Luigi (SSB18)

**Luigi** (ルイージ, Luigi) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. OC 2018. He is the tenth of the original 12 to be revealed in the game (Following Mario, Link, Pikachu, Kirby, Samus, Donkey Kong, Fox, Captain Falcon and Ness), and the third of the secret 4. Luigi can finally wall jump after all these years.

## Attributes

Luigi is a middleweight whose attributes differ noticeably from other characters of the same weight class. While he has average walking and dashing speeds, he has the lowest traction in the game. Luigi's aerial attributes are also quite different from a typical middleweight: he has very slow falling and air speeds, low gravity, above average air acceleration, and the fourth highest jumps. As a result of these attributes, Luigi has slow mobility overall and is floaty.

Much like his older brother Mario, Luigi can be very difficult to punish, since all but two of his regular moves (forward smash and down aerial) come out before frame 10. This, in turn, is supplemented by the immense utility of his overall moveset. His neutral attack deals respectable damage overall, has decent range and can jab cancel. His tilt attacks also have their own perks: forward tilt can be angled, has decent range and is good for spacing beginning at 55%, up tilt has excellent combo potential up to high percentages and can KO at very high percentages, and down tilt can potentially trip grounded opponents and hinder aerial opponents that attempt to grab the edge due to using the Sakurai angle. Luigi's smash attacks are strong enough to KO at reasonable percentages, but his up smash and down smash also have some utility. Up smash has set-up potential from 0%-5% and is a reliable follow-up from down throw beginning at 0%. Down smash is largely similar in comparison: it is a reliable follow-up from down throw beginning at 0% (albeit only against heavyweights/fast-fallers) and its front hit has set-up potential from 0%-5%. However, it is also useful for punishing rolls and damage racking due to its damage output, range and being his fastest smash attack.

Luigi's aerial attacks are also very useful: each of them have respectable damage outputs, can be autocanceled from a short hop, and possess specific perks. Neutral aerial's clean hit deals strong vertical knockback, which makes it both a great combo breaker and a situational KOing option near the upper blast line, whereas its late hit's weak vertical knockback makes it a very useful combo starter when fast fallen. Forward aerial is the fastest of its kind and is very useful for approaching, edgeguarding and combos. Up aerial has a respectable damage output and is useful for combos. Back aerial is very powerful and has long range, which enable it to function as a safe KOing option or as an approach option when used as part of a reverse aerial rush. Lastly, down aerial is the third fastest of its kind, surpassed only by Meta Knight's and Little Mac's respectively, and is able to meteor smash.

As a semi-clone of Mario, Luigi has two special moves that are derived from his older brother, yet his versions deviate in noticeable ways. Fireball is a projectile that is useful for pressuring as well as limiting an opponent's approach, recovery or edgeguarding attempt like Mario's, but is unaffected by gravity like his. Super Jump Punch has very quick start-up like Mario's, but consists of a sweetspot and sourspot unlike his, which makes it function much differently in comparison: the sweetspot boasts devastating power, which makes it a very potent punishment option, yet it is very risky due to its ending lag and extremely weak sourspot. Aside from these, Luigi's other special moves are completely distinct from Mario's. Green Missile deals damage and grants Luigi horizontal recovery, both of which can be increased thanks to its ability to be charged. However, it is also possible for Green Missile to misfire; in this case, it becomes even stronger than the fully charged version and it covers about 60% of Final Destination. Lastly, Luigi Cyclone can function as an approach option, a KOing option near the upper blast line and, with enough button mashing, a vertical recovery option. While difficult to perform, it can even gimp recoveries as well.

Finally, Luigi's grab game is among the best in the game. His grabs are among the fastest in the game, while his pummel is tied with Spongebob's as the third most damaging in the game. His forward and up throws have minimal utility, but they are quick and deal respectable damage, with the former being a capable edgeguard set-up. His back throw, although weakened since *Brawl*, is just as strong as Ness' and can KO at high percentages. His down throw, however, is by far his most useful throw. At low percentages, it can be followed up by forward tilt, up tilt and any smash attack, while it can then be followed up with any aerial attack, Luigi Cyclone and Super Jump Punch up to medium percentages. Even at medium to high percentages, it can reliably set up an up aerial. These combos vary between floaty characters and fast-fallers, but his versatile aerial attacks can still rack up large amounts of damage regardless.

However, Luigi has noticeable weaknesses, with the most significant one being his recovery. Green Missile is slow and can be stopped by opponents willing to endure its hitbox, while Luigi Cyclone requires an extreme amount of button mashing to be effective without prior momentum. Lastly, Super Jump Punch is the least effective recovery option in his arsenal, due to it lacking any sort of horizontal movement as Luigi ascends. This means he is overly reliant on his double jump to recover, as his slow air speed will make it very difficult to return to the stage, making his long-distanced recovery slow and easily gimped. Most of Luigi's attacks and all of his grabs have very short ranges, making it very difficult for him to fight opponents with disjointed hitboxes, especially in the air. His plentiful and effective out of shield options are also usable only sporadically, since he gets pushed back very far when shielding due to his very low traction, while his lack of a reflecting move leaves him vulnerable to camping.

As in previous installments, Luigi's mobility prevents him from approaching quickly, especially from the air. This results in him having significant trouble keeping up with faster opponents, such as Spider-Man, Pikachu and Sonic, which in turn weakens his otherwise excellent neutral game. As a result, Luigi is must either use short hopped neutral, forward and back aerials to approach, or use Fireball to force approaches. However, there are a few methods that, at varying degrees, alleviate Luigi's problematic traction. Shield-stopping negates his dash's noticeable skid, improving his approach's safety. Fox-trotting enables Luigi to dash while only enduring a slight slide rather than the skid, making it slightly risky, yet allowing him to go on the offensive more reliably and even enabling him to play mindgames, particularly baiting. The last method is simply walking: although Luigi's walking speed is average like his dashing speed, it is not as glaringly susceptible to his slippery traction like his dash is. When coupled with proper usage of Fireball, this method can also enable him to maintain stage control.

## Moveset

### On-screen appearance

* A green Warp Pipe appears and Luigi leaps out of it while hesitantly saying "Let's-a go!" and sporting a frightened expression that appears very similar to the one he has on the cover of Luigi's Mansion.

### Taunts

* Up: Strikes a variety of poses in the following order: he faces the screen with one hand on his waist while displaying the V sign with the other, referencing his animation from Luigi's Mansion when he would find a key. Then he turns to the right slightly, pointing his hands that direction while giving a frightened look on his face. Then, he places his left hand just below his nose, similar to his artwork for Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Then he turns away from the screen, crouching as if he is sad, just like his Bogey animation in Mario Golf. Finally, he faces the screen once more, with both hands on his face, giving a frightened look that appears very similar to the one he sports on the cover of Luigi's Mansion.
* Side:Planks while saying "Pow! Pow!" It is based off of one of his victory poses from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Due to it moving Luigi towards the screen as well as lowering his hurtbox, some attacks, such as Fox's Blasters, may actually miss him as a result.
* Down: Bashfully kicks the ground while sighing. If it makes contact with an opponent that is hanging on an edge or is off-stage, Luigi will perform a powerful meteor smash. Conversely, if the opponent is on-stage, it instead deals set knockback. It also deals 2% in either case and is similar to the animation Luigi performs when he loses a minigame in Mario Party 2.

### Idle poses

* Rubs the back of his head sheepishly.
* Pulls on his nose, which slightly stretches and then snaps back into place.

### Victory poses

* Planks twice, similarly to his side taunt and official artwork for SSB4.
* Childishly swings his arms at the air, similarly to his dash attack, then exhaustively gasps afterward. It is also the same animation used when he is selected in Super Smash Bros.
* Turns around, makes finger gun gestures with both hands and says "Bang! Bang!"