Ridley

Ridley is a high-ranking member of the Space Pirates, and one of the main villains in the Metroid series of video games. He is directly responsible for the murder of Samus Aran's mother and partially responsible for the death of her father. In several instances, Ridley appears as an upgraded cybernetic version of himself called Meta Ridley. In addition to the Metroid series, Ridley has made an appearance in all games in the Super Smash Bros. series (aside from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS) in some form,

History

Super Smash Bros.

In Super Smash Bros., Ridley can occasionally be seen flying in the background of the Planet Zebes arena.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Ridley makes a brief appearance in the opening cinematic of Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he can be seen battling his archenemy, Samus Aran. A trophy of Ridley can also be obtained in this game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ridley is fought twice in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary.

The first time Ridley is encountered, he is fought by Samus and Pikachu. As the two reach the exit to The Research Facility, where her Power Suit had been held, Ridley appears without warning and snatches up Samus. Roaring, he slams her into a wall and drags her along it. Pikachu comes to Samus's rescue, hitting the space dragon with a Thunder attack, after which the battle begins. Ridley fights similarly to Master Hand, using many brutal physical attacks. When he is defeated, he falls off the arena.

He later reappears as Meta Ridley, attacking a group including Captain Falcon, Captain Olimar, R.O.B., Samus Aran, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, and Donkey Kong as they try to escape the floating Isle of the Ancients before it is engulfed in Subspace. Meta Ridley uses some of the same attacks as Ridley did, such as scraping his tail across the top of the Flyer and firing fireballs, but also shows additional ones that involve grabbing the Falcon Flyer and lowering it down with his weight, sometimes even lowering it off of the screen. If the player manages to defeat Meta Ridley, a cutscene is shown, and the Falcon Flyer escapes while the island is engulfed into subspace.

Both fights return in The Great Maze with any characters that have been rescued throughout the Subspace Emissary. Ridley is also fought in the Boss Battles Mode.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Ridley is a stage hazard boss on the Pyrosphere stage. His physical appearance, like Samus's, is based on his appearance from Metroid: Other M. Once attacked enough by a player, Ridley allies with that player, and attacks the other players. He can also transform into Meta Ridley by absorbing enough energy. He can be defeated, and, as if he was a character, defeating him rewards the player with a K.O. point; he can be defeated by his own ally as well.^[1]

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

“Ridley Hits the Big Time!”

—Introduction, "A Piercing Screech" Trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ridley is a playable character for the first time, announced during the E3 2018 Nintendo Direct alongside fellow newcomers Inkling and Daisy. His appearance in this game seems to primarily be based off of that in Super Metroid, while he has a similar size to his appearance in the original Metroid. His Final Smash involves him slamming an opponent or opponents against Samus's Gunship and shooting plasma at the ship; the falling gunship can be seen in the background after the attack. Two of his alternate costumes swap him out for Meta Ridley (although he is still referred to in-game as simply "Ridley").

Ridley has Plasma Breath as his neutral special move; Space Pirate Rush as his side special move, Wing Blitz as his up special move; Skewer as his down special move; and Plasma Scream as his Final Smash. For his on-screen appearance, Ridley flies in from the background and screeches.

Ridley does not share a victory theme with Samus, instead using an intense and sinister variation of the Metroid victory theme; the flourish itself is shared with Dark Samus, and this trait is shared with fellow newcomers Chrom, King K. Rool, and Piranha Plant, as well as several veterans, namely Meta Knight, Bowser, Bowser Jr. (and the Koopalings), Rosalina & Luma, Dark Pit, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin.

In his reveal trailer, "A Piercing Screech" Mario, Mega Man, and Samus Aran are traversing through a mechanical room on a walkway. Ridley stealthily takes Mega Man and Mario out by impaling the former with his tail and crushing the latter's head. Samus eventually senses something amiss and points her arm cannon behind her, only to find Mario's discarded hat. Suddenly, the walkway quakes with Ridley bursting out from underneath and knocking a shocked Samus off her feet. Ridley then proceeds to roar before giving an inhuman smirk as he twirls Mario's hat around his finger. In the ending of the trailer, Ridley, after presumably causing a blaze to kill Samus, is flapping his wings only to glare in slight irritation when Zero Suit Samus uses her Jet Boots to leap from the blaze and descend down to attack him.

Ridley is a heavy fighter, being heavier than Snake, R.O.B., and Banjo & Kazooie but lighter than Samus, Bowser Jr. (and the Koopalings), Dark Samus, and Terry, while having the same weight as Wario, Ike, Simon, and Richter.

Like other fighters, Ridley has his own spirit. Ridley's spirit can be enhanced into Meta Ridley.

Classic Mode route

Profiles

Super Smash Bros. Melee trophy

Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy

Super Smash Bros. Brawl stickers

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophies

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirits

Palutena's Guidance

• Pit: RIDLEY CONFIRMED!
• Palutena: Uh, yes. That's Ridley. Samus's archnemesis.
• Pit: I never thought I'd have to fight an alien space dragon in Smash...
• Viridi: Kirby's a space alien too, ya know! Jury's still out on him being a dragon, though.
• Palutena: Ridley may look like a mindless killing machine, but he's exceedingly intelligent. He's also the leader of the ruthless Space Pirates.
• Pit: So what's the story behind him and Samus?
• Palutena: Ridley killed Samus's parents when she was young.
• Pit: That's messed up!
• Palutena: Samus and Ridley first fought in the depths of Norfair on Planet Zebes. They crossed paths again when Ridley stole the Baby Metroid. Meta Ridley was made through genetic engineering and cybernetic enchancements. Omega Ridley is the one infused with Phazon... Neo-Ridley was born when an X parasite absorbed Ridley's genes. And yet another Ridley was created by cloning cells found on Samus's suit!
• Pit: You sure know a lot about Ridley. And none of it is about how to fight him!
• Viridi: There's also a robot version of Ridley. He built it himself, which officially makes him a narcissist.
• Pit: Is that canon?
• Palutena: Canon or not, all of these Ridleys shared the same fate-they were all defeated by Samus.
• Pit: Not surprising. Samus is a beast!
• Palutena: So is Ridley. Mind the sharp barb on his tail.

Super Smash Blog bio

• Joining the battle from the storied Metroid series, Ridley's long tail and sharp claws let him unleash a torrent of devastating attacks. His Final Smash is a powerful stream of plasma breath intense enough to bring down Samus's starship.

amiibo

• Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates in the Metroid™ series and Samus’s long-standing rival in battle. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail.

Names in other languages

• Chinese: 利德雷 (Lìdéléi), meaning "Ridley"
• Japanese: リドリー (Ridorī), meaning "Ridley" (named after Ridley Scott, director of Alien, with the name itself being of English origin and means 'Reed clearing; cleared land; barren land', befitting his bloodthirsty personality.)"
• Korean: 리들리 (Lideulli), meaning "Ridley"
• Russian: Ридли (Ridli), meaning "Ridley"
• Spanish: Ridley

Trivia

• Ridley appears in Nintendo Monopoly, in which he takes the place of Tennessee Avenue. He costs $180.
• Ridley's trophies in Melee and Brawl both state that he is the head of the Space Pirates on Zebes. This is false, however, with the real head being Mother Brain as well as Space Pirate Command.
• Due to the time limit that is given during the Meta Ridley battle, Trophy Stands will appear more frequently, especially on the easier skill levels.
• Ridley's stock icon for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U uses his appearance from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, instead of his Metroid: Other M appearance.
• Ridley's stock artwork in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate resembles Bowser's stock artwork from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
• Ridley's splash screen introduction in his Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal trailer; "Ridley Hits the Big Time!", may be a reference to "Ridley is Too Big", an Internet meme originating from arguments against Ridley being a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series.
• His appearance in Ultimate is the first game to directly showcase his more intelligent and cunning personality traits, as while various sources in both prior Smash games as well as his home franchise (most directly in the Metroid manga) strongly implied that he possessed these traits, they were not immediately apparent in his characterization in the games, where he is generally portrayed as simply a monster.

References