This article refers to the recurring boss. For other uses of the name Ridley, see Ridley (Disambiguation).
"
Heh, humans are always so weak to the death of their own kind! Who knows, perhaps I even ate your "mama" so that my cells may live, hmm? Is she here... or here?! AT LEAST PAY YOUR RESPECTS!
„
—Ridley[2]
Ridley (リドリー,Ridorī?) is a high-ranking Space Pirate, the archenemy of Samus Aran, and one of the most common recurring characters and antagonists in the Metroid series, appearing in most of the games. He is generally considered as the main antagonist of the Metroid series, although he is usually a secondary antagonist in each appearance and is only the final boss in one game.
Summary
Sadistic and bloodthirsty, Ridley delights in death and destruction, and was responsible for the massacre of the colony K-2L. Since then, he and Samus have clashed several times, with Samus usually emerging the victor. But Ridley's brutality is matched only by his resilience, and he regularly returns from apparent death to do battle with Samus once more. As such, the Space Pirate leader is fittingly referred to as the Cunning God of Death (狡猾の死神?) in his Zero Mission official art on the Japanese website.
Resembling a skeletal pterodactyl-dragon with glowing eyes, the true name of Ridley's species is unknown. Despite his bestial appearance, Ridley is known to be highly intelligent and even shown to be capable of speech in the Magazine Z manga. He was also apparently capable of building a robot in his own likeness. Though Ridley often appears in different forms, it is clarified through scans found in the Metroid Prime series, as well as events portrayed in Metroid: Other M, that every one of his incarnations chronologically seen prior to Other M and Metroid Fusion are indeed the same individual (the exception being the Ridley Robot), despite his numerous defeats. Strangely, some of his prior battles ended with his body seemingly exploding, but in-game lore states he survived these violent defeats until Super Metroid. In most games he appears in, he has been the penultimate or ante-penultimate boss.
The manga also revealed that Ridley is extremely adept at survival. Ridley was apparently capable of healing his wounds by eating human flesh, as illustrated in the manga in a part where he claimed that he survived the destruction of his flagship by consuming the bodies and cells of the dead humans in K-2L.
Biography
Boss Battles
Metroid
"Multiple mutations will cause a Metroid to grow into an even larger and more powerful adversary."
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In Metroid for the Famicom Disk System and Nintendo Entertainment System, Ridley is located in his subterranean base, Mini-Boss Hideout II. His room consists of a large, floating platform with two levels of differing height (with the boss on the highest), and a pool of lava located below. In his debut, Ridley is approximately Samus' height, and despite having wings (albeit very small ones), he merely hops up and down while spitting zigzagging fireballs at her. The American artwork of Ridley portray him with a vastly more alien design, featuring a head with a leech-like mouth and numerous ocular organs of varying sizes scattered about (as seen in the Gallery at the bottom of this page).
Samus can use any weapon her Power Suit possesses to damage him. His fireballs, however, are indestructible and excel as a defense mechanism, destroying any long-range weapon and nullifying the blast from Bombs on contact. If Samus possesses the Ice Beam, she can temporarily freeze all of Ridley's projectiles, rendering him incapable of shooting out any others until the ice thaws. Depending on the position the fireballs are frozen in, they can either leave Ridley completely exposed to any attack, or prevent anything, including Samus, from getting close to him, thus careful precision is required when using the Ice Beam.
Ridley's Metroid sprite.
Interesting to note is that Ridley's battle is noticeably more challenging in the Japanese Famicom version of the game, due to the console's superior specs over the American NES version: in the former console, each individual fireball created by Ridley has a different trajectory randomly picked from a set, meaning that players will have to deal with projectiles traveling at different speeds with small or large zigzag patterns, practically leaving no safe zone. The latter console can only choose a single trajectory for all of Ridley's fireballs every time the NES itself is turned on. This signifies that the American version will always feature multiple safe zones in the room where the fireballs can never reach, allowing players to either stand next to Ridley and shoot him without repercussions, or stand a set distance away and simply jump and fire at Ridley without receiving damage. It is mostly due to this hardware limitation that makes Ridley the least challenging boss in the NES game.
Once Samus defeats him, 75 missiles are added to her maximum amount. He is one of Zebes' guardians that must be defeated in order to activate the Stone Statues overlooking the path to Tourian.
Metroid: Zero Mission
Ridley flying and roaring, as shown in Metroid: Zero Mission.
In Zero Mission, Ridley, looking more like his later appearances, is instead initially off-world at the time Samus infiltrates the base, but returns with his ship by the time she reaches Lower Norfair. Ridley is much taller and more agile than in the original Metroid. He flies around and tries to kill Samus with his "classic attacks" first seen in Super Metroid, though they are noticeably far less chaotic and his tail is less maneuverable. Ridley will often spit out different-sized fireballs in a variety of ways, but these can be destroyed with any weapon. He is also capable of using his crushing grip and fireballs in a combined form to heavily damage Samus. When she defeats Ridley, he explodes and disintegrates, allowing Samus to leave with the Unknown Item she had obtained just before the battle. Also in the same game is his incomplete project: the Ridley Robot, which guards the Space Pirate Mother Ship and serves as the end boss of Zero Mission.
Metroid Prime series
Meta Ridley's Metroid Prime model
After his defeat on Zebes, Ridley's remains were recovered and reconstructed with cybernetic implants, turning him into a cyborg. He is known as Meta Ridley for the entirety of the first Prime game along with the prologue of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption,until his final battle in the latter game where he becomes Omega Ridley following his infusion with Phazon.
Metroid: Samus Returns
Proteus Ridley attempting to capture the last Metroid in Metroid: Samus Returns
Despite not appearing in Metroid II: Return of Samus, Ridley is present in the game's remake as Proteus Ridley. Returning from his prior defeats in the Metroid Prime series with fewer cybernetic implants, he ambushes Samus and attempts to capture the last living Metroid just as they are about to leave SR388.
This game marks the first time in the series where Ridley acts as a final boss.
Super Metroid
Ridley's final battle in Super Metroid
Ridley is first fought in the Ceres Space Colony, carrying the last Metroid in his talons after slaughtering the scientists on Ceres. He uses the same attacks as his later encounter, but neither he nor Samus can be defeated - after he or Samus takes a certain amount of damage, Ridley escapes the colony with the Metroid and goes back to Zebes, with it being implied that Ridley had set Ceres to self-destruct. It is possible to damage Ridley enough that he will drop the baby, but he quickly recovers it and flees before Samus can retrieve it.
Samus fights Ridley again in his hideout in the depths of Norfair. He is one of the four bosses that must be defeated to unlock access to Tourian. Unlike his previous forms, Meta Ridley and Omega Ridley, the space dragon is vulnerable to many different types of weapons, from any angle. However, Ridley can use his invulnerable tail to shield himself against any attack, including breaking through the near invincible Screw Attack. In addition to defense, he uses his tail for unique offensive attacks, many of which would be seen in future releases of Metroid games, such as the whip and pogo stick-like attacks. Body slams, indestructible fireballs and damaging grips are also used in battle. With no weak points or special tactics available, Samus must simply dodge Ridley's attacks while landing hits of her own - it takes 30 Super Missiles to bring the monster down. However, he generally does not die immediately upon losing all of his health; instead he continuously and aggressively attempts to grab Samus in his talons. If he succeeds, he will fly with her to the center of the room and release one last roar before suddenly breaking apart, dropping Samus unharmed. If she manages to evade his final attempts at grabbing her while dealing additional damage, Ridley will eventually die normally.
When defeated in Norfair, Ridley's body combusts and breaks apart, with every individual piece disintegrating into ash. After Samus kills Mother Brain, planet Zebes explodes, taking Ridley's remains with it. Metroid: Other M states that this defeat marks the first true death of Samus's arch-nemesis; Ridley had seemingly survived all of his previous battles, regardless of disintegrations.
Metroid: Other M
Samus battles Ridley's clone.
Samus tracks a Mystery Creature that molted from Little Birdie into the Geothermal Power Plant in an effort to finish it off, believing that it has metamorphosed into a more powerful form after finding a second molted skin. Unbeknownst to Samus, the animal she is tracking is actually a juvenile clone of Ridley from prior encounters that has been steadily growing through his predecessor's natural life-cycle. When she reaches the Power Plant, the creature emerges from the shadows in its adult stage, the distinguishable dragon-like form, and triggers a battle with Samus.
Ridley's clone utilizes some of the original's "classic" attacks, as well as a few new moves of his own. His main form of attack is to swipe Samus with his claws, as well as whip her with his tail. Both attacks can be dodged with the SenseMove. Ridley will also breathe a short-ranged burst of flame if Samus is close enough, and can also charge up a large stream of fire. Ridley's most devastating attack is to charge at Samus and, if successful, slam her against the inner wall of the Geothermal Plant, outside of the platform they are battling on. He continues the attack by grinding her along the wall (reminiscent of his battle in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), causing major damage. After this, Ridley will fly above the battlefield with Samus still held firmly in his hand, and breathe fire on her at point-blank range to knock her out of his grasp. This entire attack sequence can be avoided if Samus were to dodge Ridley's initial charge attack, which can be predicted as soon as Ridley lifts his left arm into the air. If she is caught and dragged onto the wall, Samus can begin using the Charge Beam to prepare her own blast at point-blank range, though she must fire at Ridley before he does the final segment of his attack.
Ridley also has two aerial attacks at his disposal. His first move consists of stabbing the Hunter with his tail, then attempting to crush her from above. Well-timed SenseMoves can dodge this assault. His other attack consists of charging up a huge fireball and firing it at the center of the arena, creating a large shockwave that must be jumped over.
Once Samus has inflicted enough damage to Ridley, he will keel over, stunned and vulnerable to a Lethal Strike, in which Samus grabs hold of him and fires a charged shot in his throat. After performing a Lethal Strike, Ridley will immediately counter with a new ability: transforming into Black Ridley. This ability renders him invulnerable to Samus' Plasma Beam shots. He will then immediately fly up to unleash a fireball to the ground. Samus can either wait until the effect wears off or fire a Super Missile at him, reverting Ridley back to normal instantly. If Samus is quick enough, she can fire a Super Missile at him before he manages to fly.
As Ridley receives damage, his body gradually becomes ravaged. Once his life-bar is depleted, he will fall over, seemingly unconscious, but quickly gets back up during the following cutscene and escapes. He is later killed off-screen by a Queen Metroid, his drained corpse left to be found within the Bioweapon Research Center.
Metroid Fusion
The Neo Ridley as shown in Metroid Fusion
The emaciated corpse of Ridley's clone was transferred from the BOTTLE SHIP to the Sub-Zero Containment in the BSL Station, where it was eventually infected by an X Parasite. Using the corpse's DNA, the X transforms into an unnatural imitation known as Neo Ridley.
Aside from this, Ridley also briefly appears in one of the Child Mode endings, where he is seen advancing on a young Samus Aran and what are presumably her mother and father, the latter of whom attempts to shoot Ridley to no avail. It is also to be noted that this was the first time that Ridley's involvement in the K-2L raid was alluded to.
Physical appearance
Overall, Ridley had the appearance of a dragon, with his head and neck resembling that of a pteranodon. He also possessed a spiked segmented tail with a hooked end.
In the NES version, he mostly appeared similar to his later appearances, although the head crest was missing, and was depicted as only slightly taller than Samus Aran. In addition, the artwork for Ridley, depending on the source, either depicted him with a leech-like head and tridactyl feet (concept art) or otherwise as a chibi dragon with expressive purple eyes (Japanese Metroid guide). Interestingly, both sources depicted Ridley with blue skin, although the game itself depicted Ridley with purple skin.
In his appearances from Super Metroid onward (the only exception being Metroid: Other M, not counting either Meta Ridley or Proteus Ridley), he was given a significant redesign: He has bidactyl feet, had a largely emaciated appearance, and his eyes were generally depicted as glowing ominously (although there have been a few instances where he was depicted with irises), as well as his head given definite pterodactyloid features, including a head-crest and a distinctive bent neck. Most importantly is that he also had his size increase, although not to the same extent as Kraid, where Samus' height just barely reaches the top of Ridley's chest while the latter is crouching.
In Metroid: Other M, Ridley, or rather, his clone has some notable differences in physical appearance. In particular, he is given a more muscular build, and his snout now has the top half being smaller than the bottom half, as well as pointed slightly upward, and he possessed four fingers and a thumb instead of two fingers and a thumb on his hands as well as tridactyl feet. His tail also has at its end an appendage that bears a close resemblance to a dagger blade. Despite this, however, in Metroid Fusion, his appearance resembled how he generally looked since Super Metroid. Neo Ridley, however, is shown to be much larger with enlarged talons and claws, and also possessing thinner lips exposing his teeth constantly. Neo Ridley also seems to possess gill-like openings on his back, just behind his wings, and is depicted as being colored blue instead of his usual purple.
Personality and traits
"
Kill as much as you want! Have fun!
„
—Ridley, to the Space Pirates, immediately prior to their massacre of K-2L in the Metroid manga.
While Ridley displays few personality traits in the games, the official Metroid manga delved a great deal deeper into the personality of the Space Pirate general. Ridley first appeared in chapter one, where his brutal disposition, foul temper and love of death and destruction are made apparent when he orders his entire legion of Space Pirates to annihilate the peaceful inhabitants of K2-L as he looked on, even going as far as to tell them to "have fun" while causing carnage. His ability for cruelty is further made concrete in the manga, when he attempts to kill a small girl who tries to befriend him; killing her mother while trying to shield the child. This characterization was given a brief nod in his third victory pose in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he is seen with his back turned pounding the ground in a manner that evoked tearing his downed opponent apart before quickly turning his head with a grin. He, like many of his Space Pirate brethren, also believes in the superiority of certain races over others, counting himself among the privileged elite species and seeing the "lower" races as something only to exterminate. His more sadistic and bloodthirsty tendencies were initially hinted at in a Pirate Data scan explaining his resurrection as Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime, where the crew guessed that Ridley becoming the mainstay of the Space Pirates' security force after the completion of his cybernetics was "a job he will certainly relish." He also has some degree of narcissism, due to his commissioning the Ridley Robot as a symbol of his power.
Despite these bloodthirsty tendencies, Ridley has shown to be an intelligent and competent battle tactician, orchestrating a great many successful battles, as well as proving a serious threat on his own. One instance of this intelligence was his ordering his Space Pirates to be careful when retrieving the afloraltite due to its volatile properties, as well as his being implied to have held back in going all out on the carnage until after making absolute certain that they've secured the afloraltite beforehand. His battle tactician skills were best showcased during the battle of Norion when fighting Samus: He tried to kill Samus while she was traversing through ducts in Morph Ball form and thus preventing her to transform, and later he also made sure to have Samus fall down the Generator C shaft with him to ensure that, in the event he could not defeat her, she would at least die with him. Similarly, it was implied that the reason he bombed the Cradle was specifically in an attempt to prevent Samus from accessing the Impact Crater during the events on Tallon IV, and when fighting Samus for the baby on SR388, he also proceeded to use his cybernetic arm to block Samus's Arm Cannon blasts while rushing at her. It is also implied that he set the Ceres Space Colony's self destruct protocol during the escape. Interestingly, his traits as a competent leader seem to also be embedded on a genetic level, as his clone, who was feral as a result of growing up without any education or civilized upbringing, was nevertheless seemingly capable of leading weaponized creatures into attacking Adam Malkovich's squad while he handled Samus alone in his adolescent form. However, his quick temper and his arrogant belief that nothing can defeat him often undermine these qualities, leading to a great many defeats for him as well, particularly at the hands of Samus.
Ridley grudgingly shows respect to those who are natural leaders, such as when Gray Voice ordered the Pirate Troops to their battle stations; Ridley, taken aback, smirked at being told by Gray Voice to attend to his job and sarcastically addressed him as "Sir Military Commander" when he flew off.
Ridley has frequently displayed a very sadistic sense of humor, evidenced by his various comments against Samus upon their first meeting since K2-L. Ridley even went so far as to taunt her by saying that he may have eaten and incorporated the cells of her mother's corpse into his body and sardonically wondered what part her cells reside in. He then proceeded to bring his foot down on Samus, growling "At least pay your respects!"; referring to her dead mother, showing just how much joy he takes in the suffering of others. This sadism can also be seen in Other M, as the cloned Ridley appears to toy with Samus before being interrupted by Anthony Higgs. However, in the manga, he was shown to be momentarily taken aback by Samus' naivety and looked at her with apparent pity when she innocently tried to befriend him despite being scared of his terrifying appearance. In response to this gesture, Ridley called Samus cute, before refusing her offer in a sarcastically polite tone and revealing his intent to kill her.
He seems to hold a grudge against Samus for her deceased father's role in the massive failure of Ridley's raid on K2-L. Rodney Aran intentionally ignited the Space Pirates' stolen supply of Afloraltite, causing Ridley's ship to not only explode and take numerous Pirate lives, but to also crash on top of Ridley. His injuries subsequently forced him to consume dead humans, despite his utter disgust and low opinion of the species. In the following years, Ridley would develop an intense hatred for Samus due to her constant interference and his various defeats at her hands. He also refers to Samus's existence when meeting her for the first time since the K-2L raid as a nightmare, implying that his hatred for Samus during that time stemmed also from the fact that she even survived the massacre at all. It's also implied that his hatred of Samus's parents, and by extension, Samus herself, may have also been retained as genetic memory due to the Mystery Creature (a genetic clone of Ridley) being especially eager to kill Samus and toying with her, with its trophy hinting that its antagonism of Samus was ultimately rooted in Ridley's earlier murder of Samus's parents. His undying hatred of Samus is given a reference with his Final Smash Plasma Scream, where he always attacks her Gunship irrespective of whether Samus herself is one of the fighters knocked into it.
While they have speaking roles in the manga and comics, Ridley and the Space Pirates have never displayed this ability in-game (the Omega Pirate of Metroid Prime being a possible exception). A likely explanation is that the sounds Ridley and the Pirates make in-game are the Space Pirate language, translated for the reader's benefit in the manga.
Powers and abilities
Meta Ridley charges his Plasma Breath
Ridley has proven to be a fierce opponent in battle. While fighting hand-to-hand, Ridley primarily makes use of his lethal claws, talons, and tail. Ridley is also capable of breathing plasma in battle, either in the form of large fireballs, or a large stream. His tail was also razor sharp and could be used to impale other beings to significantly wound them, which he demonstrated on Grey Voice. His wings enable him to fly at fast speeds to outrun opponents. Ridley also possesses physical strength sufficient enough to grab Samus with one hand and drag her along the wall, as evident in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Metroid: Other M. He is also shown to be adept at survival, able to heal himself by consuming others and incorporating their cells into his body.[3] In Metroid: Other M, Ridley's clone displays the ability to change the pigments of his skin and harden it (this state is erroneously referred to as "Meta Ridley" in Smash Bros), making him immune to Samus' beam attacks. While in this hardened state, Ridley's attacks also gain greater speed and strength. He also appears invisible or camouflaged when encountered in Super Metroid, also likely an ability resulting from his ability to change the pigments of his skin. He also may have some control over lava and darkness, as during his fight against Samus in Norfair in Super Metroid, the room he was in was initially dark until he revealed himself, in which case the room also proceeded to light up shortly thereafter and also proceeded to summon lava below while roaring, the latter of which only dissipated after he was killed by Samus.
Ridley is infamous for his uncanny ability to cheat death on many occasions. Notable occasions of this are:
His survival from his ship's destruction on K2-L by consuming the bodies of the dead humans, according to the manga.
His reconstruction as Meta Ridley following his first defeat on Zebes.
Surviving his fall into the Impact Crater by unknown means.
Surviving another long fall into the shaft of Generator C on Norion, becoming infused with Phazon and transforming into Omega Ridley.
Returning via unknown means with no traces of Phazon on his body and fewer cybernetic implants to battle Samus as Proteus Ridley following his battle in the Pirate Homeworld's Seed.
Shedding the rest of his cybernetics after his crushing defeat on SR388 and appearing whole once more when he confronted Samus in the Ceres Space Colony.
His battle against Samus during her final visit to Zebes would be the definitive end of the original Ridley. However, true to his title as the "God of Death", Ridley quite literally returns from the dead through astonishing circumstances:
Unbeknownst to Samus, Ridley's blood is splattered and preserved on her Power Suit during their last battle in Lower Norfair on Zebes, allowing Galactic Federation personnel to unknowingly collect his DNA and create his clone on the BOTTLE SHIP.
Following the death of Ridley's clone in the BOTTLE SHIP, his deceased body is moved to the Biologic Space Laboratories research station for preservation, where his DNA is copied and used by a shape-shifting organism to morph into a mimicry of Ridley.
Official data
Metroid manual
"It's the head of Mini-Boss Hideout II. It jumps up into the air and breathes fire. It's the original life form of the planet Zebes and is controlled by Mother Brain. Destroy it and you win 75 missile blasts!!!"
Virtual Console retranslation
"Flies up into the air and breathes fire. An indigenous life-form of Zebes, this creature is being controlled by Mother Brain."
The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
"It attacks Samus by spewing fireballs. A missile attack is very effective, but if you have the wave beam, it would be a good idea to use the beam continuously while jumping through the lava."
Super Metroid manual
"Ridley headed the mission to the Space Colony and stole the Metroid Hatchling. It whips out at enemies with its long tail and spits fire while flying through the air."
Super Metroid Players' Guide
"Samus met him at the start of the game, just before the science academy went down in flames. The winged space pirate leader had other things on his mind at that point, like getting away with the last Metroid. This time he has only one objective - to see Samus' quest come to an untimely and stomach churning end... Ridley attacks in three main ways. First off, he flies off the top of the screen then swoops down quickly. When he disappears, it's best to jump up as you'll catch a glimpse of him hovering. If you know where he's swooping from it's easier to take evasive action. The second attack takes the form of swipes from his spiny tail. These are very hard to avoid so just keep jumping. He can also launch a series of fireballs from his mouth which have to be avoided. If Samus isn't careful, Ridley may catch her in his mouth. In this case, wiggle the pad left and right while pounding the buttons to try and shake free of his grip. A good strategy is to morph down on the opposite side of the screen to Ridley's next swoop and drop a power bomb. Keep this going until you run out, then switch to super missiles. Finish him off with regular missiles and charge beams."
Defeating Ridley
Jump up when Ridley flies off...
Leap over his spiny attacks...
Use bombs and missiles against him.
Samus (JoyRide Studios)
"The dragon-like Ridley is the first boss you'll encounter in Metroid for the NES. To slay the beast, use powerful attacks such as the Wave Beam or a missile fired at point-blank range."
"Use the Ice Beam to freeze Ridley's projectiles, then close in and fire missiles at point-blank range."
"If you use the Wave Beam, you'll have to stand in the lava to take your shot. Keep jumping to minimize your damage."
Metroid: Zero Mission interview
"Though there are many secrets in the Metroid series, my instant thought is why is Ridley preserved in the freezing chamber? What was the Galactic Federation planning to do with him?"
Yoshio Sakamoto:"For the time being, I don't know. Maybe it will be revealed in the near future?"[4]
Official Metroid: Zero Mission website
Image from the Zero Mission website.
"Extremely dangerous! Enormous wing-span and long, whip-like tail. Moves very fast and attacks with alarming ferocity. Emits fireballs of gas from elongated beak. Will try to pick up enemies and crush them with razor-sharp talons. Vulnerable to Super Missiles. DANGER LEVEL: VERY HIGH."
"Powerful wings"
"Razor sharp talons"
"Elongated beak"
Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes Q&A
QUESTION: I have again great things to say [about Metroid Prime 2]. The details to the settings are amazing... Anyway, as for my question: Metroid Prime 2 comes after Metroid Prime 1, correct? And, since the Space Pirates are also present... does this mean that Ridley will be back, too?
ANSWER: If you play to the end, I think you'll figure it out.[1]
QUESTION: I'm in the middle of playing the game right now. It's very interesting. I have a small question. In the previous game there were limited time scans (pained smile) and was wondering if there any of those in this one? In my opinion so far the game has a great presentation that does not lose your interest. I often forget what time it is. And even if I play for a short amount of time it feels like you've made a good amount of progress. I'm expecting Ridley to appear at any moment because for me he is the true Metroid nemesis. I hope to be snatched and taken away. Basically I'd like to see Ridley in literally every game...
ANSWER: If you see something, scan it! It's the basics. If not, you may regret it... Whether or not Ridley will appear, you'll be able to tell if you finish the game.[2]
Nintendo of America tweet
"Did you know? If you're able to do enough damage to Ridley, he'll momentarily drop the Infant Metroid before leaving the Ceres Research Station.
Play Super Metroid and other classic #SNES games now with #NintendoSwitchOnline! https://nintendo.com/switch/online-service/nes/"[5]
Cameo appearances
"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr-"
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.
Ridley appeared in the Captain N: The Game Master comics and TV series.
Ridley appears in the comic stories Welcome to Videoland, Money Changes Everything (in name), Breakout, and When Friends Fall Out (as a flashback) based on his original concept art. In Breakout, he impersonated Judge Racklas, another member of his species, after Mother Brain had all of her own crimes reattributed to Princess Lana. In the comics, his design was derived from the art for Ridley for the NES version.
In the TV series, Ridley appears as an orange potbellied dragon. Although this is very different from his original design, it is identified as "Ridley" in concept artwork, and storyboards show Ridley with an appearance that much more closely matches his original NES manual artwork, with multiple eyes and a pointed tail. Ridley appears in the episode GameBoy as one of the monsters generated by Game Boy while under Mother Brain's control.
Ridley appears in the Super Metroid comic from Nintendo Power, with largely the same role as in the game. However, a notable difference from the game is that, other than their brief encounter on Ceres Space Station, he never actually fights Samus, and instead "called a retreat" and left the Space Pirates to fend for themselves when Samus arrived, with Armstrong Houston also noting that Ridley was a coward upon witnessing this. As such, he never actually was killed by Samus.
Ridley is on the box and cartridge art for Super Metroid, which also appears in WarioWare: Smooth Moves on the Wii, in the microgame Super Nostalgic Entertainment System.
As part of another collaboration between Nintendo and Team Ninja, Ridley's clone and his signature theme make a cameo appearance in Dead or Alive Dimensions. He attacks characters from the background of the Geothermal Power Plant arena, and is killed by a Power Bombing Samus when a sound is made in the mic.
Kraid and Ridley animatronics in Metroid Blast
Ridley appears in Nintendo Land as an animatronic boss in the Metroid Blast attraction. Ice Ridley is an additional variant whose attacks freeze the Mii players. Depending on the mission, Ridley may be fought alone, or he may be teamed up with Ice Ridley or Kraid. Ridley can also be unlocked as a prize, placing a non-hostile version of the animatronic in the main plaza. Its description is "Violent, villainous, and highly intelligent, Ridley is Samus's nemesis, commander of the Space Pirates, and the galaxy's greatest threat. Attack him from the back when he's stunned."
Defeating Ridley acted as one of the challenges in NES Remix 2 as well as its 3DS port, Ultimate NES Remix. A promotional 3DS wallpaper for the latter game also featured Ridley fighting Link (the latter in his Zelda II: The Adventure of Link sprite).
A flashback of Samus's battle with Ridley in Metroid appears in the Discover the Hunter Trailer for Metroid Dread.
Super Smash Bros. series
Main article: Ridley (Super Smash Bros.)
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.
Trivia
Super Metroid commercial.
Ridley has appeared in all but five Metroid games. These are Metroid II: Return of Samus, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime Hunters, Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Metroid Dread. His absence in Federation Force was due to Samus's secondary role in the plotline,[6] although two Paint Jobs based on him can be unlocked in the Campaign and Blast Ball. While not present in Metroid II, Ridley is the surprise final boss of its remake, Metroid: Samus Returns. In addition, despite his absence in Metroid Prime Hunters itself as well as its demo, his Meta Ridley theme is present in the latter. There is no mention or trace of Ridley in Dread itself, but he appears in some of the unlockable endings that reference the past games, and the second phase of the final boss fight against Raven Beak has him utilizing a similar moveset to Ridley.
Ridley's name is likely derived from Ridley Scott, the director of the first film of the Alien film series, from which Metroid games are stated to have taken a lot of inspiration. His first appearance in Metroid also resembles to the Alien creatures from the same series. Throughout the series, Ridley's tail resembles that of the Alien creatures.
His similarities to the Xenomorphs in terms of physical appearance is further highlighted with his design in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and is even given a nod in the trailer A Piercing Screech, which had him taking out Mario and Mega Man in a similar manner to the Xenomorphs. On that note, Ridley's overall design in Ultimate, including his apparently having a skinless appearance and showing exposed muscles around the joints, bears a strong resemblance to the praetomorphs from the film Alien: Covenant.
The name "Ridley" is an English name which means "Reed clearing; cleared land; barren land",[7] which is very fitting to Ridley's bloodthirsty and sadistic personality due to his various raids, such as at K-2L, resulting in most if not all of the inhabitants being wiped out.
In every 2-D game he is involved in, Ridley's fireballs have an uncanny resemblance to Mario's 2-D fireballs. Whether or not this similarity is intentional is unknown.
Ridley's fireballs are invulnerable in most games, the exceptions being Corruption and Zero Mission.
Ridley appears on the Super Metroid Stare-E-O Poster.
Ridley's size has mostly wavered throughout the series. The only thing that is been consistent since Super Metroid is that he's larger than Samus, but just how large depends on the situation.
This led to discussions about whether he wasn't a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl because he was "too big", which was confirmed by Masahiro Sakurai during the development of Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS. For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he's been made playable, now standing roughly as tall as Bowser for ease of implementation.
During the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate conference, Masahiro Sakurai stated that Ridley was about four meters tall (or 13'1½"). Based on previous games, Ridley could very well be the smallest of the Space Pirate generals at a confirmed height of four meters, as Phantoon is massive in Other M, Kraid is quite large in Super Metroid and Zero Mission, Draygon is slightly taller, and Mother Brain's main body in Super Metroid significantly adds to her height.
At the beginning of Metroid Prime 3, he's large enough to have Samus fit into his mouth just barely as they fall down the tunnel. However, later on in the Pirate Homeworld, after becoming infused with Phazon to become Omega Ridley, he's sized down to the point that Samus can only fit her arm cannon into his mouth.
His size also varies quite a bit from panel to panel in the official manga.
In all of his sprite-based appearances, his wings are curiously smaller than his body size, logically making them unlikely to even lift Ridley off the ground, and yet he soars through the air with ease. Funny enough, this also applies to his wings in all of his 2D appearances. This was likely an intentional design choice to prevent him from taking up most of the screen in his in-game fights. His 3-D appearances and manga rectify this by giving him wings that exceed the size of his main body.
Metroid: Other M is the only game where Ridley's upper jaw is not longer than the lower one, and is also the only game where it points upwards, not down.
Space Pirate monitors depicting Ridley's image.
In the Pirate Command sector of the Pirate Homeworld, images of Ridley can be found on the glowing orange monitors. Rooms with these monitors include Command Courtyard and Command Station.
Samus has kept a tendency in most games to shoot Ridley directly inside his mouth and throat, either during cutscenes or in-game battles.
Ridley's signature music theme was originally used as a generic boss fight background music in Super Metroid (also being used for the Torizo, Golden Torizo and Draygon fights), but in later games, it has been associated solely with Ridley. Although there have been variations of Ridley's theme in each game (different tempo, extra beats, etc.), the music's rhythm and sound are consistent and used for every incarnation except for his very first boss fight in the original Metroid. The theme has also been used during the countdown sequences of Super Metroid, Fusion and Other M, with the first one having alarm blaring being heard in the background for this reason.
Meta Ridley can be seen on Nintendo Monopoly representing Tennessee Avenue for $180, though the property is simply referred to as "Ridley". It features a claw-like appendage at the tip of his tail instead of the usual spear-tip, and his wings are attached below his arms akin to a bat.
Ridley apparently does not seem to need oxygen to live. Metroid Prime clearly portrayed him flying out into space without any gear as he escapes the Orpheon, though this may be due to his cybernetics. Additionally, the Super Metroid comic features him exiting out into space and his Super Smash Bros. Melee trophy states that he flies through space with his wings; however, these sources are considered non-canon.
There is no explanation on how he is able to fly in an environment which does not contain air or gas, a necessary medium for any creature with wings to take flight; he is nevertheless seen flapping his wings. Meta Ridley's wings appear to be energy-based, which may hold some significance.
The Ridley clone's blood is green, as shown in Other M. This is a common trope for alien creatures in science fiction environments. However, Ridley's blood is shown to be red in Corruption during the boss battle on Norion before he falls down the shaft.
Coincidentally, some reptiles in real life also have green blood.
Although Ridley is canonically male, several official sources (including the manuals for Metroid and Super Metroid) refer to Ridley with gender-neutral pronouns.
An April Fool's Day cover for the magazine Game Informer that jokingly claimed that Team Ninja would work on the next Metroid game depicted Ridley wearing a two-piece bikini reserved for females (which had itself been a reference to Team Ninja's Dead or Alive Xtreme series).
Other M reveals that Ridley's vision is tinted green, possibly as a result of nictitating membranes that cover and protect his eyes.
Ridley has multiple different vocalizations throughout his appearances. In Super Metroid, his vocalizations were directly taken from the roars of the character Anguirus from the Godzilla film series. In Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission, Ridley (or in the case of Fusion, Neo-Ridley) gave notoriously loud shrieks similar to a parrot. In his 3D appearances as well as Metroid: Samus Returns, he is given more bestial roars, which were also given a slight alien filter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
An unused Fake Ridley, similar to Mini-Kraid, exists in the data for Metroid.
His animated reveal trailer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first time since Ridley's role in the Metroid manga where Ridley has displayed a sense of humor, playfully twirling the hat of a defeated Mario when revealing himself to Samus with something of an inhuman grin.
In Super Metroid, there is a glitch where Ridley gets stuck on the platform in his lair, thus (like the Omega Ridley glitch) leaving him unable to do anything.[citation needed] This can be fixed by reloading the game.
Appearances
Metroid
Victory Techniques for Metroid
Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order
Famiken Ryu: Metroid and Super Xevious - The Riddle of Gamp
Metroid: The decisive battle against Ridley!
Super Metroid
Super Metroid commercial
Super Metroid (Manga)
Super Metroid (Nintendo Power comic)
Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide
Super Metroid Players' Guide
Metroid Fusion
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime (Comic)
Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
Metroid Prime Official Strategy Guide (Brady)
Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
Metroid (Magazine Z manga)
Metroid: Zero Mission
Samus & Joey: Volume 1
Metroid EX
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc
Metroid Prime Pinball
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
New Play Control! Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Metroid Prime Trilogy art booklet
Metroid: Other M
TV Commercial :60 Spot
Miitomo (Pet)
Metroid Prime: Federation Force (Paint Job)
Metroid: Samus Returns
Metroid Dread (Chozo Archives)
Crossover Appearances
Ridley's trophy in the main hub of Nintendo Land.
Captain N: The Game Master
Comics
Welcome to Videoland
Money Changes Everything (Mentioned)
Breakout
When Friends Fall Out (Flashback)
Cartoon
Game Boy
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
WarioWare: Smooth Moves
Super Nostalgic Entertainment System
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Dead or Alive: Dimensions
Nintendo Land
NES Remix 2
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Gallery
For concept art, see Ridley/Gallery.
References
^ Q&A: Is Ridley from Metroid Really Native to Zebes? « Legends of Localization. Mato Tree (2014). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
^ Metroid: Volume 2 pg. 12, based on the translation by Metroid Database
^ Nintendo of Europe (Nintendo Europe). "Happy #ReptileAwarenessDay! To celebrate, why not tell us who your favourite reptilian juggernaut is to fight against in #SuperMetroid, now available to play with #SuperNES – #NintendoSwitchOnline!" Oct 21, 2019 9:46 a.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/NintendoEurope/status/1186277558368661504
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