Luigi (SSBM)

Luigi in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	B- (12) (North America) E (13) (Europe)

Luigi (ルイージ, Luigi) 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.

Charles Martinet reprises his role as Luigi in Melee, albeit via Mario's voice clips from Super Mario 64, but more high-pitched.

Luigi currently ranks 12th on the tier list, in the B- tier, placing him three places above his older brother Mario. This is a drastic improvement from his last place ranking in Super Smash Bros.. 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, which is the lowest in the game, works as a double edged sword; 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 (the worst in the game). 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.

Nevertheless, Luigi’s good combo game and terrific wavedash allow him to be considered a decent character in competitive play, with a solid matchups all-around with above average results.

How to Unlock

To unlock Luigi, the player must clear the first level of Adventure Mode with a two as the second digit of the seconds portion of the clock. (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 who exchanges mobility for extra power, despite the inverse being true in the Mario games. 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 among 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 wavedash in the game as a result of his low traction.

Luigi's primary advantage in this regard is his impressive KO potential in his grounded moveset. Luigi's wavedash functions as his primary method of approaching and 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 intangibility on his head and is effective at KOing on the upper blast line and on floaty opponents, in addition to outprioritizing attacks from above Luigi.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.

Despite having the lowest air speed in the game, all of Luigi's aerial attacks are extremely solid. 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. Down aerial boasts excellent utility with both its sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes; the sweetspot (near Luigi's hips), while difficult to land, is a meteor smash with solid power, making it great for edgeguarding offstage and starting combos onstage. The sourspot launches at the same angle as forward aerial with only slightly less power, making the attack a great choice for edgeguarding for any case. 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. Above all, however, is his neutral aerial, which is one of the most versatile attacks in the game. It is a standard sex kick that comes out on frame 3; however, it is the only sex kick that launches opponents vertically, along with disproportionately high hitstun. This makes it an incredible combo starter and even a situational KO option near the upper blast line, and thanks to its incredible speed, it is possibly the most notorious combo breaker in the game, as Luigi is able to use it to break opposing combos and start one of his own instantaneously.

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; while his moonwalk is decent, 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 needed synergy with his stellar ground movement due to his low air speed. Furthermore, it, along with his low falling speed, 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. Finally, his low falling speed is what makes him vulnerable to being KOed off the top blast line (especially by characters with powerful vertical finishers, like Fox and Ganondorf), and being juggled in the air.

Outside of his approach, Luigi suffers from an exploitable recovery. Although 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, undermining his otherwise relatively long recovery. While Fireball can be used as a potentially potent edgeguard breaker, characters with reflectors can easily punish and gimp Luigi as a result, on top of its high ending lag. His Super Jump Punch also makes for one of the poorest meteor cancels in the game. He can also recover using the Luigi Cyclone, which gives vertical and horizontal distance, but strangely, 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). In comparison to Mario Tornado and Dr. Tornado, it also requires intense button mashing to rise; 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 utilize the Cyclone as an effective recovery move.

Overall, Luigi is a character that tends to run hot and cold. He lacks many particularly safe approaches on the ground outside of wavedashing, and his aerial approaches are very poor, which generally leaves him vulnerable to characters with good zoning ability. Additionally, Luigi is over-reliant on wavedashing; a highly effective Luigi player must have perfect control over his wavedash distance. However, if Luigi can get within range to where he can land his blows, he can quickly and efficiently take the opponents' stock with effective use of his wavesmashes and versatile aerials. While he requires a large amount of technical skill and relies on situational attacks more than most characters, mastering Luigi's moveset rewards players with unpredictability and very strong offensive potential that can't be taken lightly by opponents.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.

Given that Luigi was considered to be the worst character in Smash 64 being ranked at the lowest position on the latest tier list at 12th, Luigi was significantly buffed from his transition from Smash 64 to Melee. Luigi greatly benefits from Melee's new mechanics most notably wavedashing. Wavedashing immensely improves Luigi's otherwise poor grounded mobility and it now gives his low traction an advantage rather than it only being a huge detriment. Luigi also benefits from the inclusion of up and down throws as it gives him a powerful chaingrabbing game. A wide variety of his moves have also seen improvements to their speed and some moves such as down smash and neutral aerial have gained combo potential.

However, Luigi has also seen some significant nerfs. Despite gaining some new KO options, many of Luigi's attacks have reduced KO potential including his up smash, back throw and Luigi Cyclone (which is also slower). His recovery is also worse. While his new side special Green Missile grants him an extra recovery option, it is very slow and predictable and it can easily be challenged most of the time. Luigi Cyclone grants less height and it now needs to be charged on the ground before it can be used in the air for recovery purposes and Super Jump Punch covers much less distance especially horizontally. In addition, Super Jump Punch is both slower and much weaker especially the aerial version and it is a lot more difficult to combo into. Despite gaining new combo options, he has also lost one of his most valuable combo options in the form of his up aerial which now has increased startup lag, a worse auto-cancel window and it no longer sends opponents vertically significantly hindering its combo and juggling potential (no longer leading into Super Jump Punch) although it now has less ending lag and higher edgeguarding potential.

Overall, while Luigi's direct changes do not significantly buff him, the changes to the game's mechanics (mainly the inclusion of wavedashing) have immensely helped him pushing him into the mid tiers. It also helps that his damage output and auto-cancel ability are greater relative to the cast making him shine in those areas more than he did in Smash 64.

Aesthetics

• The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Luigi a more proportionate build. His overalls are now a navy blue color (more like Mario's) instead of purple from the previous game and the seams are slightly more accentuated. His green clothes are a darker shade. He has a rounder head and a slightly darker skin tone.
• Idle animation has somewhat altered via his arms waving around a bit.
• Luigi has two new victory poses: the first one has Luigi planks twice when falling, and the second one has Luigi make the gun with his hand and pretend to shoot. They replace two of his victory poses from Smash 64.

Attributes

• The addition of air dodging has greatly benefitted Luigi as he can now wavedash. Luigi possesses the longest wavedash in the game due to his extremely low traction making him benefit from wavedashing more than almost any other returning veteran. Wavedashing has greatly aided Luigi's mobility as it gives him an excellent approach option; offsetting his otherwise poor approach.
• Luigi's walking speed is significantly faster (0.3 → 1.1).
• Luigi's dashing speed is faster (40 → 1.34) no longer being the slowest.
• Luigi's initial dash is slower (50 → 1.34).
• Luigi's falling speed is higher (42 → 1.6), which improves his vertical endurance, but makes him easier to combo.
• Luigi's gravity is higher (2.1 → 0.069).
  • As a result, his jumps are lower.
• Luigi's air speed is marginally higher (22.5 → 0.68) although it is still the lowest.
• Luigi's short hop is considerably lower although it is still rather high. This improves his aerial approach potential while Luigi retains his ability to auto-cancel all of his aerials as well as being able to perform multiple aerials in a short hop.
• Luigi's jumpsquat is longer (3 frames → 4).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack deals more damage (2% → 3% (hit 1)/4% → 5% (hit 3)).
  • The first two hits knockback (8 (base), 50 (scaling) → 20 (set)/100) and angles (361° (hit 1)/70° (hit 2) → 83°/85° (both)) have been altered, allowing them to connect more reliably into the third hit.
  • All three hits have less ending lag (FAF 18 → 15 (hit 1)/FAF 20 → 19 (hit 2), FAF 26 → 23 (hit 3)).
  • Luigi can no longer cancel the first hit into a grab.
  • The second hit has a shorter duration (frames 3-5 → 3-4).
  • The third hit has a new animation with Luigi bumping forward with his rear end, slightly increasing its range.
  • The third hit has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-8 → 5-6).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less startup (frame 8 → 4) and ending lag (FAF 43 → 32).
  • Forward tilt has decreased base knockback (10 → 2).
  • Down angled forward tilt now deals weak set knockback (10 (base), 0 (set), 100 (scaling) → 2/1/100) now making it easily punishable on hit regardless of the opponent's percent.
• Up tilt:
  • Luigi has a new up tilt: an overhead "cat paw" swipe with his fist. It has less startup (frame 5 → 4) and ending lag (FAF 42 → 30) compared to the previous up tilt.
  • Up tilt has more horizontal range.
  • Up tilt now launches opponents towards Luigi (80° → 100°).
  • Up tilt has altered knockback (0 (base), 150 (scaling) → 30/(127/125/123).
    • This makes the move much safer on hit at lower percents and improves its juggling potential when combined with its lower ending lag.
    • However, this also hinders its KO potential when combined with its lower damage.
  • Up tilt deals less damage (10% → 9%).
  • Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 5-16 → 4-12).
• Down tilt:
  • Luigi has a new down tilt: a low swinging crouch back-kick with Luigi's following/right leg which deals more damage (7% → 9%) compared to the previous down tilt.
  • Down tilt has more startup lag and a shorter duration (frames 3-6 → 5-7).
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 18 → 35) significantly hindering its use as a spacing tool.
  • Down tilt has less range.
  • Down tilt deals less knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/80).
  • Down tilt now launches opponents vertically (361° → 80°) further hindering its spacing potential while not granting it combo potential due to its low knockback and high ending lag.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 61 → 59).
  • Dash attack's hits have altered knockback (0 (base), 40 (set), 100 (scaling) → 2/0/100).
    • This makes it connect more reliably at lower percents.
    • However, this makes it connect less reliably at higher percents.
  • Dash attack has more startup lag (frame 3 → 4).
  • Dash attack's hits have shorter durations (4 frames (hits 1-2)/7 frames (hits 3-6) → 1 frame (all)).
  • Dash attack deals slightly less damage due to changes to stale move negation (12% → 11.1%).
• Forward smash:
  • Luigi has a new forward smash: a knifehand. It has less startup lag (frame 16 → 12) compared to the previous forward smash.
    • However, its total duration remains unchanged; increasing its ending lag.
  • Forward smash deals much more knockback (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/135), making it much stronger despite its lower damage and no longer being the weakest in the game.
  • Forward smash now deals extra shield damage (0 → 5).
  • Forward smash has a shorter duration (frames 16-20 → 12-14).
  • Forward smash deals less damage (16%/15%/14% → 14%/13%/12%).
  • Forward smash's angles have been altered (361° (all) → 65° (up)/55° (non angled)/45° (down)) which along with its lower damage, hinders the effectiveness of the non angled and up angled versions; especially against fast fallers.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has a new animation; Luigi now takes a massive step forward as he leans for the headbutt. This gives it a bit more horizontal range and much less ending lag (FAF 60 → 40).
  • Up smash has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-15 → 9-11). Luigi also no longer jumps, decreasing it's vertical range.
  • Up smash has less intangibility (frames 7-10 → 9-11).
  • Up smash deals less damage (19% → 17%) and knockback (26 (base), 120 (scaling) → 35/98) in addition to sending opponents at a less vertical angle (85° → 110°). This significantly hinders its KO potential; no longer being the strongest in the game alongside Mario's version of up smash.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup lag (frame 8 → 5) and a shorter total duration (FAF 45 → 38).
  • Down smash now launches opponents vertically (361° → 90°), significantly improving its combo potential, but hindering its edgeguarding and KO potential.
  • Down smash has a shorter duration (frames 8-29 → 5-6/14-15) with the front hit and back hit now having separate hitboxes rather than one long lasting hitbox.
    • This also increases the move's cooldown as its total duration was not fully compensated.
  • Down smash deals less knockback (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 40/80).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials except up aerial auto-cancel earlier (frame 37 → 36 (neutral), frame 27 → 20 (forward), frame 20 → 19 (back), frame 33 → 24 (down)).
  • However, Luigi's aerials no longer auto-cancel the entire time their hitboxes are not active.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's clean hit deals more damage (14% → 15%) and has higher base knockback (15 → 20).
  • Neutral aerial now launches opponents vertically (361° → 90°).
    • This significantly improves its combo potential being an excellent combo starter.
    • However, this also removes its edgeguarding potential.
  • Neutral aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 50 → 46).
    • However, it can also no longer be performed twice in a short hop due to Luigi's lower short hop.
  • Neutral aerial has a shorter duration (frames 3-10 (clean)/11-36 (late) → 3-6/7-31), slightly increasing its ending lag.
  • Neutral aerial has slightly increased landing lag (14 frames → 15).
  • Late neutral aerial deals less damage (11% → 8%) without full compensation on its base knockback (0 → 20).
    • However, this improves its combo potential.
• Forward aerial:
  • Luigi has a new forward aerial: A karate chop. It has less startup (frame 11 → 7) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 33).
  • Forward aerial has increased base knockback (10 → 43), improving its spacing and edgeguarding potential.
    • However, this hinders its combo potential.
  • Forward aerial has less landing lag (30 frames → 25).
  • Forward aerial deals less damage compared to its previous clean hit (16% → 12%), making it weaker overall despite its increased base knockback.
  • Forward aerial has a shorter duration due to it no longer possessing a late hit (frames 11-26 → 7-10).
  • Forward aerial has less range.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 10-13 (clean)/14-19 (late) → 6-17).
  • Back aerial has a new animation, where Luigi kicks more sideways with his right side facing up, instead of kicking backward face-down. Luigi also recovers differently without curling up into a flip.
    • This new animation is shorter significantly reducing the move's ending lag (FAF 40 → 29).
    • However, this also gives the move less range.
  • Back aerial deals less damage compared to its previous clean hit (16% → 11%) with only a slight increases to its base knockback (10 → 12), significantly hindering its KO potential.
    • However, this improves the move's combo potential.
    • Additionally since the move no longer has a weaker late hit, it deals more damage (10% → 11%) and has higher base knockback (0 → 12) compared to the previous late hit.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 30).
  • Up aerial deals more damage (12% (clean)/9% (late) → 13%).
  • Up aerial launches opponents horizontally rather than vertically (80°/70° → 55°).
    • This grants the move edgeguarding potential.
    • However, this significantly hinders its combo and juggling potential removing one of Luigi's most powerful combo tools.
  • Up aerial has much less landing lag (40 frames → 15).
  • Up aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration due to no longer having a late hit (frames 2-4 (clean)/5-11 (late) → 5-7).
  • Up aerial auto-cancels later (frame 12 → 16), removing Luigi's ability to perform two up aerials in a short hop and still auto-cancel the up aerial.
  • Up aerial has decreased knockback scaling (120 → 100) hindering its KO potential despite its higher damage.
• Down aerial:
  • Luigi's down aerial hits only once via a single drill spinning stomp, instead of being a multi-hitting drill.
  • Down aerial's angles have been altered (-70° → 361°/270°).
  • Down aerial deals much more damage (3% → 16%) and knockback (30 (set), 100 (scaling) → 20 (base), 100 (scaling)) compared to the previous individual kicks; making it a powerful KO move.
  • Down aerial has a shorter total duration (FAF 39 → 29).
  • Down aerial has less landing lag (36 frames → 18).
  • Due to down aerial only consisting of one hit instead of eight:
    • Its maximum damage potential is lower (24% → 16%).
    • It has a much shorter duration (frames 10-11,13-14,16-17,19-20,22-23,25-26,28-29,31-32 → 10-14), increasing its ending lag.
    • It can no longer be used as an effective shield pressuring tool.
    • It is no longer a powerful and reliable combo tool.
    • However, the move is now more reliable; no longer being escapable with SDI.
  • The introduction of meteor canceling hinders the new sweetspot's reliability.

Throws/other attacks

• Luigi has been given an up throw, a down throw, and a pummel, along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros. veterans, significantly improving his attack options. His new up and down throw's are capable of chain grabbing opponents.
• Grabs:
  • Luigi's Grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 11 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals much less damage (16% → 8%) and knockback (70 (base), 70 (scaling) → 60/65).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw deals less damage (12% → 10%) and has decreased knockback scaling (70 → 65).
  • Back throw's collateral hit deals less damage (10% → 8%).
• Taunt:
  • Taunt has less startup (frame 48 → 46) and ending lag (FAF 79 → 71).
    • However, it can no longer be interrupted with shield or grab increasing the amount of time Luigi cannot shield or grab after performing the taunt (60 frames → 70).
  • Taunt has slightly more range; now being able to hit the entire cast on the ground.
  • Taunt now deals extra shield damage (0 → 1).
  • Taunt has increased set knockback (60 → 100) and is now a meteor smash (361° → 280°), increasing its utility.
  • Taunt has a shorter duration (frames 48-50 → 46).

Special moves

• Fireball:
  • Fireball travels faster.
  • Fireball has a smaller hitbox.
  • Fireball has slightly increased startup (frame 16 → 17) and ending lag (FAF 46 → 47).
  • Fireball has a shorter duration (frames 16-94 → 17-66).
  • Fireball has decreased base knockback (10 → 5).
• Green Missile:
  • Luigi has a side special: Green Missile. Luigi travels sideways like a rocket which he can charge to increase its strength/distance. It also has a 1/8 chance to misfire which will set Luigi on fire and immediately make him travel a great distance with strong damage/knockback regardless of charge. It gives him an additional recovery option. It also slightly aids to his KO ability, being another KO option with a misfire, albeit not very reliable and a misfire travels so far that it can lead into a self destruct.
• Super Jump Punch:
  • Super Jump Punch has increased intangibility (frame 2 → 5-8).
    • However, its intangibility has increased startup lag (frame 2 → 5).
  • The late hit has an altered angle (361° → 80°) as well as altered knockback (10 (set), 100 (scaling) → 1 (base)/1).
  • The aerial sweetspot no longer makes the ping sound effect when it connects.
  • Super Jump Punch has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 2-24 → 5-23).
  • Super Jump Punch has a new animation where Luigi jumps straight up. This new animation covers less vertical distance and covers no horizontal distance whatsoever meaning that Luigi has to enter free fall before he can move horizontally.
  • Super Jump Punch can no longer be angled.
  • Super Jump Punch has more landing lag (25 frames → 40).
  • The changes to up aerial and the introduction of DI have made Super Jump Punch much harder to combo into.
  • The sweetspot no longer has a hitbox which covers Luigi's body.
  • The grounded sweetspot deals less knockback (90 (base), 80 (scaling) → 70/73).
  • The aerial sweetspot deals less damage (25% → 20%) and knockback (80 (base), 80 (scaling) → 58/72), significantly hindering its KO potential despite its altered angle (80° → 90°).
• Luigi Cyclone:
  • Luigi Cyclone has less ending lag (FAF 87 → 80).
  • Grounded Luigi Cyclone now allows Luigi to move along the ground to cover a moderate distance very quickly improving its utility.
  • The first hit's hitboxes no longer disappear if Luigi lands while they are active.
  • The first hit now always launches opponents straight up (65°/90° → 90°).
  • The first hit deals much less damage (15% → 8% (ground)/9% (air)) and knockback (65 (base), 90 (scaling) → 50/80).
    • This improves its ability to lead into the second hit.
    • However, this significantly hinders its KO potential.
  • The second hit now launches opponents straight up (70° → 90°) which along with the move's lower ending lag, improves its combo potential.
  • Luigi Cyclone has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 1-42 (hit 1)/43-44 (ground hit 2)/43-46 (air hit 2) → 6-29/43).
  • Luigi Cyclone now requires significantly faster button inputs to make Luigi rise.
  • Luigi can no longer mash to rise when using the grounded version.
  • Luigi Cyclone now needs to be "charged" by being used on the ground first before it can be used in midair to rise with mashing.
  • The second hit deals much less damage (18% → 12%) and knockback (80 (base), 100 (scaling) → 50/80), drastically hindering its KO potential.
    • However, this improves its combo potential.
    • As a result of all these changes, the move is no longer a reliable KO move and combo finisher.

Version history

PAL

• Changed the conditions for starting a match with a charged Luigi Cyclone (see here for conditions in the NTSC version). Luigi will now start the match with a charged Luigi Cyclone, regardless of opposing character, if playing with the lower port on Fountain of Dreams, Pokémon Stadium, Big Blue, Onett, Icicle Mountain and Poké Floats.

Moveset

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

Luigi's aerial attacks

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	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.
			2%
			5%
Forward tilt			10%	Does a back spinning kick with his right leg. Has 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			9%	Swipes over his head with his fist. Its upward trajectory makes this move well-suited for juggling, especially against fast-fallers.
Down tilt			9%	Crouches, turns around, and kicks his heel out behind him. 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.
Dash attack			2% (hits 1-6)	Dashes forward and attacks his opponent with a flurry of punches. It hits six 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. All hits deal ≈11.1% when used fresh.
Forward smash	↗		14%	Bends his elbow before thrusting his arm out, performing a spearhand thrust. Launches opponents diagonally upwards. The highest knockback scaling in the game at 135, being able to KO under 130%. Additionally, charging this move will cease Luigi momentum mid-wavedash, which will make him stop suddenly. This move can be angled up or down.
	→		13%
	↘		12%
Up smash			17%	Performs an upwards headbutt. Identical to Mario's up smash but has an up-and-behind trajectory, ideal for KOs off the upper blast line, or KOs on floaty opponents. It can also set up aerial combos in a similar manner to his up tilt. Luigi's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down smash			17%	Kicks out twice in a breakdancing motion, first in front and then behind. The combination of the attack's upward trajectory and its knockback makes it an excellent combo starter.
Neutral aerial			15% (clean), 8% (late)	A sex kick that sends the opponent straight upwards. For this reason, Luigi's sex kick is a popular tool for juggling and comboing opponents, being able to 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 neutral aerial overall and the most powerful sex kick in Melee).
Forward aerial			12%	Does a quick karate chop forward. High horizontal knockback and is one of Luigi's primary KO'ing aerial attacks. It also has high knockback at low damage. Launches at the Sakurai angle.
Back aerial			11%	Performs a reverse dropkick. Good for damage racking, edgeguarding, and zoning (especially on floaty opponents such as Jigglypuff). It also has high base knockback, similar to Dr. Mario's back aerial, adding to it's effectiveness.
Up aerial			13%	Does a upwards flipkick, hitting above him. 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			16%	Does a quick downwards spin kick. 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.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Headbutts opponent. Relatively slow.
Forward throw			8%	Spins around once and throws his opponent forward. This throw is relatively weak but can be used near the ledge to set up edgeguards.
Back throw			10% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Spins around three times and throws his opponent backwards. Luigi's strongest throw, often being used for throwing enemies offstage and getting KOs.
Up throw			7%	Throws his opponent upward. Very useful combo starter, leading into moves such as an up tilt, a neutral aerial, and an up smash. It can also chain grab fast-fallers.
Down throw			7%	Throws the opponent into the ground, causing them to bounce at a horizontal angle. Allows for combos or tech chase follow ups.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and punches behind him, then in front.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Swirls around in a similar fashion to his down smash.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6% (body), 8% (legs)	Does a somersault and then kicks upward onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Slowly gets up and kicks forward with one leg.
Neutral special		Fireball	6%	Shoots a fireball as a projectile. The fireball isn't affected by gravity.
Side special		Green Missile	5-26% (normal), 25% (misfire)	A chargeable move that launches Luigi sideways like a rocket. There is a lot of ending lag on this move, which makes it very punishable. There is a 1-in-8 chance that Luigi will misfire, sending him much farther, much faster, and with much more knockback. Performing this move like a smash attack causes the move to finish charging sooner.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	25% (ground clean), 20% (air clean), 1% (late)	Does a jumping uppercut upwards with no horizontal distance. There is a 1-frame sweetspot right at the beginning of the move, which is very powerful. Otherwise, it deals pitiful damage and no knockback.
Down special		Luigi Cyclone	8% (ground hit 1), 9% (air hit 1), 12% (hit 2)	A spinning attack that can be moved left and right. By rapidly tapping the B button, it can be used to gain a little vertical distance.
Taunt			1%	A bashful kick to the ground. The only damaging taunt in the game. Meteor smashes with set knockback, sending opponents upwards on the ground, and downwards if they are hanging on the ledge. It has very limited practical applications, being very slow and weak, as well as possible to meteor cancel due to its angle.

Taunt

• Bashfully kicks the ground, dealing 1% damage to anyone who hits his foot. It 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.

Idle pose

• Rubs the back of his head sheepishly. The controller vibrates slightly during this animation.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer	File:Luigi Cheer NTSC Melee.ogg	File:Luigi Cheer JP Melee.ogg
Description	Lu-i-gi!	Lui-gi!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

An orchestrated cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros..

• Planks twice. The spring sound from Super Mario World can be heard after each plank.
• Turns around and makes gun motions with his fingers, saying "Let's-a go"!
• Childishly swings his arms at the air and gasps twice with exhaustion. This is his animation when he is chosen in Super Smash Bros. 64

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the 2019 MPGR, which recognizes the official top 100 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

See also: Category:Luigi professionals (SSBM)

•  Abate - The best Luigi player of all time but is currently inactive. Ranked 63rd on the 2018 MPGR. Placed 7th at The Big House 5 and 25th at GENESIS 4, taking sets over players such as Axe and S2J.
•  Blea Gelo - One of the best Luigi players in the world. Placed 9th at CEO 2014 and 33rd at EVO 2017 with wins over MikeHaze, Ice, and Prince Abu. Was ranked 90th on the 2017 SSBMRank.
•  Eddy Mexico - Currently considered the best active Luigi player in the world. Placed 7th at Smash Factor 6, 17th at GENESIS 6, and 25th at EVO 2013 with wins over SFAT, ARMY, and Ken. Ranked 76th on the 2018 MPGR.
•  Jah Ridin' - The best Luigi in Europe. Placed 7th at HFLAN Melee Edition 2019 and 9th at Fête. Has wins over bobby big ballz, Frenzy, and Pricent. Ranked 25th on the European Melee Power Rankings.
•  Ka-master (#74) - Previously considered the best Luigi player in the world. Placed 7th at Don't Park on the Grass 2018 and 25th at EVO 2017 with wins over Fiction, Westballz, and Rocky. Ranked 58th on the 2018 MPGR.
•  Kurv (#75) - The former best Luigi player in SoCal before he switched to Fox. Placed 33rd at Smash 'N' Splash 5 and Mainstage. Has wins over Westballz, Fiction, Prince Abu, and Darktooth.
•  Vist - The best Luigi in MD/VA. Notably defeated Mango at Pound 3 and also has wins over dizzkidboogie, Swiftbass, Husband, and Cool Lime. He was ranked 98th on the 2013 SSBMRank.
•  Vudujin - He discovered and popularized the Vududash. Placed 7th at Fight Pitt 7 and 25th at The Big House 2. Ranked 5th on the Pittsburgh Melee Power Rankings.

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 low traction leading to slippery movement, 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 and Abate 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 and The Big House 5, Luigi players have placed relatively high with lacking similar performances by Mario, resulting in Luigi pulling ahead back into the middle tier, three spots above Mario at 12th place. Today, Luigi is still a solid middle tier character who has a relatively small, but strong, player base, and he makes decent impressions in large tournaments.

In 1-P Mode

Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Luigi can appear as an ordinary opponent, an ally in team and giant battles, alongside Dr. Mario, Link, or Yoshi in a team, a giant opponent, the sole member of a multi-character battle, or a metal character. In all appearances, he either appears on Mushroom Kingdom or Mushroom Kingdom II with the exception of the metal battle and when on a team with Yoshi, where he will fight the player on Battlefield or Yoshi's Story, respectively.

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 seconds meter (ex. 3:42:35) , a cutscene will occur which will show Luigi taking Mario's place in the upcoming battle (unusually, it does not count if there is a two in the tens column, but not the ones column: ex. 3.25:35 will not count). 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. Humorously, defeating Luigi yields the Luigi KO bonus, which is the one that awards least points to the player: a measly 20 points.

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

All-Star Mode

Luigi and his allies are fought on Mushroom Kingdom.

Event Matches

Luigi is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 31: Mario Bros. Madness: The player chooses any character and must fight Mario and Luigi in a two-timed match on Mushroom Kingdom. The player must have the most points within the two minutes to clear this event.
• Event 35: Time for a Checkup: The player controls Luigi must defeat a team of Dr. Mario and Peach on Yoshi's Story.
• Event 38: Super Mario Bros. 2: The player chooses any character and must defeat Mario, Luigi, and Peach in a two-stock match on Mushroom Kingdom II. Both the characters and the stage are a direct throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. 2, an NES sequel to Super Mario Bros.
• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Luigi is the second opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Mushroom Kingdom II, which will transition to the next stage if Luigi gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Marth, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game & Watch.
• Event 42: Trouble King 2: The player controls Luigi and must defeat a giant Bowser on the stage Poké Floats, with both players having two stock each.

Ending Images

• 

  Classic mode

• 

  Adventure mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

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

Luigi

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 [Smash]

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 [Smash]

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

• 

  [Smash]

• 

  [Smash]

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• 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 unlockable character to have his own cinematic, which plays when the player meets the criterion in Adventure Mode.
• Luigi is the only SSB64 veteran and is overall one of the only Melee characters (Roy, Marth, Falco, Mr. Game & Watch, and Dr. Mario) to not appear in the Melee intro.
• In the first two Smash Bros. games, Luigi's voice clips are simply higher-pitched versions of Mario's (most of which are taken from Super Mario 64). This is despite the fact that Luigi had his own distinct voice in Mario Kart 64 (albeit by the same actor), which came out over two years before Smash 64. This is also the last time to do so to date.
  • There appears to be some errors with Luigi's voice clips when it comes to the pitch modulation. As some voice clips retain their original un-altered pitch, and in one case, namely his Luigi Cyclone voice clip, it is pitched slightly lower.
  • The only unique sound Luigi had prior to Brawl was the Spring sound effect from Super Mario World, used in one of his victory poses (Green Missile simply reused Skull Bash's sound effect, and all other clips belonged to Mario).
• Luigi is the only character in Melee that has a taunt that can damage a player.
  • Because of this, he is the only character where the Poser Power and Poser KO bonuses can be utilized.
• Jigglypuff and Luigi are the only veterans to be unlockable in Melee.
• Luigi is the only playable character in Melee to already make his playable debut on the GameCube before this game, as Luigi's Mansion was released before Melee.