Luigi's Mansion

Lore & Background

The story begins when Luigi wins a mansion in a contest he never entered, lured by King Boo into a trap set for the Mario Bros. Upon arriving at the sinister-looking house in a dark forest, Luigi finds Mario missing and is saved from a ghost by Professor Elvin Gadd. E. Gadd explains that King Boo created the supernatural mansion to shelter ghosts previously captured and turned into paintings by his 'Ghost Portrificationizer' machine. As Luigi navigates four distinct areas of rooms and boss fights, he discovers Mario trapped inside a painting in a secret basement altar. To progress, Luigi must capture regular ghosts and specific 'portrait ghosts' under unique conditions, collecting treasure like coins, bills, gold bars, pearls, and gems along the way. The mansion's atmosphere shifts from dark and foreboding to bright as rooms are cleared of spirits. After the game's events, Luigi's mansion is rebuilt, but it is not explicitly stated that E. Gadd builds it on the former site, nor does the treasure collected directly determine the house's size in widely-known canon.

In Their Own Story

King Boo orchestrated the entire event by sending a false notification about a mansion contest to lure Luigi in retaliation for past defeats. Inside, Luigi uses the Poltergust 3000 vacuum cleaner and the Game Boy Horror device to navigate locked doors and find keys. He must stun ghosts with his flashlight to reveal their hearts before sucking them up, risking capture if he takes too long or loses health. After defeating boss ghosts in each area, E. Gadd restores portrait ghosts to their paintings. The climax occurs when Luigi confronts King Boo, who pulls him into a painting and creates a Bowser-like replica to fight him. Using the replica's own abilities against it, Luigi defeats King Boo and rescues an unconscious Mario from his painting. In the epilogue, the mansion vanishes as an illusion, and E. Gadd builds Luigi a new non-haunted house on the site, with its size determined by the total treasure collected.

Reader's Guide

Players control Luigi through four explorable areas separated by boss fights, plus a training room and gallery at E. Gadd's lab. The Game Boy Horror device provides a map, tracks open doors, examines objects for clues, and locates hidden Boos via beeping sounds that turn red when close. To capture ghosts, stun them with the flashlight, then vacuum them while avoiding their escape attempts. Collect three elemental medals to summon fire, water, or ice elements for puzzles and specific ghosts. Treasure is found in chests, inside objects, or by vacuuming ghosts; if hit, dropped coins must be recovered before they vanish. Completing the game unlocks 'Hidden Mansion,' featuring stronger ghosts and a mirrored layout in European/Australian versions, where traps are trickier and bosses harder. The 2018 Nintendo 3DS remake incorporates most Hidden Mansion changes across all versions but removes the mirrored mansion feature.

Did You Know?

• The game was originally revealed at Nintendo Space World 2000 as a technology demo featuring scenes like Luigi screaming in horror and ghosts playing cards that were not used in the final release.
• Luigi's Mansion is the fifth-best-selling GameCube game of all time, having sold over 3.3 million copies worldwide.
• The 'Hidden Mansion' mode in European and Australian versions features a mirrored reflection of the mansion with more difficult ghosts; this mode is included in the Nintendo 3DS remake, though it is unlocked differently
• After the events of the game, Luigi's mansion is rebuilt, but the ending does not explicitly state that E. Gadd builds it on the former site, nor does the treasure collected directly determine the house's size.
• King Boo created the mansion as an illusion using his powers to trap Mario inside a painting and lure Luigi into a confrontation.