Luigi Is Secretly the Bad Guy In The Nintendo Universe

Evil. All consuming, seething and writhing in a pitiless seas of hatred. It lies, waiting… lurking in the heart of the tall green “hero”. We’ve rounded up shocking evidence that disrupts everything we know about the lore of the Mario Series and has wide reaching implications for the whole of the Nintendo-verse. Yes friends, today we’re presenting our case that Luigi, that lanky, terrified twin, is actually the most evil character in all of Mario-dom.

We’ve parsed through the Mario-verse and found electrifying details from many games that prove time and again that Luigi has acted with malice and felt no remorse at the harm he’s caused. There’s even some pretty damning Goomba based evidence that his “weakling nice guy” routine is all a sham. Let’s examine the facts:

The Eyes of Evil

The theory of evil Luigi (not to be confused with Waluigi, who deserves his own game) goes far beyond just the ‘Death Stare’ meme popularity of 2014’s Mario Kart 8. Players quickly noted that Luigi’s cold, dead eyes were devoid of mercy when driving into his opponents. While other characters celebrate, he has no remorse, no joy or fear or friendship. This death stare belies the heart of evil that lurks underneath the coveralls.

Cowardice Lies in the Heart of a Bully

Luigi is a known coward. Quaking like the leaf of an aspen tree at the slightest scare. There’s nothing wrong with feeling fear of course. (Like being terrified of scary new video games made with Unreal Engine 5.) You can only truly judge someone by what they do when they have power at their hands, and when Luigi’s on top, he’s a bully. In Mario Tennis, Waluigi and Wario appear to challenge Mario and Luigi. They just want to play a friendly game. Luigi is the first to say no. Despite pretty much everyone else in the Kingdom getting to play. Truly hurtful stuff.

Hands That Reach for Darkness

Luigi loses no opportunity to try and grasp for dark power, as evidenced by his behavior in Mario Tennis Aces. The second he's shown a CLEARLY curse'd artifact, he immediately tries to take it. Despite poor, innocent Toad pleading with him to stop.

An Evil Prophecy from Time Immemorial

In Super Paper Mario, we see that Luigi is not only a bad guy, he’s the crux of an evil prophecy. The most definitive piece of proof that in Luigi’s green heart lurks the potential to destroy not just the Paper Mario World… but all worlds.

We see hints of this right from the game’s start. Where Luigi is clearly seen inviting chaos and hoping to endanger his brother.

Early on in Super Paper Mario, Luigi is (allegedly) captured and brainwashed. The game’s antagonist, an interdimensional being known as Count Bleck, turns Luigi into a bandana sporting henchman known only as ‘Mr. L’. The villain also has knowledge of a book of prophecies: The Dark Prognosticus. The ancient tome speaks of “the man in green”. A man who is fated to bring about the end of all existence. The Light Prognosticus also found in the game was supposedly written as a solution to the problem of the utter destruction of the universe as told in the Dark Prognosticus. The implication being that the text, foretelling the Man in Green’s path of evil, is the true, original version.

Luigi’s “capture” is suspicious right from the start. With a pair of Goombas taking note of his oddly calm demeanor. He’s carried away on Count Bleck’s orders, but we don’t see what happens in his time off screen. Was Luigi being hypnotized? Or was he…conspiring?

After his supposed brainwashing, Mr. L faces off against Mario in the cold void of space. He has designed a robot worthy of Eggman (whose epic, gay love story you can read about here) it’s a killing machine in the likeness of Luigi’s own visage. The name he christened it with makes the blood run chill… the Brobot. It’s a weapon made for ending one specific life: the life of his brother. For a guy whose memory and personality were allegedly wiped squeaky clean, that’s pretty on the nose.

At other points in the story of Super Paper Mario, Luigi also clearly remembers key identifying details about not only his brother Mario, but about Bowser and Peach as well. The “brainwashed” theory clearly does not hold up. After being beaten by Mario several times, Luigi is banished to an underworld, where he abandons the Mr. L persona and re-joins his brother’s cause…It’s all too easy to see this as an act, given that his only way to return to the land of the living is with Mario’s help. Good people of the jury, the evidence speaks for itself.

Luigi lives a dark mirror life of pure evil. But who amongst us can really blame him. Living in Mario’s shadow, even though he can jump higher, watching his bumbling tomato of a brother lose the love of his life over and over again. It is enough to drive any man, no matter how mustachioed, careening over the brink of madness; with a death stare plastered across his face.