He Puts the Bros. in Super Mario Bros.
Luigi - Past, Present and Future
Ever since Super Mario Bros. was first released in 1985, Mario, the title character, has usually been the main focus for fans everywhere.
Most players are sure to have nostalgic memories of the selfless hero going through the Mushroom Kingdom's charming plains and dank caverns before eventually making it to King Bowser's lava-filled castle to rescue the fair and kind-hearted Princess Peach.
Over the years, Mario has become a pop culture icon, appearing in several platform and RPG games along with numerous sports and music-based spin-offs.
Whether it's soccer, baseball, golf, dancing or racing, Mario is sure to be the star. He has even appeared alongside long-time rival Sonic the Hedgehog in the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series.
Throughout the time Mario's fame spiked, one hero always remained overshadowed by the red plumber's success. The truth is that Luigi, Mario's younger twin, was always present from the very beginning, loyally standing by his brother's side during two-player mode.
He only seemed to be known as the "Green Mario" in those days, but over time he has developed his own sense of individuality, one that is beginning to make him stand apart from his more famous brother.
Super Mario Bros. in the 1980s
Luigi first made his debut in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. Nothing about the gameplay was very complex since the only objective was to destroy all the enemies that came out of pipes in each never-ending level.
Luigi was nothing more than a palette swap of Mario, but this game still paved the way for him to become a major recurring character in the series.
His next appearance was in the 1985 game Wrecking Crew. Yet again, this was a simple arcade classic where Mario and Luigi break down walls with sledge hammers in order to advance to the next level.
It seemed as if the more unfortunate brother was intended to stay a palette swap, but could he branch out and become his own man in the future?
From a Palette Swap to a Main Character
Luigi would continue to be only a palette swap of Mario from Super Mario Bros. up until after Super Mario Bros. 2, where his appearance changed a bit along with his abilities.
Not only did he become a bit taller and leaner than his brother, but he could also jump the highest out of the four playable characters (consisting of himself; Mario; Princess Peach and Toad, her attendant).
The green-clad warrior didn't really begin to form a personality of his own until the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series.
Where Mario was the brave and daring one of the two, Luigi became more timid and fearful, even showing reluctance to face dangerous monsters unless he was practically forced to.
Sometimes he even exaggerated stories to make himself look braver than he really was, indicating that he might have been afraid of what his friends would think of him if they really knew how scared he was, or that he just needed their attention and admiration since Mario's fame deprived him of it.
He even seemed to stand out against his brother in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, having a more unenthusiastic and saddened tone in his voice when he would speak after entering the fighting stage.
This could have also been due to the fact that he was living in his brother's shadow, as indicated by Colonel Campbell from the Metal Gear Solid series.
Luigi Has His Own Personality
Although he reverted back to a palette swap a few times after the second Super Mario game (Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World coming to mind), Luigi continued to evolve in later games. He stood out so much that he finally became the main character of two spin-off games, the first being Mario is Missing and the second being Luigi's Mansion.
Mario is Missing was an educational game for the younger crowd and was designed to teach kids geography. As the title suggests, Mario disappears and it's up to Luigi to locate him.
Luigi's Mansion has a similar theme, although the storyline is a little more well-developed. Luigi wins a mansion through a contest he didn't even enter, and Mario disappears after he travels to the new house to investigate. Little do both plumbers know that the mansion Luigi wins is actually haunted!
Just like the last spin-off, Luigi must enter the creaky, seemingly-abandoned house and rescue his brother. Of course, there are always obstacles for the hapless green plumber to overcome, his main one being his own phasmophobia.
He has nothing to fear, however, especially after he receives the Poltergust 3000 (a vacuum similar to the ghost-catching contraption in Ghostbusters) from a spirit-hunting professor named E. Gadd.
With two new Mario games coming out on the Wii and DS, it's sure that Luigi will remain an important part of the franchise, maybe even making his way up to a secondary main character since he is gathering a larger fanbase.
He has evolved quite a bit from the mere palette swap he started out as, so hopefully he will continue to change and stay a well-defined character in the series. The more different he and Mario become, the better.
Mario and Luigi seem to be quite competitive
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