Luigi, the other Mario Bros.

The Characters of Gaming series was created in order to give the great figures of gaming the recognition they deserve.  These giants among the industry have paved the way for all the modern members of gaming fiction.  Without strong leading characters, many franchises simply wouldn't exist and the industry wouldn't be what it is today without these superstars.

Sometimes, however, a character who deserves recognition in his own right is kept under the shadow of a stronger (more popular) leading character.  Nowhere in gaming is this more evident then with Mario's green garbed brother, Luigi.

Luigi

Stars In:
Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 1-3
Super Mario World
Luigi's Mansion
...and many other ensemble titles such as Mario Kart, Mario, Party, Super Smash Bros., etc.

Why he made the cut:
Mario's brother started out as a simple recolor of Mario's pixels.  Player two would take control of Luigi, who was effectively just Mario in Green.  However, when Super Mario Bros. 2 came along, Luigi was one of four selectable characters for gamers to take control of.  For the first time players could choose to play as Luigi without simply being player two.  This is when we time, in a game, that we saw the taller and slimmer plumber that gamer's are familiar with today.  With younger siblings and less popular friends (the Milhouse Van Houten's of the world) being forced to take control of the second controller, Luigi quickly became and underdog favorite.

Check out more Characters of Gaming:
Alucard
Andrew Ryan
Bowser
Chris Redfield
Dragonmaster Alex
Earthworm Jim
Frank West
Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde
Lara Croft
Leon Kennedy
Link
Pac-Man
Pyramid Head
Ryu
Samus Aran
Simon Belmont
Sonic the Hedgehog
Snickering Dog
Stubbs the Zombie
Tails
The Unammed Spartan