, but it's not very useful due to being extremely unsafe on hit (it has 22 frames on ending lag and very low hitstun), allowing any character to grab him out of it.
• Forward tilt - 5-10% damage. A sideways kick with medium knockback. It is often used to poke or simply to push the opponent away, giving Luigi extra time to maneuver or set up edgeguards. It can be angled, with the downwards angled version having very low hitstun, often leaving Luigi vulnerable on hit or block.
• Up tilt - A swipe that arcs over Luigi's head from behind. Its upward trajectory makes up tilt well suited for juggling, especially against fast-fallers. Hits at a diagonal upwards angle. 4-9% damage.
• Down tilt - Luigi crouches down and kicks low to the ground for 4-9% damage. It pops the opponent up with low-knockback and is laggy, making it of limited usefulness. Since this attack hugs the ground, it can be used to attack a sweet spotting enemy.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash - Does a quick jab for 7-19% damage. Luigi winds up and launches his hand straight into his opponent, sending them at a forward and upward trajectory. The highest knockback scaling in the game at 135. Can be angled. Additionally, charging a forward smash will cease Luigi momentum mid-wavedash, which will make him stop suddenly.
• Up smash - 9-23% damage. Identical to Mario and Dr. Mario's headbutt with an up-and-behind trajectory, ideal for KOs off the upper blastline, or KOs on floaty opponents. It can also set up aerial combos with Luigi in a similar manner to up tilt.
• Down smash - 9-23% damage. Luigi kicks out twice in a break dancing motion, first in front and then behind. The combination of the attack has an upward trajectory and its knockback makes it an excellent combo starter.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack - Gets up and somersaults. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack - Slowly gets up and thrusts his foot forward. 10% damage.
• Floor attack - Swirls around in a similar fashion to his down smash. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

Luigi's aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - A Sex kick - 4-15% damage. Luigi's neutral aerial has the same knockback properties of most sex kicks, and sends the opponent straight upwards. For this reason, Luigi's sex kick is a popular tool for juggling and comboing opponents. Can KO at high percentages. Its hitbox and low startup time (hits on frame 3) means that it is useful for interrupting combo attempts by the opponent. One of the strongest sex kicks in the game (being the 3rd most powerful aerial overall and the most powerful sex kick in Melee).
• Forward aerial - Does a quick karate chop. 6-12% damage. High horizontal knockback and is one of his primary KO'ing aerial attacks. It also has high knockback at low damage. Launches at the Sakurai angle.
• Back aerial - Kicks backwards. 6-11% damage. Good for damage racking, edge guarding, and zoning (especially on floaty opponents such as Jigglypuff).
• Up aerial - Does a flip kick, hitting above him for 7-13% damage. Doesn't offer the same juggling properties from the ground as Mario's; however, it is often used against opponents above Luigi on platforms, or as a vertical launcher to set up an aerial finisher like his forward aerial. It is also useful as an edgeguard.
• Down aerial - Twirls his feet under him. 8-16% damage. A valuable edgeguarding move. Can meteor smash if he hits the opponent with his hip (in a similar fashion to Young Link's down aerial meteor smash.) The lower hitbox has strong knockback at the Sakurai angle in a similar fashion to his forward aerial.

Grabs & throws

• Forward throw - 4-7% damage. This throw is relatively weak but can be used near the ledge to set up edge-guards.
• Back throw - 5-10% damage. Luigi's strongest throw, it is used for throwing enemies off-stage and KOing.
• Up throw - 4-7% damage. Very useful combo starter, leading into moves such as up tilts, neutral aerials, and up smash. It can also chain grab fast-fallers at low damage.
• Down throw - 3-6% damage. Throws the opponent into the ground, causing them to bounce at a horizontal angle. Allows for combos or tech chase follow ups.

Special moves

Luigi's special moves

Neutral special	Fire Ball	Fireball
Side special	—	Green Missile
Up special	Super Jump Punch
Down special	Luigi Cyclone

Taunt

• Taunt - 1% damage. Luigi's taunt, a casual kick against the ground, is the only taunt in Melee that can damage the opponent. The taunt normally sends the enemy upwards with set knockback, but against opponents hanging on the ledge, it will meteor smash. Since it is slow and very weak, Luigi's taunt is rarely used in competitive play.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Luigi professionals (SSBM)

•  Abate
•  Blea Gelo
•  Eddy Mexico
•  Luigi Ka-master
•  ROFL
•  Vist
•  Vudujin

Tier placement and history

Luigi was once ranked quite high on the tier list, hovering around positions 6 to 9 for about the first year of Melee's metagame. He then saw a large drop to 12th, which can be attributed to his slippery traction, predictable recovery, and short reach, which many players of top tier characters began adapting to and countering in their own metagames, resulting in worse matchups for Luigi; he was also seen as outclassed by both Dr. Mario and Mario, who either had more power or a less risky combo game, respectively. He then fell to the top of low tier for many years to come. However, with excellent performances by dedicated professionals such as Eddy Mexico showing Luigi's extremely quick mobility and approach with the wavedash and waveland, as well as his great aerial game and KO power despite his poor reach, opinions of Luigi began to change. In recent tournaments such as EVO 2013, Luigi players have placed relatively high with lacking similar performances by Mario, resulting in Luigi pulling ahead back into the middle tier, one spot above Mario in 13th place. Today, Luigi is still a middle tier character who has a relatively small, but strong, player base, and he makes decent impressions in large tournaments.

Changes from Smash 64 to Melee

Luigi was generally buffed from his transition from Super Smash Bros. to Super Smash Bros. Melee; instead of being in the lower 25th percentile (10th/11th along with Link), Luigi is now in the dead centre of the tier list (13th).

• The new physics of Melee, particularly the addition of wavedashing, has greatly aided Luigi's poor approach options and range in his attacks, as well as his general mobility, especially on the ground.
• New up tilt is much faster and easier to use in combos.
• Down smash now does vertical knockback, making it a much better combo starter.
• New forward smash is faster and has much higher knockback scaling.
• Up smash has less startup and ending lag. It also has considerably higher knockback scaling.
• Neutral aerial has new knockback properties, leading to almost entirely vertical knockback, making it a considerably more powerful (can KO under 130%) and flexible attack.
• New forward and down aerials are much more powerful.
• New back aerial is faster and has considerably higher base knockback, making it a more useful edgeguarder.
• Green Missile gives him an additional recovery option. It also slightly aids to his KO ability, being another KO option, though it isn't a very reliable KO move.
• Luigi Cyclone is a much better OoS option, as it now allows Luigi to move along the ground a moderate distance very quickly.
• His already very slow air speed has been decreased slightly.
• Down tilt is a less useful combo starter and has more ending lag.
• Fireball has a smaller hitbox and deals 1% less damage.
• Super Jump Punch no longer gains any horizontal distance, and also gains less vertical distance.
• Luigi Cyclone is no longer a KO move and combo finisher.
• The height gained from Luigi Cyclone when used as a recovery move is slightly lower, and it requires significantly faster button inputs to make Luigi rise. It also needs to be "charged" by being used on the ground before it can be used in midair properly.

A majority of changes made to Luigi have to further differentiate him from his brother Mario. Luigi's forward smash, neutral combo, forward aerial, up tilt, and down tilt have all been changed into different attacks with different animations. His down aerial also hits only once, instead of being a multi-hit attack like in Smash 64. The opposite can be said for his down special (Luigi Cyclone) - instead of hitting once, it is now a multi-hit attack. It also lasts a shorter time but strikes faster.

In addition to these changes, Luigi received a minor cosmetic change: his overalls are now a navy blue colour (like Mario's) instead of purple from the previous game.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

Luigi can appear in one-on-one fights, as an ally in the team and giant battles, as a giant opponent, as part of a team, or as a metal character in the game's penultimate stage. In his appearances in one-on-one fights, he either appears in Mushroom Kingdom or Mushroom Kingdom II; as part of a team or as a giant character, he always appears on Mushroom Kingdom II.

In Adventure Mode

Luigi can appear in the Adventure Mode if the player finishes the first stage, Mushroom Kingdom, with the number "two" anywhere in the timer, a cut scene will occur which will show Luigi taking Mario's place in the upcoming battle. The player will then have to battle a team of Luigi and Peach. Of note is that Luigi can appear in the Adventure Mode without being unlocked; encountering him in the Adventure Mode prior to unlocking him is actually one of two criteria the player can meet to unlock him.

If the player has unlocked Luigi, Metal Luigi will appear in Stage 11-2: Battlefield stage alongside Metal Mario.

In All-Star Mode

Luigi and his allies are fought on the Mushroom Kingdom stage.

In Event Matches

Luigi is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 31: Mario Bros. Madness: The player's character battles a team of Mario and Luigi in a 2-minute unlimited-stock match in the Mushroom Kingdom stage. Whoever gets the most KOs wins, much like in a standard time-match.
• Event 35: Time for a Check-up: The player plays as Luigi as they battle a team of Dr. Mario and Peach on Yoshi's Story, with each character having 1 stock and the match timed for 3 minutes.
• Event 38: Super Mario Bros. 2: In this match, the player's character must battle against Mario, Luigi, and Peach in an unlimited-time 2-stock match on Mushroom Kingdom II. The odds may seem especially stacked against the player, but the opponent team is subject to friendly fire. The character selection and stage are a direct throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. 2, an American-exclusive NES sequel to Super Mario Bros.
• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Luigi is the second opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Mushroom Kingdom II stage, and their character has 2 stocks while Luigi has one. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life they have: Marth, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game and Watch.
• Event 42: Trouble King 2: The player plays as Luigi against a giant Bowser on the stage Poké Floats, with both players having 2 stock each.

Ending images

• 

  Classic mode

• 

  Adventure mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Luigi as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star Modes respectively with Luigi on any difficulty:

Luigi (Classic)

"Although Mario's younger brother has always played second fiddle, Luigi finally garnered the spotlight with his very own game, Luigi's Mansion. Things are looking up for the eternal understudy; he's even picked up his own rival in Waluigi. The day he's referred to as the "lean, mean, green machine" may not be too far off."

• Mario Bros. Arcade 1983

Luigi (Adventure)

Luigi has worse traction than his brother, but he's a more powerful jumper. His Fireballs aren't affected by gravity, so they fly straight horizontally. The Green Missile is similar to Pikachu's Skull Bash, but there's a 12.5% chance of a spontaneous misfire. Luigi's taunting pose inflicts minor damage.

• B: Fireball
• Smash B: Green Missile

Luigi (All-Star)

Smack someone with Luigi's Super Jump Punch, and if the timing is just right, it will become a Fire Jump Punch of incredible strength. However, Luigi can only jump straight up when delivering this blow, and if his aim is a bit off, he'll only do a single point of damage. The Luigi Cyclone sucks foes in and twirls them about.

• Up & B: Super Jump Punch
• Down & B: Luigi Cyclone

• 

  Classic

• 

  Adventure

• 

  All-Star

Costumes

Luigi's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• The unlocking of Luigi when the seconds mark reaches a 2 references the fact that Luigi always plays second fiddle to Mario.
• Beating Luigi in the Adventure Mode only gives the player 20 bonus points, the smallest bonus point increase in the game. Luigi is also the only unlockable character who can appear in Adventure Mode prior to unlocking him.
• Luigi is the only SSB64 veteran and is overall one of the only Melee characters (Roy, Marth, Falco, and Dr. Mario) to not appear in the Melee intro.
• At the time of SSB64, Luigi did not have an official voice, so he used a higher-pitched version of Mario's voice originally used in Super Mario 64. This voice is retained for Melee, despite the fact that Luigi was given an official voice in Luigi's Mansion which came out one month before Melee.
• Luigi, Bowser, Link, Yoshi and Young Link are the only characters in Melee to use their default costume when on the green team.
• Luigi is the only character in Melee that has a taunt that can damage a player.
  • Snake would gain this feature in all of his taunts in Brawl.