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Ridley is a fictional antagonist from the Metroid video game franchise. His appearance is considered similar to that of a skeletal pterodactyl, but upon further examination it resembles a rather thin, bony European dragon (with four limbs, two bat-like wings, a demon-like spear-tipped tail, and the ability to exhale blasts of fire and/or plasma). Due to his appearance and affliation with the Space Pirates, some people have come to refer to him as a "space dragon." He also possesses a head-crest like that of a pteranodon instead of the classic twin horns of a dragon, leading others to compare him to said pterosaur. Also, despite his fearsome appearance, he is known to be quite intelligent and is shown to be capable of speech in the official e-manga. He is also thought to be the leader of the Space Pirates' army. Appearances and Characteristics Ridley first made his appearance in the original NES/Famicom Disk System Metroid game as a part of the miniboss duo along with Kraid. Ridley is a master of both projectile weapons and melee combat, being armed with very thick (possibly armored) skin, a spiked tail, sharp-edged claws, and fire-breathing (or possibly plasma-breathing) capability. Despite his barbaric appearance, he is extremely intelligent, quickly responsive, and a master of military strategy, although his ability to speak has only been displayed in the Metroid e-manga. In the manual artwork in the NES Metroid release, prepared by Nintendo of America, he looked very different from how he does today, possessing blue skin, a head with large, bug-like eyes, three horizontal ridges - due to coloring, frequently thought to be eyes - on the long muzzle, and a mouth resembling an anteater's or tapir's. However, these early American manuals and promotional materials are not considered canonical, primarily because the work was done entirely independently of Nintendo of Japan, and some parts of Nintendo of America's work looked significantly different from what was in the games themselves. (Many other games, such as The Legend of Zelda series, have dealt with this.) Other than the series protagonist Samus Aran and the titular Metroids, Ridley is the only character that has appeared consistently throughout most of the games in the Metroid series (the exceptions being Metroid II for the Game Boy, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the GameCube, and Metroid Prime: Hunters for the Nintendo DS). This makes him Samus's most notable antagonist, perhaps even more so than Mother Brain, and he could be considered Samus' answer to Mario's Bowser or Link's Ganon. However, unlike those two other villains it is unclear at first whether the Ridley that appears from game to game is the same individual, or if "Ridley" is a species. The evidence is in favor of him being a single surviving individual, though, as there are references to him being "revived," which, of course, would not be necessary if there were other Ridleys involved with the Space Pirates. Ridley's species is currently unknown. The instruction manual for the original Metroid refers to Ridley as the last of his species, which was native to Zebes. However, the canonity of this is quite outdated. Ridley is the only member of the species that has ever been observed with record. It is also unsure whether Ridley is male, female, or gender-less, but Zebesian Space Pirate documentation (revealed in Metroid Prime) seems to suggest that Ridley is male. Ridley was the one responsible for killing Samus's parents, as seen in both official mangas (which can be seen in an extra ending picture in the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion). Ridley has been confirmed to be returning in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Leader of the Space Pirates? There has been some debate as to whether Ridley or Mother Brain is the true leader of the Space Pirates. The instruction manual for the original Metroid, the manual for Metroid Fusion, and the introduction text from Super Metroid suggest Mother Brain is the Space Pirate leader. However, Super Metroid Ridleys lair In , "Ridley" is also the name of a deep underground cavern that houses Ridley himself (known previously as Ridley's lair in the original Metroid). This cavern also houses a giant fly named Imago which fell down from Norfair, and strange balls of fire called Novae. Appearances in games The appearances are ordered by the in-game chronology. Metroid Ridley cannot fly in the first game and only attacks the heroine, Samus Aran, by hopping around while shooting fireballs. He is one of the two "minibosses" in the game along with Kraid. According to the original game's manual, Ridley is the last of the native inhabitants of Zebes, the planet on which the game takes place. However, this seems to have been retconned, since it has been stated in the remake that the Chozo were inhabitants of Zebes and that it was the place where Samus Aran was raised after her home planet was raided by none other than Ridley himself. Metroid: Zero Mission
Metroid Prime After the events of Metroid, Ridley was recovered and his body was improved through adding on cybernetics, armour plating, and more weapons. These include a meson bomb projector, several heat-seeking missile launchers, and an kinetic breath weapon. Some of his original organic body can be seen through his frame, but he appears to be heavily mechanical at this point. Deemed "Meta Ridley," he is first seen on the space frigate Orpheon, connected to a harness. Upon the frigate's destruction, Meta Ridley awakens, frees himself and heads towards Tallon IV, causing Samus to chase after him. Samus loses track of him, but he is seen flying above the Phendrana Drifts at one point prior to battling him. He is the last boss fought before Samus faces Metroid Prime. In this battle, Ridley spends much of the time flying, making long bombing runs across the sky. His only weak point is his chest. Once the player damages him to the point where he has one-quarter of his health left, his wings burn off and he resorts to brute physical attacks, which become faster and more powerful after the player gets him down to one-eighth of his health, causing him to partially explode on the inside. After his defeat, the nearby Chozo statues shoot red laser beams from their eyes into his chest, and he is sent falling off of a cliff and into the phazon crater under the temple, causing a large explosion. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Ridley appeared in the playable demo of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption shown at E3 2006•. In it, He and Samus are shown falling down a massive drop with a counter at the bottom of the screen counting down the meters until the bottom. Although he appears mechanical like in the original Metroid Prime (except that some parts of his body glow the color of Phazon), the boss's name above the health bar appears as simply "Ridley," and the fight seems to occur at an early point of the game, since Samus has only four energy tanks. It is possible that this may change by the end of the game's development. In the GameInformer Demo of Metroid Prime 3 Corruption viewers can see Samus in morphball mode fighting Ridley again except with 14 energy tanks. Super Metroid Ridley made his comeback in the opening segment of Super Metroid where he kidnaps the last remaining Metroid and has a brief skirmish with Samus, thereby setting off the whole plot of the game. Later in the game, he can be found in the deepest, central section of Norfair, where the player must fight him. Afterwards, the container in which the Metroid hatchling was housed is found shattered, with the hatchling nowhere to be found. It is not an empty victory, however, as Ridley's defeat unlocks the stronghold of Tourian, where both the hatchling and Mother Brain yet await Samus's arrival. It was in Super Metroid that Ridley developed his "traditional" battle styles and attacks--grasping Samus, tail swipes, and so on. Metroid Fusion At this point, Ridley's body is being kept in a large freezer by Biologic Space Labs under the Galactic Federation, although how they obtained the specimen remains unclear. During the game, an X Parasite copies Ridley's DNA, as Ridley's true body collapses in the sub-zero containment room. Near the end of the game, Samus fights Ridley-X, the large and more powerful mimic version of Ridley. Ridley-X's attack pattern is nearly identical to that of Ridley's Super Metroid incarnation. Cameo appearances In Super Smash Bros., a Ridley sprite can sometimes be seen flying in the background in the Planet Zebes stage. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ridley appears briefly engaging Samus in the opening cut scene. Ridley is here holding a Metroid larva in his claws, which would determine that it was in fact the beginning of Super Metroid. The game also has a Ridley trophy. Captain N
Nintendo Power Nintendo Power featured two Metroid adaptations: Metroid e-Manga In the Metroid e-Manga created by Yoshio Sakamoto Samus first met Ridley while he was commanding the attack on her home colony of K-2L. As Ridley was observing the destruction of the colony, Samus met face to face with the Space Pirate leader. Her young mind overwhelmed by the carnage, but having recently been taught by the Chozo elder Old Bird that even unsightly creatures can be decent, she tried to befriend him, desperate for assurance that everything would be all right. His response could be interpreted that he either felt slight pity for Samus or was simply momentarily dumbstruck by her hysterical behavior. But either way, he abruptly turned to annihilate her. Samus's mother, Virginia Aran, then appeared amidst the confusion of the Pirate raid and was instead the one destroyed by Ridley's fire breath. This memory scarred Samus for life, and she therefore vowed to avenge her parents and destroy Ridley and all the Space Pirates. | |||||||||||
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