Line #12 VideoGame/LuigisMansionSeries


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lmseries_2.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''I am not afraid of you, fool!'']]
3	->''"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear."''
4	-->-- '''UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt'''
5
6	(''For the first game in the series, see [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion here]])''
7
8	''Luigi's Mansion'' is a SpinOff series of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', notable for being the only one featuring Luigi, the brother of the eponymous plumber, [[DayInTheLimelight as the player character]]. Mario is in fact the [[DistressedDude one you have to rescue this time]], not from Bowser but from a horde of ghosts led by [[BigBad King Boo]]. Turns out, while the Boos in the main series are shy and rather adorable, their leader is far more sinister and holds a deep hatred for the Mario Bros in general and, as the series develops, Luigi in particular.
9
10	This time, the games are not platformers, and while Mario has been in many game genres, Luigi's is all his own. These are third-person adventure games in fixed-camera "dollhouse" maps, à la ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil''-- you might even call them [[SpookyKidsMedia kid-friendly "horror" games]]. Luigi cannot jump on enemies (not that it would help against ghosts). To deal with them, he uses a series of modified and tricked-out vaccums (called the Poltergust ([[VideoGame/LuigisMansion 3000]], [[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon 5000]] or [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion3 G-00]] depending on the game), given to him by debuting character Professor E. Gadd, a ghost researcher, to defeat Boos and others spectres.
11
12	It all started with the first game, released in 2001 as a launch title for the [[Platform/NintendoGameCube GameCube]]. At the time, the game bemused audiences. While the game was good for showcasing the capacities of the console, the fact that it wasn't a traditional ''Mario'' game and didn't capture the same atmosphere was criticized, as was the short length of the game. Fans eventually warmed up for the game after the release of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. The game even got a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] on the 3DS in 2018.
13
14	''Luigi's Mansion'' was officially established as a ''series'' 12 years after the first game in 2013 with the release of ''Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon'' on the Platform/Nintendo3DS. ''Dark Moon'' put ''Luigi's Mansion'' in new hands, with it being developed by Canadian team Creator/NextLevelGames, rather than in-house by Nintendo EAD. This entry is stylistically distinct from the first game and adds and changes several mechanics, as well as featuring a more linear and broken-up mission structure.
15
16	Next Level Games eventually reprised the series with a third installment simply titled ''Luigi's Mansion 3,'' released for the Platform/NintendoSwitch in 2019. The game continues much of the work NLG established before, but with some choices being walked back to be more similar to the first game and a more open-feeling structure.
17
18	The series consist of:
19	[[index]]
20	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' (2001)
21	** [[/index]]''Luigi's Mansion'', [[{{Remake}} remake on 3DS]] (2018)[[index]]
22	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' (2013)-- published as ''Luigi's Mansion 2'' in Japanese, Chinese and European languages
23	** ''Luigi’s Mansion Arcade'', RailShooter adaptation by Creator/{{Capcom}} (2015)
24	** ''Luigi's Mansion 2 HD'', remaster on Switch (2024)
25	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'' (2019)
26	[[/index]]
27
28	----
29	!!The ''Luigi's Mansion'' series provide examples of the following tropes:
30
31	* AbsentMindedProfessor: E. Gadd is a brilliant paranormal scientist and technician, but he has some seriously dangerous lapses in attention and care which have imperiled his Toad assistants and allowed for the escape of a safely-contained King Boo.
32	* AllThatGlitters: In all games, you obtain the gem on King Boo's crown after defeating him, but it's always the least valuable treasure. It is worth 5000G (as much as a single coin) in the first game, has no value at all in ''[[VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon Dark Moon]]'', and [[spoiler:outright vanishes after grabbing it]] in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3''.
33	* AlternateSpeciesCounterpart: The Nintendo [=3DS=] version of the first game introduces Gooigi, a sentient lifeform made of goo that resembles Luigi. He reappears in [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion3 the third game.]]
34	* AndIMustScream: King Boo's main plan across the games involves trapping Mario and Luigi in a painting where they are fully conscious but unable to do anything.
35	* ArtifactTitle: In ''Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon'', Luigi is busting ghosts in several different places, and only two of them are mansions, neither of which are his. ''Luigi's Mansion 3'' features no mansion(s) whatsoever, instead taking place solely in a haunted hotel.
36	* BedSheetGhost: Nearly all enemy ghosts in the first game resemble sheet ghosts, and some in the second do as well. Every other ghost appearing in the series has FogFeet instead.
37	* BigBad: This time, it is not Bowser, who is completely absent, but rather, King Boo.
38	* BigBoosHaunt: The setting of each game is this. The first game features the eponymous mansion, the second the multiple places of Evershade Valley, and the third game, a hotel called The Last Resort. Across the games, ''many'' flavors of haunted settings are explored.
39	* BlindedByTheLight: To be able to vacuum the ghosts, Luigi has to first stun them with his light. In the first game, he has just a mundane flashlight which can stun ghosts for the briefest of seconds, requiring very keen timing and use of the light, while the sequels introduce the Strobulb, a charged flashbulb that will stun ghosts for a few seconds and makes them easier to handle.
40	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: In ''Dark Moon'', the ghosts are actually nice and docile until the eponymous Dark Moon is destroyed, making them hostile. Though since the Dark Moon seems to be fabricated for the purpose of pacifying the ghosts, their switch to evil may actually be the [[InvertedTrope opposite]].[[spoiler:In ''Luigi's Mansion 3'', the ghosts are under the influence of the gem in King Boo's crown]].
41	* CharacterDevelopment: Being the series that finally gives Luigi his spotlight, this is to be expected. Luigi is here portrayed with more personality as a shy, easily-scared but nevertheless brave hero, and these traits have colored his portrayals in the rest of the franchise.
42	* ClassicalAntiHero: Compared to Mario, who is portrayed as an IdealHero, Luigi is more flawed, being shy, dorky, and cowardly. He is still just as heroic as his brother and finds strength and success by facing his fears in the name of his loved ones.
43	* ConsoleCameo: Each game has one, used for such things as displaying maps and being the receiver for when E. Gadd contacts Luigi:
44	** The Game Boy Horror from the first game, a parody of the [[Platform/GameBoy Game Boy Color]]
45	** The Dual Scream from the first game, parodying the Nintendo Dual Screen, also known as UsefulNotes/NintendoDS.
46	** The Virtual Boo, or VB for short in the third game. Obvious parody of the Platform/VirtualBoy.
47	* CoolCrown: King Boo's most distinguishable feature is his crown topped with a gem. [[spoiler: [[HatOfPower It actually grants him most of his powers]]]].
48	* CowardlyLion: Luigi is really scared of ghosts, but that doesn't stop him from facing them when he need to save his brother.
49	* CuteLittleFangs: Many ghosts have fangs, and despite the danger they pose, are of them are portrayed as at least a little bit endearing.
50	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the usual [[SugarBowl happy and colorful]] world of Mario, ''Luigi's Mansion'' allows itself to be more sinister and suspenseful, with the first game in particular coming across as a toned-down take on SurvivalHorror.
51	* ADayInTheLimelight: This is the first time that Luigi got the main role in a game. Before that, he was just existing to be the second playable character and a partner for Mario, with little characterization. This is the series that defined him as the LovableCoward that he is.
52	* DenserAndWackier: While the original game had a somewhat sinister and menacing atmosphere, the sequels haven't maintained it:
53	** ''Luigi's Mansion'' has a reputation for being the closest ''Mario'' has ever come to the full-on horror gaming genre. The mansion is genuinely dark and realistically dingy and ornate, with only the proportions feeling caricatured, and the one track you'll hear while exploring the house is dreary and heavy. All of this captures the tension of exploring a scary place at night. The enemies, though cartoonish, are still menacing through a few designs and sound effects that feel truly freakish, and the way they can suddenly spawn in the dark can genuinely catch a player off-guard. At the core, much of the gameplay of the gameplay consists of wandering around true darkness until something pops out behind you! While there are comedic moments in the game, they tend to be in the writing more than in broad slapstick visuals. The Portrait Ghost bosses also play into the melancholy of ghost stories by having a few grim death backstories and, in the mansion, repeating their living routines with a sense of tragic obliviousness, especially since some don't seem to acknowledge or see you until they're attacked. The game overall has a sense of eerieness to it that can be genuinely unsettling for kids.
54	** ''Dark Moon'' features a lighter visual aesthetic with nothing feeling as dark to navigate through, and the visual style, while having a spooky edge with a quirky crooked aesthetic, feels just as cartoony overall as the main ''Mario'' games tend to. The comedy in the game is a lot more light-hearted and much more takes the form of visual slapstick as well. The boss ghosts are mostly not indicated to be spirits of the living, and the only three who are (and who form one battle) look less humanoid, don't have a creepy backstory, and aren't portrayed with a sense of melancholy.
55	** ''Luigi's Mansion 3'' keeps the wacky feel of the previous game, while walking a few things back to be a little more serious. The ghosts are still goofy, but aren't made out to be as adorable, and the aesthetic continues the look from ''2'' while being more detailed and atmospheric to bring some of ''1'' in with less fear factor. The boss ghosts are designed more humanoid again, but no backstory is given to them, and they are all fully aware of Luigi and mostly antagonistic, leaving them far less sympathetic or sad.
56	* DistressedDude: Here, instead of being the one who rescues Princess Peach, Mario is the one who must be rescued. Toads must also be rescued in both sequels, and Gadd (briefly) and Princess Peach join in in ''3''.
57	* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the first game, the Boos were portrayed without their middle two fangs, and were atypically translucent to match the other ghosts. King Boo himself was the same size as a regular Boo, had no [[CreepyShadowedUndereyes undereye shadows]] and his tongue was blue instead of purple. ''2'' would make the Boos as opaque as they typically are in all other ''Mario'' games and make their teeth match too, as well as updating King Boo's look and increasing his size. ''3'' would then reference the design discrepancies in ''1'' with King Boo's clone attack, wherein the fake copies of himself that he creates have only the two outer teeth like the ''Luigi's Mansion 1'' Boos.
58	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first game is noticeably different from the sequels in many ways, mostly due to being developed by a different studio and the series being [[SequelGap dormant for many years]]:
59	** The atmosphere is [[DarkerAndEdgier much more sinister]], and the ghosts aren't as LaughablyEvil as they would later become.
60	** The flashlight system is very different. Ghosts are stunned for a fraction of a second when the flashlight beam hits them, making it optimal to hold a button to keep the light off until you need it on again while the light will face a ghost. In the sequels (and the first game's remake), the Strobulb is added. Ghosts won't be stunned by the default flashlight beam, and instead the player must ''press'' a button rather than ''release'' one to flash the ghost with a stronger light that will stun them for a more reasonable amount of time.
61	** Money is completely useless outside of being used as ScoringPoints for an end-game rank.
62	** The Game Boy Horror provided a first-person camera view with the ability to scan objects. This let the player look at the otherwise invisible fourth wall of rooms to find a few things, scan boss ghosts' hearts for hints on their weaknesses, scan random objects for flavor commentary from Luigi, or scan mirrors to warp to the house's foyer. The scan feature did not return in the later games, nor did any of its functions.
63	** Mario is fully animated within his portrait and will even cry out for help, suggesting a proper AndIMustScream fate if he isn't rescued. In each subsequent game, characters captured in portraits are represented with still images and are suggested to be unconscious, making it more of a FauxDeath until release.
64	** King Boo isn't nearly as well-established as a villain, being little more than a KingMook who only appears during a brief cutscene mid-way through the game and the ending, where he barely appears during his own boss fight and instead dukes it out [[spoiler:in an illusory Bowser disguise.]] Later games would give him much stronger story presence and development into his own distinct character, finally giving Luigi a proper arch-nemesis to parallel his brother and Bowser.
65	** The Poltergust upgrades in the first game took the form of elemental effects--Luigi could vacuum up elemental wisps near elemental sources and then expel the elements from his Poltergust to interact with objects and ghosts. The sequels make the Poltergust add-ons more tied to the vacuum's gadgetry and the paranormal, with upgrades including stronger suctions with a charge meter, plungers to fire and pull objects with, and the Dark-Light Device which appears in both sequels, exposing and restoring objects made invisible and incorporeal by ghosts, as well as show ghosts that are invisible or hiding.
66	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: Each game in the sub-series takes place within a single night.
67	* GhostsAbhorAVacuum: Luigi's weapon is the Poltergust, a modified vacuum invented by Professor E. Gadd for [[JustifiedTrope the express purpose of catching ghosts]].
68	* TheGhostKing: King Boo, ruler of his own species and also of other ghosts through means of supernatural creation or subjugation.
69	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: All ghosts have these, though they are particularly glowing in the case of King Boo.
70	* TheGoomba: Gold Ghosts in the first game, Greenies in the second and Goobs in the third. In the second and third games, the weakest enemies have the tradeoff of being the most resourceful and prone to picking up objects as weapons and Strobulb protections.
71	* HatOfPower: [[spoiler:King Boo's crown, or more specifically the gem on the crown, is where he gets all his powers from]].
72	* HauntedHouse: The settings of the series, obviously. The settings diversify significantly past the classic house after the first game, though, with ''2'' including a factory, chalet mine, and museum, and ''3'' being set in a huge eclectic hotel that comprises over 15 flavors of haunted settings.
73	* HauntedHouseHistorian: Professor E. Gadd is this in the first two games, being established as a researcher of the locations Luigi goes to. Since he's lured into the mess of ''3'' by a ruse, he doesn't get "on the case" there until Luigi rescues him.
74	* HeartsAreHealth: Luigi has to collect hearts to refill his health. In the first game, the ghosts' health is also written above a heart visible within their torso while stunned and being vacuumed.
75	* ImprobableWeaponUser: Luigi uses a Poltergust to suck up ghosts: it's essentially a vacuum cleaner with an attached flashlight, which in later games comes with a black light attachment.
76	* InescapableAmbush: Done all the time in the games, with areas that immediately have ghosts show up, then lock Luigi in until all of them are caught. In the case of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' and ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', it's not a door being blocked, but a magical gate popping out of the floor and barricading anything from an opening to a set of stairs until all nearby ghosts are caught. In these games, this is also marked by the lights immediately going off whenever an ambush occurs.
77	* KnightOfCerebus: While the series as a whole got DenserAndWackier, King Boo did just the opposite. In the first game, he's a very standard final boss for the Mario universe - little more than a KingMook who, while behind the events of the game on paper, has very little screentime to really give his status as the BigBad any weight. From the second game onward, however, his motivation evolves from disliking the brothers for the trouble they cause Boo-kind throughout the series to just ''[[ItsPersonal hating]]'' Luigi in particular, not only seeking revenge but deriving sadistic pleasure from the distress caused by his [[spoiler:repeated capture of his brother and friends.]] Combined with an overhaul to his design that makes him a lot more ghoulish, a new crown that , and [[ArtEvolution much more robust visuals]] to really sell him and his illusions properly, expect the ghostly hijinks to come to a nasty halt whenever he appears.
78	* LivingDrawing:
79	** King Boo's method of imprisonment consists of turning people into paintings. They are still alive while it happens.
80	** [[MookMaker Vincent Van Gore]] has the ability to paints ghosts who can come to "life", with the implication that he created all of the non-Boo enemy ghosts in the game.
81	* MetalSlime: Each games features a rare variation of the weakest mook that drops tons of money when caught--the Speedy Spirit in the first game, the Gold Greenie in the second and the Golden Goob in the third.
82	* MissionControl: Professor E. Gadd in all games, who communicates to Luigi to give advice and mission goals through the Game Boy Horror, Dual Scream, Virtual Boo, or whatever communication device that particular entry uses.
83	* MoneyForNothing: Each haunted area explored by Luigi is filled with money, from coins to bills to gold bars to jewels. Getting a lot of money is easy but it acts as ScoringPoints rather than currency. The sequel adds shops, but the implementation is still minimal.
84	* MonochromeApparition: Most enemy ghosts are defined by a single color for their body, with the ghosts in the sequels having just a body color and the glowing white of their eyes and mouths. Boss ghosts have multiple colors, particularly the humanoid ones in ''1'' and ''2'', and a few enemy or boss skins in the [=ScareScraper=] modes in the sequels have more elaborate designs.
85	* NiceDayDeadlyNight: The core gameplay of each game is set during a harrowing night. The happy ending mansion screen in the first game, and the "you won a mansion" map in the first game and the arrival at the hotel in the second game both invoke sunny imagery as something safe and happy for a "too-good-to-be-true" deception.
86	* NonHumanUndead: Spooky and Polterpup are both ghostly dogs, and Polterkitty and Captain Fishook are a ghost cat and a ghost shark.
87	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The nature of ghosts is multifaceted and sometimes vague.
88	** The enemy ghosts in ''1'' are indicated to all be [[LivingDrawing the product of Vincent Van Gore's paintings, and he's seen bringing them to life from his canvases.]]
89	** The Portrait Ghosts in the first game, including Van Gore, are all indicated to be the spirits of formerly living humans, with many having backstories about how they died, and the ghosts being depicted in loops of the activities they were attached to in life.
90	** Boos in the first game are emphasized as drawing their power from numbers, as the Boos can shoo Luigi away from accessing the FinalBoss if he hasn't caught enough of them, and they form the Boolossus boss, a giant Boo made of several small Boos that shrinks after it's popped and the small Boos are sucked up. However, whether they are meant to be spirits of the dead or just another species of monster is unclear.
91	** ''Dark Moon'' indicates its enemy ghosts are more like a natural paranormal species rather than spirits of anything that was formerly alive, and it shows them under the mass influence of an ancient artifact capable of pacifying their natures. Only three ghosts in the game, the Three Sisters, are portrayed as human spirits.
92	** The enemy ghosts in ''3'' are unspecified in nature, but likely to be within the same concept of a "paranormal species". Humanoid boss ghosts are prevalent in the game, though this time, it's not actually explicitly indicated that they had ever been alive.
93	* OutOfFocus: While King Boo himself is the main villain of each games, the Boos as minions have become less and less relevant. In the first game, they were properly introduced and necessary to capture to finish the game, one was even a boss. In the second, they are no longer required to reach the ending, and in the third, all you get for catching them all is a CosmeticAward. The Boolossus boss is also less significant in ''3'', since it's exclusive to the multiplayer mode, while previously, Boolossus (or, depending on the translation, ''a'' giant Boo-made-of-boos boss) appeared in the main game in climactic spots in both previous titles.
94	* PortalPicture: King Boo's favorite method for capturing Luigi's friends is trapping them inside pictures. The only time Luigi has ever entered into the space of one such painting in gameplay is in [[spoiler: the first game's final boss battle]].
95	* ProphetEyes: No ghost has pupils (unless you count the Boos, which are all pupils). The second game on features a more classic glowing white, and in ''Dark Moon'', the ghosts lose their pupils as a sign that madness and aggression have taken over and made them antagonistic.
96	* PunnyName:
97	** Professor Elvin Gadd, whose name is a pun on the old-timey exclamation "Egad!"
98	** All the Boos' names are puns on words which include "Boo" or are made to include "Boo", such as "Booldog", "Bootine" or "Bootique".
99	* ScoringPoints: The money accumulated through a ''Luigi's Mansion'' playthrough is used at the end to build a new building, with the rank of the player and quality of the new structure being based on how much money they have.
100	* SealedEvilInACan: The primary method to defeat the enemies is to imprison them into the Poltergust via vacuuming. They are eventually fully secured within paintings or canisters in a vault.
101	* SelfParody: The parodies of Creator/{{Nintendo}} consoles such as the Game Boy Color, the DS and the Virtual Boy. For the VB, they even make fun of the Virtual Boy's infamous sales failure.
102	--> ''To help you out, I'll give you one of my greatest inventions yet! I call it...the Virtual Boo! VB for short! It's a state-of-the-art virtual-reality device fitted with a fancy red screen! Really cutting-edge stuff! And red is all the rage, you know? Just wait until I finish the marketing materials on this! It'll fly off the shelves! Heh heh heh!''
103	* SillySpook: Most of the ghosts encountered are rather goofy and playful. Some aren't even hostile at all.
104	* SpookyKidsMedia: The first game was quite able to frighten many young players. While the series later lightened up on the whole, it still has its fair share of startling or eerie moments.
105	* VillainousBreakdown: A series-wide example. King Boo gets progressively more unhinged with each game in the series, primarily from Luigi constantly foiling his plans. By the end of the third game, he absolutely ''loses'' it and threatens to kill Luigi, a far-cry from his calm demeanor with a passive dismissiveness towards Luigi in the first game.
106	* WeaponsThatSuck: The Poltergust in all its variations is a vacuum cleaner at its core which pulls and sucks up ghosts.
107	* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Nearly everything that needs to be done in this series boils down to using the Poltergust, whether it be vacuuming ghosts, opening the curtains, grabbing money, throwing balls, grabbing a rope...you name it.
108	* WhoYouGonnaCall: Luigi has to fight ghosts if he wants to save his brother, but only the second game, where E. Gadd's ghost collection escaped, has Luigi entering the game on the pretext of hunting ghosts.

Context VideoGame / LuigisMansionSeries