It was 2007. You had just spent dozens of hours hunting down every last Power Star in the sprawling, gravity-defying universe of Super Mario Galaxy. The final boss was down. The credits rolled. You felt that sense of accomplishment only a Wii Remote and a Nunchuk could provide. Then, suddenly, a yellow screen popped up with a low-resolution image of Mario’s lankier brother and five words that changed internet culture: You can now play as Luigi.
Honestly, it felt like a prank. It wasn't, though. It was the birth of a legend.
This wasn't just a simple unlockable character notification. It was a vibe. It was a mood. The you can now play as Luigi meme eventually evolved from a literal screen in a Nintendo game into a shorthand for any time someone—or something—gets shoehorned into a situation where they don't quite belong, or when a massive effort yields a reward that feels... well, secondary.
Why This Screen Became Such a Monster
Let's be real for a second. The phrasing is incredibly blunt. It’s not "Congratulations! Luigi is here!" or "A New Hero Arrives!" It’s a dry, matter-of-fact statement. It feels like a system error or a mandate from a divine power. You can now play as Luigi. You have no choice but to acknowledge his existence.
The meme works because of the inherent "Second Brother Energy" that Luigi radiates. He's the guy who stays home to pay the mortgage while Mario is out being the face of the franchise. So, when the game tells you that after 120 stars of grueling platforming, your "reward" is to do the exact same thing again but as the green guy who runs slightly faster and slips on ice, people lost it.
It’s hilarious. It’s also kinda disrespectful to poor Luigi.
The visual of that specific yellow screen has been photoshopped into everything. You've probably seen it at the end of tragic movies, historical documentaries, or even news reports about political shifts. It implies that no matter what has just happened—no matter how world-ending or profound—the next logical step is to play through the experience again as Luigi. It’s the ultimate "and now for something completely different" moment.
The Technical Reality of the Unlock
To actually trigger the you can now play as Luigi meme in its natural habitat, you had to collect all 120 stars. It was a grind. You had to master the Sling Pods, the Dreadnought Galaxy, and those annoying Purple Coin challenges. Once you beat Bowser for the final time with that 120-star save file, the game rewarded you with the ability to start over as Luigi.
🔗 Read more: Among Us Spider-Man: Why Everyone Is Still Obsessed With These Mods
Luigi isn't just a reskin. He actually changes the physics of Super Mario Galaxy. He jumps higher. He has a longer "scuttle" jump. But he also has terrible traction. He slides around like he’s wearing socks on a waxed floor. This made the 120-star run as Luigi significantly harder for some players and easier for others. It changed the game's DNA.
Nintendo has a history of this. They love making you work for the B-team. In Super Mario 64 DS, you started as Yoshi and had to find Mario. But Galaxy felt different. The message was so loud. So yellow. So inescapable.
The Evolution into Modern Internet Humor
Memes usually die in a week. This one didn't. Why? Because it taps into a universal human experience: the "New Game+" of life.
Sometimes you finish a major project at work, and your boss basically says, "Great job, now do it again with these slightly different constraints." That is a "You can now play as Luigi" moment. It’s that feeling of realizing the cycle never ends. The internet took that specific flavor of existential dread and wrapped it in a Nintendo-themed bow.
We started seeing the screen appear in places it shouldn't be.
- The end of Oppenheimer? You can now play as Luigi.
- The finale of Breaking Bad? You can now play as Luigi.
- A major tech company lays off half its staff? You can now play as Luigi.
It became a way to mock the repetitive nature of content consumption. We live in an era of remakes, remasters, and endless sequels. When we're tired of the same old hero, the industry just swaps the color palette and tells us to go again. Luigi is the patron saint of the "reboot."
Misconceptions and the "L is Real" Connection
A lot of younger gamers get this meme confused with the "L is Real 2401" mystery from Super Mario 64. For decades, fans thought Luigi was hidden in the N64 masterpiece. They squinted at blurry textures on a fountain in the castle courtyard. They tried every weird cheat code found on early Geocities websites.
💡 You might also like: Why the Among the Sleep Mom is Still Gaming's Most Uncomfortable Horror Twist
When Super Mario Galaxy finally just handed him over with a giant text box, it felt like Nintendo was winking at the fans. It was as if they were saying, "Fine, you wanted him so bad? Here. He’s here. Now do the whole game again."
The you can now play as Luigi meme is the spiritual successor to "L is Real." It’s the payoff after ten years of waiting, delivered with the most boring, corporate phrasing imaginable. That contrast between the hype and the delivery is where the comedy lives.
How to Spot a Genuine "Luigi Post"
If you're scrolling through Twitter or Reddit and see a screen that looks like it was captured on a 480p tube TV with a bright yellow background, you've found it. The font is usually a very standard, sans-serif typeface. The image of Luigi is often his official render from the mid-2000s—hands on his face, looking slightly surprised or anxious.
It’s the anxiety that makes it work. Mario is confident. Luigi looks like he just remembered he left the stove on.
People use this format to highlight:
- Anti-climaxes: When a big event ends with a whimper.
- Repetitive cycles: When you realize you're stuck in a loop.
- Unlockable "Extras": Mocking games that offer low-effort rewards for high-effort play.
Honestly, the meme is a critique of gaming itself. We spend hundreds of hours on these digital tasks, and often, the reward is just the permission to keep playing. It’s a bit Sisyphus-esque, isn't it? Rolling the boulder up the hill, only for the boulder to turn green and start sliding around.
The Legacy of the Green Stache
Nintendo eventually leaned into the Luigi love. 2013 was officially the "Year of Luigi." They released New Super Luigi U, which was basically the you can now play as Luigi meme turned into a full retail product. It was the same levels from New Super Mario Bros. U, but harder, faster, and—you guessed it—Luigi-themed.
📖 Related: Appropriate for All Gamers NYT: The Real Story Behind the Most Famous Crossword Clue
But nothing will ever top the raw, unedited energy of that Galaxy unlock screen. It was accidental perfection. It wasn't a marketing campaign. It was just a UI choice that resonated with a generation of kids who grew up to be very weird adults on the internet.
Practical Steps for the Curious
If you want to experience the meme for yourself, you don't necessarily need to dig a Wii out of your attic. The Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on the Switch includes Galaxy.
- Step 1: Start a new file and focus on the main path.
- Step 2: Don't just rush the 60 stars needed to beat the game. You need all 120.
- Step 3: Use a guide for the Purple Coins. Some of them are genuinely soul-crushing (looking at you, Luigi's Purple Coins in the Toy Time Galaxy).
- Step 4: Defeat Bowser one last time.
- Step 5: Witness the glory of the yellow screen.
Once you’ve done it, you’ll realize why it’s a meme. There is a specific kind of exhaustion that hits when that screen pops up. You’re tired. Your thumbs hurt. And the game just looks at you and says, "Round two? Let's go."
If you're not a gamer but want to use the meme effectively, remember that context is everything. It's best used when a situation feels like it's finally over, only for a "side quest" or a "hidden difficulty" to reveal itself. It’s the ultimate "The End...?" of the digital age.
The next time you finish a long day of chores and your partner asks you to go back out to the store because they forgot milk, don't get mad. Just look them in the eye and say, "I guess I can now play as Luigi." They probably won't get it, but you'll know. And that's what matters.
To truly master the Luigi lore, go back and play the original Super Mario Galaxy on the Switch or Wii. Focus on collecting the 120 stars as Mario first to see the screen in its original context. Once you've unlocked Luigi, pay close attention to the traction mechanics—learning to "drift" with Luigi is a skill that makes the second playthrough feel like an entirely different game.