Ridley

Ridley is a high-ranking member of the Space Pirates, and one of the main villains in the Metroid series of video games. He is directly responsible for the murder of Samus Aran's mother and partially responsible for the death of her father. In several instances, Ridley appears as an upgraded cybernetic version of himself called Meta Ridley. In addition to the Metroid series, Ridley has made an appearance in all games in the Super Smash Bros. series (aside from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS), as well as in Nintendo Land in animatronic form.

Captain N: The Game Master
Ridley makes a cameo in the episode, "Gameboy" in Captain N: The Game Master, depicted as a large orange dragon. He also makes appearances in the Valiant adaptation of the series released for the Nintendo Comics System, where he looks more like his American artwork for Metroid, being a blue, multi-eyed, pteranodon-like alien.

Super Smash Bros.
In Super Smash Bros., Ridley can occasionally be seen flying in the background of the Planet Zebes arena.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ridley also makes a brief appearance in the opening cinematic of Super Smash Bros. Melee, where he can be seen battling his archenemy, Samus Aran. A trophy of Ridley can also be obtained in this game.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ridley is fought twice in the Subspace Emissary.

The first time he is encountered, he is fought by Samus and Pikachu. As the two reach the exit to The Research Facility, where her Power Suit had been held, Ridley appears without warning and snatches up Samus. Roaring, he slams her into a wall and drags her along it. Pikachu comes to Samus's rescue, hitting the space dragon with a Thunder attack, after which the battle begins. Ridley fights similarly to Master Hand, using many brutal physical attacks. When he is defeated, he falls off the arena.

He later reappears as Meta Ridley, attacking a group including Captain Falcon, Captain Olimar, R.O.B., Samus Aran, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, and Donkey Kong as they try to escape the floating Isle of the Ancients before it is engulfed in subspace.

As this battle is fought while trying to escape an island, there is a set time limit of two minutes that the player has to defeat Meta Ridley, who is more difficult to beat than Ridley was. Additionally, there is the added difficulty of the battle taking place on top of Captain Falcon's ship, the Falcon Flyer, so it is possible for the player to fall off the edge and lose.

Meta Ridley uses some of the same attacks as Ridley did, such as scraping his tail across the top of the Flyer and firing fireballs, but also shows additional ones that involve grabbing the Falcon Flyer and lowering it down with his weight, sometimes even lowering it off of the screen. Fortunately, most of Meta Ridley's attacks can be avoided by jumping off the Falcon Flyer at the right time. Meta Ridley's fireballs can also be reflected right back at him.

If the player manages to defeat Meta Ridley, a cutscene is shown, and the Falcon Flyer escapes while the island is engulfed into subspace.

Both fights are reprised in The Great Maze with any characters that have been rescued throughout the Subspace Emissary. He is also fought in the Boss Battles game mode. There is no time limit when fighting Meta Ridley in either The Great Maze or in Boss Battles mode.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Ridley is a stage hazard boss on the Pyrosphere stage. His physical appearance, like Samus's, is based on his appearance from Metroid: Other M. Once attacked enough by a player, Ridley allies with that player, and attacks the other players. He can also transform into Meta Ridley by absorbing enough energy. He can be defeated, and, as if he was a character, defeating him rewards the player with a K.O. point; he can be defeated by his own ally as well.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ridley is a playable character for the first time, announced during the E3 2018 Nintendo Direct alongside fellow newcomers Inkling and Daisy. His appearance in this game seems to primarily be based off of that in Super Metroid, while he has a similar size to his appearance in the original Metroid. His Final Smash involves him slamming an opponent or opponents against Samus's Gunship and shooting plasma at the ship; the falling gunship can be seen in the background after the attack. Two of his alternate costumes swap him out for Meta Ridley (although he is still referred to in-game as simply "Ridley").

Ridley does not share a victory theme with Samus, instead using an intense and sinister variation of the Metroid victory theme; the flourish itself is shared with Dark Samus, and this trait is shared with fellow newcomers Chrom, King K. Rool, and Piranha Plant, as well as several veterans, namely Meta Knight, Bowser, Bowser Jr. (and the Koopalings), Rosalina & Luma, Dark Pit, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin.

In his reveal trailer, "A Piercing Screech" Mario, Mega Man, and Samus Aran are traversing through a mechanical room on a walkway. Ridley stealthily takes Mega Man and Mario out by impaling the former with his tail and crushing the latter's head. Samus eventually senses something amiss and points her arm cannon behind her, only to find Mario's discarded hat. Suddenly, the walkway quakes with Ridley bursting out from underneath and knocking a shocked Samus off her feet. Ridley then proceeds to roar before giving an inhuman smirk as he twirls Mario's hat around his finger. In the ending of the trailer, Ridley, after presumably causing a blaze to kill Samus, is flapping his wings only to glare in slight irritation when Zero Suit Samus uses her Jet Boots to leap from the blaze and descend down to attack him.

Ridley is a heavy fighter, being heavier than Snake, R.O.B., and Banjo & Kazooie but lighter than Samus, Bowser Jr. (and the Koopalings), Dark Samus, and Terry, while having the same weight as Wario, Ike, Simon, and Richter.

Plasma Breath


Plasma Breath is Ridley's standard special move. He charges up to 5 balls of plasma and shoots them out in a curve. While Ridley uses this move in many appearances, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate version is most similar to his battles in the original Metroid and Super Metroid.


 * Names in other languages

Space Pirate Rush


Space Pirate Rush is Ridley's side special move. He dashes forwards with his arm in front of him. If he hits an opponent, he will grab them and drag them across the ground. This is similar to his dash attack used in his battles in the Metroid Prime series, and the dragging is similar to his battle in Metroid Other M.


 * Names in other languages

Wing Blitz


Wing Blitz is Ridley's up special move. He charges upwards into the air, hitting opponents with his wings.


 * Names in other languages

Skewer


Skewer is Ridley's down special move. He stabs forward with his tail. It sometimes results in a critical hit. Ridley uses his tail as a stabbing attack in most of his appearances, but it's usually a vertical stab.


 * Names in other languages

Plasma Scream


Plasma Scream is Ridley's Final Smash. Ridley hurls his foes onto Samus's gunship and fires a plasma blast at them. After this move is used, Samus's ship can be seen crashing in the background. This is a reference to a move he uses as Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime.


 * Names in other languages

Nintendo Land
In Nintendo Land, an animatronic Ridley appears as a recurring antagonist in the Metroid Blast attraction. Ice Ridley, a version of Ridley unique to this game, also appears.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Pit: RIDLEY CONFIRMED!
 * Palutena: Uh, yes. that's Ridley. Samus's archnemesis.
 * Pit: I never thought I'd have to fight an alien space dragon in Smash...
 * Viridi: Kirby's a space alien too, ya know! Jury's still out on him being a dragon, though.
 * Palutena: Ridley may look like a mindless killing machine, but he's exceedingly intelligent. He's also the leader of the ruthless Space Pirates.
 * Pit: So what's the story behind him and Samus?
 * Palutena: Ridley killed Samus's parents when she was young.
 * Pit: That's messed up!
 * Palutena: Samus and Ridley first fought in the depths of Norfair on Planet Zebes. They crossed paths again when Ridley stole the Baby Metroid. Meta Ridley was made through genetic engineering and cybernetic enchancements. Omega Ridley is the one infused with Phazon... Neo-Ridley was born when an X parasite absorbed Ridley's genes. And yet another Ridley was created by cloning cells found on Samus's suit!
 * Pit: You sure know a lot about Ridley. And none of it is about how to fight him!
 * Viridi: There's also a robot version of Ridley. He built it himself, which officially makes him a narcissist.
 * Pit: Is that canon?
 * Palutena: Canon or not, all of these Ridleys shared the same fate-they were all defeated by Samus.
 * Pit: Not surprising. Samus is a beast!
 * Palutena: So is Ridley. Mind the sharp barb on his tail.

Super Smash Blog bio

 * Joining the battle from the storied Metroid series, Ridley's long tail and sharp claws let him unleash a torrent of devastating attacks. His Final Smash is a powerful stream of plasma breath intense enough to bring down Samus's starship.

amiibo

 * Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates in the Metroid™ series and Samus’s long-standing rival in battle. He looks like a pterosaur but has high intelligence and a brutal nature. Ridley utilizes wings for a full range of flight and attacks with fireballs from his mouth and whips of his tail.

Names in other languages

 * Ridley


 * Meta Ridley

Trivia

 * Ridley appears in Nintendo Monopoly, in which he takes the place of Tennessee Avenue. He costs $180.
 * Ridley's trophies in Melee and Brawl both state that he is the head of the Space Pirates on Zebes. This is false, however, with the real head being Mother Brain as well as Space Pirate Command.
 * Due to the time limit that is given during the Meta Ridley battle, Trophy Stands will appear more frequently, especially on the easier skill levels.
 * Ridley's stock icon for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U uses his appearance from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, instead of his Metroid: Other M appearance.
 * Ridley's stock artwork in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate resembles Bowser's stock artwork from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
 * Ridley's splash screen introduction in his Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal trailer; "Ridley Hits the Big Time!", may be a reference to "Ridley is Too Big", an Internet meme originating from arguments against Ridley being a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * His appearance in Ultimate is the first game to directly showcase his more intelligent and cunning personality traits, as while various sources in both prior Smash games as well as his home franchise (most directly in the Metroid manga) strongly implied that he possessed these traits, they were not immediately apparent in his characterization in the games, where he is generally portrayed as simply a monster.