Ridley (Metroid)

Ridley is one of the main villains of the Metroid series. He is Samus' archenemy as he was responsible for murdering her parents.

Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates and for good reason. He is very powerful and on occasion has shown he has the cunning to act on it. This guy has cheated death on so many occasions that some think he's immortal.

Personality

While Ridley displays few personality traits in the games, the official Metroid Manga delved a great deal deeper into the personality of the Space Pirate general. Ridley first appeared in chapter one, where his brutal disposition, foul temper and love of death and destruction are made apparent when he orders his entire legion of Space Pirates to annihilate the peaceful inhabitants of K2-L as he looked on, even going as far as to tell them to "have fun" while causing carnage. His ability for cruelty is further made concrete in the manga, when he attempts to kill a small girl who tries to befriend him; killing her mother while trying to shield the child. This characterization was given a brief nod in his third victory pose in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where he is seen with his back turned pounding the ground in a manner that evoked tearing his downed opponent apart before quickly turning his head with a grin. He, like many of his Space Pirate brethren, also believes in the superiority of certain races over others, counting himself among the privileged elite species and seeing the "lower" races as something only to exterminate. His more sadistic and bloodthirsty tendencies were initially hinted at in a Pirate Data scan explaining his resurrection as Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime, where the crew guessed that Ridley becoming the mainstay of the Space Pirates' security force after the completion of his cybernetics was "a job he will certainly relish." He also has some degree of narcissism, due to his commissioning the Ridley Robot as a symbol of his power.

Despite these bloodthirsty tendencies, Ridley has shown to be an intelligent and competent battle tactician, orchestrating a great many successful battles, as well as proving a serious threat on his own. His battle tactician skills were best showcased during the battle of Norion when fighting Samus: He tried to kill Samus while she was traversing through ducts in Morph Ball form and thus preventing her to transform, and later he also made sure to have Samus fall down the Generator C shaft with him to ensure that, in the event he could not defeat her, she would at least die with him. Similarly, it was implied that the reason he bombed the Cradle was specifically in an attempt to prevent Samus from accessing the Impact Crater during the events on Tallon IV, and when fighting Samus for the baby on SR388, he also proceeded to use his cybernetic arm to block Samus's Arm Cannon blasts while rushing at her. It is also implied that he set the Ceres Space Colony's self destruct protocol during the escape. Interestingly, his traits as a competent leader seem to also be embedded on a genetic level, as his clone, who was feral as a result of growing up without any education or civilized upbringing, was nevertheless seemingly capable of leading weaponized creatures into attacking Adam Malkovich's squad while he handled Samus alone in his adolescent form. However, his quick temper and his arrogant belief that nothing can defeat him often undermine these qualities, leading to a great many defeats for him as well, particularly at the hands of Samus.

Ridley grudgingly shows respect to those who are natural leaders, such as when Gray Voice ordered the Pirate Troops to their battle stations; Ridley, taken aback, smirked at being told by Gray Voice to attend to his job and sarcastically addressed him as "Sir Military Commander" when he flew off.

Ridley has frequently displayed a very sadistic sense of humor, evidenced by his various comments against Samus upon their first meeting since K2-L. Ridley even went so far as to taunt her by saying that he may have eaten and incorporated the cells of her mother's corpse into his body and sardonically wondered what part her cells reside in. He then proceeded to bring his foot down on Samus, growling "At least pay your respects!"; referring to her dead mother, showing just how much joy he takes in the suffering of others. This sadism can also be seen in Other M, as the cloned Ridley appears to toy with Samus before being interrupted by Anthony Higgs. However, in the manga, he was shown to be momentarily taken aback by Samus' naivety and looked at her with apparent pity when she innocently tried to befriend him despite being scared of his terrifying appearance. In response to this gesture, Ridley called Samus cute, before refusing her offer in a sarcastically polite tone and revealing his intent to kill her.

He seems to hold a grudge against Samus for her deceased father's role in the massive failure of Ridley's raid on K2-L. Rodney Aran intentionally ignited the Space Pirates' stolen supply of Afloraltite, causing Ridley's ship to not only explode and take numerous Pirate lives, but to also crash on top of Ridley. His injuries subsequently forced him to consume dead humans, despite his utter disgust and low opinion of the species. In the following years, Ridley would develop an intense hatred for Samus due to her constant interference and his various defeats at her hands. He also refers to Samus' existence when meeting her for the first time since the K-2L raid as a nightmare, implying that his hatred for Samus during that time stemmed also from the fact that she even survived the massacre at all. It's also implied that his hatred of Samus's parents, and by extension, Samus herself, may have also been retained as genetic memory due to the Mystery Creature (a genetic clone of Ridley) being especially eager to kill Samus and toying with her, with its trophy hinting that its antagonism of Samus was ultimately rooted in Ridley's earlier murder of Samus's parents. His undying hatred of Samus is given a reference with his Final Smash Plasma Scream, where he always attacks Samus Aran's Gunship irrespective of whether Samus herself is one of the fighters knocked into it.

While they have speaking roles in the manga and comics, Ridley and the Space Pirates have never displayed this ability in-game (the Omega Pirate of Metroid Prime being a possible exception). A likely explanation is that the sounds Ridley and the Pirates make in-game are the Space Pirate language, translated for the reader's benefit in the manga.

The Multi-Universal War of Destiny

Ridley decides take his space pirates and he joins force with the Reploid Leader Sigma. Especially after learning that Samus Aran is around. Ridley schemes with Sigma and get shocked to see the flood's effects on Asura and Syndrome.He may join Sigma's man Krell in an attack on the Republic. After much talk he makes his move on The Crusaders and does much devastation, He was bested by Alucard when they tried to escape.

Ridley then faces his final battle with his archenemy Samus and Wheatley, after they defeat him and left, Ridley calls Nero,Moriarty,and T-1000 to come down to his base so they can escaped from the war, Nero reply that it's not going to be a problem with that, suddenly Ridley saw the battleship crashing to him and his base his final words are "I should've gotten his fortune cookie for this" then the battleship crash him, killing him and his body parts are dead as well.

Elseworld Saga

Ridley is once again living and is an alliance with Red Skull and his fraction, Ridley was actually brought back by Lord Commander to use against Dib and Zim, But Ridley not one for following an amateur as he put it, Nearly killed the Commander before escaping. Ridley joined forces with Red Skull lending his forces to him.

Legends of the Multi-Universe: Armageddon

TBA

LOTM: Weirdmageddon

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LOTM: Darkmageddon

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Gallery

Meta Ridley

Omega Ridley

"Ruby Rose and Ridley"

"Samus Aran and Ridley"

"Ridley and Kefka Palazzo"

"Nana (Mega Man X) and Ridley (Metroid)"