Luigi (SSBB)

This page is about Luigi's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Luigi.

Luigi
Luigi
Universe	Mario
Appears in	SSB SSBM SSBB
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	Middle (23)

Luigi (ルイージ, Ruīji) is an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is unlocked by playing 22 matches in Brawl, then defeat Luigi, Beating Classic Mode using no continues, then defeating Luigi, get Luigi to join your party in The Subspace Emissary. His moveset seems essentially unchanged, though some of his potential disadvantages from Melee appear to have been diminished (very low friction, very low falling speed, very low horizontal air speed). His dash attack has the same animation and effect, except the last blow now has some knockback, making this move not quite so easy to punish. Another minor change is that his voice is no longer a recycled Mario voice sped up, but his deeper voice from recent games.

SSBB was the only title in the Smash Bros. series where Luigi was higher on the tier list than his older brother Mario (Luigi is currently 23, Mario 29) until the recent SBR Melee tier update.

Attributes

While many consider Luigi a clone or semi-clone of Mario, there are some important differences between them. Like Mario, his Fireballs are spammable and help his approach, but Luigi’s travel less distance and are not affected by gravity, which can be good or bad depending on the situation. Luigi is also a good juggler due to his speedy attacks and his own speed. His jabs, tilts, and aerials are considered fast and to have high priority. His neutral aerial is a high-priority Sex Kick and can often kill at medium percentages on most characters. He is also able to chain throw many characters when they are at low percentages. His smashes, like most of his attacks, are considered fast and somewhat strong. His specials are also considered good and great for recovery. If one keeps pressing the special attack button during Luigi Cyclone, Luigi will rise up and this can be repeated in a manner similar to Koopa Hopping. His Side Special, the Green Missile, can be used for horizontal recovery to make up for the lack of horizontal recovery from his Super Jump Punch. The Super Jump Punch is unique in the fact that if sweetspotted, it will become the Fire Jump Punch, a much stronger version that deals fire damage and can kill at lower percentages.

Luigi's problems mostly revolve around his unusual mobility. His lateral air speed is the second-slowest, and his fall rate is relatively slow. His traction is notoriously poor, and his ground speed is rather slow. Range can also be a problem against the swordsmen and possessors of a superior ranged game.

His Taunt is also unique in the sense that it can hit opponents and deal 2% of damage, but if it is used when the opponent is on the ledge, it is almost always a meteor smash KO. His Final Smash, the Negative Zone, is strange in the sense that it creates a bubble which, if opponents enter, can have many hazardous effects.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack - Punches twice with both hands and then thrusts his butt out.
• Dash Attack - Luigi swings his arms multiple times. The last hit has more knockback than Melee.
• Strong Side - Luigi does a roundhouse kick. Can be tilted in different directions. 10%
• Strong Up - Luigi does an upwards kittenswipe that is great for juggling. 9%
• Strong Down - Luigi does a tripping kick for minimal damage. Can be used to Meteor Smash opponents from the edge right underneath his foot. 9%

Smash

• Side Smash - Luigi does a spearhand that can be tilted with good knockback. Very fast, but CPU players can shield easily. 14-21%. Can be directed up or down using the joystick (only when charging).
• Up Smash - Luigi does an upwards headbutt similar to Mario's Up Smash, but better knockback. 12-21%
• Down Smash -Luigi does a twisting breakdancing sweepkick with excellent vertical knockback. 16-22%

Other

• Ledge attack - Flips over the edge, kicking the opponent during the flip. 8% damage
• 100% Ledge attack - Slowly gets up and kicks.10% damage
• Floor attack - Does a sweeperkick similar to his Down Smash. 6% damage
• Trip attack-Kicks behind him, then in front of him while getting up. 5% each kick

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Luigi does a sex kick that has great vertical knockback. There is absolutely no horizontal knockback in this attack, but if hit during the first few frames, your foe might become Star K.O.ed. 14%
• Forward Aerial - Luigi does a karate chop that has moderate horizontal knockback. 10%
• Back Aerial - Luigi does a backwards kick similar Mario's with similar knockback. Luigi's new bair is similar to his Fair in the original Smash Bros. 12%
• Up Aerial - Luigi does a flip kick that is great for juggling. 13%
• Down Aerial -Luigi does a quick down spin kick. Can spike in parts of the hitbox. Spike hitbox is easy to hit with after mastering. The spike hitboxes are the first few frames of the attack, right where his hands start spinning, and can be done on both sides of him. 11%

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel - Luigi head slams the opponent. 3%
• Forward Throw - Luigi does a spin once and throws forward. 9%
• Back Throw - Luigi spins three times and throws backwards. Amazing knockback and is a strong killing move when foe is at high damage. 12%
• Down Throw - Luigi slams to the ground. Can combo in with U-smash at low percentages; Nair at higher percentages. 6%
• Up Throw - Luigi turns to the screen and throws foe in the air. 8%

Taunt

Up: Does a variety of humorous poses very quickly in a set order: Faces the screen with one hand on his waist, the other giving the peace symbol, next he turns to the right slightly, pointing his hands that direction. Then, he places his right hand just below his mustache, as if he is thinking. Then he turns away from the screen, crouching, as if he's sad, and finally, he faces the screen once more, with both hands on his face, giving a frightened look, reminiscent to the box art of the Nintendo Gamecube game Luigi's Mansion. The switch between each expression is so fast, it can't be seen unless the game speed is slowed down a bit. He also makes a sound during each expression: Hoo! Hah! Hee! Hey! Hoh!

Side: Becomes stiff, falls on the floor, then seems to balance himself back up again. He says something that resembles "Pow pow".

Down: Kicks at the ground (does 2% damage and has very strong fixed vertical knockback.). Luigi utters a bashful "Hm." If used on an opponent hanging from a ledge, it will Meteor Smash them.

Role in Subspace Emissary

Luigi first appears where he pretends to threaten and attack on-coming Waddle Dees. They are harmless, and make no move to attack him, but he is frightened by them, nonetheless. Then, out of nowhere he is attacked from behind by King Dedede, who slams Luigi with his mallet, sending him flying into the air. After he comes back down, he becomes a trophy. King Dedede places him on the road as bait for Wario, who is coming down the road. Wario takes the bait, and Dedede manages to steal the princess and Ness trophies along with Wario's Cargo.

File:Subspace luigi.PNG

Luigi in the SSE

Dedede places a special badge on Luigi, Ness, and the princess, though the princess's badge is knocked off when Bowser flies off with the princess in his Koopa Clown Car and is later swallowed by Kirby. Later, when Tabuu turns everyone into trophies, the badges turn Luigi and Ness back into living creatures. The badges had the power to bring trophies back to life. Luigi and Ness afterward turned King Dedede back to life. The unlikely trio set off to help out Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Fox, Link, Yoshi, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, Falco, Pit, Captain Olimar, Lucas, Diddy Kong, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike. Luigi, along with Ness, then watch Dedede fight Bowser, and later help him convince Wario to join them. After they turned everyone back to normal, they all fought Tabuu.

Trivia

• Luigi's trophy in Subspace Emissary is different from his collectible trophy. Instead of adjusting his hat, Luigi holds his hands to his face making a surprised expression, which is one of the poses from his up taunt. This distinction is unique to Luigi.
• Luigi's trophy pose is similar to Mario's idle pose in SSBM in where he is adjusting his hat.
• Apparently, Luigi has a higher probability of tripping than any other character. (2% each time the control stick is pressed, versus 1% for other characters.)
• Luigi's crowd chant seems to have only two or three people to it, as opposed to a large group. This could be a running joke to how he is the lesser Mario brother referenced in previous Mario RPG games and by a Toad in Super Mario 64 DS.
• In one of his 'Winning a Match' animations, he makes his hands into pretend guns, says 'bang bang', and rotates his wrists while winking at the camera. Strangely, his nose rotates in the same way while doing this.
• Luigi's "ground kick" taunt can spike those hanging on ledges.
• Luigi's Green Missile can get him humorously temporarily stuck in a flat wall if charged, causing him to pull himself out. Also, he makes a spring noise as his body bobs up and down.

External links

• DOJO!! page