Ridley (Super Smash Bros.)

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr-"

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Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

This article discusses Ridley's appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series. For his appearance in the main Metroid series, see Ridley.

Ridley
Fighter no.	65
Featured in	Super Smash Bros. (cameo) Super Smash Bros. Melee (trophy) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (boss) Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (boss) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Final Smash	Plasma Scream

Ridley (リドリー, Ridley) is a character in the Metroid series, and a major antagonist throughout the games, in which he generally acts as one of the later bosses. A bloodthirsty leader of the Space Pirates, Ridley is the arch-nemesis of the Metroid series' protagonist, Samus Aran, having murdered her parents when she was a child.

Ridley has made appearances in all games in the Super Smash Bros. series in some form, but it was not until Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that he became a playable character. While his appearances in the first two were only cameos, he took on a greater role in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a boss and in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a stage hazard.

Playable character requests

Before Ultimate, Ridley was highly requested as a playable character in the series. On the Japanese website, he was the second-most requested character behind King Dedede. However, some fans argued he was too large to be playable and to include him would mean scaling him down in size. The contentious nature of Ridley has spawned the "Ridley is too big" meme. Masahiro Sakurai himself commented on the idea of a playable Ridley in an interview with Nintendo Power:

“	I think that would probably be pretty impossible. [Laughs] If we had put our best efforts into it, we may have been able to do it. But he might have been a little slow. Would that be all right? [Laughs]	„
—Masahiro Sakurai

Following the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Sakurai again addressed the requests of fans for Ridley to be playable but shot down their wishes, stating:

“	I definitely know that Ridley’s a much-anticipated name for fans, but if we made Ridley as a fighter, it wouldn’t be Ridley any longer. It'd have to be shrunk down, or its wings reduced in size, or be unable to fly around freely. Instead of going through a lot of very convoluted hocus-pocus to make Ridley a fighter, I figured it’d be better to keep Ridley as it currently is, the correct way, and have it feel like a truly threatening presence.	„
—Masahiro Sakurai [1]

Since the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, many fans have created various mods for the game which allow Ridley to be playable in some shape or form, often using Charizard as a base.

In Super Smash Bros.

Planet Zebes background cameo.

Ridley appears in the background of Planet Zebes stage, flying, using his Super Metroid sprite.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee website.

Ridley makes a cameo appearance in the opening cutscene, fighting Samus while carrying the baby's capsule in a re-enactment of the Metroid Theft Incident from Super Metroid. 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, although Samus has both the Varia Suit and Missiles, which she does not in the Super battle.

Trophy

Ridley's trophy is obtainable at random.

Trophy textures.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Ridley as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Ridley appears as a boss in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, alongside his Meta form. Remixes of their themes from Metroid Prime both appear in Brawl. In addition, Norfair, Ridley's lair in the Metroid series, is featured as a stage.

Hacking of the internal data 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 appears as a member of the Subspace Army and a boss during the Subspace Emissary, fighting Samus and Pikachu at the end of the second Research Facility level. 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. The tail swipe can do major damage (The move can do around 70% damage if the other person is at 0% damage) on harder difficulties and the extreme speed move is a main killing move. He flies from one side to the other and is similar in style to Master Hand in the way of how it attacks and then pauses.

Ridley and Pikachu in The Subspace Emissary.

Ridley later attacks Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, Captain Olimar, Samus, Pikachu, and R.O.B. as they are all escaping on the Falcon Flyer. In this fight, he is in his "Meta Ridley" form from Metroid Prime as he pursues. His attacks include firing missiles and energy beams from his mouth, diving at the player, and pounding on the Falcon Flyer in an attempt to send the player off-screen. During this fight, the player has only two minutes to defeat Meta Ridley.

Ridley is later resurrected by Tabuu, the main antagonist of The Subspace Emissary, to fight the player in The Great Maze (oddly, Ridley and Meta Ridley are both resurrected as separate beings).

Despite being non-canon, it should be noted that his ambush of Samus was later reused as one of the Ridley clone's attacks during his boss fight in Metroid: Other M, and to a certain extent one of Proteus Ridley's moves in Metroid: Samus Returns. Coincidentally, the latter game also featured a similar save by a creature Samus befriended via its natural abilities (in that case, the baby draining Ridley).

Moveset

Ridley spends most of his time in the air over the abyss, forcing characters that fight him to use aerial or Up Smash Attacks. His attacks are rather telegraphic. On higher difficulties of Subspace Emissary, defeating Ridley usually earns something valuable.

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

Most of his attacks are made up for Brawl, but some are derivative from attacks he performs in the Metroid series: in Super Metroid, he will often whip his tail at Samus, but does not drag it across the ground. His attack in Brawl in which he rushes at the fighters from the background greatly resembles how he exited Ceres Space Colony with the baby in Super Metroid.

Note: the move names below are not official, and these templates have been taken from SmashWiki.

Move	Input	Description	Move Number
"Blasting Roar"	A or B	Ridley roars and flaps his wings violently, which kicks up wind that pushes the player back slightly. Damage can be taken by making contact with his head as this starts.	2
"Flying Stomp"	A^	Ridley lands on the floor, jumps up, and then drops down, trying to stomp on the player. Because Ridley always drops down on the same spot he landed before jumping, it can be dodged by running to the opposite end of the stage.	3
"Claw Sweep"	Av	Ridley flies low and sweeps the stage with his claws. He screeches before this, unless being controlled by a human.	2
"Fly Off"	A<, A>, B<, or B>	Ridley initiates Slamming Rush, but controlled by a human, he can't do it, if being controlled by a human he can return to the platform with moves like Claw Sweep (Av).	1
"Background Ram"	B^	Ridley jumps up and then flies toward the player from the background, similar to Master Hand's punch, but with an erratic flight pattern. It will only hit the player if they are on or very close to the ground, so it can be dodged easily by jumping over it.	3
"Tail Sweep"	Bv	Ridley scrapes the stage with his tail. At low percentages, it covers half the stage. At higher percentages, it covers the whole stage, sometimes turning around at the end to double back. Sometimes he will use this attack twice in a row. It can be easily dodged by jumping over his tail.	1 or 2
"Slamming Rush"	Unusable	Ridley flies off the screen, then rushes at the player horizontally. Oddly, he seems to charge at a random speed each time, regardless of difficulty. It can be dodged by sidestepping, air dodging, roll dodging, or jumping over/under with good timing.	1
"Loop-De-Loop"	Unusable	Ridley does a loop-de-loop and damages anyone who makes contact. This can be dodged by jumping into the middle of the loop, where he will just circle the player.	1

HP and damage taken

HP Values	Easy			Normal			Hard			Very Hard			Intense
The Research Facility (Part II)	306.36			331.8			350.88			376.32			408.12
The Great Maze	241			263			278			301			325
Round	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9
Boss Battles	130.4	136.6	150.6	143	152	168.8	156.5	168.5	187	170	185	209.1	206	229	258.5

	Battering	Slash	Electric	Freezing	Flame	Grass	Water	Darkness	Aura	Direct	Indirect
Damage taken	×1.0	×1.0	×1.1	×1.3	×0.7	×1.0	×1.3	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×0.9

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 of their stocks.

Trophy

Stickers

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
Ridley	Metroid	Darkness Attack +30	Ganondorf
Ridley	Metroid: Zero Mission	Arm Attack +25 (usable by all)	All

Gallery

"Looks like a pile of rags..."

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In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Unused boss character art.

Unusually, Ridley does not appear in any capacity in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, not even as a trophy. However, he does appear as a trophy and a stage boss on Pyrosphere in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, based upon his clone from Other M. Aside from this, he also has trophies in the Wii U game dedicated to his Little Birdie and Mystery Creature forms.

He was first hinted at when Masahiro Sakurai revealed Pyrosphere on the game's website. Sakurai mentioned that a character from "Samus' past" may appear at any second. Ridley's shadow then appeared on the stage in the April 2014 Nintendo Direct, as Sakurai was discussing stage bosses. 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 stage was first revealed.

In battle, Ridley will appear and attack players with moves based on where the opponents are standing. Unlike other stage bosses, damaging Ridley enough will cause him to fight alongside fighters. Damaging him further will KO him, adding another point to the player's KO total even if he is on their side. Ridley may gather energy from the purple vats under the ledges, increasing his strength and turning him into Black Ridley. Despite using the design from Other M, the head icon used for KO'ing Ridley is taken directly from his Brawl artwork.

If Pyrosphere is played on in Omega mode, Ridley will not appear.

Attacks

"Looks like a pile of rags..."

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• Launching a fireball, dealing 12%. He may also fire three at once.
• Moving across the ground while slashing thrice, damaging anyone in his way: 25% (first hit), 10% (second hit) and 20% (third hit).
• Going into the background and charging into the foreground, which hurts fighters who he contacts. This is the first move Ridley uses when he appears. It deals 30% if it hits a sweetspot, or 12% if it hits a sourspot.
• A ground stomp, dealing 15%.
• Ridley will sometimes roar, which pushes fighters back without damaging them.
• Performing a single slash on one side of the stage while dashing towards the other side, dealing 15%.
• Shooting his tail up through the stage while clinging through the ledge. Ridley will do this a maximum of three times, and only after becoming Black Ridley. Each strike deals 25%.
• Shooting out a fireball shockwave that deals 30%. Ridley's clone in Other M also used this attack.

Trophies

Ridley

Little Birdie

Mystery Creature

Smash Tour (SSB4 Official Game Guide)

"Lasts 3 turns or until he's defeated in battle"

"Bump into this enemy to trigger a battle. If a player manages to defeat Ridley, he or she is rewarded a massive boost to all stats. Stat boosts can also be earned if a player wins the battle by scoring KOs against his or her opponents. If Ridley is not defeated in time, he will retain his remaining stamina and move to another space on the board."

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Image tweeted by Sakurai on August 11, 2020.

On June 12, 2018, Ridley was confirmed at the end of the Nintendo Direct as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, after years of fan requests. This is the first time Ridley has had a playable appearance in any video game, and shares this distinction with fellow Metroid antagonist Dark Samus, as well as Palutena, the Duck Hunt dog, the Wii Fit Trainer and Piranha Plant. He appears in a CG-animated trailer where he ambushes Samus, Mario and Mega Man; Ridley seemingly kills the latter two by stabbing his tail through Mega Man's torso and crushing Mario's head in his grip. As he confronts Samus, he mockingly twirls Mario's hat on his finger. His victory theme (shared with Dark Samus) is a dark remix of the Item Acquisition Fanfare.

His design in this game was largely derived from his sprite in Super Metroid, with elements of his clone's appearance in Other M. He is substantially smaller in size than in previous Smash games, where his hunching stance is only slightly taller than Samus; according to Sakurai, Ridley's height is directly inspired from his appearance in the original NES/FDS Metroid game, where he also appears hunched over. His Meta Ridley appearance is available as an alternate costume, while his other costumes appear to reference his Super Metroid artwork, Neo Ridley sprite, Zero Mission artwork, Metroid sprite, his Golden Statue sprite, and Ridley Robot sprite.

When Kirby inhales Ridley, he copies his fireball move and wears a hat modeled after Ridley's head.

Ridley's splash art features the tag line "Ridley Hits the Big Time!", which is more than likely a reference to the debate over his size.

A showcase of Ridley and Dark Samus in gameplay was released on August 21, 2018 by Nintendo, and is viewable here: [2]

His on-screen appearance is him flying down and landing while roaring before turning around. Likewise, he has three victory poses: One has him in the middle of pummeling someone (presumably his downed opponent) only to turn around with a smirk appearing. Another has him flying around and roaring, while the third has him swooping down and skidding to a halt before turning around in a dramatic manner.

An amiibo of Ridley was released alongside the game on December 7.

Ridley's Boxing Ring title is Cunning God of Death, which was also his title on the Metroid Zero Mission Official Site.

Special Moves

Ridley in gameplay.

• Plasma Breath - Ridley spits out a fireball similar to Mario's. The move can be charged, which will make Ridley spit out multiple fireballs simultaneously. However, if Ridley is attacked while charging a fireball, it will backfire onto him and damage him. The attack deals about 4.4% damage per fireball, with the backfire causing about 24% damage to Ridley.
• Wing Blitz - Ridley blasts upward. The move can be angled to fly in any other forward direction. It resembles the recovery move shared by Fox, Falco and Wolf.
• Space Pirate Rush - Ridley grabs and drags his target across the ground before throwing them. This can also be initiated in midair to drag an opponent to the ground, or throw them into the blast zone. It resembles the attack he uses on Samus in his Subspace Emissary introduction cutscene. Additionally, Ridley can jump directly out of the throwing animation. The attack deals approximately 29% damage.
• Skewer - Ridley stabs with his tail. The attack takes a long time to start up, but hits some distance away. If he hits with the base of his tail, the attack deals only 5.5% damage, but if it hits with the sweet spot at the center of his tail's tip, the target will be impaled, taking 50.4% + 8.9% damage.

Ridley's screen KO.

• Plasma Scream - Ridley headbutts an opponent onto the side of Samus's Gunship, initiating a cutscene. As the Gunship flies off, Ridley shoots it down with an oral laser that engulfs both the ship and the target in an explosion. The Gunship can be seen crashing in the background of the stage afterwards. It deals approximately 40% damage, and if the target is over 100% damage by the time the attack ends, they are instantly KO'd.

Tweets

Nintendo Versus

"The Space Pirate Ridley joins Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from the Metroid series! He uses his long tail and sharp claws to strike down his foes. For his Final Smash, he unleashes a stream of fiery plasma at his opponent and Samus's starship."

Nintendo of Europe

"Good news: Super #SmashBros Collection #amiibo figures for new fighters Inkling and Ridley are on their way! #NintendoE3"

Super Smash Blog

6/13/2018
Today's Fighter
#65: Ridley

"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."

Interview with Masahiro Sakurai

Ridley's amiibo package.

From the Nintendo Switch News Channel.

Can you tell us any specific details about the new fighters? Any tips for making the best use of their different playstyles?

Sakurai: "I think both Inkling and Ridley, each for their own unique reasons, are very different in a 1-on-1 match and in a 4-player match. [...]

Ridley has a down special that deals massive damage in one hit, provide you hit them with the sweet spot, but this is actually pretty hard to hit in a 1-on-1 match. But in a 4-player match, it sometimes just works. Ridley is shaping up to be a character where the action you take based on the situation around you becomes an important factor. I think it’s fine to decide what a character’s forte is, or what kind of strategy to use with them based on your fighting style or likes and dislikes. But I feel that to have characters that are completely different not only by themselves, but also depending on the number of opponents they are facing, is deep."

The Smash characters are known for having unique taunt animations. I’ve always wondered, how are these decided upon. Do you have a favorite one?

"Well… it’s sort of whatever I feel like. (Laughs) [...]

As for a favorite taunt, I like all of them, so I can’t really say, but I do like Ridley’s down taunt. When you use it, Ridley, for some reason, stands up straight, so you can actually see how tall he really is. He’s pretty big. He’s about four metres tall."

Well, he is a commander of the Space Pirates…

"And I have no idea why. He doesn’t look like the.. intellectual type. (laughs)"

The last statement from Sakurai is an error, as Ridley's intelligence has been demonstrated in the Metroid games (and acknowledged in his Melee trophy description).

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 enhancements. 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."

Tips

• Ridley's Origins – Ridley debuted in Metroid, released in North America in 1987. Ridley appeared as the boss in the depths of Norfair. He only attacked with a bouncing fireball, but he was still a fierce foe.
• In His Series – Ridley has taken many different forms as Samus's archnemesis. You can check out Ridley's transformation over time in Metroid: Other M.
• Plasma Breath (Neutral Special) – Charge up energy and spit out balls of plasma. The longer you charge, the more plasma balls you'll spit. However, if you get hit in the mouth while charging, you'll take a lot of damage.
• Space Pirate Rush (Side Special) – Rush forward and grab an opponent, then drag them across the ground while moving forward. Press the button while charging forward or reach the edge of the platform to toss the opponent.
• Airborne Space Pirate Rush (Side Special) – If performed in the air, Ridley lunges forward and grabs an airborne opponent before diving downward with them still in his clutches. Press the button again to release the opponent.
• Escaping from Space Pirate Rush (Side Special) – The opponent can move their control stick back and forth to escape from the move. The more damage the opponent has compared to Ridley, the harder it is to escape.
• Wing Blitz (Up Special) – Tilt the control stick up, down, left, or right to charge in that direction. When charging downward, Ridley can unleash a kick with a meteor effect.
• Skewer (Down Special) – Hit an opponent with the tip of the tail to land a critical hit that deals immense damage. It's easier to use when fighters are clustered together. It's super effective in Stamina mode.
• Plasma Scream (Final Smash) – Throw opponents against Samus's Gunship and fire a plasma beam. You can hit up to two fighters with this move. When it's finished, opponents with more than 100% damage will explode on the spot.

Role in World of Light

Ridley was presumably obliterated by Galeem at the beginning of the story, and made into a Puppet Fighter with his acting as the template of several other puppet fighters. After Kirby and his group unintentionally allowed Dharkon to take over upon defeating Galeem, Ridley was among the fighters that were conquered by Dharkon. Ridley specifically was taken to Dracula's castle, Castlevania, where he was kept in the dungeon before being freed by Kirby's group.

Spirits

SSBU Spirits Mecha Ridley.png

Gallery

Wing Blitz

Skewer

Character Showcase Video

The Rivals trailer

Ridley's amiibo

Ridley's stock icon.

Challenger Approaching screen.

Ridley trending on Twitter after his confirmation in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Ridley amiibo prototype

Ridley twirling Mario's hat on his finger in A Piercing Screech.

Reggie Fils-Aime wearing a Ridley shirt at the 2018 Game Awards.

Image shared by Sakurai on April 28, 2020.

Trivia

Samus facing Ridley and Kraid (as a hazard in Planet Zebes: Brinstar Depths).

• The way Ridley twirls Mario's hat in A Piercing Screech bears a striking resemblance to Mario in the beginning of the reveal trailer of Super Mario Odyssey.
• The tagline in Ridley's reveal trailer, "hits the big time", is likely a reference to how his exclusion in previous titles was due to his size.
  • Ironically, Ridley isn't even the largest playable character in the game.
• Ridley's pose when entering and later using his Final Smash resembles his pose in the box art for Super Metroid.
• Technically, Ridley's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first time to have him use the wave fireball technique since the original Metroid, as well as the first time since the same game to have him be roughly the same height as Samus.
• Ridley's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stock artwork features him making a similar pose to Bowser's stock artwork from Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U. Coincidentally, the name "Ridley" also refers to several species of sea turtle.
• Ridley being recruited at Dracula's castle in the World of Light storyline may have been a reference to the Death Bat boss character in Castlevania: The Adventure, whose artwork strongly resembled Ridley post-Super Metroid redesign.
• Ridley is the second character to cameo in one of the stages for the first game and not be playable until a later entry, the first being King Dedede.