The original Metroid game intentionally led players to believe Samus was a male cyborg (including references to the character as male in the English instruction booklet) until the very end of the game, where it was revealed that Samus is in fact an attractive young woman, making a statement about gender roles in video games at a time when heroes were predominantly male. Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, it has become tradition to depict her in much more revealing attire at the end of each game, often as a reward for satisfying certain conditions (such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game’s items collected).
While Samus is a bounty hunter, her most frequent mission during the games is to aid the Galactic Federation in defeating the Space Pirates in some capacity. She also battles creatures called Metroids throughout the series, with the exception of Metroid Fusion. In the latter, a vaccine made with Metroid DNA is integrated into her body to cure her of an X Parasite infection at the beginning of the game.
Samus rarely talks in the games, speaking only in text during some game introductions and some cutscenes in Metroid Fusion. However, her voice has never been heard, and the only sounds she makes during the games are cries of pain if she is attacked.
Physical Characteristics
Species: Human; was infused with ChozoDNA as a child, later with Metroid DNA as an adult.
Age: Unknown. In the e-manga, Samus is 3 in the year 2000 of the Cosmos Calendar; the original Metroid is set in the year 20X5.[1][2] The original Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus manuals stated that 2000 was also the year of the creation of the Galactic Federation, but as this was retconned by Metroid: Zero Mission to 2003, it is possible that Samus is then 3 in the year 2003. This would most likely put her in her mid-20s.
Homeworld: Presumably born on Earth colony K-2L, raised on Zebes by an advanced, birdlike race, known as the Chozo
Family: Father: Rod Aran / Mother: Verginia Aran / Foster parents: Old Bird and Gray Voice, who are Chozo on Zebes.
Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Officially blue, sometimes depicted as green.
Height: 1.90m (6'3")*
Weight: 90kg (198lbs, 6oz)*
*Samus's height and weight statistics are stated as such in the Metroid II instruction booklet (page 14) and Super Metroid strategy guide, but whether these figures apply to Samus with or without her suit is unspecified.
Whenever Samus goes on missions or anywhere that could be considered dangerous, she wears her Power Suit. It acts as a personal armor, and a built-in arm cannon allows her to fire various types of weaponry including beams and missiles. The basic function of the arm cannon is to fire unlimited, powerful blasts of energy at her foes. This ability is known as the "Power Beam." The suit can also be fitted with various modular upgrades which augment Samus’ natural abilities.
All the Metroid games involve searching for those power-ups for Samus, which include a variety of beams, more enhanced Power Suits, Energy Tanks, bombs, Hi-jump Boots, visors, etc. The scanner visor also sports a sophisticated cracking utility that can easily intrude upon Space Pirate computer systems (and presumably other computers of similar levels of sophistication), allowing Samus to extract information from, manipulate hardware of, and disrupt or sabotage those systems.
For transportation, Samus uses her gunship, a custom starship that made its debut in Metroid II: Return of Samus. Metroid: Zero Mission revealed that her original ship, a similar model colored red, had crashed on Zebes when she wiped out the Pirate base there. In the prologue to Metroid Fusion, Samus’ custom gunship was destroyed when she lost control of it due to delirium, and the Federation gave her a new ship – albeit with some conditions. Colored purple and sporting retractable landing gear, this ship is governed by a sentient A.I., from which Samus is supposed to take orders in Metroid Fusion. She names the ship's computer Adam, after the name of her old commander, Adam Malkovich. Within the games, the ships usually serve as a base where Samus can recharge her health and ammo, and save. In the upcoming Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus has been given a new ship similar in construction, but slightly more streamlined and less spherical. Samus will be able to call in automated air support from this ship during ground missions.
Name pronunciation
Samus's name has only been spoken aloud in four Nintendo games: Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Japanese and European versions of Metroid Prime, and on the Flash website for Nintendo's most recent Metroid game, Metroid Prime Hunters. Additionally, on a recent video on IGN, a Galactic Federation officer is heard saying her name. [ˈsæmɪsɛɹən] (IPA pronunciation). For an audio example, visit http://www.metroidhunters.com and access the Flash site. Super Smash Bros. Melee actually pronounces Samus's name two different ways in the same game. The different ways to pronounce Samus's name are: SAH-MUSS, SAM-US, SAH-MOOSE and SAME-US. Her last name has been pronounced AH-RAHN, ARE-en, UH-RAN, or AIR-IN.
In both Super Smash Bros. it is pronounced like Sah-Muss by the announcer, but the "audience" in Super Smash Bros. Melee that cheers for the characters in battle pronounce it Sam-Us. On the Metroid Prime Hunters official website it is pronounced Sam-Us and her last name was pronounced Air-In. The Galactic Federation officer also pronounces her name Sam-Us.
Biography
Template:Spoiler
Samus Aran, the legendary bounty hunter, is known best for defeating the Space Pirates and the dangerous, life-draining Metroids. She was first understood to be male, however upon the completion of her first mission, Samus revealed that she was, in fact, a woman.
Her childhood and Zero mission
File:JuvisamusP.PNGJuvenile Samus, along with two Chozo and two pictures of her older self.
The events of this section are from the Metroid e-Manga, Metroid and Zero Mission
Samus was the daughter of two colonists (known as Rodney and Virginia Aran) on the Galactic Federation colony world K-2L. When she was 3 years old, the species known only as the Space Pirates, led by Ridley, destroyed the colony, leaving Samus (with her pet, Ponchi) as the sole survivor. A pair of Chozo who had earlier been to the planet she was on (one of whom had befriended Samus) picked up the distress signal from the colony, and took Samus with them to their home on planet Zebes. They selflessly raised and loved her as their own, infusing her with their blood for her to gain their natural powers and resistance to the planet’s environments.
Eventually, she left Zebes of her own accord with the Power Suit, which had been given to her by the Chozo, seeking full military training in the Galactic Federation. However, her military career didn’t last after the death of her commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. She later became a bounty hunter, and as she sought to make a name for herself, the Space Pirates attacked Zebes seeking more information regarding the Metroids they had recently taken from Federation custody. They captured and reprogrammed the planetary control, Mother Brain, and wiped the entire Chozo population from the planet.
Samus was contacted by the Federation, and was sent as a last resort to stop the Pirates' production of Metroids. Samus succeeded, defeating Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain in the process, but as she escaped, a bomb was detonated by the Mother Brain. As Samus attempted to outrun the explosion, she was shot down by a fleet of Pirates. In the struggle she lost her Power Suit and was forced to fight her way to her old home in Chozodia. There, Samus was tested by an ancient Chozo shrine, and given the Varia Suit, which in turn activated three "unknown" items, that turned out to be the Gravity suit, the Plasma beam and the Space Jump. She then defeated the cyborg creature Mecha-Ridley (also referred to as Robo-Ridley) and escaped the Pirates’ Mothership using one of their small fighters.
After her success in defeating the Space Pirates on Planet Zebes, Samus acquires a new gunship, and searches for the remaining Space Pirate Forces. Samus comes across a distress signal being emitted by a derelict Frigate in orbit above Tallon IV. Upon investigation, she discovered it was being used as a storage and research station by the Space Pirates to study a new radioactive material known as Phazon. However, it was on the verge of destruction due to the escape of several dangerous experiments.
Samus continued to explore the failing vessel, encountering heavily injured or dead Pirates, some were discovered to be partially eaten, or had been ripped apart by the escaped creatures. The flaming carcasses of two giant Space Parasites could also be seen. Samus made her way to the power core, where she killed the final escaped creature that was the cause of the ship’s demise, the Parasite Queen. After the Queen’s death, it fell into the frigate’s power core, causing it to become critically unstable, and prompting the ship’s computer to order immediate evacuation as the vessel broke apart and fell from orbit.
Samus entered one of the frigate’s larger test labs, and was greeted with a shriek from a beast on the ceiling, which promptly destroyed the roof section of the lab, and took off. This creature was Meta Ridley, a cybernetically augmented version of the Space Pirate General whom she previously defeated on Zebes. As she made her escape while activating a nearby elevator, a power surge disabled many functions of her Power Suit.
Samus escaped the frigate to the planet Tallon IV in pursuit of Meta Ridley, discovering the ruins of a Chozo civilization, destroyed by the poisonous Phazon that came from a mysterious meteor that crashed into the planet an undetermined time ago. The Space Pirates, led by Meta Ridley, built a base above and below the surface of the planet, testing Phazon not only on their own kind, but also on Metroids. The Chozo foresaw Samus’s arrival, and knowing they would perish before she arrived, left behind 12 Chozo Artifacts. She would need these artifacts to enter the crater of the meteor, which was the source of the Phazon. The crater had been sealed to prevent further contamination. While searching for these artifacts, Samus regains and upgrades the Systems of her Powersuit, using both technology left by the Chozo and some stolen from the pirates themselves. Samus also destroys several Pirates mutated by Phazon (ie: Phazon Elite etc)and virtually wipes out the entire force of Space Pirates. Samus also gains a better understanding of the Space Pirates through logs and databanks found in the Pirate Bases, as well as gaining a grasp of their technologic intuitiveness. Samus encounters various Pirate Troopers outfitted with Reverse Engineered Weapons based on her own but weaker than her chozo made ones, and discovers logs suggesting that the Pirates even attempted to copy her Power Suit, and Morphball abilities, though both attempts ended in failure. (space pirates attempting to use a reverse engineered morphball ended up being crushed.)
Samus, eventually finding all 12 Chozo artifacts, made her way to the Chozo temple, where she was confronted by Meta Ridley, who was there to kill Samus and gain access to the Phazon in the meteor beneath the temple. After his defeat by Samus, the wounded Ridley was destroyed by the Chozo statues, which guarded the entrance of the impact crater. Samus used the artifacts to open the way to the core of the meteor that held the source of all Phazon. Samus fought her way through the caverns of the crater, and descovered the source of the Phazon: Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime had the ability to create Phazon, but its true purpose was unknown. The epic battle in which Samus defeated Metroid Prime, caused the meteor to become unstable.
With the defeat of the Space Pirates and the destruction of Metroid Prime, Samus escaped the collapsing meteor crater and left the planet so that it could recover. However, Metroid Prime was not destroyed as was first thought. Having absorbed the Phazon Suit upgrade from Samus (which Samus acquired by killing a Phazon-altered Omega Pirate), Prime used this new power, along with Samus's genetic code, to create a new form for itself: Dark Samus.
Battle of the Hunters
Samus, shown with the 6 new hunters in the background.
Soon after the supposed "death" of Metroid Prime, a telepathic message was intercepted by Federation empaths. The mysterious voice called itself a creature known as an Alimbic. The message read, "The Secret to the Ultimate Power lies within the Alimbic Cluster." The Federation was worried that this "Ultimate Power, would fall into the wrong hands, so they contracted Samus to recover this "Ultimate Power," or if it was uncontrollable, keep it hidden or destroy it. However, this message was also heard by six other bounty hunters: Kanden, the genetically engineered supersoldier; Spire, the rock creature searching for clues to the death of his race; Weavel, the crippled Space Pirate with a cybernetic suit; Sylux, the secretive hunter who greatly despises the Galactic Federation; Noxus, the spiritual being who brings justice to evildoers; and Trace, a member of the hated Kriken species, who will do anything to find a world to conquer.
All of these hunters traveled to the Alimbic Cluster to search for eight Octoliths, the key to the Ultimate Power. The Octoliths were spread out across two planets and two space stations; Alinos, the fiery planet with many ancient Alimbic ruins, Arcterra, the frozen planet, Celestial Archives, a station partially destroyed by a giant impact, and Vesper Defense Outpost, a weapons storage and development facility frozen over by a toxic spill. The Octoliths were sealed in another dimension, in rooms known as Stronghold Voids. The Stronghold Voids required three unique artifacts to obtain entrance. The two strongest Alimbic machines guarded the Octoliths, known as Cretaphid and Slench. Once Samus defeated the creatures, their Octolith was hers. However, it would also activate the Alimbic defense system, and she had to escape within a certain time limit, defeating Alimbic Guardians along the way, or risk being instantly destroyed. There was also the risk of other hunters stealing Samus's Octoliths and having to track the hunters down to retrieve them. However, as Samus searches for the Octoliths, she uncovers telepathic messages and logs left behind by the Alimbic telling of an unstoppable monster, "Gorea". The Alimbic, realizing that they were the only hope of stopping Gorea's rampage, engaged in a battle against the creature, resulting in the near extinction of their species. Just as they were on the edge of defeat, the few remaining warriors, the last of the Alimbic, activated the Alimbic Cannon, which is really just a giant dimensional transporter to seal Gorea away in another dimension from which there was no escape. In doing this however, they were forced to give up their own physical existence. While attempting to use their advanced technology to defeat the creature, the Alimbic developed the Omega Cannon, which is the only thing capable of damaging Gorea.
Samus returned to Alinos, used the eight Octoliths to activated the Alimbic Cannon, and opened the Infinity Void, freeing the Prison Ship Oubliette, and freeing Gorea. Gorea was the one who truly sent the telepathic message in an attempt to gain release. Samus traveled to Oubliette to stop Gorea once and for all.
Upon entering the prison, Samus was surprised to find the other 6 hunters already there, using their weaponry in a vain attempt to free what they though was the Ultimate Power from a shell-like prison. Unfortunately, their attempt did nothing but anger Gorea. The "shell" turned out the be the Seal Sphere, Gorea's source of energy and what the Alimbics used to trap Gorea. Gorea suddenly appeared, retrieving the Sphere and lashing out six tentacles, stealing the hunters' weaponry and leaving them for dead. Samus defeated Gorea after a tough battle, but after shooting some symbols on a wall in a specific order, Gorea was revived in a new, almost inpenetrable form, and Samus was transported to another battlefield, for one last battle with Gorea. Samus used the powerful Alimbic weapon called the Omega Cannon (which is possibly the "Ultimate Power" that is referred to in the message. It is also the only weapon able to damage Gorea) to defeat it once and for all, its subsequent explosion destroying Oubliette. Samus escaped in her gunship. The player can also see, coming out of the explosion, six points of light of the different colors of the weapons (the same 6 colors as the other hunter's weapons). These are the other bounty hunters escaping, who recovered in time to escape the blast (it is known at least one of them will be appearing in future games, but it has not been revealed which). In the final cut scene the Alimbic Warriors who sealed Gorea away appear telepathically to Samus, and thank her for destroying the creature that they fought for so long.
Samus's affinity bonus allows her missiles to home in on her opponents, which makes her a very dangerous hunter to play. Her morph ball is the fastest alternate form in the game, strongest as well if used right (Though, from a technical standpoint, it is only third strongest). It damages foes by using its boost and laying morph ball bombs. The term "alt-spammer" has been given to players who stay in their alternate form the majority of the match. Due to the speed, damage, and versatility the morph ball is capable of, Samus users are often called "Spamus" instead.
Some time later the Galactic Federation contacted Samus, hiring her for a search and rescue mission. Federation troops pursuing a pirate vessel had gone missing on an alien world and Samus was to seek out any survivors. Tracking their last known signal, she came across the strange planet covered by a dark cloud called Aether. Upon entering the atmosphere, Samus’ gunship was struck by a powerful burst of lightning, disabling it and forcing her to crash land in a small cave somewhere on the planet. Exploration of the alien world revealed that the crashed marines had created a base, that was apparently short-lived, their forces decimated by never before seen creatures. As she worked through the remains of the makeshift base, she was attacked by the animated remains of a squad of federation soldiers. Soon, she came across a few stores of Phazon, and a creature in blue draining the Phazon, nearly identical to her in appearance. This creature was Dark Samus, a being constructed from Samus’ lost Phazon suit, the remains of the defeated Metroid Prime, and even some of Samus’ own DNA.
This dark doppelgänger led her on a chase through a gate to a darker world, where she was attacked by strange creatures and had some of the equipment from her Varia Suit stolen and was forced back into Light Aether immediately afterward. When Samus escaped to the surface, she found the wrecked Federation ship, as well as the remains of the soldiers. The Ing revealed themselves to her and attacked. When she defeated them and acquired a missile launcher from the Federation’s equipment, she made her way to a structure much like a temple in the center.
This was when she met the Luminoth, a species of beings that originally called the planet home, but now hid away in stasis pods until the day the Ing and Dark Aether would be no more. From their leader, she learned that because of a meteorite crashing into the planet, strange creatures had formed called the Ing. When the meteorite hit, it apparently ripped open an inter-dimensional rift that formed a new "Dark Dimension" an evil planetary counterpart known as Dark Aether, creating dimensional rifts that threatened to tear the planet in half, while poisoning anything organic that ventured in. They enlisted Samus’ aid to save their world, by pushing back the Ing and recovering the stolen light energy from Dark Aether. However, this would not be an easy task.
She traveled the lands of Aether, often warping to its dark twin, while the Ing continued to lead attacks against her and Dark Samus continued to hinder her path in any way it could. Samus would gather weapons and tools used by the Luminoth, compatible with her suit due to trade of technology with the Chozo, to fight the Ing, in the process encountering the Space Pirates and their failing Phazon mining expedition and eventually regaining her stolen equipment from certain Ing that had learned to use them.
When she managed to restore the 3 temples of light in Aether, the Luminoth gave her their ultimate creation, infusing her Power Armor with pure light, giving her the protection she would need to face Emperor Ing. After Samus defeated the Emperor Ing and recovered the last of Dark Aether’s planetary energy, Dark Aether started to collapse. However, Dark Samus refused to let her leave and, powered-up to the point of being unstable, attempted to destroy Samus. The real Samus prevailed by using her charge beam to redirect Dark Samus’s Phazon attacks and quickly escaped from Dark Aether before it disappeared entirely. During this battle, Dark Samus's suit begins to deteriorate, and her face becomes visible, being nearly identical to that of the face of Metroid Prime's secondary form.
With their world safe, the Luminoth were released from their stasis pods and gave their thanks to Samus as she returned their light power to them. Her ship finished its self-repair cycle, and she soon departed. However, the Metroid Prime life form proved to be resilient as ever, as while Samus was departing, blue particles resembling Phazon began assembling in the atmosphere of Aether, eventually retaking the form of Dark Samus.
With the Federation now aware of what Metroids were capable of, they hired Samus yet again. This time, they directed her to the uninhabited planet SR-388. It was this planet where it was believed the Chozo created the Metroids, though the knowledge of doing so and why was unknown at the time. Samus had to fight through the natural beasts and life that had become aggressive as of late due to the activity of the Metroid queen, as well as alter the environment to continue on her quest.
As she gathered more tools and weapons, she began to fight her way through the swarms of Metroids in new and more dangerous forms to face the queen, and in a difficult fight, eventually destroyed her. As she began to leave, she came across one last Metroid egg that hatched just as she arrived. The newborn Metroid, imprinting on Samus, mistook her for its mother and floated around her, chirping affectionately. Samus couldn’t bring herself to destroy the confused Metroid hatchling, despite it being the very last one on the planet. She ultimately decided to take it with her to the scientific research space colony Ceres, for research.
Very shortly after Samus left, the space colony was attacked. When she returned, she found the computer systems down and the researchers dead at their stations. Also, the hatchling was missing from its glass canister mounting. As she searched the colony, she found the hatchling, which was held by Ridley. There was a brief confrontation, during which Samus discovered she was too underpowered to defeat this new Ridley. Samus, her suit's power levels dangerously low, could only watch as Ridley escaped with the hatchling Metroid, and the colony's self-destruct systems were set off, forcing her to evacuate (it is possible to have Ridley flee by damaging him enough).
In the aftermath of the station’s destruction, Ridley escaped to the closest planet, Samus following close behind. It was the former homeworld of Samus Aran and the Chozo that raised her: Zebes. Samus wandered the ruins of the planet, still charred and decaying from the time bomb the Mother Brain had detonated years before, discovering the ruins of the old Space Pirate base that she had explored on her last visit to Zebes. For some reason, it still had power. With the recovery of her old Morph Ball ability, a mysterious security device was activated. Upon returning to the surface, Samus discovered that full power had been mysteriously restored to the facility, and that the Space Pirates had returned to salvage and rebuild the remains of their base and begin their work again in secret.
Once more, Samus traveled the planet above and below the surface, searching for the Metroid hatchling through areas that were rebuilt or newly formed in the many years since Samus destroyed Mother Brain, as well as the wreckage of an abandoned spaceship. Samus hunted down Kraid, Phantoon, and Draygon, destroying them all in the process. Finally, Samus encountered Ridley and he too was defeated. However, when Samus entered the next room, there was only a broken container which had previously carried the hatchling. Now, the only other place to go was Tourian, which, due to the defeat of the four bosses, could now be entered via an elevator in Crateria.
On the way through their planetside HQ, she found dried out remains of monsters and Space Pirates alike, completely drained of their life force. She was then attacked by a massive Metroid which started to drain her energy at an alarming rate. It stopped seconds before killing her and released her from its hold, floating a bit confused as if it recognized her, before running off. It was in fact the Metroid hatchling Samus had previously saved - now transformed by the huge influx of energy into the eponymous "Super Metroid." Samus managed to get to a recharge station, taking the time to recover before seeking out Mother Brain’s chamber. The laser and lava trap having been restored, Samus fought her way through and shattered Mother Brain’s case, laying waste to the leader to destroy her once and for all.
Or so she thought. The room locked as Mother Brain rose with a new exo-skeleton. Gigantic and fierce, the combined power of all of Samus’ weapons had little effect on her. Mother Brain poured its mental power into a beam, which might have destroyed Samus completely had it not been for the interference of Super Metroid, who attacked Mother Brain and drained her energy. The Metroid then clung to Samus and began to transfer the energy into her body, wanting to save its “mother”. However, Mother Brain began to regenerate, and began attacking the Metroid as it transferred its energy to Samus, weakening it severely. With Samus’s health restored, the Metroid prepared to attack Mother Brain again, but one powerful blow struck the weakened Metroid down, destroying it completely. Samus began to pulsate with a blue light, and discovered that she now possessed an immensely powerful weapon- the Hyper Beam. Unleashing a series of destructive blasts that Mother Brain could not defend against, the Hyper Beam destroyed the exoskeleton and made Mother Brain topple to the floor.
The final blow was struck, and Mother Brain was reduced to ash. Her death set off the self-destruct system, leaving Samus with only a few minutes to escape. With seconds to spare, saving the animals that had helped her along the way, she made it back to her ship and launched into space once more. This time, the destruction erupted straight from the core, and the entire planet was completely destroyed, leaving nothing but dust in the wake of the explosion as Samus took off into space with a chance to finally rest.
The New Threat
File:Fusionsuit.PNGSamus wearing her final Fusion Suit. After absorbing the SA-X, Samus regains her orange suit colors and the Ice Beam.
Time passed, and the Federation once more called upon Samus’ services. A seemingly simple assignment; escort researchers through SR-388. With the Metroids eradicated, there was nothing left to control the powerful, and previously unknown X Parasite. They attacked, with Samus doing her best to fend them off. Samus was defenseless against the parasite and, unbeknownst to her, Samus was infected. An evacuation of the planet was made, but Samus lost consciousness. Luckily an escape pod jettisoned Samus before her ship crashed into an asteroid. She was quickly taken to a nearby Federation research station.
Before becoming infected, Samus did not have time to remove her Power Suit, which was still physically fused with her body. Doctors could only surgically remove portions of it. The parasite was gaining control little by little. In desperation, the doctors found that an infusion of Super Metroid DNA (taken from the metroid hatchling) could not only resist the parasite, but kill it off completely.
Samus made a rapid recovery but was left permanently infused with the cell structure of the very species she had hunted to extinction. The Federation gave her a new space ship, provided that she followed the orders of her new commanding officer, an artificial intelligence built into the ship’s computer. She nicknamed the computer “Adam”, in remembrance of a previous CO she served under during her time in the Federation.
Samus was immediately given a new mission: to investigate the cause of a mysterious explosion back on the space station. When she arrived, a strange power surge prevented her from leaving. Samus still had a job to do, and began to explore the dead space station under the guidance of Adam. Then came the frightening discovery: The X Parasite that had infected her Power Suit was now controlling the remains of it, containing all of the strength she had when she last left SR388. The X Parasite had set off a Power Bomb in the lab containing the X parasites, freeing them. She was trapped on the station with a rapidly reproducing parasite that controlled all of the systems as well as her most powerful armor.
However, she was not without hope. It was discovered that the Metroid cells infused within Samus could absorb X Parasites to heal her or increase her abilities (much like the Chozo upgrades for her Power Suit). With a new hope, and the careful guidance of Adam, Samus sought to halt the spread of the parasite.
With strength comes weaknesses. Infused with the Metroid cells, which made her vulnerable to ice, the Parasite mimicking her, now dubbed the SA-X, sought to destroy her at every possible turn. Shortly, however, the tables began to turn as Samus slowly reclaimed many of her former abilities and even attained some new ones such as the Diffusion missile. As Samus becomes more powerful however, Adam begins to act suspiciously critical of Samus’ progress, as she often receives updates ahead of schedule. He also cautions her against engaging the SA-X, claiming that she cannot defeat it, even when she receives powerful upgrades such as the Plasma Beam- the purpose of this is to prevent her from trying to destroy it, although she does not realize this at the time.
After seeking out the SA-X, Samus stumbled upon a terrible secret: The Federation had been running a Metroid cloning and breeding program. On the way out, the SA-X had sought out its natural predator, and Samus escaped from this small research lab as after some Metroids broke free to attack the SA-X, the lab jettisoned and exploded in space. On her way back from the destroyed Metroid facility she was attacked by an X Parasite that had copied Ridley's remains. After Samus was able to defeat it in a tense battle she was finally able to reach a computer terminal to contact Adam. It was then she found out the SA-X had replicated itself, and there were as many as ten throughout the station. She also found out the Federation was coming to capture the SA-X and the rest of its brethren. Samus knew that the coming Federation crews would be no match for the X and would only be used by the parasites to spread throughout the galaxy, and she knew that she could not force the ships to turn back. Samus vowed to somehow destroy the station in order to prevent the X from escaping and destroying civilization, even at what she believes is the highly probable cost of her own life. Before she could leave the computer room, she realized that she was locked inside. Adam apologized to Samus for trapping her, saying that he was following orders to confine her. Enraged, Samus responded by saying that the AI was nothing more than a soulless machine incapable of living up to the real Adam, whom she claimed had sacrificed his life for the greater good. It replied that "Adam" was wrong to think that sacrifice was always necessary, and said that if Samus destroyed the station with her on it, the X would remain on the planet.
Samus and Adam discovered a way to totally destroy every last X: by setting the station's course to plow into SR-388’s atmosphere and self-destruct, the planet and station would be vaporized ending the X threat once and for all. Samus proceeded to the control room in order to do this, but before she could, she was ambushed by one of the SA-X for one last battle. Samus defeats the SA-X, and again when it turns into a monster, but the Core-X of the SA-X manages to escape before she can fuse with it. Finally in the control room, Samus sets a collision course for SR-388 and makes her escape to her ship before the destruction of the station.
Samus reaches the hangar, and upon discovering her ship is nowhere to be found, an Omega Metroid, the most powerful Metroid besides the Queen, attacks her. Samus, unable to use her Ice Beam, is at a severe disadvantage, and is critically wounded. But help is on the way, and from an unexpected source: The SA-X parasite that got away earlier returns and attacks the Metroid before surrendering itself to her in order to leave the station. As Metroids are able to destroy X easily, the SA-X is defeated, but Samus fuses with the SA-X, and regains the ability to use the Ice Beam. Samus then defeats the monster, and her ship arrives. She escapes just as the station, falling out of orbit, crashes into SR-388. The entire planet explodes, thus eradicating the X.
In the end, Samus realizes that the computer really had Adam's personality, and that it was truly wise. Samus expresses concern about the future in the ending. While the greatest threat to galactic civilization has been destroyed, she believes that she will be held accountable, and possibly be prosecuted, for the destruction of SR-388 and the space station. However, Adam reassures that someone will understand, and reveals that he guided the ship to the station with the help of the Etecoons and Dachoras.
Appearances in games
The following Metroid games have featured Samus Aran as the main character (Not including re-releases or demos, and also presented in apparent chronological order where applicable):
Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Orange Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus's mask.)[3]
Nintendo’s Tetris (1989, NES) (Cameo, appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)[3]
F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy)(Cameo, appears cheering before Course 7)[3]
Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his rock defense he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offensive segment of the game.)[4]
Animal Crossing: Wild World (2006, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying “Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?” Also you can get a 1x1 item that is a Metroid in a case, when you touch it it glows and plays a small clip of Metroid music.)
Geist (2005) (Samus’ helmet is seen in a women’s locker room[3]
Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetriminoes; A difficulty level on Standard mode is Metroid Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen.)
In the game Super Smash Bros., Samus is best classified as a heavy-weight fighter, though not as heavy as Donkey Kong or Bowser. Her flying kicks are among the most powerful in the game. In addition, she can use an array of projectiles inspired by her weapons from the Metroid series, including the Power Beam, Screw Attack, and Morph Ball Bombs. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Samus is designed for defensive play and setting traps. Her powerful projectile weapons and simple but brutal melee moves help her excel at this, and her trademark Screw Attack and Bomb abilities allow her to escape many predicaments. The bomb attack can be used to cover great horizontal distances without much loss of elevation by timing the bombs to explode at the precise moment to make Samus jump up, similar to the bomb jumps in previous games. New attacks include her standard missile and a less powerful homing missile. She is also one of the few characters that can wall-jump in Super Smash Bros. Melee (others include, but are not limited to Mario, Young Link, Sheik, Fox, Falco, and Captain Falcon). She is also capable of using her grapple beam in midair, which may enable her to catch the edge of the field and survive if the timing is right. Not all fields will allow her to do this, however. (Link and Young Link are the only other characters in the game capable of doing this.)
Samus has also been announced for the upcoming game Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Nintendo's Wii. Screenshots reveal Samus to be playable with or without her suit, the latter dubbed "Zero Suit Samus." In this form (based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid: Zero Mission, and also in Metroid Prime Hunters), Samus wears a blue, skin-tight suit and no headgear. Her weapon of choice, rather than being the traditional arm cannon, is a handgun that can turn at will into an energy whip. This attire and weapon is similar to that which was used in a part of Metroid: Zero Mission, in which Samus is stripped of her Power Suit. The official website states that, rather than Zero Suit Samus being a different playable character from Samus, "Samus will 'remove' her Power Suit under certain conditions."[5]
Other appearances
Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books from Valiant Comics, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these comics, Samus, who did not appear in the animated series the comic was based on even though Mother Brain was the show’s primary villain; Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her,"[6] filled in the void left by Simon Belmont and Mega Man, who did not appear in the comic due to the characters being owned by Konami and Capcom, respectively. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, despite his own affections for Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story “Breakout”, she’d prefer to win Kevin’s affections fairly.
Samus also starred in her own comic story, apparently set in the same continuity, titled “Deceit du Jour”; it was the only ten-page story to have the Metroid umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another bounty hunter, “Big Time” Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging her own Arm cannon before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus’ escape.
Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid[7] and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime.[8].
A chibi doll in Samus's likeness drove the plot for a Mario VS Wario comic that was published prior to the Super Metroid comic.
Samus was also set to appear in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, to taste the player's coffee once instead of one of the E. Gadd appearances; this was changed, however. [1]
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References
In addition to information taken from the Metroid games themselves, the instruction booklets of the NA and Japanese versions of the games were also used as references for this article.