Samus Aran

Samus Aran
Metroid series character
File:Metroidprime3 1.jpg Samus Aran in her Varia Suit, as she appears in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
First game	Metroid (1986)
Created by	Makoto Kanou

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran), is the fictional protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is a bounty hunter armed with a cybernetic power suit with a number of advanced technologies built into it. She hunts aliens called the "Space Pirates" and energy-draining alien parasites called "Metroids", while attempting to complete missions given by the Galactic Federation. Since Metroid Prime, Samus has been voiced by Jennifer Hale, however Alésia Glidewell provided her voice in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Her gender was unusual for a game protagonist of her time; Metroid 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 athletic young woman. Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, most games in the series offer depictions of her in more revealing attire, usually as a reward for satisfying certain conditions (such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of items collected). Samus is considered one of the earliest and most significant female protagonists in the history of video games.

Samus' creation is usually credited to Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi, but the original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanou. She was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.

Concept and creation

According to the developers, the Metroid franchise is modeled largely upon the 1979 film Alien, and Samus's design was based on the film's heroine, Ellen Ripley. Samus did not gain her identity as a female bounty hunter until partway through development of the original Metroid, when one of the staff suggested that it would be "kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman". The idea was put to a vote and was worked into the game.

Characteristics

Samus' main distinguishing feature is her Power Suit, a modular suit of armor created for her by a fictional race called the Chozo. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect her from adverse environments and enemy fire. During gameplay, the suit can be upgraded to various other forms for added protection, and receive various power-ups which augment her abilities, including Space Jump boots, energy tanks, the Screw Attack, and numerous modifications to her weapons.

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Samus' gunship in Super Metroid

For transportation, Samus uses her distinctive gunship. She has had several gunships throughout the series, more than one of which has been described as a custom Hunter-class starship made especially for her by the Galactic Federation. The first appearance of Samus' gunship was in Metroid II: Return of Samus, and the differences in the gunship's design, with very few exceptions, have been cosmetic in nature. The sole exception to this is Metroid Fusion, as in the opening scene her ship is destroyed and she is given a radically different ship as a replacement.

Like many protagonists of Nintendo's first party adventure games, Samus rarely speaks (although she has extensive written monologues and dialogues in Metroid Fusion, and has spoken taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl when wearing the Zero Suit).

Appearances

Within the Metroid games, the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran, is best known for defeating the Space Pirates and the dangerous, life-draining Metroids. At the start of Metroid, Samus' gender is not specified (although the instruction manual references Samus as a male several times), but she reveals herself as a woman in the game's ending.

Little is known of Samus' past, yet details of her beginnings can be gathered from various sources, including the instruction manual of Metroid Prime, and the Metroid e-manga. Her biography in Super Smash Bros. Melee states that she was orphaned during a Space Pirate raid on her homeworld of K-2L. It also states that she was subsequently rescued by the bird-like Chozo race and was infused with "Chozo blood". Information in Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Prime strongly suggests that she was raised on the planet Zebes by the Chozo, who referred to her as "the Hatchling", and that she became their most prized warrior.

The official Metroid e-manga details the events of Samus' childhood on the planetary colony of K-2L and depicts the Space Pirate attack which resulted in the deaths of all the colonists, including Samus' parents, Rodney and Virginia. The 3 year-old Samus miraculously survived and was found by the Chozo, who took the orphaned girl back to their home planet of Zebes where she would be raised. The subsequent volume of the e-manga portrays Samus' upbringing on Zebes, and her training with the Chozo there. In order to survive against the harsh environment of Zebes, the Chozo infused Samus with their DNA, providing her with enhanced physical abilities. As she grew older, the Chozo elders armored Samus in her Power Suit with which they developed and trained her as a warrior, eventually sending the hunter out to fulfill their legacy and become protector of the galaxy.

In Metroid, Samus is sent by the Galactic Federation to stop the Space Pirates' production of Metroids after the Federation's own attempts had failed. The original game ends with the defeat of the Space Pirates, but Metroid: Zero Mission continues the plot when Samus' gunship is shot down, forcing her to infiltrate the Pirates' mothership in order to escape.

Metroid Prime chronicles Samus' mission to Tallon IV, where she once again encounters the Space Pirates and discovers a dangerous energy source called Phazon. She also fights and defeats Metroid Prime, the source of Phazon on Tallon IV. NOTE: Metroid Prime has never been proven to be the source of Phazon on Tallon IV. It has been speculated that the metroid entered the asteroid that delivered the phazon to Tallon IV before or after said asteroid hit Tallon IV, and then became mutated by the phazon so much that it and the phazon became dependant upon one another.

In Metroid Prime Hunters, Samus is charged with locating eight artifacts known as "Octoliths", which are touted as the key to "Ultimate Power". However, she must first battle against six other galactic bounty hunters, as well as various other enemies and the guardians of the relics.

In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus is sent to the unstable planet Aether for a search and rescue mission. She soon discovers a doppelgänger of herself, Dark Samus, formed from the remains of Metroid Prime and Samus' Phazon Suit. Samus works to restore the planet's energy, guided by the indigenous Luminoth and battling against the powerful Ing.

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Dark Samus corrupts Samus and several other bounty hunters with Phazon, as well as corrupting several planets with Phazon seeds called "Leviathans". Samus must destroy these seeds to stop the Phazon from spreading, as well as her fellow bounty hunters when they cannot handle their corruption.

In Metroid II: Return of Samus, Samus is sent to planet SR-388 to eradicate the Metroid species once and for all. After defeating the Metroid Queen, she comes across a single Metroid egg that hatches just as she arrives. The newborn Metroid quickly imprints on Samus and follows her around "like a confused child". Unable to bring herself to destroy the hatchling, Samus instead takes it with her to the research space colony Ceres. The scientists there research the infant Metroid for its energy producing capabilities.

Super Metroid picks up where Metroid II leaves off. Shortly after leaving the space colony, Samus receives a distress call from the colony. She returns to find the scientists dead and the Metroid hatchling missing. She encounters Ridley, who steals the hatchling and takes it back to planet Zebes. Samus fights her way through the planet, eventually defeating Ridley and three other bosses, then continues on to battle a cybernetically enhanced Mother Brain, who nearly defeats her before being attacked by the Metroid hatchling. Mother Brain destroys the Metroid in retaliation, then Samus defeats Mother Brain and escapes as the planet self-destructs.

Metroid Fusion takes place after the events of Super Metroid. In this game, Samus returns to SR-388, where she is infected by the X Parasite and nearly dies. She is infused with Metroid DNA and recovers, and is then sent on a new mission to determine the cause of an explosion aboard a research station orbiting SR-388. She receives orders from an artificial intelligence aboard her new gunship, which she nicknames "Adam" after her deceased commanding officer. Much of Samus' past is revealed in this game, mostly through narration by Samus herself. Throughout her mission, she is stalked by her doppelgänger, the SA-X.

Suitless/Zero Suit Samus

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Samus without her helmet in one of the ending sequences of Metroid Prime.

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Samus in her Zero Suit in one of the ending sequences of Metroid: Zero Mission.

While Samus is almost always seen wearing her Power Suit, every canon game in the series gives the player a chance to see her outside of the suit. This tradition began in the first Metroid game, where her suit was used primarily as a way to keep her gender a surprise. By completing the game quickly, players could see Samus in a two-piece bikini. (Certain passwords in the NES version would also let the player play Samus in a purple leotard, though this had no impact on gameplay.) Since then, each game has similarly challenged players to complete the game quickly and/or collect a specific percentage of items. Players are then rewarded with special endings that include images or movies of Samus opening her visor, removing her helmet, or completely removing the Power Suit briefly. In recent games, Samus's bikini was replaced by a less revealing and more functional blue bodysuit, dubbed the "Zero Suit."

Super Metroid was the first game to depict Samus' Power Suit breaking apart when the player ran out of energy; similar incarnations of this scene appear in both Fusion and Zero Mission. Zero Mission also includes a section where the player must control the heroine after she has lost her armor. Unlike the original Metroid (where her altered appearance was merely a cosmetic Easter egg), this lack of armor plays a central role in Zero Mission, increasing the amount of damage Samus takes and changing her available weaponry. Samus is again pictured wearing only her Zero Suit at the end of Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. During Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, she wears the Zero Suit at the beginning of the game, and again in a special ending. She wears her Power Suit throughout the rest of the game, only occasionally removing her helmet during certain cutscenes.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Solid Snake is briefed by Mei Ling about Samus' Zero Suit abilities. According to Mei Ling, Samus' training with the Chozo has made her a "super athlete" with agility and speed that no "normal human" could hope to match. This characteristic is implemented in Brawl's gameplay, as Samus is both lighter and quicker without her Power Suit.

Appearances outside the Metroid series

Being a well-known Nintendo character, Samus has made numerous appearances in other titles and media.

Super Smash Bros. series

Samus is a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series of multiplayer fighting games, where she can use her array of weapons in combat against characters from other video games. She is identified throughout the series by her trademark icon, the Screw Attack symbol. The Metroid II version of her gunship appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii, respectively. A Screw Attack item is also seen in Melee and Brawl, which allows other players to perform Samus' Screw Attack while jumping, although the item's abilities differ between Melee and Brawl. Samus wears the Varia Suit throughout each game in the series, though its colors can be changed. Depending on the game, these alternate colors include sets resembling the Fusion Suit, the Gravity Suit, and the Dark Suit.

In Brawl, Samus's Final Smash attack, Zero Laser, causes her to lose her Power Suit, the pieces of which can be picked up and thrown. While in this alternate form, she is called "Zero Suit Samus" and has a different set of movements and attacks. (This alternate form can also be selected at the beginning of a match using a secret code.) Her Final Smash in Zero Suit form first is a large sparkling blast of light which draws enemies in and damages them then restores her Power Suit and reverts her to her original form. Brawl is also the first game in which Samus has actual spoken lines of dialogue, audible during her taunts while in Zero Suit form.

Other appearances

Samus is 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 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. At one point Princess Lana accuses Samus of being responsible for the kidnapping of her father, based on circumstantial evidence which is later discredited. In the animated series of the same name, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain is the show's primary villain. Series writer Jake Roddy claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he had "never heard of her".

Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime. Like other major Nintendo characters, she has various cameos in other Nintendo games, including Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Kirby's Dream Land 3, and the WarioWare series.

As well, Samus appeared as the Red Star Commanding Officer of map #2: Donut Island of the title Famicom Wars (the first game in the Nintendo Wars series, which was to later include Advance Wars.)

External links

• Translation of official e-manga detailing Samus' Origin
• Rag, Koran (2004). “Metroid Prime Chozo Lore FAQ”. Accessed July 4, 2005.
• IGN: Smash Profile - Samus
• IGN Stars: Icons - Samus Aran