Luigi vs Mario

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Luigi is Mario's fraternal twin brother. He is taller, thinner and shows a wider range of emotions than Mario. Luigi was originally developed via a palette swap of Mario with a green color scheme instead of red, but as the Mario series evolved, Luigi's character became taller and thinner than his brother Mario. Luigi fans love him for his dependability, for being an underdog, and even for his mustache.

While Luigi may not have the same level of charisma as Mario, he is an excellent sidekick and does everything that Mario does but without the glory. UGO Networks ranked Luigi at #16 on their 25 Most Memorable Italians in Video Games list, ranking him over Mario himself. According to Nintendo, Luigi has a sider range of emotions than Mario.

Comparison chart

Luigi versus Mario comparison chart
	Luigi	Mario
	current rating is 4.2/5 1 2 3 4 5 (422 ratings)	current rating is 3.91/5 1 2 3 4 5 (403 ratings)

Series	Mario	Mario
Gender	Male	Male
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto	Shigeru Miyamoto
Enemies	Bowser Koopa, the Koopa Troop, Wart, The Koopalings, Bowser Jr., Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Baby Bowser, Smithy, Master Hand, Galeem, Dharkon	Bowser Koopa, the Koopa Troop, Wart, The Koopalings, Bowser Jr., Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Baby Bowser, Smithy, Master Hand, Galeem, Dharkon
Voiced by (English)	Charles Martinet	Charles Martinet (1996 - 2023), Kevin Afghani (2023 - present)
Abilities	Various jumps, hammer, ground pound, Thunderhand, Poltergust 5000; powerups including fireballs, ice balls, flight, various suits, invincibility; , moustache	Various jumps, hammer, ground pound, Firebrand, FLUDD; powerups including fireballs, ice balls, flight, various suits, invincibility
Full name	Luigi Mario	Mario Mario
Allies	Mario, Princess Peach Toadstool, Toad, Toadette, E. Gadd, Princess Daisy, Geno, Mallow, Rosalina, Yoshi	Luigi, Princess Peach Toadstool, Toad, Toadette, Princess Daisy, Geno, Mallow, Rosalina, Yoshi
Age	24	26
Family	Mario (Brother), Baby Luigi (Younger version), Baby Mario (Brother's younger version), Waluigi (evil counterpart)	Luigi (Brother), Baby Mario (Younger version), Baby Luigi (Brother's younger version).
Appearance	Taller and thinner than Mario, has a round mustache, wears dark blue overalls, deep brown shoes, and green clothes. Luigi has darker brown hair than Mario. Luigi's head is also taller than Mario's.	Shorter and fatter than Luigi, has a bumpy mustache, wears blue overalls, light brown shoes, and red clothes. Mario has lighter brown hair than Luigi.
Differences in Abilites	Jumps higher than Mario, can harness lightning and fire.	Less slippery than Luigi, cannot harness lightning, but his fire is stronger than Luigi's.
Voiced by (Japanese)	Ichirōta Miyagawa (BS Super Mario USA Power Challenge, Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium); Yū Mizushima (Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!); Naoki Tatsuta (OVA trilogy)	Tōru Furuya (Original video animations and Satellaview games); Yasuo Yamada (Mario Paint commercial); Kōsei Tomita (Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. film); Kenichi Ogata (Japanese dub of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 & Super Mario Worl
First appearance	Mario Bros. (1983)	Donkey Kong (1981)
Copyright Owner(s)	Nintendo	Nintendo
Race	Italian	Italian
Other names	Green 'Stache, Mama Luigi, Mr. Green, Weegee	Super Mario, Jumpman
Affiliated Teams	The Mario Bros.	The Mario Bros.
Original names	Green Mario	Jumpman, Mr. Video
Live action actor(s)	Danny Wells (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show); John Leguizamo (film); Hiroyuki Yabe (Hot Mario Bros.)	"Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!); Bob Hoskins (Super Mario Bros. film); Gorō Inagaki (2003 "Hot Mario" commercial); Takashi Okamura (2005-2006 "Hot Mario Bros." commercials)
Head Quarters	Mushroom Kingdom	Mushroom Kingdom
Occupation	Plumber	In Donkey Kong games, Mario is a carpenter. In his own series, he is a plumber. In September 2017 Nintendo updated Mario's profile on their website to indicate that plumbing was his occupation in the past, implying that he is no longer a plumber.

L to R: Luigi, Mario and Yoshi action figures

Creation

Mario was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto during the development of Donkey Kong in 1981. He was originally known as “Jumpman,” but was renamed Mario to settle a dispute with the landlord of Nintendo of America’s warehouse, Mario Segale.

Luigi was created for the game Mario Bros in 1983 as a character that could be controlled by a second player. His name was inspired by a pizza parlor near the US Nintendo headquarters in Washington, called “Mario & Luigi’s.”

Mario and Luigi Characters

Mario is a short, chubby Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He has a large nose and a mustache. He wears red overalls and a blue shirt, along with white gloves and a red cap featuring the letter “M,” which was added to avoid animating his hair.

Luigi is Mario’s younger fraternal twin brother. He is taller and thinner than his brother, with blue overalls and a green shirt and hat. He is seen as nervous and timid, but generally good-natured.

Abilities of Mario vs Luigi

Mario’s main skill (reflected in his original name) is jumping, which he can use to cross obstacles and crush enemies. He can also use various power ups, including a Mushroom (which allows him to grow larger), a Fireflower (allowing him to throw fireballs), and a feather (which allows him to fly).

At first, Luigi’s skills were identical to Mario’s. However, beginning in Super Mario Bros. 2, he developed the ability to jump higher and farther than his brother, although his movements were less precise as a result.

Enemies

Mario’s main enemy is Bowser, who repeatedly kidnaps Princess Peach. His other rivals include Donkey Kong and Wario.

Luigi has the same enemies as Mario, as well as an evil alter-ego named Waluigi.

Games

Mario has appeared in over 200 games since he was first created in 1981. His first appearance was in Donkey Kong, and he has since appeared in several platform games, as well as various multiplayer games, including racing games, puzzle games and sports games, and educational games. His first titular game was Super Mario Bros., on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Luigi first appeared in Mario Bros, and was first available as a primary character in Super Mario Bros. 2. He has been the main character in three games: Mario is Missing, Luigi’s Mansion, and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon.

Reception

The Mario series is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with over 200 million copies sold as of 2009. Both Luigi and Mario's characters were well received.

Reception for Mario	Reception for Luigi
Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favorite hero. GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" as one of their top 25 video game archetypes, citing Mario as an example. Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite character out of all that he has created. Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan in a 2008 poll. Mario was 4th on UGO's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time" CNET listed Mario #1 on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters".	Nintendo Power listed Luigi as their fifth favorite hero. GameDaily listed the "neglected guy" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Luigi as an example. GameDaily listed Luigi's Poltergust 3000 from Luigi's Mansion as one of the top 25 Nintendo gimmicks. UGO Networks ranked Luigi at #16 on their "25 Most Memorable Italians in Video Games" list, ranking him over Mario himself. Luigi was listed as the best sidekick in video games by Maximum PC and Machinima. IGN ranked him at #2 on their top 10 list and WhatCulture listed him at #5 on their top 20 list.

Reception for Mario

Reception for Luigi

Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favorite hero.
GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" as one of their top 25 video game archetypes, citing Mario as an example.
Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite character out of all that he has created.
Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan in a 2008 poll.
Mario was 4th on UGO's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time"
CNET listed Mario #1 on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters".

Nintendo Power listed Luigi as their fifth favorite hero.
GameDaily listed the "neglected guy" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Luigi as an example.
GameDaily listed Luigi's Poltergust 3000 from Luigi's Mansion as one of the top 25 Nintendo gimmicks.
UGO Networks ranked Luigi at #16 on their "25 Most Memorable Italians in Video Games" list, ranking him over Mario himself.
Luigi was listed as the best sidekick in video games by Maximum PC and Machinima. IGN ranked him at #2 on their top 10 list and WhatCulture listed him at #5 on their top 20 list.