SSBU: Why Mario Has A Green Costume But Luigi Can’t Be Red

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one of Mario’s most curious costumes is a green shirt, similar to his brother Luigi. However, Luigi does not have a red shirt to mimic his brother. He has pink and orange outfits, but not red. If the two of them don’t have matching outfits, then the question remains of why Mario specifically gets an outfit in his brother’s signature color.

Although Mario’s green outfit is not a perfect recreation of Luigi’s, with brown overalls instead of blue, it still makes one wonder. It may seem bizarre, there are a few instances throughout Mario’s history that could provide a reason why the famous plumber could be wearing green. Although Mario may have Smash‘s most outdated moveset, his past games do contain the necessary clues to solve this mystery.

In Mario games, dating all the way back to the original Mario Bros. arcade game, it has always been a tradition for Luigi to be the character for player 2. Since in most platformers, especially the older games, Luigi plays identically to Mario, he could be seen as Mario’s Player 2 costume. When looked at it this way, giving Mario a green costume in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate makes sense. If Luigi has been Mario’s Player 2 for so many years, then giving Mario a green Player 2 outfit in Smash Ultimate seems like a good nod to the history of gaming’s most famous twins.

Mario Has Worn Green Before, But Luigi Has Never Worn Red

Another reason that could be pointed to is the fact that Mario has actually dressed up as Luigi before. In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, there is a badge called the L Emblem that changes Mario’s color palette to match Luigi’s. It is a cosmetic change with no real use aside from completing one quest in the game, but it does create a canonical example of Mario wearing green, at least if one considers the Paper Mario games to be canon to the rest of the series. While not a true Player 2 color in this instance, it is still an alternate costume, and that combined with how fans want a Thousand-Year Door Switch port due to the game’s popularity gives more credence to the idea of giving Mario a green outfit in Ultimate.

Although Mario has worn green a few times in his games, Luigi has actually never worn red. None of Luigi’s starring games, such as the Luigi’s Mansion series, have featured Mario as a Player 2 character, so he wouldn’t have that argument for wearing Mario’s colors in Smash Ultimate. Likewise, Luigi has never donned red himself in any of his appearances. He has worn several costumes over the years, but red has never been the dominant color of any of them. It makes less sense to give Luigi a red costume because he has never officially taken on his brother’s colors (although a Luigi’s Mansion hack turned him into Mario). The only reason to do so would be for Smash Bros.‘ traditional team battle mode, but the teams are no longer color-coordinated like they were in previous Smash titles, removing that reason as well.

With all of this taken into account, the reason for Mario getting a green outfit while Luigi doesn’t get a red one would likely be precedent. Green was essentially Mario’s Player 2 color for years, as well as an alternate outfit in one game, and alternate Smash colors have some from less than that. It may be a curious wardrobe choice in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but Mario does have his reasons for wearing green.

About The Author