Luigi first appeared in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player, and retained this role in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and other titles. The first game where he was available as a primary character was Super Mario Bros. 2. In more recent appearances, Luigi's role became increasingly restricted to spinoffs such as the Mario Party and Mario Kart series, though he has been featured in a starring role on two occasions: first in the 1991 educational game Mario is Missing and later in Luigi's Mansion for the Gamecube in 2001. In both of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero because Mario, the usual hero within the franchise, is in need of rescue.
Originally developed as a palette swap of Mario with a green color scheme instead of red, Luigi has since developed a personality and style of his own. As his role in the Mario series progressed, Luigi evolved into a physically distinct character, taller and slightly thinner than his brother. Although as kindhearted as Mario, Luigi is portrayed as timid and sometimes cowardly, especially in the presence of ghosts or when forced to do tasks that seemingly are impossible for him to accomplish.
Concept and creation
The events leading to Luigi's creation began in 1982, during the development of Donkey Kong, where the Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto had created Mario (then known as "Jumpman") hoping that he would be able to recast the character in a variety of different roles in future games. Miyamoto had been inspired by the game Joust to create a game with a simultaneous two-player mode, which led to his development of the game Mario Bros. in 1983, with Luigi filling the role of Mario's brother as the second playable character. In accordance with Nintendo's marketing policy of naming and promoting individual characters, the new character was given the name Luigi, which was inspired by a pizza parlor near Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, called "Mario & Luigi's". While Mario was originally portrayed as a carpenter in Donkey Kong, the duo of Mario and Luigi in Mario Bros. were styled as Italian plumbers by Miyamoto, on the suggestion of a colleague. Software constraints of the time - similar to those that gave Mario his distinctive look in Donkey Kong - meant Luigi's first appearance was restricted to a simple palette swap of Mario designed to represent the second player. Graphically and in terms of gameplay, the characters were completely identical, except for their color schemes; the green color scheme adopted for Luigi would remain one of his defining physical characteristics in subsequent releases.
After the success of Mario Bros., Luigi was introduced to a wider audience in 1985 with the release of the console game Super Mario Bros. Once again his role was restricted to a palette swap of Mario, functioning as the second-player in a similar fashion to Mario Bros.. The subsequent release of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in 1986, however, marked the beginning of Luigi's development toward becoming a more distinguished character.As with his previous appearances, Luigi remained a palette swap of Mario. While this version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Japan, it was deemed to be too difficult for American audiences at the time, leading to the development of an alternative release for the latter; this version would play a key role in shaping Luigi's current appearance. In 1988, consequently, a version of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic with the graphics altered to represent characters and scenes from the Mario franchise was released in the United States as Super Mario Bros. 2. In this release, the character of "Mama" served as the template for Luigi, resulting in his gaining a taller, thinner look, complete with his ubiquitous green color scheme. As this alternative version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was largely spearheaded by the Nintendo of America division, the Japanese headquarters was not immediately influenced by this change in Luigi's appearance. From the 1992 game Super Mario Kart onwards, however, Luigi's distinguished appearance from the Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic-inspired version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was adopted by Nintendo for both character artwork and in-game appearances.
Actor portrayal
Upon debuting on the Nintendo 64, Luigi received a voice, provided by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth. Much like his appearance, Luigi's vocal portrayal has fluctuated over the years. When first introduced in Mario Kart 64, Luigi's voice was considerably lower in pitch than Mario's (although it was high pitched in the Japanese version[citation needed]); however, in Mario Party, his voice has a much higher pitch, similar to Mario's voice (the same voice from the Japanese Mario Kart 64). He retained this higher voice in Mario Party 2. In Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Party 3, his voice returned to a lower state. Since then, with the exceptions of Mario Kart Super Circuit and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi has consistently had a medium-pitched voice. In Mario Kart Super Circuit, Luigi's voice was the same high voice from the Japanese Mario Kart 64. In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's voice is made up of clips from Mario's voice taken from Super Mario 64, with raised pitches. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he has his own voice instead of a pitched-up version of Mario's.
Characteristics
Luigi is portrayed as the taller, younger brother of Mario, and he is usually seen dressed in green with overalls. Although Luigi is a plumber, like his brother, other facets of his personality vary from game to game. Luigi always seems nervous and timid but is good-natured and not as quick to anger as his more famous brother.
While it has not been made official, Daisy may be Luigi's romantic interest. They were a romantic couple in the film[citation needed] and in Mario Kart Wii they are seen in statue dancing together. She was his caddy in NES Open Tournament Golf as Peach was to Mario. Also on Daisy's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, it says that she is possibly Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach.
