- For fighter info, see Ridley (SSBU). For his cybernetically-enhanced form, see Meta Ridley. For the Japanese smasher, see 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.
Origin
Ridley as he appears in
Super Metroid, which inspired his design in the
Super Smash Bros. series.
Ridley, also known by the identifier Geoform 187, is one of the main antagonists of the Metroid series, the other being Mother Brain. In spite of his bestial appearance and fearsome mannerisms, he is by no means a mindless animal, but a high-ranking Space Pirate general that is sapient and, as shown in the comics, capable of speech.
Ridley is directly connected to Samus Aran's past and present. In the Metroid e-manga, he gained enough favor with the Space Pirates that he became one of their figures of the highest authority. As such, he attacked and devastated three-year-old Samus's homeworld of K-2L in a raid for fuel and resources, and personally killed Samus's mother when she jumped in to protect her daughter. Unwittingly, he created his own worst enemy in Samus through this.
In Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission, he appears as the military leader of the Space Pirates and as a boss in the area with his name, and in Zero Mission, the final boss is a robot in his likeness. He, his counterpart Kraid, and all the Space Pirates desired to capture and clone the eponymous Metroid creatures for use in galactic domination. Ridley, however, was surprised to find the little girl from years ago, now a grown woman, having come to fight and kill him.
However, he was revived as a cyborg called "Meta Ridley" and was a major antagonist in Metroid Prime. He also gained a new, Phazon-enhanced form called "Omega Ridley" in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
In Metroid: Samus Returns, Ridley arrives on Planet SR388 as Samus returns to her gunship with the lone Baby Metroid in tow. Here, Ridley’s body has partially healed and he is known as "Proteus Ridley". After a long and hard-fought battle, Proteus Ridley is ultimately left incapacitated on the planet’s surface as Samus and the Baby Metroid leave for the Ceres Station to deliver the Baby Metroid.
In Super Metroid, his body has completely healed and he successfully kidnaps the baby Metroid that Samus found in Metroid: Samus Returns. Driven by intense rage, Samus chases him back to planet Zebes, the Pirate base in Metroid and Zero Mission, and in the process of rescuing the baby, Samus battles Ridley and the other Space Pirate leaders again. Samus ultimately escaped the destruction of Zebes, which supposedly marked the final and true death of Samus' longstanding nemesis.
In Metroid: Other M, Ridley is unintentionally cloned via a DNA sample found on Samus' armor after the events of Super Metroid. The result is initially a small white owl-like creature dubbed "little birdie", which Samus later encounters on the Bottle Ship. Later on, it evolves into a quadrupedal lizard and eventually assaults Samus on sight after being assailed by Galactic Federation soldiers. After escaping the attack, the mysterious creature evolves its final and most recognizable form. Samus then re-encounters this reborn Ridley inside the Geothermal Power Plant in the Pyrosphere area of the Bottle Ship. Having thought she had eliminated him for good at the destruction of Zebes, his presence drives such a shock into her that she becomes unable to speak or move, until Anthony Higgs supposedly sacrifices himself trying to protect her. Enraged by the loss of her friend, Samus attempts to kill Ridley once more. Having suffered heavy injuries from the battle, Ridley flies away. He is later attacked by the reincarnated Queen Metroid, being left as a lifeless husk.
In Metroid Fusion, the body of Ridley's clone, cryogenically frozen, reappears on the Biologic Space Labs research station, which Samus encounters halfway through her mission there, to witness it shatter, while an X Parasite mimicking him exits the body. Samus later encounters the X-mimic becoming "Neo-Ridley" and defeats him, presumably for the final time.
Ridley in
Super Smash Bros.Ridley appears on Planet Zebes, flying in the background. His appearance is based off of his Super Metroid sprite.
Ridley makes a cameo appearance in
Melee in a fight with Samus for a Metroid during the opening movie.
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.
| Ridley
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| A boss in
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SSBB
SSB4
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| Universe
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Metroid
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| Console of origin
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Nintendo Entertainment System
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| Article on Metroid Wiki
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Ridley
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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.
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.
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.
Moveset
Wolf fighting Ridley in
Brawl.
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.
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.
| Move |
Input |
Description |
Move Number
|
| Blasting Roar |
A or B |
Ridley roars and flaps his wings violently, which causes the wind to appear that pushes the player back slightly. Damage can be taken by making contact with his head as this starts. |
2
|
| Flying Stomp |
A^ |
Ridley lands then jumps up, and then drops down, trying to stomp on the player. Because Ridley always drops down on the same spot he landed before jumping, it can be dodged by running to the opposite end of the stage. |
3
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| Claw Sweep |
Av |
Ridley flies low and sweeps the stage with his claws. He screeches before this, unless being controlled by a human. |
2
|
| Fly Off |
A<, A>, B<, or B> |
Ridley initiates Slamming Rush, but if he is controlled by a human, he can't do it. However, if being controlled by a human, he can still return to the platform with moves like Claw Sweep (Av). |
1
|
| Background Ram |
B^ |
Ridley jumps up and then flies toward the player from the background, similar to Master Hand's punch, but with an erratic flight pattern. It will only hit the player if they are on or very close to the ground, so it can be dodged easily by jumping over it. |
3
|
| Tail Sweep |
Bv |
Ridley scrapes the stage with his tail. At low percentages, it covers half the stage. At higher percentages, it covers the whole stage, sometimes turning around at the end to double back. Sometimes he will use this attack twice in a row. It can be easily dodged by jumping over his tail. |
1 or 2
|
| Slamming Rush |
Unusable |
Ridley flies off the screen, then rushes at the player horizontally. Oddly, he seems to charge at a random speed each time, regardless of difficulty. It can be dodged by sidestepping, air dodging, roll dodging, or jumping over/under with good timing. |
1
|
| Loop-De-Loop |
Unusable |
Ridley does a loop-de-loop and damages anyone who makes contact. This can be dodged by jumping into the middle of the loop, where he will just circle the player. |
1
|
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
Ridley flies in a circular fashion.
Ridley charges leftwards through the air.
Ridley sweeps its tail along the stage.
Ridley flaps his wings to produce wind.
Ridley scrapes his claw along the stage.
Ridley crashes down to the stage.
Ridley stomps onto the ground of the stage.
Ridley flies forward at high speed from behind the stage.
HP and damage taken
| HP Values |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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| The Research Facility (Part II) |
306.36 |
331.8 |
350.88 |
376.32 |
408.12
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| The Great Maze |
241 |
263 |
278 |
301 |
325
|
| Round |
1-3 |
4-6 |
7-9 |
1-3 |
4-6 |
7-9 |
1-3 |
4-6 |
7-9 |
1-3 |
4-6 |
7-9 |
1-3 |
4-6 |
7-9
|
| Boss Battles |
130.4 |
136.6 |
150.6 |
143 |
152 |
168.8 |
156.5 |
168.5 |
187 |
170 |
185 |
209.1 |
206 |
229 |
258.5
|
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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| Damage taken
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×1.0
|
×1.0
|
×1.1
|
×1.3
|
×0.7
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×1.0
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×1.3
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×1.0
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×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's trophy in
Brawl.
- Ridley
The leader of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and 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
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Game
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Effect
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Characters
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| Ridley
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Metroid
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AttackDarkness+030 Attack +30
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Ganondorf
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| Ridley
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Metroid: Zero Mission
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AttackArm+025 Attack +25
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All characters
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Ridley
(Metroid)
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Ridley
(Metroid: Zero Mission)
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The shadow of a dragon-like creature on
Pyrosphere, which was the first visible confirmation of Ridley's appearance.
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 the 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.
Left: Ridley's head icon in SSB4.
Right: Unused Black Ridley variant.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS marks Ridley's first complete absence from a Super Smash Bros. title.
Attacks
Ridley shooting a fireball.
- 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.
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 (08/1987)
- : Super Metroid (04/1994)
- 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!
- 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 (08/2010)- 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.
- 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 (08/2010)
As a playable character
Official artwork of Ridley in
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
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
Gallery
Ridley's debut appearance in Metroid, which inspired his depiction in Ultimate[1]
Unused boss portrait from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Trivia
- In Metroid: Other M, when fighting Ridley, he can grab Samus and scrape her against a wall, just like in Brawl. Ridley can do the same thing in his cameo in Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the Nintendo 3DS. His side special, Space Pirate Rush, also has him perform a similar move.
- 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 the first game's Smash Bros. DOJO!! featured Ridley receiving four separate requests from fans to be playable, with only King Dedede having more (with five).[2][3] Requests for the character increased before the release of both Melee and Brawl, with the significant hype behind 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.
- Masahiro Sakurai himself has commented on the popularity of Ridley as a playable character. In an interview with the gaming magazine Nintendo Power, Sakurai said the following on Brawl's finalized roster:
- Nintendo Power: There was a rumor at one point about Ridley being playable. Was that ever a consideration?
- Sakurai: I think that would probably be pretty impossible. [Laughs] If we had put our best efforts into it, we may have been able to do it. But he might have been a little slow. Would that be all right? [Laughs]
- 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.[4]
- 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.[1]
- 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 hangs motionless in the air once his death animation completes. Normally, the animation finishes far below the bottom of the screen, so this cannot be seen. However, it is possible to defeat him while he's very high up during some attacks with moves such as Thunder, which results in the animation not reaching the bottom of the screen and leaving him to float onscreen as the stage fades out.
- 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.
- 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.
- In Ultimate, Ridley became the second boss in the series to become a playable character, after Giga Bowser.
- However, Ridley is the first boss in the series to be a fully playable character as opposed to Giga Bowser, who is only playable via Final Smash.
- Ridley, the dog from Duck Hunt, Palutena, Dark Samus,Wii Fit Trainer, and Piranha Plant are the only playable characters in the Super Smash Bros. series that do not have a playable appearance in any other video game. If the Mystery Mushroom costumes from Super Mario Maker are counted, however, Ridley, Dark Samus, and Piranha Plant are the only characters in the series to hold this distinction.
- By default, this makes the Metroid universe the only universe that has two characters with this distinction.
- Due to Ridley becoming playable in Ultimate, he is currently the tallest playable character to date, succeeding Samus in SSB and Bowser since Melee.
- Ridley is one of three characters to have made a cameo in the opening of Melee, as a model, prior to becoming a playable character, the others being Charizard and Wolf O'Donnell.
- Of these three, Ridley is the only one who didn't become playable in Brawl.
- Counting both versions of SSB4 as the same game, Ridley is one of three playable characters who have appeared in every game in the series but have not been playable in every appearance, the others being King Dedede and Charizard.
- Coincidentally, all three characters are heavyweights to some extent.
- In the Super Smash Bros. series, Ridley is the only playable Metroid character to not be a variation of Samus (as well as the only one not to have Samus in his name), be male, and not have a grab aerial in any game.
- Due to his status as a playable character, Ridley is the only stage boss not to reprise his role in Ultimate.
References
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