Ridley (Metroid)
Often considered one of the most memorable Nintendo villains, Ridley has been a mainstay of the series, having appeared (through various incarnations) in almost every "Metroid" game to date (all but "", "Metroid Prime Hunters" and ""). He has also appeared in the "Super Smash Bros." series, however, he had not been made a playable character until "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" in 2018, making it also the first game overall to have Ridley as a playable character.
Characters in the Metroid series
is the archenemy of Samus Aran, an intelligent and sadistic dragon-like extraterrestrial that despite being killed multiple times by her, is always revived by the Space Pirates (or accidentally by the Galactic Federation in "") using cloning or robotics. Other than Samus and the titular Metroids, Ridley is the only character that has appeared consistently throughout most of the games in the series (the exceptions being "" for the Game Boy, "" for the GameCube, "Metroid Prime Hunters" for the Nintendo DS, and "" for the Nintendo 3DS). He is directly responsible for the invasion of Samus' home planet, and the death of her parents, and is the franchise's primary villain, despite not typically acting as the main antagonist in an individual game.