Luigi: A life in the shadows

It's safe to say that Mario is still the most famous game character in the world, and when a new game comes out, it will sell millions. But with the release of New Super Mario Bros Wii drawing fresh attention to Mario, we'd like to focus on the other, less-famous Mario brother and let you understand his virtual life. Though often featured in some of the greatest games of all time, Luigi mostly stands back while Mario takes all the credit. And in most core Mario games, you don’t even see him unless you have to play a two-player game with a younger relative or nosy neighbor. But now we're giving the tall, dark and... Average-looking costar the stage, so the world can see that he's got a history all his own.

From palette swap to real boy

Above: Left to right - Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3,  Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario All-Stars

Up until 1983, gamers knew Mario as an only child who starred in the Donkey Kong games. Sure, there's a moment in the opening to Donkey Kong Jr. where two Marios place DK's cage on the left side of the screen, but this proto-Luigi doesn't count, as the sprite was identical to Mario, even in coloring. No, his first appearance was in the aptly titled Mario Bros.

Not only did the premise of this game forever change Mario's job from ape-owning carpenter to Brooklyn plumber, but thanks to the game's focus on two-player competitive jumping, Luigi was introduced. He was dressed exactly the same as his brother, except in different colors, and it’s still the custom for one of those colors to be green. From a technical standpoint, the reason for the similarities is obvious, as time and effort could be saved by just re-coloring the Mario sprite. However, this theft of his brother's style probably led many players to see Luigi as someone with no personality of his own, just a sibling forever biting Mario's style (and his love for hitting blocks with his head).

This trend would continue when Super Mario Bros. came to the NES. This time, players could only see Luigi in a two-player game during the second player's turn. Luigi's look wasn't quite nailed down yet here, either, as this time he was an altered Mario sprite with a green shirt and white overalls, with a slightly different hue to his skin tone as well. This look would remain the same in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, but thanks to Fuji TV and Nintendo feeling that Mario 2 was too tough for Americans (they were right, that game is insane) Luigi would soon get a look all his own.

To hype Fuji TV's new line-up of shows, the Yume Kojo (or Dream Factory) group of characters were created, and Nintendo made a game for the Arabian Nights-inspired foursome called Doki Doki Panic. But it wasn't some half-assed licensed game – it was developed by Nintendo's internal Mario team, which would make it a natural fit to be made into a Super Mario 2 for the US. You can read a very in-depth analysis of the changes in the translation here, but what's most important at the moment is that since the sprite that became Luigi was taller than the sprite that became Mario, this would be the first time Luigi would be shown as taller and skinnier than his brother.

And in the US, this new appearance stuck, both in the way he appeared on merchandise and in the many Mario cartoons. Luigi had become his own man, even if he still dressed just like Mario. But because that was only in the US Super Mario 2 – which, when released in Japan, was called Super Mario USA - Luigi’s original, squat design was still in effect in Japan. In Super Mario 3, he again looked the same as Mario, though the choice of Luigi's coloring had stuck; instead of wearing white overalls, he was the Mario sprite with green replacing the red. Even Super Mario World still kept Luigi as Mario's pixel twin - though they were drawn differently for The End screen.

By 1992, however, the change was finally accepted internationally with Luigi's appearance in Super Mario Kart. His design in the game that launched a million casual, character-based racers was the tall and skinny Luigi the rest of the world had come to know. And once Nintendo of Japan acknowledged this look, they went to great lengths to right their previous wrongs. When all the Mario platformers were rereleased as Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES (including Super Mario World, in a later edition), Luigi's sprite had been redrawn in each game to reflect his change in stature. Since then, that’s been the “set” look for Luigi, who now at least had a slightly different identity from his more famous brother.

The birth(s) of a star

Just where Mario and Luigi come from is debatable. For a while, they were just two mild-mannered plumbers from Brooklyn who, through a series of tubes, ended up in Mushroom Kingdom. Additionally, it wasn't really clear who was the older of the two, even though most would assume Mario was the elder, as he took the lead in the games. This changed once Yoshi's Island came to the SNES. Its plot focused on Yoshi, with baby Mario on his back, saving baby Luigi from a young Bowser. This would mean that the two are fraternal twins of the same age. Once Yoshi frees the stork that was to deliver the two tikes (as there's apparently no sexual reproduction in the Mushroom Kingdom), they are dropped off with their parents, who live in a Mushroom house, making them natives of Peach's land and not New Yorkers.

Want to be even more confused? Chew on this: Mario and Luigi are known as the Mario Bros. This would mean that their last names are Mario, making them Luigi Mario and Mario Mario. Luigi can evidently never be free of his twin, not even when signing his name.