Ridley (Metroid)
Ridley's status within the ranks of the Space Pirates is unclear, with some sources stating that he is the leader of the entire Space Pirate race, whereas others portray him as simply the Pirates' military commander or even a mere enforcer within the Pirate military ranks, subservient to Mother Brain or Space Pirate High Command. Regardless, he is consistently depicted as a ruthless and cunning tactician who never passes up an opportunity to bring his considerable ferocity to bear on the battlefield, opting to overwhelm his opponents with an unwavering onslaught of attacks from his mouth, claws, and tail. He is also incredibly cruel, actively taking pleasure in the killing and torment of others; at one point in the official manga he taunts Samus by claiming he may have devoured her mother's corpse after killing her, and a Space Pirate log entry in "Metroid Prime" notes that being the mainstay of the Pirate security force is "a job he will certainly relish."
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.