Ridley (SSBU)

Ridley (, Ridley) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was revealed as a newcomer alongside and during Nintendo's 2018 E3 press conference on June 12th, 2018. Ridley is classified as Fighter #65.
Like in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and the series, Ridley's voice clips consist of computer-generated but realistic roars and screeches.
Ridley is ranked 62nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him towards the top of the C- tier. Ridley’s greatest strength lies in his powerful offensive game: Ridley’s neutral game is quite good, thanks to a combination of excellent mobility, multiple midair jumps, and many of his moves having excellent disjointed range and power, such as his forward tilt, which combined with his frame data being better than most heavyweights, and a long distanced command grab with Space Pirate Rush, allows Ridley to pressure opponents very effectively. His advantage state is also excellent as a result, with several effective combo starters such as neutral air, up tilt and down tilt being able lead into many of his damaging attacks. Finally, Ridley’s edge guarding abilities are among the best in the game: Plasma Breath is excellent at gimping with him being able to fire up to five fireballs at once, his forward air being capable of performing the Wall of Pain technique due to his extra midair jump, and his Wing Blitz consisting of a long lasting meteor smash when angled downwards. 
However, Ridley’s disadvantage state is severe enough to cripple his overall effectiveness. Ridley’s hurtbox is not only among the largest in the game, he’s also surprisingly light for a heavyweight, all while not having an effective way to break out of combos. As a result, not only is Ridley among the most susceptible to combos and juggling, he doesn’t share the same advantage as other heavyweights of being able to survive up to very high percents. Ridley’s recovery is also surprisingly limited despite having an extra midair jump, due to Space Pirate Rush having rather high startup and ending lag, as well as Wing Blitz having limited angles that makes it difficult for him to recover safely. Due to this, his endurance is quite poor, and opponents can keep Ridley in disadvantage just as long as how Ridley is able to keep them in disadvantage. Finally, Ridley suffers from a weak grab game, having no reliable KO throws until very high percents, and his down throw being greatly affected by DI, limiting its combos.
Overall, Ridley is considered to be the glass cannon among the heavyweights. His quick speed, large hitboxes and high power allow him to easily overpower opponents once he wins neutral, dealing heavy damage or even take stocks early. At the same time, Ridley’s undesirable combination of a large hurtbox and light weight results in opponents being able to exploit him the same way, trapping him in disadvantage for a long time. Ridley’s representation has been below average throughout Ultimate’s lifespan due to his flaws making him too risky, although he has seen success nevertheless thanks to players such as Nair^, proving that he does offer plenty of reward in spite of his shortcomings.
==How to unlock==
Complete one of the following:
*Play VS. matches, with Ridley being the 25th character unlocked.
*Clear with or any character in his unlock tree, being the 6th character unlocked after .
*Have Ridley join the player's party in World of Light.
With the exception of the third method, Ridley must then be defeated on Norfair. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Brinstar Depths.
==Attributes==
Ridley is a heavyweight character and the tallest fighter in the game, tied for the 13th heaviest character, and possesses the third lowest traction. Ridley has overall good mobility, especially compared to most heavyweights: with two midair jumps, slightly above average walk speed, tied with for the 10th fastest dashing speed, average air speed, air acceleration and gravity, and the 18th fastest falling speed. Ridley also boasts faster frame data than most heavyweights, further setting him apart from them. Ridley's most defining trait is his potent and varied punish game and aerial pressure. With remarkably long range, high power, and decent speed throughout his moveset, as well as a projectile, Ridley is a serious threat once he gets the advantage; with opponents often overwhelmed and/or find it difficult to get in.
His key strength is his strong air game. Boasting overall quick, powerful, long-ranged aerials, and decent air mobility give Ridley overall excellent air pressure potential. Thanks to his additional jump and relatively high fast fall speed, he has superb vertical flexibility, and can use additional jumps or surprise fastfalls to fake out and punish his opponents with his far-reaching aerials. His neutral aerial is arguably his most effective aerial, having low all-around lag, good range, and average knockback. It is a good combo, spacing, and edge-guarding tool, while also being fast enough to break out opposing pressure if positioned correctly, making it among his most commonly used moves. Forward aerial has the highest damage output of Ridley's aerials when all hits are sweetspotted, but it doesn't have the KO power of his other aerials, though this allows it to perform a wall of pain at low percentages. Back aerial is decently quick and has consistently high damage and knockback, making it a deadly KO move especially if used off-stage for edge-guarding. Up aerial is a decent juggling move with decent startup and good KO potential when sweetspotted, but requires opponents to be very close to or above Ridley to land and the hitboxes don't last long. Lastly, down aerial is a stall-and-fall that powerfully meteor smashes opponents when sweetspotted while still having good KO potential when sourspotted, though he is stuck falling for a while and has a lot of landing lag.
Ridley's grounded game is also noteworthy in terms of utility. His neutral attack is his fastest attack (with a 4 frame startup), leading into either a rapid jab with a finisher or a gentleman jab. His forward tilt has good range and low lag overall, while dealing high knockback if sweetspotted, with the low angled version being a reliable two-framing option. Meanwhile, his up and down tilts offer varied potential, with up tilt being a great anti-air that can chain into itself, most aerials, and even up smash, whereas down tilt allows Ridley to combo off from a safe distance and set up punishes or juggles. His dash attack is one of the few to lack a sourspot and has respectable power, however it is only active for 2 frames and has a lot of ending lag. Forward smash has below-average startup and is short ranged horizontally, but is large enough to hit the whole cast on ledge if spaced correctly (excluding , who has the lowest ledge hang of all the playable characters). It has good damage and knockback and is fast enough to punish whiffs, landings, or be a more situational follow up like off a late hit of a landing neutral aerial. Down smash is his weakest and slowest smash attack, but is disjointed, covers a very large area, hits both sides simultaneously, and physically moves Ridley upwards, making it very useful to punish rolls and slow ledge attacks or to avoid grabs and low-to-the-ground attacks. It is also a notoriously effective punishment option after a successful Skewer sweetspot as it can cover most get-up options. Up smash is Ridley's fastest and most reliable smash attack, being an effective KO move, and serves as a very effective anti-air as Ridley's foot is granted invulnerability. It struggles to hit small characters when grounded and other low hitboxes, however.
Ridley's special moveset offers a variety of options. Plasma Breath is Ridley's projectile: it fires a small, bouncing ball of fire, and can be charged to fire up to five, each traveling slightly farther and dealing substantial damage when all five fireballs connect. It can combo into dash attack at low to mid percents for extra damage, and sometimes this combo can kill. The fireballs can also fall when sent off-stage, making them an effective on-stage edgegaurding or gimping tool. However, landing a hit on Ridley's mouth during the charging animation of this move will cause it to deal damage to himself and stun him for a significant amount of time (the stun has a set amount of knockback, meaning any move that hit him in this way will never kill). Skewer is a "high risk, high reward" punishment move that, when sweetspotted, deals extremely high damage and crumples enemies; while situational due to the high difficulty on sweetspotting the move, it puts the opponent in a dangerous position where Ridley can read their reaction. Space Pirate Rush is a command grab with some unique perks: on land, Ridley drags the opponent on the ground, dealing damage in the process; in the air, it causes both Ridley and the opponent to quickly fall similar to 's Flame Choke; it can be cancelled into a throw at any time that puts both Ridley and the opponent into the air; it can cancel itself into a throw upon reaching the edge of the platform; and the aerial version will transition into the grounded version if it reaches the ground. The grounded version has decent KO power at high percents, while the airborne version is weaker and is better suited for sending recovering opponents further from the stage without removing Ridley's own recovery options, stage spiking them, or as a sacrificial KO like the aforementioned Flame Choke. Lastly, Wing Blitz is Ridley's primary recovery move. It can be aimed in four directions, with the forward input traveling at a slight downwards angle, the backward variant traveling at a slight upward one, and the down variant traveling at a slight diagonal angle in front of Ridley. All Wing Blitz variants have a large ledge grab box and have high knockback, with the down input having a meteor smash sweetspot; the down input is also unique in that it can be used at the edge of the stage and grab the ledge as long as the down direction is not inputted for longer, which can let Ridley potentially ledge trump an unsuspecting opponent or send them straight down, depending on their position.
Due to the variety of his kit, Ridley is a jack-of-all-trades. His disjoints are effective against characters with poor range or grab-centric playstyles; his command grab is effective against highly defensive characters; and his projectile is effective against characters lacking projectiles themselves or taking out characters with lackluster recoveries. He hangs very low from the ledge, letting him avoid attacks notable for hitting hanging characters, such as Marth and Lucina's forward smash.
While Ridley has many strengths, he also has some critical and exploitable weaknesses, the most one being his size: Ridley has among the largest, most awkward hurtboxes out of the cast which, combined with his heavy weight and fast falling speed, makes him very easy to combo, juggle, and hit in general. This combined with his lower weight compared to similarly sized super-heavyweight characters negatively affects his survivability, as he is often at a considerably higher risk of dying. Ridley's frame data, although good for a heavyweight, is still poor. He has below average startup and above average ending lag overall on his toolkit and lacks a tool fast enough to break combos effectively; this makes him one of the most affected characters by average combo strings, and he is rather easy to KO. Ridley's options against projectile users and zoning (other then Wing Blitz, which, even considering how it clashes and plows through almost any projectile, is too slow and punishable to practically use as a counter in this situation) are virtually nonexistent and he is unable to counter-zone; his own projectile is laggy, travels slowly, and is useless against more powerful projectiles. Whats more, it could even backfire and leave him open to punish if an opponent's projectile hits his mouth. Another major weakness his is recovery, which primarily consists of two, long-startup, predictable moves: Space Pirate Rush and Wing Blitz. The latter only has 4 useful angles and has active hitboxes while in motion, making it very easy to land an off-stage counterattack.
Another critical flaw to Ridley is how drastically his moves vary in quality, which can lead to Ridley becoming quite predictable. While he has plenty of moves offer varying amounts of utility, some of them still have significant flaws: these can range from slow startup (Plasma Breath and down smash), absurd blindspots (up tilt and up smash on some occasions), overly situational and/or strict situations (Skewer), to being downright unreliable (down aerial). On the other side of the spectrum, some of Ridley's moves like neutral aerial, up smash, down tilt, and Plasma Breath, depending on the match-up, is so favorable that it becomes easy to over-centralize on their use, a detriment to a character that finds the most success in being unpredictable. This, combined with his aforementioned trouble at dealing with fast and/or zoning characters, and with recovering under pressure, makes Ridley one of the most susceptible characters to pressure, as Ridley's disadvantage state makes him easy to overwhelm, and failure to overwhelm or control aggression could force him to take heavy damage or even be KOed outright. His grab game is also poor, with down throw serving as both a combo starter at low to mid percents to a KO through at higher percents. Forward and back throw lack reasonable kill power, even with ideal positioning, and up throw, while being his most damaging throw and a passable kill throw with low ceiling stages, has too much endlag for any true conversions. Despite down throw being one of his better throws, it is easily affected by opponent's directional influence, further limiting his grab options.
Lastly, Ridley's advantage state, unarguably being very oppressive, is greatly held back by his middling airspeed. Despite possessing an additional mid-air jump and impressive aerials, Ridley has a surprisingly difficult time staying airborne. He generally needs to gain some distance while grounded to approach with his aerials, and while his dash speed is impressive, it's restrictive regardless, and Ridley lacks the number of jumps that characters like and have to help circumvent their airspeed issues. Various combos are usually unable to extend in the air for long thanks to this, as his aerials may deal too much knockback to follow up after one or two attacks. This is further shown in his recovery, as Wing Blitz and Space Pirate Rush are usually options he must use to recover, even if Ridley isn't that far from the stage. While Ridley's airspeed is definitely better than most other fellow characters with multiple jumps, it's still merely average compared to the whole cast, which tones down his overall effectiveness in the air, and this is further exacerbated by him being a fast-faller. Ridley’s recovery can also be rather vulnerable to edgeguarding due to the slow startup of Space Pirate Rush and Wing Blitz, and the high damage and large hitbox of the latter makes counterattacks a particularly devastating option against it if he has to use it to recover, resulting in him having to use his resources carefully when returning to the stage.
Overall, Ridley is a character of extremes with a relatively high learning curve. Similarly to what is among lightweight characters, Ridley fills in the position of being a glass cannon heavyweight. He has excellent damage, pressure, and edge-guarding potential with a broad arsenal of powerful moves and tools to gain and sustain advantage, gradually poke and pressure from a fair distance away, and punish whiffs or what would normally be an inconsequential slip-up. This allows Ridley to easily make comebacks or greatly widen his lead with minimal set up should an opponent make a single error in considering Ridley's approach. However, despite possessing a powerful and highly versatile moveset, Ridley lacks strong options out of disadvantage and generally struggles to oppose pressure from opponents due to his size and the frame data on his aerials and grounded attacks. This makes top tier matchups like Snake and Palutena difficult for Ridley, as they are well-equipped to combat Ridley through oppressive walls of projectiles or strong aerial combos respectively. As such, mix-up heavy playstyles are heavily encouraged when playing Ridley to prevent opponents from capitalising on his own susceptibility as much as possible.
==Update history==
Ridley received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed overall. Update adjusted the mobility attributes of both Space Pirate Rush and Wing Blitz to varying degrees. However, the only remotely useful buffs among these changes were Ridley incurring less landing lag after jumping out of Space Pirate Rush, and his faster traveling speed during the beginning of Wing Blitz's forward and backward flights. Update was also uneventful for Ridley, since it negligibly buffed neutral, forward and down aerials by slightly decreasing their edge lockout times. Update marked Ridley's first nerf, in which Plasma Breath's shield damage output was decreased as part of a near-universal nerf to projectiles.
However, update marked a noteworthy turnaround for Ridley. Most notably, Wing Blitz has less start-up lag, propels him faster, and covers more distance to the point that it now allows Ridley to recover from the magnifying glass range of the bottom blast line when it is angled upward. Ridley's inconsistent KO potential was also improved noticeably: up smash, back aerial and Space Pirate Rush's edge throw were strengthened, and up aerial's sweetspot became much easier to land thanks to it being enlarged and out-prioritizing the sourspot. Aside from these buffs, up smash became more reliable as an anti-air attack and out of shield option thanks to its additional active frame, and Ridley incurs less ending lag after jumping out of Space Pirate Rush.
Following this, update adjusted Ridley's posture while he is shielding himself. On a related note, a portion of Ridley's wings now possess intangibility when he activates and deactivates his shield, while a portion of his tail also possesses intangibility when he deactivates his shield. While these buffs are minor compared to the ones Ridley received in update 4.0.0, they nevertheless benefit him quite noticeably; Ridley's status as the tallest character in Ultimate previously resulted in him being very susceptible to shield stabbing, even with a full shield.
Update granted Skewer a buff and a nerf, although the former is outweighed significantly by the latter. Its sweetspot deals more damage, making it far more rewarding if successfully landed. However, if Skewer hits an opponent who has grab immunity, it inflicts minimal knockback instead of crumpling them. In addition to making it unsafe as a follow-up from down throw, this change removes Skewer's infamous infinite combo in doubles matches when paired with a character that has a burying throw.
Update improved the consistency of Wing Blitz's downward angled landing hitbox and, as part of a near-universal buff, granted transcendent priority to neutral infinite and its finisher. Update would then buff Space Pirate Rush by shortening the amount of time between its slamming and dragging animations and when a jump can be inputted. Lastly, update improved dash attack's KO potential by increasing its damage output at the negligible cost of its knockback scaling being decreased slightly.
Overall, Ridley fares better than he did at the launch of Ultimate, thanks to his buffs improving his KO potential, recovery and, to a much lesser degree, his defense.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
==Moveset==
*Ridley can perform 2 double jumps.
For a gallery of Ridley's hitboxes, see here.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Ridley English Announcer SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese
===On-screen appearance===
*Swoops down at an angle before landing and then roars briefly.
RidleyOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|Ridley's on-screen appearance
===Taunts===
*Up taunt: Roars and strikes a menacing pose, flapping his wings rapidly.
*Side taunt: Spins in a circle, finishing in a celebrating pose similar to his official artwork.
*Down taunt: Stands up straight while slightly smiling. His body emits a noticeable crackle as he stands upright.
SSBURidleyTaunt1.gif|Ridley's up taunt.
SSBURidleyTaunt2.gif|Ridley's side taunt.
SSBURidleyTaunt3.gif|Ridley's down taunt.
===Idle poses===
*Spreads his wings out and quivers slightly.
*Caresses his chin with his claw and licks the edge of his mouth while audibly snarling.
SSBURidleyIdle1.gif|Ridley's first idle pose.
SSBURidleyIdle2.gif|Ridley's second idle pose.
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian) 	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer 	 	 	 	 	
Description	Go Ridley go! 	Ridori! *clap 3 times* 	Fooooorza Ridley!	Riiiid - ley!	Rid - ley! Rid - ley!
 	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian) 	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer 	 	 	 	
Description	Rid - leeeey! 	Riiiid - ley! 	Rid - ley! Rid - ley!	Ri - du - ley
===Victory poses===
*Left: Flies into the scene, lands and drifts to a stop.
*Up: Flies in from the background then roars immediately before performing a somersaulting claw swipe as he lands.
*Right: Claws at the ground repeatedly and bites once afterward. He then turns toward the camera and grins. The way the camera is angled makes it appear as if Ridley is supposedly ravaging a downed opponent, but in Team Battles, it clearly shows that he is scratching at the bare ground.
RidleyVictoryPose1SSBU.gif
RidleyVictoryPose2SSBU.gif
RidleyVictoryPose3SSBU.gif
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Ridley players (SSBU)
* - The best Ridley player of all-time who has been the best since the post-pandemic metagame. He is the only Ridley player ranked top 100 on a globaly ranking, ranking 88th on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse, and has regularly been ranked top 150 since. He has some of the best Ridley major performances, most notably placing 13th at and . In addition, he has defeated many of Europe's best players, including at and at .
* - One of the best Ridley players in Japan since 2024. He first broke out onto the scene with two major upsets on top players at back-to-back events, defeating to place 25th at and to place 2nd at . His attendance remains scarce, and as such he was only ranked as an honorable mention to the LumiRank 2024.1's top 100.
* - One of the best Ridley players in Japan. He is especially known for his results in 2022, where he not only took a set off at MaesumaHIT #25, but had several noteworthy performances at superregionals and majors, including placing 5th at , 13th at and , and 25th at . Although he became increasingly less consistent as time went on, he has still put up some great results, including placing 25th at defeating .
* - The best Ridley player in the world in the early metagame. He was the most successful Ridley player at PGRU events during this time, notably defeating at , placing 2nd overall, and placing 5th at . He picked up as a co-main during the online metagame and gradually began using him more than Ridley, however he remains one of the best Ridley players in North America, most notably defeating with solo-Ridley at .
* - One of the best Ridley players in North America in the post-pandemic metagame and the most successful American Ridley player. Despite inconsistent major performances, he holds one of the best major placements for a Ridley player at a major, having placed 9th at defeating and . In addition, he is also known for placing 13th at and defeating at .
===Tier placement and history===
Ridley was a widely requested character, so excitement followed his announcement as playable. However, initial opinions of Ridley's viability in the E3 demo build were very negative. Due to one of the largest hurtboxes in the game, while not himself a super heavyweight like similarly large characters, along with his attacks suffering from poor frame data, many people claimed that Ridley's disadvantage state was too risky for him to make a significant impact on the meta. This perception remained in the early metagame, and although Ridley saw some success in the early months after a brief stint from , who placed 5th at with Ridley, many agreed that Ridley was at best a low tier character.
As time went on, dedicated mains were able to see sparks of success with the character. During the early metagame, notably defeated at and was ultimately ranked top 10 in Mexico. Even after the online metagame, in which Nair^ picked up , he continued to garner solid results with Ridley, including a win over at . In addition, the post-pandemic metagame saw the rise of many other Ridley players, including and , players who saw great success at superregionals and respectable placements at majors. Most notably, became a regular threat at European events, and has been regularly ranked in the top 150 globally since 2021. Furthermore, players began taking more note on Ridley's strengths, specifically his excellent advantage state, which allows Ridley to utilize his range, speed, and power to provide him with a strong and versatile neutral game. These positive developments improved Ridley's perception, leading the community to reassess Ridley as a mid tier. This is reflected in Ridley's tier list placements, as he was ranked 60th on the first tier list as a lower-mid tier character, then ranked 64th on the second tier list in the C-tier; Ridley's drop on the second tier list is mostly attributed to the rise of and in the metagame.
==: It Can't Be! Space Pirates!==
Ridley fights characters who pilot their own spaceships.
Round 	Opponent 	Stage 	Music 	Notes
1 	 	Norfair 	 	
2 	and 	Venom 	 	
3 	 	Distant Planet 	 	
4 	, , and 	Mario Galaxy 	 	
5 	 	Halberd 	 	
6 	 	Frigate Orpheon	 	
Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage
Final 	 	 	(Less than 7.0 intensity) (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, fights alongside Master Hand.
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Ridley has accompany the credits.
==Role in World of Light==
Although Ridley does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.
Ridley was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is in the sub-area, appearing on the map in the subterranean section, once the player defeats The Creature & Flea Man spirit.
===Fighter Battle===
No.	Image	Name 	Type	Power 	Stage 	Music
65 	 	Ridley	 	10,600	Brinstar Depths (Ω form)	
==Spirits==
Ridley's default fighter spirit can be obtained by completing as Ridley. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Ridley has been unlocked. Unlocking Ridley in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His Meta Ridley outfit has a fighter spirit of its own, available through the shop, or by completing a challenge (Smash: Use Ridley's down special, Skewer, for a critical hit on an opponent 4 times within a single battle). Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.
Additionally, other forms of Ridley make an appearance in a few primary and support spirits.
SSBU spirit Ridley.png|267. Ridley
SSBU spirit Meta Ridley.png|268. Meta Ridley
SSBU spirit Little Birdie.png|289. Little Birdie
SSBU spirit Omega Ridley.png|291. Omega Ridley
==In Spirit Battles==
===As the main opponent===
Spirit	Spirit	Spirit 	Spirit 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Inspiration
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music 	Character
255 	 	The Legend of Zelda Series 	• 	 	10,000 	Hyrule Castle 	•Hazard: Heavy Wind 	•Dangerously high winds are in effect after a little while•The enemy starts the battle with an Ore Club 	 	 	
277 	 	Metroid Series 	• 	 	9,700 	Brinstar (Battlefield form) 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Metroid)•Hazard: Sticky Floor	•The floor is sticky•Hostile assist trophies will appear•The enemy's melee blows will heal them when they hit 	 	 	
287 	 	Metroid Series 	•Giant (140 HP) 	 	4,100 	Norfair (Ω form) 	•Move Speed ↓ 	•The enemy's smash attacks have increased power•Stamina battle•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
289 	 	Metroid Series 	•Tiny 	 	3,700 	Distant Planet 	•Defense ↑•Attack Power ↑•Giant 	•The enemy is giant after a little while•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while•The enemy has increased defense after a little while	 	 	
291 	 	Metroid Prime Series 	•Metal (180 HP) 	 	13,900 	Norfair 	•Curry-Filled 	•Stamina battle•The enemy breathes fire•The enemy is metal 	 	 	
292 	 	Metroid Prime Series 	•Giant 	 	4,000 	Frigate Orpheon 	•Attack Power ↑ 	•The enemy has increased attack power•The enemy shields often•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
371 	 	Kirby Series 	• 	 	3,700 	Green Greens 	•Item: Beetle 	•The enemy's side special has increased power•The enemy has increased attack power 	 	 	
403 	 	Star Fox Series 	•Metal 	 	4,100 	Venom 	•Hazard: High Gravity 	•Your jumping power decreases•The enemy is metal•The enemy has increased jump power 	 	Aparoid Fortuna 	
426 	 	Pokémon Series 	• 	 	2,200 	(Melee) 	•Attack Power ↓•Hazard: Poison Floor 	•The floor is poisonous•You have reduced attack power 	 	 	
454 	 	Pokémon Series 	• 	 	3,700 	Garden of Hope 	•Item: Beetle 	•The enemy's side special has increased power•The enemy favors side specials 	 	 	
456 	 	Pokémon Series 	•Giant 	 	4,100 	Kongo Falls (Battlefield form) 	•Attack Power ↓ 	•You have reduced attack power•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
471 	 	Pokémon Series 	• ×2 	 	1,400 	Green Greens (hazards off) 	N/A 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•The enemy is weak to water attacks•The enemy favors smash attacks•The enemy has super armor when charging smash attacks	 	 	
475 	 	Pokémon Series 	•Metal (140 HP) 	 	4,300 	Kalos Pokémon League (Ironworks Chamber only) 	N/A 	•Stamina battle•The enemy is metal 	 	 	
490 	 	Pokémon Series 	• 	 	3,800 	Gerudo Valley (Battlefield form) 	•Earthquake 	•Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage 	 	 	
500 	 	Pokémon Series 	• 	 	10,000 	Kalos Pokémon League (Dragonmark Chamber (Legendary) only)	•Hazard: Heavy Wind 	•Dangerously high winds are in effect after a little while 	 	 	
558 	 	Pokémon Series 	•Gold (160 HP) 	 	9,400 	Luigi's Mansion (Battlefield form) 	N/A 	•Stamina battle•Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Lunala) 	 	 	
607 	 	Ice Climber Series 	• (80 HP)• (80 HP) 	 	4,500 	Summit (Battlefield form) 	•Hazard: Ice Floor 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•The floor is frozen•Timed stamina battle (1:00) 	 	 	
635 	 	Fire Emblem Series 	• (140 HP) 	 	3,600 	Castle Siege (Underground Cavern) 	•Giant 	•The enemy is giant after a little while•Stamina battle 	 	Medeus (Shadow Dragon form) 	
713 	 	Kid Icarus Series 	• 	 	3,500 	Skyworld 	N/A 	•The enemy favors neutral specials 	 	 	
820 	 	Pikmin Series 	•Giant (140 HP) 	 	3,800 	Garden of Hope 	N/A 	•Stamina battle•The enemy favors side specials•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
1,081 	 	StreetPass Mii Plaza Series	•Giant 	 	13,600 	Find Mii 	N/A 	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
1,102 	 	Super Smash Bros. Series 	•Giant (160 HP) 	 	9,600 	 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Chain Chomp) 	•Stamina battle•Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while•The enemy deals damage when falling 	 	 	
1,118 	 	Devil World 	•Tiny •Clear 	 	1,500 	Mario Bros. 	•Item: Throwing Types 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•The enemy favors neutral specials•The enemy is invisible 	 	 	
1,119 	 	Devil World 	• • ×2 	 	3,900 	75m (Battlefield form) 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Devil) 	•Hostile assist trophies will appear 	 	Tamagon 	
1,345 	 	Banjo-Kazooie Series 	• ×3 (50 HP) 	 	2,000 	Garden of Hope (hazards off) 	N/A 	•Stamina battle•The enemy favors up specials in the air•The enemy falls slowly 	 	 	
1,370 	 	Pokémon Series 	• •Giant 	 	3,800 	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) 	N/A 	•The enemy favors air attacks•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd•The enemy has increased jump power 	 	Gigantamaxed Corviknight (Giant Ridley)	
1,438 	 	Minecraft Series 	• (200 HP)•Enderman ×2 (50 HP)	 	12,700 	Find Mii (hazards off) 	•Health Recovery 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Stamina battle•The enemy is healed significantly when the enemy's at high damage 	 	 	
1,449 	 	FINAL FANTASY Series 	•Giant 	 	13,500 	Midgar (hazards off) 	•Sudden Final Smash 	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
===As a minion===
Spirit	Spirit 	Spirit 	Spirit 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Inspiration
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music 	Character
656 	 	Fire Emblem Series 	• •Giant 	 	3,700 	Unova Pokémon League (hazards off) 	N/A 	•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd•The enemy is giant 	 	 	
739 	 	WarioWare Series 	• (Moveset 1322, Ashley Wig, Ashley Outfit, High Voice Type 8)•Tiny	 	13,700 	WarioWare, Inc. 	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Ashley)•Hazard: Left Is Right, Right Is Left	•Left and right controls will suddenly reverse•Hostile assist trophies will appear•Magic attacks aren't as effective against the enemy 	 	 	
1,063 	 	Castlevania Series 	• • 	 	3,700 	The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form)	•Item: Battering Types 	•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	The End 	
1,148 	 	Trade & Battle: Card Hero Series	• • • • 	 	1,700 	Pokémon Stadium 2 	•Move Speed ↓ 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	Killer Bee 	
1,232 	 	Fossil Fighters Series 	• • • • 	 	1,800 	Arena Ferox 	•Item: Pitfall 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	Chompsaurus 	
1,271 	 	Culdcept Series 	• • • 	 	3,500 	Arena Ferox 	•Item: Assist Trophy 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	Volcanic Dragon 	
1,307 	 	Persona Series 	• • ×3 	 	10,600 	Kalos Pokémon League (hazards off) 	•Health Recovery•Item: Assist Trophy 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Start with 300% damage•You are healed significantly after a little while 	 	Inhabitants of the Velvet Room	
1,350 	 	DAEMON X MACHINA 	•Tiny • 	 	4,200 	Halberd 	•Move Speed ↑•Assist Trophy Enemies (Jeff)•Item: Shooting Types 	•Hostile assist trophies will appear•The enemy has increased move speed after a little while•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd 	 	High Line 	
1,359 	 	Fatal Fury Series 	• •Giant •Tiny 	 	1,800 	King of Fighters Stadium 	•Jump Power ↓ 	•The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd•All fighters have reduced jump power	 	Choi Bounge 	
1,464 	 	Xenoblade Chronicles Series 	• •Giant x3 	 	13,600 	Gaur Plain 	N/A 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd 	 	Artifice Gargoyles 	
1,467 	 	Ghosts 'n Goblins Series 	• (Moveset 2223, Black Knight Helm, Black Knight Armor)• 	 	9,500 	Spear Pillar (Battlefield form) 	•Item: Throwing Types 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	Satan 	
1,467 	• (Moveset 2223, Arthur's Helm, Arthur's Armor)•	Ghosts 'n Goblins Series 	 	 	9,500 	Spear Pillar (Battlefield form) 	•Item: Throwing Types 	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 	 	Satan 	
1,521 	 	Pokémon Series 	• • 	 	13,100 	 	•Attack Power ↑•Hazard: Zap Floor 	•The floor is electrified•The enemy has increased attack power•The enemy loves to jump 	 	 	
This alternative occurs when the corresponding DLC has been purchased and downloaded.
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
Ridley had two palettes in demo versions of Ultimate that are not available in the final game: a dark, charcoal colored one with orange wings, and a light gray one with green wings, claws, teeth and protrusions. Each corresponds with the colors of Meta Ridley and Mecha Ridley, respectively.
==Reveal trailer==
==Gallery==
Ridley Hits the Big Time.png|Ridley's splash art.
Ridley amiibo.png|Ridley's amiibo.
SSBU Ridley Number.png|Ridley's fighter card.
Ridley unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Ridley's unlock notice.
SSBUWebsiteRidley1.jpg|Preparing to use Plasma Breath on Mario Galaxy.
SSBUWebsiteRidley2.jpg|Jumping on Wrecking Crew.
SSBUWebsiteRidley3.jpg|Using Wing Blitz on Midgar.
SSBUWebsiteRidley4.jpg|Using a Hammer on Wrecking Crew.
SSBUWebsiteRidley5.jpg|Using Skewer against on .
SSBUWebsiteRidley6.jpg|As Meta Ridley alongside on Castle Siege.
Meta ridley costume.jpg|Performing his on-screen appearance as Meta Ridley on Coliseum.
SSBUWebsiteMarth4.jpg|Using Plasma Breath as spot dodges it on 3D Land.
SSBUWebsiteZeroMM2.jpg|Ridley about to be hit by 's Genmu Zero on Midgar.
SSBUWebsiteSummit.jpg|Ridley, , , and on Summit.
SSBUWebsite28.jpg|Taunting on Wily Castle.
SSBUKirbyJPTwitter2.jpg|With , , , , Marth, and on Battlefield.
SSBUWebsiteTerry3.jpg|With , and on New Donk City Hall.
===Fighter Showcase Video===
==Trivia==
*Due to his debut in August 1986, Ridley is the oldest newcomer in the base version of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, beating out by one month.
**With DLC included, he is beaten by .
*Ridley's model appears to be based on his Super Metroid sprite with additional details and embellishments, some of which loosely resemble his clone's design in . His size is significantly reduced to that of his appearance in the original Metroid for the NES, where his hunched posture is only slightly taller than Samus Aran.
**Masahiro Sakurai was reported to have heavily based Ridley on his depiction in the original Metroid, specifically how his sprite appeared hunched over even while flying.https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2018/jul/23/masahiro-sakurai-designed-ridley-super-smash-bros-ultimate-based-his-appearance-original-metroid-nes/
*Ridley's fighter tagline, "Ridley Hits the Big Time!", likely references his exclusion in previous games due to Sakurai's prior perception of him being too large to implement as a fighter.
**Sakurai stated in a Nintendo Dream Magazine interview that Ridley was added because of his popularity on the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.https://web.archive.org/web/20190124011353/http://www.japanesenintendo.com/post/182181277319/
*Ultimate marks Ridley's debut as a playable character in any capacity.
*Ridley's pose in his official artwork resembles 's pose in his official art for Super Smash Bros. 4, albeit mirrored.
*His animated reveal trailer is the first time since Ridley's role in the Metroid manga where Ridley has displayed a sense of humor, playfully twirling the hat of a defeated when revealing himself to while grinning.
**The way Ridley twirls Mario's hat is a callback to Mario doing the same in the beginning of s reveal trailer.
**The part where a attacks Ridley while he is near a stunned resembles a pivotal point in his boss fight in in which the Baby Metroid saves Samus from Ridley by leeching some of his energy. On an extended note, Pikachu and Samus teamed up to fight Ridley in The Subspace Emissary.
*The moment Ridley appears in his introductory trailer resembles his appearance in just before Samus fights him. This includes the way Samus looks at the screen, Ridley's reflection in her visor, his entrance animation, and the music's timing.
**On a similar note, the zoom-in on Samus' eyes during this scene shows her irises jittering in a state of panic, indirectly referencing the scene where Samus ends up freezing up from PTSD at the sight of Ridley's clone at the end of Chapter 17 of Metroid: Other M, and to a lesser extent, a similar reaction from Samus regarding Ridley himself in the Magazine Z prequel manga to Metroid: Zero Mission.
*Ridley (and by extension, Meta Ridley) is the second Super Smash Bros. boss character to become playable in the series after Giga Bowser, and the only boss character to be playable at all times, as Giga Bowser is limited to Bowser's Final Smash. He is also one of the only two stage hazards to become playable in the series, the other being .
*There was an error on Ridley's page on the Latin American and Canadian French versions of the Super Smash Bros. website. The reveal trailer videos were unavailable, with the Latin American version mistakenly linking to a Japanese video. This has since been corrected.
*Ridley is the only playable character from the series whose animations are mirrored.
*Masahiro Sakurai stated in an interview that Ridley's down taunt is among his favorite taunts in Ultimate.https://nintendoeverything.com/sakurai-on-smash-bros-ultimate-tempo-items-changes-and-additions-choosing-taunts-much-more/2/
*Due to his eyes being yellow by default, Ridley is the only character in Ultimate to not receive a significant eye color change after obtaining a Smash Ball or upon perfect shielding.
**Although 's default eye color is also yellow, his eyes turn red in these circumstances.
*When zooming in behind Meta Ridley's wings, his right wing does not fully connect to his back.
*Ridley's damage meter portrait protrudes downward the most out of every fighter.
*Strangely, Ridley has code for gliding, despite the mechanic not returning from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ridley himself not being playable or cloned from a playable character in Brawl.
**Upon further inspection, the code is identical to 's, which has been carried over since Brawl. This suggests that Charizard was used as a template for some aspects of Ridley's implementation as a fighter.
*Ridley is the one of few characters who has only two knockback voice clips (with the others being the and ) and one blast KO voice clip (with the others being in the international versions, , , the s, , and ).
*When Ridley receives damage, he may assume a pose similar to 's flying pose.
*Ridley and appear in the most Legend-rank spirit battles as the main opponent, at a total of four.
**Specifically, Ridley appears in the Omega Ridley, Dark Emperor, Ender Dragon, and Bahamut ZERO spirit battles.
**When counting ally spirits, he appears in the most Legend-rank spirit battles, at a total of six.
*Ridley and are the only newcomers who were not shown being added to the panoramic group artwork. This does not include , who was featured on the artwork when it debuted.
*An unused spirit battle associated with the Meta Ridley fighter spirit implies that he originally was not planned to be an alternate costume. While all fighter spirits have battles associated with them, being either the World of Light unlock battles or also being unused, Meta Ridley's is the only one that is set to have the spirit displayed by the CPU's HUD, a trait that is otherwise only used for normal spirit battles.
==References==
 
Category:Spirits
es:Ridley (SSBU)