Ridley

Ridley is a high ranking Space Pirate and one of the main villains of the Metroid franchise. He first appears in the Nintendo Entertainment System title, Metroid.

His appearance is considered similar to that of a skeletal pterodactyl, but upon further examination it resembles a rather thin, bony European dragon (with four limbs, two bat-like wings, a demon-like spear-tipped tail, and the ability to exhale blasts of fire and/or plasma). Due to his appearance and affiliation with the Space Pirates, some people have come to refer to him as a "space dragon." He also possesses a head-crest like that of a pteranodon instead of the classic twin horns of a dragon, leading others to compare him to said pterosaur. Also, despite his fearsome appearance, he is known to be quite intelligent and is shown to be capable of speech in the official e-manga. Ridley is thought to be named after Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, since the Metroid series shares many similarities with the Alien film series.

In Nintendo Land, an animatronic Ridley appears as a recurring antagonist in the Metroid Blast attraction. He also has a variant named Ice Ridley, who is unique to the game.

Appearances in other media
In Captain N: The Game Master, Ridley makes a cameo in the episode, "Gameboy". He is depicted as a large orange dragon. He also makes appearances in the Valiant adaptation of the series released for the Nintendo Comics System, where he looks more like his American artwork for Metroid, being a blue, multi-eyed, pteranodon-like alien.

Ridley appears in Nintendo Monopoly, in which he takes the place of Tennessee Avenue. He costs $180.