Today's highlighted character is a founding father of the Nintendo empire, but you probably don't think of him that way... after all, he's certainly gotten much more low profile over the past few years. Maybe I'm wrong... maybe he's gaining notoriety on his own finally instead of following in his brother's shadow. By now you may have figured out who I'm talking about. It's


Luigi!

B: Fireball - The standard issue mushroom kingdom artillery, Luigi has modified his fireball to fly straight and burn green! These great balls of fire will do a maximum of 8% damage
< or >B: Exhale - Luigi hits the reverse switch on his Poltergust 3000. This move may seem pointless at first, because when used all by itself it will only push your enemies back a little; however, when used in combination with Inhale (the v+B move) it can be a real pain!
^B: Luigi Rocket - Luigi charges up... then BOOM! The longer you charge this move, the more damage it does and the farther Luigi goes. This move is the same as it was in Super Smash Bros. Melee, only this time you can choose the direction you'll be launched! This attack can also go hay wire and do a maximum of (insert damage amount here)%, but normally it'll do a maximum of (insert damage amount here)%.
vB: Inhale - Luigi turns on his Poltergust 3000 and sets it to heavy duty. This move will suck up and store any projectiles that come Luigi's way. The more you catch, the more you'll be able to throw back later!
Final Smash: Luigi Tornado - Luigi begins to spin around so fast that he whips up a huge storm. Anyone caught in the Luigi Tornado will be hit for a maximum of 20% damage. Try to Exhale a lot of projectiles before doing this move, since they'll get caught in the storm and can hurt your opponents as well. It's hard to dodge a missile in the middle of a tornado!

Luigi has cleared out his mansion of ghosts, so don't be afraid to fight here.


Luigi's Mansion

It's a pretty safe stage... after all it is a mansion!! You can hop up onto the second floor balcony to fight, or fight on the middle step. There are no pits, but you can get knocked off of the left, right, or top part of the screen.

Hazards:
Periodically the picture of Luigi will become a ghost and a boo will pass through and rush at a random player. Looks like Luigi has got some spring cleaning to do!

The Luigi that I've created here is in no way a "Mario clone". He is, in fact, a "Mario Bro"! The only move that is similar to any of Mario's moves in Luigi's move set is his fireball, and even they behave differently!

Luigi is pretty much a sure thing as a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. With Mario's move set changing to include FLUDD, it's also likely that Luigi will have access to his new gadget, the Poltergust 3000. If tradition is going to be followed in this game, Luigi will be a hidden character. I wonder how you'll unlock him this time?

On a smash related not; how do you guys feel about alternate characters? What I mean is, there will be the Mario that is standard to the game with his new move set, but there would be an alternate Mario with his move set from Super Smash Bros. Melee or 64. That sounds like a really cool hidden unlockable to me!

Come back tomorrow for more rampant, unfounded speculation as I count down the days until the US release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl!

As always, if you've missed any of the old updates due to the holiday season (or just want to go back and read or discuss about your favorite predictions) then just go here. I'll keep the links current, so you can bookmark the page and check back later for any updates.