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.
Ridley (Metroid)
Throughout the series, Ridley has undergone a variety of changes in appearance. In the original "Metroid" title, he was roughly the same size as protagonist Samus Aran and sported a more alien appearance (particularly in official artwork, which depicted him with eight eyes running down the length of his head and a small, lamprey-like mouth). In "Super Metroid", he is larger than in the original title several times over, sporting purplish-brown skin, glowing yellow eyes, chameleonic abilities (possibly explaining his inconsistent skin tone across different games and even within different parts of "Super Metroid"), and an overall body shape that heavily resembles a European dragon. Later games depict him as larger still, and "Other M" departs from previous depictions by giving him a bulky, muscular form in contrast with his skeletal appearance in previous games, along with completely purple skin and flattened jaws resembling a pointed duck bill with a noticeable underbite. Ridley's vocalizations were first depicted in "Super Metroid" and took the form of a predatory screech; later 2D titles instead gave him piercing, high-pitched wails, while 3D installments such as the "Prime" games and "Other M" had him perform monstrous roars. His cybernetic form during the events of the "Prime" series is referred to as Meta Ridley and incorporates various ballistic weapon systems, while a robotic duplicate, Ridley Robot, appears as the final boss in "Zero Mission". While he did not originally appear in "", in the 3DS remake "", Ridley returns as the game's final boss in a new cybernetic form called Proteus Ridley in an attempt to steal the last living Metroid before Samus can deliver it to the Galactic Federation, though he is defeated once more. In the new title of the "Super Smash Bros." series, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate", he is shown as he was in "Super Metroid", with a darker, purplish tone to his skin and with a size scaled to his original appearance in the first Metroid title, although he has an alternate costume resembling Meta Ridley.