About

Luigi's Mansion is a Nintendo game featuring Super Mario character main sidekick Luigi. The action-adventure game was released in 2001 and follows Luigi as he explores a haunted mansion to rescue Mario and vacuum up ghosts. The game was a critical success, and went on to garner a cult following that spawned several internet memes, including Wega, Maltigi, Gooigi and Scared Luigi. In 2024, the game saw renewed interest after internet users shared jokes comparing Luigi's Mansion to the name of the CEO Shooter, Luigi Mangione.

History

Luigi's Mansion was launched by Nintendo for GameCube on November 18th, 2001, marking the Mario sidekick's third time as the main character in a video game. The was previously demoed at Nintendo Space World 2000 to show off the GameCube's upgraded graphics.^[1]

On July 31st, 2011, YouTuber^[2] vquant posted a trailer for Luigi's Mansion, gathering over 81,000 views in 13 years. The trailer shows Luigi approaching and entering a spooky-looking haunted house with a ghost vacuum strapped to his back.

Luigi's Mansion has developed a cult following over the past two decades and has inspired sequels like Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Luigi’s Mansion 3.

Gameplay

The game opens with Luigi winning a mansion in a contest he never entered. Upon arriving, he discovers that the mansion is haunted and that his brother, Mario, is trapped inside. Luigi takes the help of Professor E. Gadd to wield a giant portable vacuum that captures ghosts and traverses through the mansion's puzzles to find Mario.

The gameplay focuses on ghost-hunting mechanics and environmental interaction, with players using a flashlight to stun ghosts before vacuuming them. The game features a dynamic mansion map with secrets, keys, and boss ghosts in themed areas.

Reception

Upon its release, Luigi’s Mansion garnered praise for its innovative gameplay and high-quality graphics, but it also saw some criticism for how short the game was. IGN applauded the game for its “brilliantly fun” ghost-catching mechanics and environmental interactions, though they lamented its short playtime,^[1] a sentiment that was echoed by GameSpot, who also critiqued the game's brevity, and eventually named it one of the most disappointing games of 2001.^[3]

Online Presence

On December 23rd, 2015, DeviantArt user Dez posted fan art of Luigi from the game, calling it a "Christmas Classic" and gathering an unknown number of likes.

On September 16th, 2016, Twitter^[6] user @uppipupepo posted a My Hero Academia crossover fanart that gathered over 1,000 likes in eight years.

On November 4th, 2019, Twitter^[7] user @perepereden shared a video of gameplay from Luigi's Mansion, showing him beating up a ghost. The caption read, "nintendo: luigi is scared by all these ghosts! meanwhile luigi," and the post gathered over 20,000 likes in five years.

nintendo: luigi is scared by all these ghosts!meanwhile luigi: pic.twitter.com/KAsGA9Dm6h

— pereden @ ff14 vortex (@perepereden) November 4, 2019

Luigi Mangione Connection

In 2024, several internet users posted memes and jokes about how the suspected UHC shooter Luigi Mangione's name sounds a lot like Luigi's Mansion. X^[4] user @fromsoftgirl gathered over 100,000 likes on a December 9th, 2024 tweet making the connection.

Also on December 9th, X^[5] user @boneGPT wrote, "imagine getting killed by a n**** named luigi's mansion," gathering over 4,000 likes in a day.

Related Memes

Wega

Wega also known as Wega Bros or Wega Storm, refers to a hue-shifted image of Luigi from the video game franchise Super Mario. The image shows Luigi with a shocked expression and purple skin, and originates from the cover of the 2001 Nintendo game Luigi's Mansion. The image is often accompanied by a distorted scream sound and is used for bait-and-switch videos, or to spam quote tweets and replies on Twitter.

I have several questions about this video pic.twitter.com/zk6jo4goSo

— GP (@GP12810) October 2, 2022

Gooigi

Gooigi is a playable doppelgänger of Luigi introduced in Nintendo's port of Luigi's Mansion to the Nintendo 3DS. However, it was not until the E3 presentation for the upcoming video game Luigi's Mansion 3 that Gooigi became known to a wide audience. Gooigi is made of slime and is a tool players will use to help solve puzzles. After the character's introduction at the E3 presentation, social media users quickly made jokes about the character and its name, often with innuendo.

Search Interest

External References