Luigi

Player
Name: Qu-ko
Livejournal Username: aphotic
E-mail: kaleidobeam[at]gmail.com
AIM/MSN: HighinQusitor (AIM)
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Route: None because I idled out not too long ago. :C


Character
Name: Luigi
Series: Super Mario series
Timeline: Post-Super Paper Mario
Canon Resource Links: Information ho!

Personality: It's probably a good thing Mario is the one who does most of the heroic work in the Mushroom Kingdom, because understandably, Luigi isn't the kind of guy they had in mind when the first quest to rescue Princess Peach (or at times, any other damsel-in-distress who needs it) came about. Alone, anyway. The Mario brothers have worked together to save the day successfully in too many games to count, and Mario's had plenty in which he did most of the work alone, but Luigi's first and so far only solo adventure involves... conquering a haunted mansion and getting the ever-loving daylights scared out of him at every turn, so much that it's downright comical.

Indeed, to put it a bit bluntly, Luigi can be kind of a wimp and a loser most of the time -- and though this can also be said of him quite affectionately, for the most part he doesn't appear to be hero material at first glance. He's shy, timid, and cowardly, for starters, and even in the best of times, he's an extremely bad judge of character. Not to mention prone to flattery of any kind. A lot of his flaws, though, seem to stem from the blatantly obvious second-fiddle position he's been slotted into below his brother in the eyes of almost everyone he knows. As a result, Luigi has nurtured an enormous complex regarding being overlooked in favor of Mario that has only gotten more severe the more adventures they've had together. To put it plainly, he's varying degrees of jealous of his brother, from the fact that Mario is the one recognized and even feared as the hero the world over to the fact that Mario won the girl in the end.

Among other things, Luigi is rather... particular about tidiness and cleanliness, and seems to have some slightly eccentric hobbies that may or may not relate to the fact he is portrayed as a refined sort of gentleman by nature. In the same way he is more fastidious about little things than Mario, he's also more inclined to worry more about these little things, almost neurotically at times. He is much more prone to self-doubt and indecision, another possible side effect of the being-Mario's-shadow thing, and is by far the more self-conscious of the two, about anything from his physical appearance (his mustache in particular) to his personality to his social status. He also seems to be pretty well-spoken despite the Italian accent... maybe a little too well-spoken sometimes, to the point of pretentiousness on occasion.

For someone with an ego as seemingly neglected throughout the years as Luigi's, though, it can be both a strength and a weakness of his. As mentioned previously, flattery will get you everywhere with him, even if you're just stringing him along or are clearly being insincere about it -- perhaps he's just that desperate for a little praise, who knows? He's not at all stupid, however; it's just that he's straightforward to a fault, and seems to expect everyone else to be the same way. Similarly, if he ever gets too overconfident or is stricken with a rare bout of arrogance, it will almost always come back to bite him. But at the same time, someone with a sense of self-worth so small must value others over himself much more, almost by default, right? And sure enough, one of Luigi's defining traits is that in his best moments, he's extremely generous and caring where it counts. He's selfless and sensitive to others, as well as to their feelings about him, and so tends to take insults or mean-spirited attacks towards him fairly hard. Despite being just a bit desperate for any sort of positive attention in his best moods, though, he's not self-interested enough to want to knock someone else off their pedestal for his own benefit, though -- in Mario's case, for example, it seems like he'd be happy enough just getting an equally-high pedestal right next to his, if given the chance. In the end, it seems Luigi is really too nice a guy to do anything spiteful to anyone.

But in spite of the passive negativity that comes from his ever-present inferiority complex regarding his brother and the fact that he seems consistently labeled as second-best in everything no matter what he does, saying Luigi doesn't have what it takes to be a hero isn't entirely true. Far from it, in fact, since when the situation calls for it, he's perfectly willing to put aside the complex and leap boldly into trouble if it means saving the hides of his brother or any of their friends. Even when faced with some pretty harrowing trials, between facing an entire mansion full of ghosts (oh, and did I mention he's flat-out terrified of ghosts?) and all the things he's had to tackle with Mario, Luigi is just as capable of stepping up to the plate and getting things done as his brother is when it counts, and is no less determined to get things done, whether it involves saving the world, becoming the Super Star, or winning a sports tournament.

All in all, Luigi is an extremely ironic character. He feels often brushed aside and constantly suppressed by Mario's fame and good fortune, and is too damn nice to want to shove him out of the way of the spotlight even though they consider one another equal rivals as well as siblings who care about each other. Yet underneath it all, the heroism definitely runs in the family, and he's actually perfectly capable of the same feats that Mario has accomplished whether he recognizes it or not, although he settles for combining forces with him and saving the day (and likewise sharing the credit) that way more often than not. He has a big heart that conceals just as much courage as Mario displays outwardly on a regular basis, but those traits are often unintentionally hidden or overshadowed by how pedantic and occasionally naive he can be at any other time. When it comes down to it, though, he's a genuinely nice person with a few glaring insecurites to work out... but hey, we all have those, don't we?

Strengths/Weaknesses:

+ Just as capable of being heroic and brave as Mario is. When he feels like it.
+ On the other hand, he's much, much more apt to think before he leaps.
+ All-around nice guy in general; he's very kind and generous, and sensitive to the feelings of others. A bit of a humanitarian, even.
+ Despite his short stature (even being taller and less pudgy than Mario as it is, which isn't saying much), he's extremely agile, enough for most of the Mushroom Kingdom baddies to recognize him as a legitimate threat now.
+ Even though he's got that thing about being overlooked, it doesn't stop him from being competitive and doing his best in games and competitions, and he does like to have fun in the process.
+ Possibility of bending the fourth wall aside? Nintendo franchises, man; he'll probably catch onto this Pokemon thing real quick.

- Most of the time, he's more inclined to be intimidated or downright terrified at the thought of trouble or having to confront Eldritch abominations than to actually bite the bullet and get down to it.
- A bad judge of character. A very, very bad judge of character.
- Just a little too eager to let flattery go to his head at times.
- A being-ignored complex that is the single most crippling in the land of Nintendo, bar absolutely none. The worst part is that a lot of it tends to be self-fulfilled, since he's at the point where he almost expects to always be second banana.
- Self-conscious to a fault. Don't make fun of his mustache. Just... don't.

Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Breeder
Starter: Gastly (female, I guess?)
Password: Taco Bell