MarioWiki:BJAODN/Luigi's Mansion

For whatever reason, articles relating to Luigi's Mansion were consistently poorly written for a very long time.

Armory
Story Luigi entered the Armory to find that it, like all the other rooms in the mansion, was dark and lifeless. No ghosts were to be seen however, so the explored the room further. Opening a chest in the back wall revealed a Purple Puncher. Luigi sucked this ghoul up into his Poltergust 3000. Another Purple Puncher was hiding in another chest. Luigi started tapping on the various suits of armor in the room revealing a Blue Twirler, a Red Grabbing Ghost, a Garbage Can Ghost, and a Gold Ghost. These ghosts proved no match for the heroic Mario brother, and he managed to capture every single one. The Armory was illuminated, and Luigi secured the Key to the Pipe Room.

Astral Hall
Story Luigi opened the unlocked door to the Astral Hall and found no ghosts at a first glance. Perplexed, yet relieved, the ghost hunter went through the door on the other side to emerge in the Astral Hall. It seems the room looped back on itself. It was then Luigi noticed several candles in the center of the room. Using his Fire Element, the green-clothed ghost hunter lit the candles. When all had been lit, the flames turned purple and the doors sealed. Some ghosts appeared and started to attack Luigi. Ultimately, the was the victor, and the lights came on and the doors were unsealed.

Astral Hall in the PAL Hidden Mansion The Astral Hall is quite a bit more difficult. The ghosts attack in waves, and Luigi should not start the event unless he has high HP. The first wave consists of four Garbage Can Ghosts. While not hard to bag, the banana peels they drop can get annoying. The second wave consists of four Grabbing Ghosts, two white and two red. Luigi should suck the red ones up first as they can do damage and are more dangerous. The white ones are merely annoying and easily dispatched. The last wave can be very tricky. It has three Gold Ghosts and, strangely, two Skeleton Ghosts. Using the fire element on the weaker ghosts here can save Luigi from massive damage. When he defeats these last ghosts, the lights will turn on at last.

Billiards Room
Story In this room the Lonely Poolshark, Slim Bankshot was found. Slim was rather content to play billiards by himself. But the real danger to Luigi came when he hit the balls. With every shot, all three balls would go flying off the table, ignoring the laws of gravity, and bouncing off the walls. Luigi managed to suck one up and shoot it at Slim. Repeating this process two more times, the amateur ghost-hunter managed to capture the pool-playing spirit inside his Poltergust 3000. The room was bathed in light and Luigi received a green treasure chest with many treasures, including a valuable Silver Diamond.

Boneyard
After extinguishing the flames on the Kitchen side of the Boneyard with the Water Element, Luigi finds himself in a grassy lawn. A sleeping ghost dog is inside its doghouse in the northwestern corner of the room. The decids to approach the little shack, which proves to be a mistake. The hungry guard dog, Spooky, chases Luigi throughout the Boneyard, threatening to crush him in his gaping maw, barking and growling all the while. Then, a Skeleton Ghost named Mr. Bones arrives, complaining about the noise. Luigi quickly sucks up Mr. Bones, leaving a bone planted in the dirt. Spooky, unable to resist, starts licking the bone, which reveals his heart. Luigi then turns on the Poltergust 3000 and vacuums up the ghost. When Spooky is captured, the Boneyard brightens.

Luigi notices some sparkles inside Spooky's doghouse, and decides to investigate with his Game Boy Horror. The result is the plumber being sucked in and deposited inside the Graveyard.

Breaker Room
Story The Breaker Room is accessible when Luigi reaches Area Two of the mansion, but serves no real purpose until after Luigi's battle with Boolossus. After Luigi defeats Boolossus he gains access to Area Four of the mansion when a lightning bolt strikes the mansion and causes a power outage which whips all the ghosts into a frenzy. E. Gadd suggests using the switch in the Breaker Room. Unfortunately the key to the room is in the possession of Uncle Grimmly, the Hermit of the Darkness. After tracking Grimmly to the Wardrobe Room, Luigi manages to defeat the feeble ghoul and unlock the Breaker Room door. Making a mad dash to avoid several ghosts Luigi manages to flip the switch on the generator and bathe the mansion's rooms in light once more.

Ceramics Studio
Story The door from the Armory led to the Ceramics Studio, a room with many ornate jars and vases. As Luigi moved about, enjoying the pottery, Jarvis appeared out of one of them, scolding Luigi for looking at his collection without his permission. Jarvis challenges Luigi to a sort of Whack-A-Mole type game – if Luigi can use Ice Element to freeze him seven times, he'll let Luigi look at the jars and vases. There was no choice. Jarvis locked Luigi in and the game began. Luigi eventually emerged the victor, and Jarvis got angry, flinging his vases at the. Dodging some and sucking up others, Luigi saw an opening and attacked the jar collector. Jarvis had only a medium pull and was soon stuffed in the Poltergust 3000. With the ghost in the dust bag, Luigi received a green treasure chest with many treasures, the most valuable being a Silver Diamond.

Dining Room
To gain entry to the Dining Room, Luigi used the Key from the Conservatory. Once inside, Luigi noticed the floor littered with banana peels, which he quickly disposed of. Luigi then heard loud eating coming from the table in the middle of the room. Using his Game Boy Horror, Luigi discovered the fat and sloppy Mr. Luggs, gorging away at a plate of unidentified yellow slop. Luigi examined his heart, and found out that Mr. Luggs preferred being in the dark. Naturally, Luigi captured a Fire Elemental Ghost from one of the nearby torches and began to light the candles around the portly poltergeist, allowing Luigi to see him and his food. The wannabe ghost hunter decided that eliminating the source of the problem would be best for Mr. Luggs and proceeded to suck up his food with his trusty vacuum. Waiter Ghosts appeared with more, but Luigi dispatched them before they could get a chance. When Luigi had sucked up all of Mr. Luggs's food, the gorging ghost became infuriated and threw a fit, belching fireballs at the poor. After a fifteen fireballs, Mr. Luggs tired out, and Luigi proceeded to capture him. With the threat gone, the lights came on, and Luigi received a treasure chest with lots of money inside, including a Silver Diamond.

Flying Fish
As the name suggests, pink Flying Fish pop up in groups and fly around the place, trying to hit Luigi.

Fortune-Teller's Room
Story When Luigi first entered the Fortune-Teller's Room, he found a lone crystal ball in the center of the room. When he shined his flashlight on the crystal ball, the ghost Madame Clairvoya appeared. She explained to Luigi that she was a seer and could contact the spirits of someone's (namely: Mario's) dropped items. Luigi would need to find five of Mario's dropped items: his Hat, his Letter, his Star, his Glove, and his Shoe. Luigi did not have any of those items at the moment, so he lit the four candelabra in the room and received the Key to the Laundry Room from a high pillar.

After he acquires the five items, Luigi returns to Madame Clairvoya and hands them over, one by one, getting a reading from each one by the ghostly psychic.

The first item tells Madame Clairvoya that Mario is simply alive.

The second item tells her that Mario is imprisoned in a painting in the Secret Altar.

The third item shows Madame Clairvoya an image of King Boo, the one who has captured Mario.

The fourth item tells Madame Clairvoya of strange powers the Boos have when they are present in large numbers.

Finally, Madame Clairvoya views the last item and views an image of Bowser. She does not know what it means, but knows it must be horrible.

After reading all five items, Madame Clairvoya willingly exposes her heart and allows Luigi to suck her up into the Poltergust 3000 with almost no resistance. The room is brightened, and Luigi secures the Key to the Safari Room.

Graveyard
The Graveyard (Japanese: 墓地 Graveyard) is the final room in Area Two of Luigi's Mansion. Here is where Area Two's boss, Bogmire awaits the heroic ghost-hunter.

As Luigi tumbled backwards into the Graveyard in an entrance reminiscent to that of the Hidden Room, the couldn't help but noticed several large tombstones on the ground. As he walked up to one of the tombstones, three Skeleton Ghosts (five in the PAL Hidden Mansion) rose from the ground, angered at Luigi's disturbance. They began tossing their own bones at the green-garbed ghost hunter, but Luigi managed to take cover. Luigi drew each one apart from the group and won the battle between the Mr. Bones. After the last one was stored inside the Poltergust 3000, the largest headstone at the rear of the Graveyard began to glow with an eerie blue aura. Luigi cautiously stepped toward it for a closer look. Just as he neared the gravestone, a bolt of lightning struck the ground near it, narrowly missing the plumber. A tall purple blob emerged from the ground, scaring the life out of the poor plumber. The cemetary shadow, Bogmire, had awoken to do battle with Luigi.

The next thing Luigi knew, he was in a large circular arena, with Bogmire standing on the other side. The Cemetery Shadow made a large black copy of himself, which began chasing after Luigi. Bogmire himself made no advance on the plumber. He continued to make copies of himself to throw at Luigi. The ghost-hunter found that Bogmire had yet to expose his heart and searched his mind for a way. As he did, Luigi tried sucking up Bogmire's clones to avoid being overwhelmed. When Luigi tried to suck one up, he found it shrank into a ball and stuck to the Poltergust 3000's nozzle. Armed with a projectile, Luigi sparked upon an idea. The amateur ghostbuster aimed the nozzle at Bogmire and shot his own clone back at him. It enveloped Bogmire in a black mass, and Luigi could begin depleting his HP. Bogmire eventually broke free and the process repeated. Luigi eventually sucked the ghost into his vacuum and claimed victory at last.

Back in the now lit Graveyard, Luigi opened the large chest to claim the green club-shaped Key to Area 3. Professor E. Gadd invited him back into the lab to turn all the Portrait Ghosts he had caught in Area Two in Portraits.

Guest Room
Story Following the door from the Sitting Room, Luigi saw a little ghost girl snoozing in the bed. This was Sue Pea and she warned Luigi not to wake her up. Only thing was, the bed, and the entire room for that matter, was upside-down. Luigi was walking on the ceiling and the bed was above him. By examining Sue Pea's heart, Luigi could see that she was trying very hard not to wet the bed.

By using some Water Element he had gotten in the previous room, Luigi sprayed a steady stream of water at the dozing girl. She appeared to wake up, but went right back to sleep. Luigi sprayed her twice more, and Sue Pea began throwing her dolls at the. Luigi managed to avoid the attack and suck up the dolls with his trusty vacuum and then went after Sue Pea herself. The ghost had only a weak pull, and Luigi bagged her easily. The Guest Room brightened and a Treasure Chest appeared on the floor. However, the floor was still above the ghost-hunter. After finding no feasible way to retrieve the chest, Luigi exited the room. As soon as he did, he heard the entire mansion shake and rattle. When Luigi opened the door to the Guest Room again, he found the room had righted itself, and Luigi could now open the chest, which contained a Silver Diamond among many other treasures, including a Gold Bar.

Hidden Room
Story After a bit of a rough landing, Luigi finds himself in the Hidden Room. This room is full of treasure chests, and the begins opening them. The plumber is caught off guard, however, when he discovers a Flash ghost inside one of the chests. Using the Fire Element function on his Poltergust 3000, Luigi is able to defeat the apparition. Luigi hopes that was the only ghost in the room. No such luck, however, as the ghost-hunter has to capture three more Flash ghosts before the room brightens. When it does, Luigi notices three chests still unopened. He raids them all, and inside one of them is a Blue Jewel, a Green Jewel and a Red Jewel. Luigi rejoices at his good fortune, and after celebrating, he uses the same mousehole to transport him back into the Butler's Room.

Kitchen
Story After Luigi defeated the gluttonous Mr. Luggs in the Dining Room he ventured into the room next door and discovered it was a Kitchen. Like the rest of the Mansion the kitchen was haunted, Luigi found this out the hard way. Dodging and vacuuming up flying pots and pans, the green hatted threw open the refridgerator to discover a Flash ghost. Using the Poltergust 3000's ability to expel fire Luigi managed to melt the ghost's protective ice covering Luigi managed to suck up the ghost and turn on the lights. A large blue chest appeared in the middle of the room. When Luigi opened it he obtained the Water Element Medal, which allowed him to capture Water Elemental Ghosts and shoot water out of his vacuum.

Meteor Ghost
Meteor Ghosts are ghosts only found in the Observatory in Luigi's Mansion. When Luigi had first come to the Observatory, the first thing he noticed was a small telescope. Deciding to get a good look, Luigi walked towards it and looked. When he looked through, he also noticed a small moon. When he went outside, Meteor Ghosts tried to attack, '''Luigi tried in a weak attempt to vaccum them up, but, they didn't have any hearts. Keeping one in the slot of his Poltergust 3000''', he fired it at the moon. The moon then exploded (Way to go, Luigi.), and Luigi discovered Mario's Star. '''Oddly enough, the moon can be seen after. This may just be to go with the 'haunted house' thing though'''

("Finally, proof that the moon landing was fake - it was a ghost the whole time!") - Lord Grammaticus

Melody Pianissima
She died at the young age of 26, and now spends her afterlife endlessly playing her piano. She has gotten better at it since she became a ghost, probably because she has had all eternity to practice. No-one knows why Melody died, but then again, there is much uncertainty about why any of the people who became the Portrait Ghost archive did. Shivers the butler is very deeply smitten with her, but she apparently dismisses his affections for unknown reasons, much to his dismay. The 46 year age difference between them may have something to do with it.

Mirror Room
Story Luigi decides to skip the Fortune-Teller's Room for the time being and proceeds forward. Immediately after Luigi sets foot inside the Mirror Room, the door seals behind him. As the ghostbuster explores, a Blue Grabbing Ghost makes itself noticeable. The ghost is invisible, but fortunately, its reflection is visible in the long mirror on the north wall that stretches the entire length of the room. Luigi uses this hint to capture the ghost and all five of its friends the same way. The room brightens, and a large red chest appears. When Luigi opens the chest, he finds a red medal with a picture of a flame on it. It turns out to be the Fire Element Medal, which allows him to be able to capture Fire Elemental Ghosts, and subsequently expel fire from his Poltergust 3000. The mere possession of the medal is not enough to allow the poor to exit the room however, so contemplating what to do next, Luigi captures a Fire Elemental Ghost from a torch conveniently located in the room. Doing so, Luigi noticed a candelabra near the torch, its candles unlit. Using his newly acquired power, the green-hatted Mario brother blows fire at the candles, lighting them. Another candelabra stands near the door, and Luigi does the same, lighting the candles, which finally unseals the door. This allows Luigi to continue on his quest to save Mario.

Moon
Luigi's Mansion The Moon is later given an appearance in Luigi's Mansion, where it appears in the background of the Observatory. Luigi, in his quest to find Mario's Star and progress in the mansion, ends up blowing the Moon up with a Falling Star shot from his Poltergust 3000, which creates a path of debris leading to the Star he is looking for. After this, the Moon can still be seen from the outside rooms and manages to show up in other games. It is therefore likely that Luigi has destroyed a fake moon, especially since the Japanese name of the Observatory is the Room of Illusion.

Nana
Trivia
 * Nana's name comes from what some kids call their grandmothers.
 * Nana's name suggests that she is a grandmother, possibly to Henry and Orville, as she owns the key to their room.

Nana's Room
Story Luigi, entering Nana's Room through the unlocked door, saw the ancient ghost casually knitting an ephemeral scarf. The then noticed some yarn balls beside Nana. Shaking the bowl causes the yarn balls to fall onto the floor. Luigi's trusty vacuum sucked it up and shot it at Nana. The ghost will then shoot lasers from her eyes at Luigi. The ghost hunter should dodge them and shoot Nana twice more with yarn balls. Nana becomes disoriented and Luigi can then capture her. The room lights up and Luigi can obtain the Key to The Twin's Room from the blue treasure chest.

("Gah these confusing tenses..." )

Observatory
Story After successfully exiting the Astral Hall, Luigi found himself in the Observatory. He noticed an antique looking telescope in the room, and decided to look through it. Through the view, Luigi could see the Moon. After he had finished looking at the telescope, the walls in the room mysteriously faded away, allowing Luigi to step out on a small balcony. Small yellow were falling outside, and Luigi decided to suck one up and shoot it at the Moon. The Moon subsequently exploded and a winding, ephemeral bridge appeared, allowing Luigi to step out into space and retrieve Mario's Star, the third item he would need to take to Madame Clairvoya. After the Observatory walls vanished and Luigi got his brother's star, he noticed that the telescope that he prevously looked through turned into a pile of crumbled wall, and could no longer see into "space" when the room is already cleared.

Trivia
 * If one looks at the Mansion map while Luigi is on the bridge or small planet, Luigi's head will be way off of the map to the east.
 * Judging by the room's Japanese name, it is likely that the entire sequence after Luigi checks the telescope is just an illusion. This is backed up by the fact that the real Moon can still be seen in the background of outside areas.
 * The Observatory is one of the only rooms with no Boos in it.

("I'd just like to point out that the first trivia point is actually valid. But what's that last sentence in the main part even saying?" )

Old Clockworks
It is unkown what the factory produced, or was doing. However, It could be clocks.

("Investigative journalism at its finest" )

Pipe Room
Story After obtaining the Key from the Armory, Luigi accesses the Pipe Room. Immediately, some green Flying Fish start attacking the ghost hunter. To make matters worse, some Red and White Grabbing Ghosts appear as well. Within the cramped room, Luigi manages to separate and capture every one of the ghosts inside his Poltergust 3000. The Pipe Room becomes illuminated, but Luigi does not receive a Key. The notices a frozen barrel giving off an icy mist. As Luigi approaches it, an Ice Elemental Ghost flies out. After Luigi captures it, he uses the Ice Element to freeze the river of water flowing through the room. Successfully having made a bridge to the other side, Luigi turns a red wheel on one of the pipes, stopping the waterfall on the other end of the room. Luigi walks to where the waterfall once was and claims the Key to the Cold Storage, allowing him to continue his quest to find Mario.

Projection Room
Story When Luigi entered the Projection Room, he noticed an old-fashioned film projector on the front wall. When the tapped it, the projector lit up the screen in the front of the room. Some Purple Grabbers made their appearance on the shadows of the projection screen, but Luigi wasn't fooled and sucked up each one. When the lights came on, Luigi received Mario's Glove, the fourth item he would need to take to Madame Clairvoya.

Safari Room
Story No ghosts initially appear; instead, Luigi must aim his Poltergust 3000 at each of the mounted deer heads on the north wall, which makes them move up and down and causes a Blue Blaze to appear. After its defeat (using an Ice Element), another appears, and then another. Which is accompanied by two Garbage Can Ghosts. Once Luigi captures them all, he is rewarded with a Key to the Balcony.

Ghosts in The Safari Room in the PAL Hidden Mansion The ghosts in this room will attack in waves. Luigi needs to initiate this series of waves by moving the deer heads. Upon doing this, two Blue Blazes will spawn. After Luigi captures these, two more will appear along with two Purple Bombers. After dispatching these, the last wave will consist of three more Blue Blazes along with the help of two Purple Punchers. As Luigi captures these ghosts, an extra Blue Blaze and Purple Puncher will appear. When Luigi sucks all these in, the room will light up and Luigi will earn the key to the Balcony.

This can get pretty hectic, so Luigi may need to lure multiple ghosts towards him, blast them with the ice element, and then quickly stun them with the flashlight before sucking them up. Luigi will be able to suck up multiple ghosts at once, but the player should watch out for the pound attack and punches of any ghosts that escaped him.

Secret Altar
Story After Luigi retrieved the spade key in The Artist's Studio, it allowed him to gain entry past the forcefield guarding the Secret Altar. Stepping inside the shiny, golden room, Luigi found King Boo, staring forlornly at a painting of Mario. This was no mere painting, however, as the red-clad himself was trapped inside. As Luigi approached, King Boo launched into a long speech about the two brothers. How Mario caused him so much trouble in the past, and how Luigi vacuumed up all his friends and minions into his vacuum. King Boo tells Luigi that he is not afraid of the ghost hunter, only the Poltergust 3000 he carries on his back. His final threat is for Luigi to join his brother inside the painting. King Boo transforms Mario's painting into a painting of Bowser, which he flies into. The Bowser painting inhales Luigi and the green-garbed ghostbuster finds himself on the roof of the Mansion, staring down King Boo inside the reanimated body of Bowser. King Boo attacked Luigi, but Luigi was able to defeat him after isolating him from Bowser's body.

After Luigi completely depleted King Boo of energy and the leader of the Boos was sucked into Luigi's trusty vacuum cleaner, his crown became Luigi's, and the Bowser body fell in two pieces, unable to move without King Boo's guidance. Luigi was warped back to the Secret Altar, where he finally recovered Mario's painting to return his brother to his former self.

Shivers
After Luigi captures the Floating Whirlindas, Shivers can be found wandering the north corridor of the first floor hallway and appears as nothing but a floating candelabra. This makes him the only portrait ghost to appear in a hallway. When the Poltergust 3000 gains the ability to expel flames, Luigi uses this ability to light the candles Shivers is holding. It causes him to panic and run into the Butler's Room. Luigi follows him to the Butler's Room where Shivers sits, until Shivers accidentally puts the lit candlestick under him, which lights him on fire, causing him to start screaming and rolling around in his chair, thus rendering him vulnerable. If Luigi sucks Shivers but does not capture him in one try, Shivers reappears at the entrance of the room, and if Luigi does not vacuum the ghost up quickly, he leaves the room and returns to the upper hall.

Sue Pea
Sadly, what started as a short nap turned into eternal rest for this young girl.

Tea Room
After Luigi extinguishes the flaming door with his Water Element from his Poltergust 3000, he must enter the Tea Room. Haunted dishes from the shelves will start to fling at Luigi, similar to what happened in the Study and Kitchen. To make matters worse, two White Grabbing Ghosts will appear to hold Luigi in place, making him an easy target. Luigi must avoid them and capture them both with his Poltergust 3000. After Luigi sucks in the two ghosts, a large white treasure chest will appear on the left table. However, Luigi was unable to reach the chest and he must search the room for a solution. Luigi must then go to the gravity arrow located on the ground near the right cabinet and he was sent upwards, enabling him to walk on the ceiling. Luigi must go to the next gravity arrow on the ceiling above the table with the Treasure Chest. Luigi must step on it and his gravity will reverse. He will then be sent down to the table where he must collect the Ice Element Medal. This item allowed Luigi to capture Ice Elemental Ghosts and shoot ice out of his vacuum. Luigi will then continue his search for Mario.

PAL Hidden Mansion The Tea Room is much harder in the PAL Hidden Mansion than in the normal mode. The ghosts come in waves and the last wave can be pretty intense. Luigi will first need to capture a Blue Twirler, a Gold Ghost, a Red Grabbing Ghost, and a Flash. After this, two more Flashes and four Shy Guy Ghosts will appear. When Luigi successfully captures these ghosts, the room will finally light up.

Telephone Room
Story As Luigi approaches the West Hallway on the Balcony, the door is unsealed. However, a bolt of lightning strikes the house, causing a blackout. Luigi uses his Key to open the door, then proceeds through the West Hallway. At the end, he comes across two choices; east and west. The chooses the east door because the other is locked, and winds up in the Telephone Room. Luigi receives a phone call from one of the Toads in the Mansion, informing him that the Toads have fled because of the blackout. The Toad also mentions a breaker in the Basement that can be used to turn the power back on. However, the previously accessible Breaker Room is now mysteriously locked. Luigi receives another phone call, this time from Professor E. Gadd, who tells Luigi of a Portrait Ghost named Uncle Grimmly who is now on the loose. Luigi sets off in search of Uncle Grimmly so that he can turn the power back on. After successfully capturing Uncle Grimmly, Luigi returns to the Telephone Room, only to find that it is still dark. Opening some of the chests in the room, Luigi awakens two Skeleton Ghosts and promptly captures them, finally lighting the room.

The Artist's Studio
Story Using the key Luigi received from the Cold Storage, he unlocked the door to The Artist's Studio. He saw the ghostly painter, Vincent Van Gore painting away at a picture of a Treasure Chest. He became angry at the novice ghost-hunter for failing to understand the life he gives his paintings. Van Gore locks Luigi in the room and summons his ghosts from the paintings lining the room. Three each of Gold Ghost, Purple Punchers, Blue Twirlers, Grabbing Ghosts, Shy Guy Ghosts, Garbage Can Ghosts, and Purple Bombers attack Luigi, one set at a time. Luigi sucked them all up, three by three, into his vacuum. With his creations gone, Vincent Van Gore gave up. Luigi was able to overcome the old ghost's weak pull and capture him. The received the golden spade-shaped Key to the Secret Altar from the treasure chest painting.

Vincent Van Gore
He is responsible for creating the minor ghosts that flooded the rooms and halls of Luigi's Mansion. After being released by King Boo, Vincent Van Gore locks himself in the mansion's studio, giving the key to his room to Sir Weston in the Cold Storage, and bringing his ghastly works of art to life. These ghosts filled the mansion, providing the backbone of King Boo's forces. As such, Van Gore is a fundamental player in King Boo's quest to capture both Mario and Luigi. Without the constant supply of ghosts, Luigi would have had a much easier time defeating King Boo and the portrait ghosts.

(The game would be easier if it didn't feature generic enemies? You don't say.)

[...]

When Luigi defeats all the ghosts Vincent Van Gore creates, Vincent mentions that only one of his creations remain. The only other ghost in the mansion at this point is King Boo meaning it's possible Vincent created King Boo from his paintings.

(So he made the guy that let him out of the painting beforehand? Diabolical.)

Wardrobe Room
The lights do not turn on once Luigi defeats this ghost; a ghost is hiding in one of the closets that Luigi must dispatch before the lights turn on.