People have a tendency to villainize E. Gadd because he doesn’t express a lot of empathy and makes a fair share of tactless comments, but I definitely stand by the fact that he and Luigi have a darned good friendship going.
I mean, did E. Gadd make a goo clone out of Luigi’s DNA without his permission? Yes, but it was a clone specifically so Luigi wouldn’t be alone when ghost hunting. A clone that he felt he could only trust Luigi to train.
Heck, a lot of E. Gadd’s recent technology has revolved around making Luigi’s ghost hunting easier and safer. And that’s in addition to the fact that he…
- Details in his scientific notes how worried he was for Luigi during certain boss fights
- Calls Luigi every few minutes throughought Luigi’s Mansion 2 to make sure he’s okay, once saying he was on the verge of leaving his bunker to go out looking for him
- Has flown into a panic about Luigi’s safety, even after he technically completed his mission to save the world
- Willingly stayed in a dangerous situation he didn’t want to be in so he could help Luigi save his family
- Started choking up at the thought losing Luigi, wanting his last words to him to be an expression how proud he was
Maybe he’s a little mean sometimes, and sometimes he crosses boundaries or doesn’t listen, but it’s balanced out with efforts to help and shows of genuine concern. It’s a flawed friendship, but one of genuine respect between the two.
It feels like… an old autistic guy with hyperfixation issues who has long given up on having any sort of relationship (platonic or otherwise) that isn’t strictly professional. And then in the midst of his scientifically motivated self-isolation, along comes this awkward green undiagnosed plumber who is not only capable enough to wield his inventions like a champ, but is kindhearted and understanding enough to put up with his nonsense and still consider him a good friend.
So now E. Gadd has stopped masking around him. He has found someone he feels completely comfortable around for the first time in his long life, someone he actually cares about and thinks about so often that it’s gotten intertwined with his hyperfixation.
Again, the friendship has its flaws, but the two are clearly very good for each other. It’s a very specific flavor of wholesome that I really enjoy.