The Psychology of Luigi: Childhood Trauma | Gnoggin

it's no surprise to anyone that Luigi has been put on the back burner for many games originally just being a pallet swap of Mario Luigi made his debut in Mario Bros so from the get-go he was in the shadow of his older sibling and though he hasn't had as much of a personality until about halfway through his career his history can provide some insight on why Luigi is the way he is during Yoshi's stint as a protagonist we see the beginning of the split between the brothers personalities Luigi is kidnapped from the very beginning of his life he is kidnapped and held in a castle being exposed to sounds and sights that frankly if you saw as a young young child would give you trauma for years to come the National Child traumatic stress Network even states that a growing body of research has established that young children even infants may be affected by events that threaten their safety or the safety of their parents or caregivers and their symptoms have been well documented these traumas can be the result of intentional violence such as child's physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence or the results of a natural disaster accidents or war young children may also experience traumatic stress in response to painful medical procedures or the sudden loss of a parent or caregiver and while Luigi is endangered by the Cooper clan REO is off having a relatively carefree adventure with parent like figures in the yoshi's mario knows on some level that he is protected every time anything bad happens Yoshi is right there to save him meanwhile Louie is stuck in a bag probably crying his little baby luigi eyes out because he's so scared separation anxiety is one angle to look at it has a few other youtubers have explored but the other angle we have to explore here is how childhood trauma could affect the psyche of a future hero the symptoms of childhood trauma are pretty broad but there are a few that can apply to Luigi specifically those who suffer from childhood trauma may scream or cry excessively startle easily or unable to trust others or make friends believe that they are to blame for the traumatic experience fear adults who remind them of the traumatic event fear being separated from a parent or a caregiver are anxious and fearful and avoid it show irritability sadness and anxiety act withdrawn and lack self-confidence there are a multitude of examples of this throughout the Mario titles and of course the main series of Luigi's Mansion that we'll look into in a moment but first we have to go back to the 1980s once more during the 1980s it's fair to say that storytelling in video games was mediocre at best but the absence of evidence may not necessarily be the evidence of absence in this case what am I saying where was Luigi in Donkey Kong why wasn't he there helping Mario captured this escaped ape the easy way out is to say Roxton he wasn't even made yet and it wasn't a two-player game but if we apply some of the symptoms I think it can suggest a bit more clearly in later games we can see that Luigi doesn't have the highest self-esteem and has heavy anxiety perhaps he wasn't in these games chronologically because he didn't think he could do it this would be the point we find the brothers grown up in Brooklyn and even Mario may not have gone on some they're more dangerous adventures at this point but it should also be noted that interestingly Mario went off to war specifically Vietnam as in Mario's bombs away he is helping transport explosives in the Vietnamese jungles chronologically this very likely took place before Donkey Kong before he fully grew up into the Mario we know today he likely is very young here though still technically an adult Mario here is very brave among the bravest defending his country from the USSR menace it's weird to know that this is technically canon but it should be noted that yes mario here was very brave and Luigi's again nowhere to be found likely not even considering joining the military which honestly is a good thing for him and those he would be around if he had joined as Luigi has been shown having severe bouts of panic and terror which again makes sense because if we take a look into the effects of childhood trauma we see that it can and often does have an effect on the adulthood of a victim it would be safe to assume that Luigi had been suffering panic attacks and bouts of extreme avoidance with the world while this eras mario was traveling the world in space taking parts in wars and multiple very dangerous jobs and even wrangling Apes Luigi stayed behind avoiding the world at all cost because childhood drama can manifest itself in an adult as post-traumatic stress disorder panic attacks depression disassociation disassociative identity disorder bipolar disorder schizophrenia eating disorders and personality disorders in short if an ape that could crush you were loose Luigi could have been at home fearing he'd get the call that his brother was dead he fears the outside world and couldn't imagine it without his brother Mario he can't even leave the house until Mario invites him on a simple my job in mario bros for the arcade luigi begins to come out of his shell he tags along with mario to help with a couple of pipes with blockages and what happens he is forced to fight his way out and he doesn't this is the confidence boost he needs to realize that he isn't as ellis as he's made himself out to be he doesn't absolutely rely on his brother for everything finally we get to the first of the Super Mario series of games Luigi while still in the background sees more of the adventure he's decided that he can do this plus he's got a nice safety net with his brother being there with him and through this game Mario is there supporting Luigi finally happy that his brother is out and about but then what happens at the end of the game at least canonically Mario gets the credit but Mario doesn't really understand the effect that this could have on his brother while Mario gets the praise for saving the day Luigi gets humbled again because as per usual he gets sidelined and doubts himself this isn't enough to set him back too far though he goes on the next adventure and while he keeps getting sidelined by Peach it doesn't affect him in the same way he understands Mario and Peach have kind of a thing now and he's ok with that but at the same time Mario's ego is growing and eventually by the time of Super Mario RPG he pushes Luigi his one and only true brother out of the picture we end up seeing Luigi at the end of the game still trying to hold on to the spotlight but what comes next sends him nearly back to square one [Music] Luigi's childhood trauma and his adulthood anxieties will come back in full force as Mario pushes him out of the spotlight completely there are titles on the Nintendo 64 in which we get to play as Luigi true but never on an adventure it's never the same kind of fun he could have with Mario Mario has changed he's a star now a superstar if you will luigi now feels the shadow of his past coming back to haunt him he withdrawals at this point coming out for sports and parties but never making it out for another adventure because he just doesn't feel he matters anymore the sports and parties are all just new celebrations of Mario's Fame and Luigi lets him just take the limelight and becomes ever ever more reclusive and while it can be argued that Paper Mario happens in an entirely different universe from the main series it is commented on that paper Luigi goes through similar things there with pages in his diary expressing his want to travel with his brother but ultimately being shut down until one day Mario volunteers to once again take the lead and investigate a creepy mansion but not just any creepy mansion no this was a creepy mansion that Luigi had won in some sort of sweepstakes but when Mario doesn't come back to tell the Ouija that it's safe it's now up to Luigi to venture out on his own he takes his first step forward in years because he has to when he arrives he is terrified he realizes that Mario may not be here to save him if something happens and looking at the difference in the mansion he supposedly won versus the one that he actually won it's no wonder that he has but he pushes on for the brother he knew not for the brother who became a star Luigi has been in a dark place for so long that this is his shots to fight back against his own inner demons and this makes the perfect metaphor as his enemies in Luigi's Mansion are ghosts and after defeating them he gains a bit of his confidence back Luigi feels happy once again and this time saves Mario himself but sadly this event didn't hit Mario's ego enough to allow him to let Luigi go on adventures still though perhaps maybe Luigi still just isn't quite ready to get back into it full force however what does happen here is that it at least gives him enough leeway to get drugged back into adventures in games like mario and luigi superstar saga though as plenty of scenes in the Mario & Luigi series show Luigi is still not so confident about it and truly is just being dragged along the way so ultimately Luigi goes back into the sidelines but still keeps up with all the Mario sports games in one of these sports games is an important part of this puzzle though after coming home from another adventure Mario still has an ego boost he saved the day in Isle Delfino and takes the next couple of years to organize another tennis tournament Luigi decides to compete in the singles tournament and ultimately winds up beating Mario Mario congratulate slew eg by grinding his shoe Mario still on a power trip tells Luigi in his own way that he'll never get out from under him meanwhile in the Paper Mario universe we get a glimpse of Luigi's darker side in Super Paper Mario it can be argued that the brainwashed Luigi had been manipulated into using his negative feelings towards himself and his brother to turn into mr. L he even partially serves as the final boss being part luigi part chaos heart and part dementia oh it is fair to note that even in Super Smash Bros Brawl his dark side is hinted at as well this energy that he conjures up is said to be birthed from the dark side he embraced in his brothers shadow back in the mainstream Mario universe we see Luigi trying to step back into the main role but still ending up as a bit of a side character with playability in games like New Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Galaxy mostly though he is still regulated to being a complementary character to Mario in various sports titles and such even in the handheld titles such as the Mario and Luigi games he's shown to have little to no fame and they really express his cowardice in fact if we look at the first game superstar saga again when Mario is put out of commission and Luigi has to step up to venture out solo it is only when he's hypnotized into believing that he is Mario that he has enough bravery to go this is also a subtle nod to the inferiority complex he developed with himself as it would suggest that he believes Mario to be the pinnacle of heroism so what now is Luigi dooms to be the shadow of Mario's exploits or will the lime-green light shine on him thankfully the answer to that is yes as a starting player character in New Super Mario Bros u it's only been uphill from there 2013 was marked as the year of Luigi this meant it was time for Luigi to step up to the plates in his brother's absence this meant he was able to conquer fear and anxiety through it this meant that the quote-unquote weaker sibling finally saved a princess stopped an outbreak of viruses and most important of all he faced his ghosts once again to save his brother this time Mario doesn't thank him in jealousy this time he even says Luigi is but why Luigi's Mansion Darkmoon is the beginning of a brand new Luigi now with a paranormal pet pooch Mario Kart 8 gave us the Luigi death stare but this is more than just a stare it's a sign that Luigi has been granted more confidence in design Mario and Luigi paper jam is no different showing that Luigi while still succumbing to fear at times knows that he has to be brave and get through it for the kingdom and for the respect he deserves Mario may indeed be the true red and blue hero but Luigi has faced so many setbacks in his life that it could have ended with him back at home waiting for Mario to return and return and return and return through childhood trauma anxiety depression and inferiority complex and terror Luigi managed to overcome it all and still saved the kingdom multiple times Luigi is arguably much braver than Mario in the sense that he actually has known real fear Luigi truly is number one after all [Music] [Music]

Channel: Lockstin & Gnoggin

Views: 458,640

Keywords: Game Theory, Vsauce, Video Games, Nintendo, MArio Theory, Mario is mental, luigi is mental, luigi, super mario, luigi theory, luigis mansion, luigis mansion theory, psychology, psychology of mario, mario is evil, psychology of luigi, waluigi, super mario 64, yoshi, evolution of luigi, luigi is brave, brave, fear, creepy, mario, super mario bros, peach is dead, rosalina, dead, timeline, mario timeline

Id: zwAWJTWzoYc

Length: 15min 53sec (953 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2016