Mario's younger borther Luigi is often overlooked and unapreciated. Originally Luigi was just considerd "player 2" or "green Mario". In the Mario Bros. acrade cabinet he finaly got a name. The Japanese verison of Super Mario Bros. 2 gave him his unique ability; the fact that he jumps higher than Mario. The American version of Mario 2 (where this art is from) further codified him as being taller than his brother.
In Japanese the word for "similar" is pronounced "ru-i-gi-", which is also how a Japanese speaker would pronouce the name "Luigi".