So...Luigi. I'm actually part of his fan club, you know.
He's Mario's fraternal twin, and it shows. Not just in appearance, either-they're two very different people in spirit.
At first glance, Luigi seems...less than heroic. He's hesitant to jump headfirst into action like his brother, and seems to tick every box on the "common phobias" list-darkness, ghosts, lightning, spiders...you get the idea. Poor guy can't even stay in the same room when the kids start telling ghost stories.
But timidness isn't necessarily the same as cowardice. In the time I'm been around him, I've noticed that the elements of a real hero are there. Even when he's terrified, he resolves to do the right thing and keep moving forward. He's a real stand-up guy when it counts.
In some ways, Luigi's timid nature might actually be to his benefit-his enemies seem to vastly underestimate his abilities, deeming Mario the greater threat. Bowser can't even recall his name half the time, but that doesn't change the fact that he's been utterly curbstomped by "Green Mario" at least a dozen times since my return.
No, I don't think timidness is Luigi's biggest hindrance-what really holds him back is his feelings of inferiority. You can see it in everything he does-he tries so hard to be just as great as Mario at everything, only to be let down when nobody notices him because his brother is already so great. And so he digs himself even further into the little pit of self-doubt, which leads to him doing more things that put him in his brother's shadow, and...well, you get the idea. And if his Negative Zone is any indication, sometimes those dark, pent-up emotions do get the best of him every once in a while.
...I wonder if that's how Liquid felt. Always feeling like he was in someone else's shadow, believing he was an inferior version of someone else...
I know this is supposed to be an analysis, not an advice panel, but I wish I could tell the guy to stop trying to be his brother. He's not Green Mario, he's Luigi! He's his own person, and he needs to embrace that if he ever wants to get out of his brother's shadow. He's always been at his best when he quits being Mario's Player 2 and becomes the Player 1 of his own story.
I have a feeling that if he got his act together and played to his own strengths, Luigi might be a greater hero than Mario could hope to be.
And I think he's getting closer to that point. I've observed him in fights recently; he really seems to be trying to do his own thing these days. He's acting less like his brother, and more like what seems to be the real Luigi. He's not quite there yet, but...he's trying. And I think eventually, he'll succeed.
For some reason, I'm really glad to see him improving like he is. It...makes me feel like some sort of guilt's been lifted off of my shoulders.