Ridley (Super Smash Bros.)

Ridley (リドリー, Ridley) is a character in the Metroid series, and a major antagonist throughout the majority of the series, in which he generally acts as one of the later bosses. A draconic creature hailing from Zebes, Ridley is a vicious, yet highly intelligent member of the Space Pirates, and is one of its most prominent leaders, alongside Mother Brain. He is also the arch-nemesis of the Metroid series' protagonist, Samus Aran.

Character description
Ridley, also known by the identifier Geoform 187, is one of the main antagonists of the Metroid series, the other being Mother Brain. In spite of his bestial appearance and fearsome mannerisms, he is by no means a mindless animal, but a high-ranking Space Pirategeneral that is sapient and, as shown in the comics, capable of speech.

Ridley is directly connected to Samus Aran's past and present. In the Metroid e-manga, he gained enough favor with the Space Pirates that he became one of their figures of highest authority. As such, he attacked and devastated three-year-old Samus's homeworld of K-2L in a raid for fuel and resources, and personally killed Samus's mother when she jumped in to protect her daughter. Unwittingly, he created his own worst enemy in Samus through this.

In Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission, he appears as the military leader of the Space Pirates and as a boss in the area with his name, and in Zero Mission, the final boss is a robot in his likeness. He, his counterpart Kraid, and all the Space Pirates desired to capture and clone the eponymous Metroid creatures for use in galactic domination. Ridley, however, was surprised to find the little girl from years ago, now a grown woman, having come to fight and kill him.

However, he was revived as a cyborg called "Meta Ridley" and was a major antagonist in Metroid Prime. He also gained a new, Phazon-enhanced form called "Omega Ridley" in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

In Metroid: Samus Returns, Ridley arrives on Planet SR388 as Samus returns to her gunship with the lone Baby Metroid in tow. Here, Ridley’s body has partially healed and he is known as "Proteus Ridley". After a long and hard-fought battle, Proteus Ridley is ultimately left incapacitated on the planet’s surface as Samus and the Baby Metroid leave for the Ceres Station to deliver the Baby Metroid.

In Super Metroid, his body has completely healed and he successfully kidnaps the baby Metroid that Samus found in Metroid: Samus Returns. Driven by intense rage, Samus chases him back to planet Zebes, the Pirate base in Metroid and Zero Mission, and in the process of rescuing the baby, Samus battles Ridley and the other Space Pirate leaders again, ultimately escaping the destruction of Zebes, which marked the final and true death of Samus' longstanding nemesis.

In Metroid: Other M, Ridley is unintentionally cloned via a DNA sample found on Samus' armor after the events of Super Metroid. The result is initially a small white owl-like creature dubbed "little birdie", which Samus later encounters on the Bottle Ship. Later on, it evolves into a quadrupedal lizard and eventually assaults Samus on sight after being assailed by Galactic Federation soldiers. After escaping the attack, the mysterious creature evolves its final and most recognizable form. Samus then re-encounters this reborn Ridley inside the Geothermal Power Plant in the Pyrosphere area of the Bottle Ship. Having thought she had eliminated him for good at the destruction of Zebes, his presence drives such a shock into her that she is becomes unable to speak or move, until Anthony Higgs supposedly sacrifices himself trying to protect her. Enraged by the loss of her friend, Samus attempts to kill Ridley once more. Having suffered heavy injuries from the battle, Ridley flies away. He is later attacked by the reincarnated Queen Metroid, being left as a lifeless husk.

In Metroid Fusion, the body of Ridley's clone, cryogenically frozen, reappears on the Biologic Space Labs research station, which Samus encounters halfway through her mission there, to witness it shatter, while an X Parasite mimicking him exits the body. Samus later encounters the X-mimic becoming "Neo-Ridley" and defeats him, presumably for the final time.

In Super Smash Bros.


Ridley in Super Smash Bros.

Ridley appeared on Planet Zebes, flying in the background. His appearance is based off of his Super Metroid sprite.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ridley makes a cameo appearance in Melee in a fight with Samus for a Metroid during the opening movie.

Ridley has a cameo in the opening movie of Super Smash Bros. Melee, fighting Samus, when Samus jumps over him and shoots several missiles. As the opening movie was part of the game's initial reveal, this scene led to fan speculation that Ridley would be a playable character, though this ended up not being the case. Like in Super Metroid, Ridley is carrying the baby Metroid's capsule, though unlike in Super Metroid, Samus has both the Varia Suit and Missiles.

Trophy description
​​​​​​ ''The head of the Space Pirates on Zebes, Ridley soars through space on wicked wings. Ridley may look like a mindless monster, but he's actually quite intelligent. After the SR-388 incident, where Samus captured the infant Metroid, Ridley took the Space Academy by storm, annihilating the complex and taking the Metroid back.''
 * Ridley
 * Metroid (1989)

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A remix of Ridley's theme from Super Metroid and Meta Ridley's theme from Metroid Prime both appear in Brawl. In addition, Ridley's lair in the Metroid series, Norfair, is featured as a stage.

Hacking of Brawl's reveals incomplete Assist Trophy data for Ridley, though he is not available as such. Presumably, Ridley was initially planned as an Assist Trophy, but was instead included as a boss.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Ridley is the fifth boss in the Subspace Emissary. Samus and Pikachu must fight him at the end of the Research Facility II. In the cutscene prior to the battle, Ridley ambushes and grabs Samus, flying upward and scraping her along the walls. Pikachu breaks Samus free from Ridley's grasp using Thunder. In the first battle, Ridley has higher health and uses moves ranging from claw swipes to a move similar to Rayquaza's ExtremeSpeed to a tail swipe across the entire stage. Meta Ridley, his form in Metroid Prime, later attacks Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Samus, Pikachu, and R.O.B..

Ridley and his Meta Ridley form are resurrected by Tabuu, their true leader, in The Great Maze to face down the heroes. Oddly enough, they are resurrected as separate beings.

Moveset
​​​​

Ridley spends most of his time in the air over the abyss. Characters with strong aerials have an easier time, but in a pinch up-smashes can be used. Most of his attacks are either relatively slow or well telegraphed, thus staying alert can help the player avoid a lot of damage. The hardest attacks to dodge are his claw sweep (not his tail sweep) and loop-de-loop, but by paying attention to his attack order they can be predicted.

On higher difficulties of Subspace Emissary, defeating Ridley usually earns something valuable.

Like all bosses Ridley can controlled with hacks in Boss Battles Mode. The start button will like all bosses self-destruct him.

Origin of Attacks
Most of his attacks are completely made up for Brawl; however, there are a couple attacks that are somewhat retained: The attack that Ridley does when he flies to the background of the stage and tries to ram into the player looks very similar to how Ridley flew away in the beginning of Super Metroid. Also in Super Metroid, Ridley will often use his tail as a weapon by whipping it at Samus. In Brawl, Ridley does use his tail as a weapon, but not as a whip.

Moveset gallery
Ridley flies in a circular fashion.
 * Ridley charges leftwards through the air.
 * Ridley sweeps its tail along the stage.
 * Ridley flaps his wings to produce wind.
 * Ridley scrapes his claw along the stage.
 * Ridley crashes down to the stage.
 * Ridley stomps onto the ground of the stage.
 * Ridley flies forward at high speed from behind the stage.

HP and damage taken
Like all bosses in Brawl, Ridley gains an additional ×0.6 damage resistance modifier when fought in co-op mode, effectively gaining 67% more health. This modifier is applied whenever the second player is in-game, and is no longer applied if the second player loses all their stocks.

Trophy description
​​​​​​ ''The leader of the Space Pirates. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. He plans to steal the baby Metroid from Samus for his own use. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail. As the culprit behind the murder of Samus's parents, the connections with Samus run deep.''
 * Ridley
 * : 'Metroid'
 * : 'Super Metroid'

In Super Smash Bros. 4
Ridley as he appears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, joining forces with his arch-rival Zero Suit Samus.

The shadow of a dragon-like creature on Pyrosphere, which was the first visible confirmation of Ridley's appearance.

When Sakurai first revealed the Pyrosphere stage for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he mentioned that a character from "Samus' past" may appear at any second. Furthermore, Ridley's shadow appeared on the stage in the April 2014 Nintendo Direct, in the section which discussed the Yellow Devil's role as a stage boss on Wily Castle. Ridley was ultimately confirmed to appear as a unique stage boss in the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 50-Fact Extravaganza, over a year after the Pyrosphere was revealed.

Like Samus and Zero Suit Samus, Ridley matches his physical appearance from Metroid: Other M. In battle, Ridley will appear and attack players. He will use attacks based on where opponents are standing. Unlike other stage bosses, however, damaging Ridley enough will cause him to fight alongside the fighter. Damaging him enough after he joins a player's side will KO him, adding another point to the player's KO total, even if he is on the player's side. Ridley may gather energy from the purple vats under the ledges, increasing his strength. Curiously, his stock icon (used in the KOs row of the results screen) is of his Brawlartwork.

Left: Ridley's head icon in SSB4. Right: Unused Meta Ridley variant.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS marks Ridley's first complete absence from a Super Smash Bros. title.

Attacks


Ridley shooting a fireball.
 * Launches a fireball. 12%
 * Moves across the ground while slashing 3 times, damaging any fighter in Ridley's path. 25% (First Hit) 10% (Second hit) 20% (Third Hit)
 * Goes into the background, and charges into the foreground, which will hurt fighters who come into contact with Ridley. This is the first move Ridley will use whenever he appears, as he enters using it. 30% (Sweetspot) 12% (Sourspot)
 * Stomps onto the ground. 15%
 * Lets out a roar. This can push back opponents.
 * Performs a single slash while darting to the other side of the stage. 15%
 * Shoots his tail through the stage while clinging through the ledge. Ridley can do this up to three times. Only uses this after increasing strength. 25%
 * Shoots out a much bigger fireball. After it lands, a shockwave of fire will spread across the ground Only uses this after increasing strength. 30% (Fireball)
 * Shoots out three fireballs at once.

Trophy description

 * Ridley
 * Samus's long-standing rival in battle. In this game, he's a common foe to all the fighters in the Pyrosphere stage. However, if you manage to launch him or knock him over, he'll become an ally to whoever dealt the last blow. Defeating him in a timed battle nets you +1 KO.
 * Samus's long-standing rival in battle. In this game, he's a common foe to all the fighters in the Pyrosphere stage. However, if you manage to launch him or knock him over, he'll become an ally to whoever dealt the last blow. If you can defeat him during a timed battle, you'll get +1 KO out of it!
 * : Metroid (08/1987)
 * : Super Metroid (04/1994)
 * : Super Metroid (04/1994)


 * Little Birdie
 * It may be hard to believe, but this is a younger version of the infamous Space Pirate Ridley. No matter how cute he is, don't think that you can love him and take him home--his next form is lizard-like with a sharp tail, and he has no problem turning his caring owner into a tasty snack!
 * Everyone knows Ridley as a terrifying evil space dragon, but would you have guessed he looked like this as a baby? He's kind of cute and creepy at the same time. Don't let his innocent act fool you into thinking he'd make a nice pet, though - once he sheds his skin and enters his reptile phase, you'll just become his next meal!
 * : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)
 * : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)


 * Mystery Creature
 * What once was a cute little bird has changed into a lizard-like creature. It still has some white feathers from its previous form, but that's where the similarities end. Is there something in its blood that drives it to confront Samus whenever possible? Her parents were Ridley's victims, after all.
 * If Little Birdie is Ridley's cute baby years, this must be his awkward teenage phase. The feathers on his back are the only real clue that it's the same creature. Is there something in Ridley's genes that make him hate Samus so much? The original Ridley killed her parents, and now this one is out to get her too!
 * : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)
 * : Metroid: Other M (08/2010)

As a playable character


Official artwork of Ridley in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

After many years appearing only as a boss, Ridley finally makes his debut as an unlockable newcomer, being revealed during the Nintendo E3 Direct on June 12, 2018. Much like Zero Suit Samus in both Ultimate and its predecessor, Ridley uses a composite design original to the Smash series; in this case, he is primarily based on Super Metroid, with some embellishments and elements from Metroid: Other M, resulting in a more realistic and detailed design than his Brawl boss appearance. Meta Ridley is featured as an alternate costume for Ridley. An official Ridley amiibo was confirmed the same day.