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Luigi and my regard of him


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I would like to reflect on one of Nintendo's most beloved mascots the one and only Luigi Mario.  That's right Luigi and Mario share the same last name Mario.  Luigi began his life with Nintendo as the counterpart and younger brother of Mario.  Usually, Luigi was demoted to being the player 2 in games like Mario Brothers 1, 3 and Lost Levels and completely left out of classics like Super Mario World and Mario 64.  

I look at Luigi's history and see a man who wants so badly to live up to his older brothers achievements but is mostly repressed by his character flaws.  Look at one Nintendo's official canon side story titled Super Mario Bros: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach in1986.
 
After being summoned to the Mushroom Kingdom, an elderly hermit explains how the Princess has been abducted by  Bowser.  He assigns the task of rescuing Peach to Mario while telling Luigi that all he has to do is just tag along and if he wants he can just keep any gold he finds as a reward.

The avarice consuming Luigi becomes so strong that it more often places the brothers in peril rendering Luigi an unneeded squire for his older brother.

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In Paper Mario of 2001,  and for anyone who discovered Luigi's hidden diary in the basement are made aware of the deteriorating mental state of Luigi.  
If the player inspects the basement of the Mario house  they will find a hidden diary belonging to Luigi.  Like any diary, it contains a mix of daily experiences, thoughts and emotions.  In the case of Luigi's diary, some people are amused by the resentment Luigi bears for his brother while others find this moderately concerning.

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In Super Paper Mario 2007, Luigi is imprisoned at Castle Bleck and brainwashed into aiding the evil Count Bleck by disquising in a costume as Mr L.

Luigi is a humble, shy reticent person so it is my belief that once his identity becomes obscured by this alter ego of Mr L, another part of Luigi's sub conscious is exhibited as a character who is a brash, over confident narcissist.

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It is well known in the Mushroom kingdom, Mario's woman is Peach and Luigi's woman is Daisy. Look at examples such as NES Open Tournament Golf 1991, Mario Party 5 2003, Mario Party 8 2007 and the sports titles.

Going all the way back to Daisy's 1st appearance in Super Mario Land from 1989 and looking at Nintendo's offical canon magazine Super Mario Kun there are examples of Mario and Daisy having a romantic affair. Like in the 1994 Keanu Reeves / Sandra Bullock movie, Speed, Jack says to Annie at the end, "I heard relationships based on intense experiences never work." Annie responds, "Okay, we'll have to base it on sex then."

It is shown here that Mario is grandstanding for his his new flame, Daisy.  Peach is clearly upset and throws a mushroom at Mario's head.
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At least in the early days, Peach and Daisy were rivals and it is seen here that Peach is clearly jealous of the attention Daisy is getting.
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In Mario Party 5 and 6 Nintendo made a multiplication table of teamates so as to illustrate the relationship between corresponding players.  Look how Mario and Peach as well as Mario and Daisy appear to be good matches but Luigi is only a match with Daisy and Peach is more like his sister.
Mario Party 5 and 6
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Mario Party 8
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Luigi has sure gotten more famous since he debuted in his first smash hit Luigi's Mansion 1 and 2 and in recent years being included as a default playable character in many Mario action platformers.  I also want to see a Luigi's Mansion 3 on Switch and maybe a re-imaging of Super Mario Bros. 2.

I only know what has been revealed about Mario and Luigi over the years and you can draw you're own conclusions although it is my suspicion that Mario may at least be partly responsible for impeding the development of his younger brother.
 
Watch what Mario does during his brother's victory celebration in Mario Power Tennis from 2004.  Mario just can't stand the idea of his younger brother getting more than him.


 

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23 hours ago, Ethereal Dragonz said:

I'll just leave this here:

 

 

I would have never been able to sit through more than 30 seconds of the original cartoon, but the smorgasbord of creativity on display there made a terrible cartoon into something  I thoroughly enjoyed.  The sheer variety of art styles was a welcome breath of fresh air, living as I am in a country where there are pretty much only 5 art styles ever employed (generic anime for young children, generic anime for boys, generic anime for girls, generic anime for men, generic anime for women)

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