The Wrong Brother Always Loses

I played Super Mario World until my thumbs ached. Hours of it, the kind of repetitive dedication that only makes sense when you’re young and time still feels inexhaustible. Mario got all the credit—red hat, tireless optimism, the princess at the end. Luigi was just there. Taller, greener, perpetually second.

Then I saw this video of Luigi absolutely going off to a piece of music. Locked into every beat, hitting marks that felt genuinely choreographed, moving with a precision and commitment that made you think: this is his moment. He’s got it. He carries it all the way to the end—and then the universe remembers what he is and puts him right back where he started.

It’s a very short tragedy. But it lands.