How to Unlock Luigi

Last Updated: September 16, 2022 References

The Green Thunder is back for more action. There's a long tradition of Nintendo games with Luigi as an unlockable character. Finding Luigi is often one of the most difficult challenges in the game, so hone your skills to earn the green costume.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Unlocking Luigi in Super Smash Brothers

1
Find Luigi in Smash Bros Brawl. On the Wii game, Luigi has several unlock methods. Any one of these will earn you the green legend:
- Complete 22 Brawl matches to make Luigi appear, then defeat him in one-on-one combat.
- Complete Classic mode without using continues, then defeat Luigi.
- Play Subspace Emissary mode until Luigi joins your team, near the end of the story.^{[1]
  X
  Research source}
2
Unlock Luigi in Smash Bros Melee. Complete 800 Vs mode matches to unlock Luigi. Alternatively, you can attempt this difficult unlock method:^{[2]
X
Research source}
- Play the first level of Adventure mode (the Mushroom Kingdom). Wait by the end of the level and cross the finish line when the seconds place reads 2. Your time should be XX:X2:XX.
- Luigi will replace Mario in the next level; defeat both opponents before the timer drops below 03:00:00. (Stage 11 will have an additional Metal Luigi, but that fight doesn't have a time requirement.)
- Complete adventure mode without using continues, then defeat Luigi again once he appears after the credits.
- If you're having trouble, set the difficulty to Very Easy and raise your stock to five lives. If you have the difficulty at Normal or above, finish in more than 18 minutes if you want to avoid fighting an extra boss: Giga Bowser.
Advertisement
3
Unlock Luigi in the original Smash Bros. If you're playing the original Nintendo64 game, play "Bonus 1 Practice" in single-player mode. Destroy all targets before the time runs out. Repeat with all eight original characters. You'll fight Luigi with the final character you succeed with, and unlock him if you beat him.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- The original characters are the eight characters in the center of the character select screen: Mario, D K, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, and Pikachu.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Unlocking Luigi in Super Mario Galaxy

Original Super Mario Galaxy

1
Play through the game and defeat Bowser. In the first Super Mario Galaxy game from 2007, Luigi takes a lot of effort to unlock. To get started, keep playing as Mario until you have at least 60 stars, then ask Rosalina to let you fight Bowser. You must defeat Bowser in order to succeed on the next step.
2
Collect all remaining stars. Once Bowser is defeated, a number appears next to Rosalina showing you how many stars you have left to collect, out of the 120 total. Once you've got all 120 stars, the number next to Rosalina will be 0.
- There are quite a few hidden stars throughout the galaxies. You can follow detailed guides, or try to explore, smash, collect, and play with everything you find to discover them yourself.
3
Defeat Bowser a second time. After all that effort, return to Rosalina and defeat Bowser again. At the end of the credits, Luigi will be unlocked.
4
Play through as Luigi. Luigi is faster and more powerful than Mario, but begins again in a new save file with 0 stars and nothing unlocked. If you manage to collect all 120 stars again while playing as Luigi, you'll unlock a final secret galaxy to play through.^{[4]
X
Research source}

Super Mario Galaxy 2

1
Collect about 30 stars. In the 2010 Galaxy sequel, Luigi will show up occasionally at the start of some levels, but only once you have approximately 30 stars. You can talk to Luigi to play as him for that level only.
- Beating a level with Luigi will cause an extra-fast "Luigi ghost" to appear whenever you visit the level again. Touch the ghost to set it moving. There are no rewards for beating a level more quickly than the ghost, but you might like the challenge.
2
Defeat the last boss for full Luigi unlock. Once you complete the final level of World 6, a special door will open in the forehead of the Mario spaceship. Enter the door to unlock the ability to play as Luigi on any level.^{[5]
X
Research source}

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Unlocking Luigi in Other Super Mario Games

Super Mario Bros 64DS

1
Unlock the second floor. To do this, collect the first eight power stars, then head to the basement and complete the first course of Big Boo's Haunt.^{[6]
X
Research source}
2
Find the secret Luigi painting. On the east (right) side of the second floor, the farthest door leads to an attic. Go to the bottom left corner of this attic, grab the Power Flower, float up another floor, and enter the door.^{[7]
X
Research source} You are now in the Big Boo Challenge.
3
Complete the Big Boo Challenge. You can solve this for yourself, or follow this guide:^{[8]
X
Research source}
- Go through the doors following the sound of Boo's voice: right, left, right, left. (There are coins to collect along the way, but this is not necessary to unlock Luigi.)
- In the last room, run as fast as you can and jump on the disappearing platforms. Enter the hole at the end.
- Defeat King Boo by punching him from behind, or by ground pounding him three times.
4
Unlock Luigi. The Luigi Key King Boo gave you lets you go through Luigi's Door

Miscellaneous Super Mario Games

1
Play single player Luigi in New Super Mario Bros 2. First, beat the game as Mario. Next, hold down the L and R buttons while selecting your game file on the file select screen.^{[9]
X
Research source}
2
Unlock Luigi Bros mode in Super Mario 3D World. Beating the game unlocks a special mode called Luigi Bros, starring two Luigis instead of Luigi and Mario.^{[10]
X
Research source} This also shows up if you have New Super Luigi U save data on your Wii U.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I get Luigi in Super Mario 64?

Calvin Lawrence

Community Answer

It is not possible to play as Luigi in the original Super Mario 64 (for Nintendo 64), despite fake instructions you may see online.
Question

Can you play as Luigi in Mario odyssey?

LionOte

Community Answer

You can't play as Luigi in Super Mario Odyssey, but you can buy his clothes.

Warnings

It is not possible to play as Luigi in the original Super Mario 64 (for Nintendo 64), despite fake instructions online.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0