Games - Ridley

	Games - Ridley

Ridley is a fictional villainous character from the Metroid
video game franchise. His appearance is similar to that of a rather thin/bony European dragon (with four limbs, two bat-style wings, a spear-tip tail, and the ability to exhale fire/plasma), leading some people 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. In many games in the Metroid series, Ridley changes his color and form. An example would be in Metroid Fusion Ridley's frozen remains become infested by an X Parasite, causing his eyes to bulge out grotesquely, his body turning a bluish-purple colour, and in Metroid Prime, the Space Pirates modified him into a cyborg with black armor plating (Presumably after being defeated by Samus Aran in the original Metroid game).

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, what appear to be sharp claws, and fire- (or possibly plasma-) breathing capability. He is also believed to be extremely intelligent, quickly responsive, and a master of military strategy. In the manual artwork in the NES Metroid release, prepared by Nintendo of America, he looked much different than he does today, possessing such things as blue skin, and a head with large eyes on sides, three horizontal ridges - due to coloring, frequently thought to be eyes - on the long muzzle, and a mouth which kind of resembled 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 NoA's work looked significantly different from what was in the games themselves. (Many other games, such as The Legend of Zelda series, suffered from this.)

Other than the series protagonist Samus Aran and the titular Metroids, Ridley is the only character that has appeared consistently throughout all 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 one of Samus' most notable antagonists. However, it is unclear whether the Ridley that appears from game to game is the same individual, or if Ridley is a species. However, many argue that Ridley is the same 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 (or Ridleys', depending on the point of view) is currently unknown. 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 is often seen as a sort of rival against Samus, and likely to have been the one responsible for killing Samus' parents, as briefly seen in flashback cutscenes in Metroid: Fusion.

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's manual as well as the more recent Metroid: Zero Mission's manual state that Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates, while Mother Brain is simply a biological computer that controls the pirate's base. In Metroid Prime, scans of Ridley considered him to be more of an enforcer, but didn't make too many comments about him being the leader. However, considering Ridley's obvious control over the space pirates, he may at least be a general, if not some higher military rank.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Ridley ]

Games - Ridley

Appearances and Characteristics

Leader of the Space Pirates?

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