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Luigi (SSB)

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This article is about Luigi's appearance in Super Smash Bros.. For the character in other contexts, see Luigi.
Luigi
in Super Smash Bros.
Luigi
MarioSymbol(preBrawl).svg
Universe Mario
Other playable appearances in Melee
in Brawl
in SSB4
Availability Unlockable
Tier C (12) (North America)
? (11) (Japan)
Luigi's head icon from SSB.

Luigi (ルイージ, Luigi) appears in Super Smash Bros. as one of the four unlockable characters. He is a clone of Mario, keeping most of his moves and animations, though differing in terms of attributes. Like him, Luigi is voiced by Charles Martinet, albeit his voice clips' are merely higher pitched versions of Mario's voice clips.

Luigi ranks 12th on the tier list, making him the lowest ranked out of all characters in the original Super Smash Bros. Luigi's combo ability is varied and versatile, and they can be followed by his most devastating finisher, the Super Jump Punch. He also has a long distanced recovery. However, his weaknesses are extremely overwhelming: he has very slow movement speed, with the slowest traction and dashing and air speeds, along with the third lowest falling speed and gravity. Despite the latter attribute giving him great jump prowess, it also gives him a high short hop. Like Mario, his reach is poor, giving him trouble at hitting opponents. Altogether, these attributes result in very weak and almost complete lack of offensive options in the neutral game, despite having Fireball as a projectile. While being a clone in terms of attacks, some of his attacks are much weaker, an exception to it being Super Jump Punch, which is hard to land without confirming a combo into it. Lastly, his recovery is predictable despite being long distanced, and he is easier to gimp because of his lower air speed. As a result of these attributes, he has almost no dedicated players in competitive play, and suffers from terrible tournament results.

How to unlock

Complete Break the Targets with all eight of the starter characters, then defeat Luigi on Peach's Castle.

Attributes

File:Luigiending.jpg
Luigi's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Luigi is notable for being the only full clone in Smash 64. Many of his attacks are similar to Mario's, although there are differences. Luigi's main problem is his terrible physics - a combination of slow dashing speed, very slow air speed, low traction, and low falling speed gives him very poor mobility and big trouble approaching, even with a projectile in his Fireballs. He also has a high short hop and short range.

Luigi has a relatively good recovery - despite being on the more predictable side, his jumps are high and Super Jump Punch travels a fairly high distance, with Luigi Cyclone being an additional recovery option (though it requires very fast button mashing to give distance). Luigi's Fire Jump Punch is a very powerful KO move, and it can be combo'd into with a down aerial or forward aerial. Despite this, however, Luigi generally cannot combo well due to his very low air speed. His down aerial is his main combo move, but being a drill, it can be SDI'd out of, hindering its effectiveness. The Luigi Cyclone (his down special move) can pseudo-spike most characters as an edgeguarding technique, but this is ineffective against characters who can recover from it quickly, including Pikachu, Mario, and other Luigis. Luigi has the highest initial jump in the game, which can be a good thing on stages like Hyrule, but it gives him a high short hop, which further hinders his combo ability, especially since it's also rather slow. Luigi lacks a particularly powerful KO move outside his Fire Jump Punch, limiting his KO options.

Luigi overall has poor matchups, being heavily countered by Pikachu and having a 40-60 matchup against six characters in the game. He does however have an even matchup against Yoshi and Donkey Kong, and he also does well against Samus and Jigglypuff, hard countering the latter due to his Fire Jump Punch.

In doubles

Overall, Luigi is considered a decent mid-tier in doubles. With a teammate to distract opponents, Luigi gains several opportunities for devastating Fire Jump Punch combos, and his poor approach can be covered by a fast teammate like Fox. Luigi's primary weaknesses are his poor range and poor air speed, which is why he is usually partnered with a character who can cover those disadvantages (like Captain Falcon or Pikachu). He is considered a great combo with Mario due to their combo and KOing options being nearly identical, allowing them to combo extensively.

Differences from Mario

Aesthetics

  • Change Luigi's taunt is different, being a bashful kick to the ground.
    • Buff It can actually hurt opponents, dealing high fixed knockback and 1% damage if it connects.
  • Change All of Luigi's victory poses are different.
  • Change Luigi's fighting stance is unique.

Attributes

  • Nerf Luigi is overall weaker than Mario.
  • Nerf Luigi's falling speed is slower than Mario's (44 → 42), hurting his vertical survivability.
    • Buff His slower falling speed somewhat aids him in recovering.
  • Buff Luigi has faster attacks in general, such as his down smash.
  • Nerf Luigi dashes slower than Mario (44 → 40).
  • Buff Luigi jumps much higher than Mario.
    • Nerf Due to this, Luigi's short hop is higher, impairing his combo ability.
  • Nerf Luigi has much slower air speed compared to Mario (30 → 22.5).
  • Nerf Luigi has significantly lower traction than Mario (0.7 → 1.5), giving him less ground control.

Ground attacks

  • Nerf Forward smash (18%/17%16% → 16%/15%/14%), forward tilt (14%/13%/12% → 10%), and down tilt (12% → 7%) all deal less damage.
  • Nerf Luigi's dash attack is a signature flurry of weak punches. It is less useful and slower than Mario's dash attack.
  • Buff Luigi's down tilt is a simple jab with his foot rather than a sweep kick. It is faster than Mario's down tilt.

Throws/other attacks

  • Change Front and back throw's damage outputs are reversed.

Special moves

  • Buff Luigi's Super Jump Punch has a sweetspot in the first frame of the move, which deals 25% damage and extremely high knockback.
    • Nerf However, it possesses a sourspot which deals 1% damage and no knockback at all.
  • Buff Luigi Cyclone only possesses two hitboxes which deal 15% and 18%, respectively, and it is not a multi-hitting move. These hitboxes do not deal set knockback, granting the move KO potential.
    • Nerf However, the Luigi Cyclone requires more button mashing to rise up.
    • Nerf Luigi Cyclone cannot meteor smash airborne opponents.
  • Change Luigi's Fireball is not affected by gravity and is green instead of red.

Differences between game versions

In his transition to NTSC, Luigi overgone many changes, both positive and negative, which makes him slightly less of a clone than Mario. However, he was untimately nerfed due to his lower mobility and the higher SDI presence. Despite this, he ironically has better matchups in the NTSC version, due to the changes to SDI also nerfing several character's combo options. Altogether, he is a worse character than in the Japanese version, but fares better due to the different gameplay mechanics, though not by much.

Attributes

  • Nerf Luigi is very slightly bigger (1.0x → 1.12x).
  • Buff Luigi's head hurtbox dimensions are very slightly smaller ({155,200,150} → {155,160,150}).
  • Nerf Air speed is reduced (26.0 → 22.5).
  • Buff Rolls travel farther.

Throws

  • Change Forward throw does more damage (12% → 16%) but less base knockback (80 → 70).
  • Change Back throw does less damage (16% → 12%) but has more base knockback (70 → 80).

Special attacks

  • Nerf Fireballs have lower knockback (22 base/50 scaling → 10/25) and travel a shorter distance.
  • Change Grounded Fire Jump Punch's sweetspot has a different angle (80° → 90°) making it more powerful despite its different knockback values (100 base/78 scaling → 90/80).
  • Buff Aerial Fire Jump Punch's sweetspot deals more damage (24% → 25%) with higher knockback scaling (78 → 80).
  • Nerf Aerial Fire Jump Punch's sourspot deals less damage (2% → 1%).

Moveset

SSB64 Luigi.gif
Luigi's Aerial attacks in Super Smash Bros.. This is to replace File:Luigi air attacks ssb.JPG because that picture is low quality.
Luigi's aerial attacks.
  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   2% Two punches and a kick. This move is a natural combo. Taken directly from Mario's attack combo in Super Mario 64.
2%
4%
Forward tilt   10% Decent spacer and KOs at very high damage percentages. Can be angled.
Up tilt   10% Does an uppercut, and has many of the same uses as Mario's uppercut in that it is a good combo starter, chains into itself, and can KO at high percentages. Can be angled.
Down tilt   7% Low knockback and range. An easily countered move unless there's a good strategy behind it.
Dash attack   12% if all hits connect Six hits, 2% per hit. The last hit has no knockback, and coupled with some ending lag, this move is easily punished.
Forward smash   16% The exact same as Mario's; winds up for a second and punches with an enlarged fist. Powerful, but the weakest forward smash in the game. Using it in a short step will cause Luigi to slide forward a short distance.
15%
14%
Up smash   19% Lunges head upwards in an arc. Very powerful vertical finisher; tied with Mario and Jigglypuff for strongest up smash in the game. Can KO as low as 73% on Dream Land.
Down smash   17% Faster than Mario's, and good damage and power.
Neutral aerial   14% (clean), 11% (late) Does a sex kick, which gets weaker over time.
Forward aerial   16% (clean), 10% (late) Spin kick. Luigi sticks his feet out in front, his body aimed forward with them, and spins.
Back aerial   16% (clean), 10% (late) Thrusts his feet back and flips.
Up aerial   12% (clean), 9% (late) Great for juggling or KO-ing, depending on what angle the foe is hit on.
Down aerial   24% if all hits connect Drill kick, 8 hits, 3% per hit. Like Mario's, this is a meteor smash that can be used to edgeguard opponents. Last hit does not have knockback.
Grab
Forward throw   16% Same as Mario, swings foe once and tosses them in front with good power.
Back throw   12% (throw), 10% (collateral) Swings three times and tosses foe behind with excellent KO power, a throw from Super Mario 64.
Floor attack (front) 6% Leg sweeps and gets up, similar to his d-smash.
Floor attack (back) 6% Leg sweeps and gets up, similar to his d-smash.
Edge attack (fast) 6% Gets up and somersaults.
Edge attack (slow) 6% Slowly gets up and kicks.
Neutral special Fireball 6% Throws a green fireball as a projectile. Unlike Mario's, it is not affected by gravity and travels forward perfectly straight, even in midair.
Up special Super Jump Punch 25% (sweetspot), 1% (sourspot) Does a jumping uppercut. Although it is visually similar to Mario's, it functions very differently. If Luigi is right next to the opponent and does it, it will become a Fire Jump Punch, a move with high damage and powerful knockback, able to KO Jigglypuff at rather low percentages. It can also be combo'd into from a down aerial, or a forward aerial hitting with the weak hitbox (on Luigi's feet). Otherwise, the sour spot deals almost no damage and knockback, leaving Luigi extremely vulnerable. Luigi has some devastating combos involving the Fire Jump Punch. Like Mario's, it is a good recovery move.
Down special Luigi Cyclone 15% (loop), 18% (final hit) A spinning attack that resembles the Spin Jump from Super Mario World. Unlike Mario's, it has only two hits: one at the beggning, and one at the end. Once he lands, his hitboxes will become inactive except for the second hit, making him very punishable. If two hits connect, it will deal a total of 26-33% damage. If the B button is pressed repeatedly in midair, Luigi will rise upwards. It has vertical KO power at percentages under 100% when used close to the upper blast line, and can be used as a followup to an up aerial.

On-screen appearance

  • Jumps out of a Warp Pipe just like Mario.
Luigi's opening animation in Smash 64.

Taunt

  • Puts his arms by his sides and slightly behind him, lowers his head and kicks with his left foot. If the foot connects with an opponent it deals 1% damage with set knockback and stun. This is the only damaging taunt in Super Smash Bros.. It is possible for a team of two Luigis to perform an infinite combo on lighter characters such as Jigglypuff using nothing but their taunts.
Taunts-SSB-Luigi.gif

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Lu-i-gi *claps three times* Lu-i-gi *claps three times*
Pitch Group chant Group chant

Victory poses

A cover of the iconic "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros.
  • Shuffles left and right.
  • Childishly swings at the air and, after sighing twice, glares at the camera (also his character selection animation).
  • While facing backwards, he waves to the left and right side.
LuigiPose1SSB.gif LuigiPose2SSB.gif LuigiPose3SSB.gif

In competitive play

Matchups

International versions

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups
  PikachuIcon(SSB).png KirbyIcon(SSB).png CaptainFalconIcon(SSB).png FoxIcon(SSB).png YoshiIcon(SSB).png JigglypuffIcon(SSB).png MarioIcon(SSB).png SamusIcon(SSB).png DonkeyKongIcon(SSB).png NessIcon(SSB).png LinkIcon(SSB).png LuigiIcon(SSB).png Avg.
LuigiIcon(SSB).png 30:70 40:60 40:60 40:60 50:50 60:40 40:60 60:40 50:50 40:60 40:60 Mirror match 45:55

Japanese version

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups (JPN Version)
  PikachuIcon(SSB).png KirbyIcon(SSB).png CaptainFalconIcon(SSB).png FoxIcon(SSB).png LinkIcon(SSB).png NessIcon(SSB).png JigglypuffIcon(SSB).png MarioIcon(SSB).png SamusIcon(SSB).png YoshiIcon(SSB).png LuigiIcon(SSB).png DonkeyKongIcon(SSB).png Avg.
LuigiIcon(SSB).png 25:75 30:70 35:65 30:70 30:70 35:65 45:55 40:60 35:65 40:60 Mirror match 60:40 35:65

Notable players

See also: Category:Luigi professionals (SSB)

In 1P Game

In the game's single-player mode, a player and a randomly chosen ally fight against Mario and Luigi in a team battle on Peach's Castle making him the only unlockable character who can be fought in the 1P game.

Description

Though often hidden in his older brother Mario's shadow, Luigi is, in reality, very popular. Taller than Mario, Luigi also jumps higher. Although he didn't appear in Super Mario 64, in Mario Kart 64 he performed to the best of his ability. For one who seems to always seems to be in the background, he has many fans who eagerly await his appearance.

Works:

Alternate costumes

Luigi Palette (SSB).png
Luigi's head icon from SSB. LuigiHeadWhiteSSB.png LuigiHeadBlueSSB.png LuigiHeadPinkSSB.png

Trivia

  • Oddly, Luigi appears in Super Smash Bros. twice (not including the introduction sequence, which features all twelve characters) before being unlocked, in the "How to Play" sequence and in the 1P Game.
  • Luigi is the only unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. who can be unlocked without playing the 1P Game.
  • Luigi's ending picture is the only one to depict another fighter, which is Mario.
  • Luigi's overalls in this game are purple instead of blue, which makes him resemble his sprite from Super Mario World.
  • Luigi's portrait on the Character selection screen greatly resembles his artwork from Mario Kart 64.