I’m Not Sure If You’ve Done An Analysis On Luigi’s First Time In The Dark Lands But I’d Love

I’m not sure if you’ve done an analysis on Luigi’s first time in the dark lands but I’d love to hear your take! I love all your essays on the film and was just curious what your thoughts were in this scene. I wish that scene was a bit longer in the film to build more character and show Luigi’s strengths a bit more in my opinion.

Thank you anon! I have mentioned before that Mario has good fighting instincts while Luigi has good survival instincts. The scene of Luigi in The Darklands perfectly encapsulates these survival instincts– as well as his clumsiness– and how they coexist.

After getting his bearings in The Dark Lands, the fist thing Luigi does is gather his tools and sling the bag over his shoulder. His impulse is to cling to familiarity: he's in charge of carrying the tools, so he picks back up where he left off, as though he's trying to tell himself "This is fine! Just a quick hiccup... can't go back to Brooklyn without these. Tools are expensive. No need to panic."

The second thing he does is call for his brother. Even though he saw Mario go in a separate direction in the warp pipe, he's hoping despite everything that he's somewhere nearby. That he isn't alone.

"Mario?... Mario, where are you?"

Then, Luigi's shirt gets snagged on a branch, and this is when his clumsiness + his survival instincts become apparent: He gets his shirt caught in a branch, and tugs a little too hard, throwing him off balance – clumsy. When he's off balance, he nearly falls into a stream of lava, but his feet intuitively find just the right stepping stones to get him safely across without injury – good survival instincts. Still reeling from his close call, Luigi backs into a hollow tree full of bats – clumsy. As the swarm flies toward him, Luigi immediately turns away, hands flailing in self defense until he gathers himself into a solid protective position: crouched down, one hand waving the bats away while the other holds his hat as a shield against his face – good survival instincts.

At this point, Luigi's on high alert. Continuing forward, his gaze darts in all directions, following every little rustle and footstep. He spots something in the shadows just as his flashlight flickers out out. He hits it to knock the battery back in place, and there's a dry bones... inches away, eyes alight, rushing forward to attack.

Luigi turns on his heels in an instant when the enemy rushes at him. He immediately tosses the tools aside, lightening the load so he can run away faster... good survival instincts... ... Then the clumsiness kicks in. He looks back at just the wrong moment, and throws himself stomach-first into a low hanging branch.

He is flung back into his pursuer, knocking him to pieces. Luigi is a little unsteady on his feet as he gets back up, but seeing the motionless bones on the ground before him he believes himself the victor, and gets a little cocky.

"HA HA! Yes! You just got... a'Luigi'd!" Protect him.

The victory lasts roughly 8 seconds. The skeleton returns to life and the bones slowly join back together. The dry bones moves toward Luigi again- far more slowly this time. Luigi, wisely, does not immediately go into a full sprint. He is placed in a bad spot– enemy in front of him, pool of lava at his back. Turning around is dangerous, and trying to rush forward risks reigniting the chase. Right now, the best option is slowly backing away in a large circle...

On cue, just as he's acting with good survival instincts, the ole clumsiness does him in again. While backing off he trips on a rock, leaving him prone as hoards of other dry bones break to the ashen surface of the wasteland with their sites set on Luigi.

Luigi is surrounded by the time he clamors back to his feet, the mob slowly moving in, close enough now that they can grab at him. There is no long an option to continue slowly backing away. Luigi zig-zags around the encroaching hoard and makes a break for it, reigniting the chase.

Running for his life with undead at his heels, Luigi takes aim for the nearest possible sanctuary: a castle in the distance. He is now in full survival mode as he flings himself over the jagged stones jutting precariously over the surface of the lava. He's a prodigy in the art of a rapid retreat, rapidly flicking back and forth between fight and flight whenever needed as he scampers and scurries and climbs with equal parts desperation and impressive athleticism.

Mario may be the most physically adept of the two, but Luigi's got some innate skills that come to the forefront when death is on the line, and though he lives in a constant state of anxiety he does not freeze up easily. Whatever the danger, he is levelheaded enough to find the best available method of escaping the threat, even at the height of his terror.

At last he reaches the castle doors. They are heavy, but he finds the strength to push them apart just far enough to throw himself through. He's almost too late in shutting the doors behind him; clawing hands reach through the gap, gripping at his face and clothes, just before Luigi summons the last bit of strength needed to slam the door shut and bring down the latch.

For a moment, he remains on edge. Luigi searches his surroundings, almost tripping again as he looks about– vaulted ceilings and dilapidated hallways, covered in debris. It looks like nobody's been here in ages, and the door– pounded against by hundreds of angry fists– holds strong before his pursuers give up, and all goes quiet save for the rolling thunder outside.

By all accounts, he seems to be in the clear. Letting out a long sigh of relief, Luigi sits down for a well-deserved rest, unaware of the audience of masked strangers that has silently gathered behind him.

I, for one, don't think that Luigi would've been captured so easily if they hadn't snuck up on him from behind and overwhelmed him with numbers. Not after a performance like that.

Luigi is scared– unashamedly scared– but his ability to keep a level head when all hell breaks loose is nothing to sneeze at. He is a total klutz, but at the end of the day he is a survivor, not because he knows how to fight, but because he knows how to flee.

It just so happened the cards were not in his favor this time around, but there is a lot of potential in the guy once he gets his footing.