Metroid/Characters: Difference between revisions

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A list of characters and tropes associated with [[Nintendo]]'s ''[[Metroid]]'' , its ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' subseries, and ''[[Metroid: Other M]]''.

 

 

 

=== Samus Aran ===

 

{{quote|"My past is not a memory. It's a force at my back. It pushes and steers. I may not always like where it leads me, but like any story, the past needs resolution. What's past is prologue."}}

 

* [[Action Girl]]: The first big example in video games.

* [[Anti-Hero]]ine: [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type I and Type II]].

* [[Badass]]:

** [[Badass Abnormal]]

* [[Boobs of Steel]]: Easily the greatest warrior and hunter in the cosmos, Samus is more than adequately equipped.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Purportedly her profession, but some overseas developers think Nintendo's refusal to include actual bounty hunting in the games indicates it's a translation screw-up. Despite this, they seemed to have no problem with the manga showing her hunting bounties.

* [[The Chosen One]]: According to Chozo prophecy.

* [[Cool Ship]]: Her Gunship.

* [[Determinator]]: An absolute given, considering her suit's defences rely on maintaining a zen level of focus during battle, which doubt can cripple. But one particularly impressive display of willpower she displays is in ''Metroid Prime 3''. She staves off Phazon Corruption longer than any of her fellow bounty hunters, in spite of being given the largest dose of radioactive venom by her arch-nemesis. And even retains her mind when at its very origin. With the poison coursing through her veins she descends into the core of the planet Phaaze and wipes the floor with her dark doppelganger, endures the cancer being (unimaginably painfully) purged and ''somehow'' manages to escape back up to the surface before the world blows apart.

** Subverted with the Luminoth, as she actually ''does'' help them out with no negative side effects to them in the long run.

* [[Fan Service]]: Gameplay runs that are quick and/or yield higher percentages of completion often show Samus in more revealing attire.

* [[Hair of Gold]]: A gorgeous blonde, and about as kind of a mercenary as you could possibly know. She ''has'' to be an optimist to endure what she's been through.

*** [[Fridge Brilliance|Ever wonder why she looks different in the]] ''[[Fridge Brilliance|Fusion]]'' [[Fridge Brilliance|endings?]]

* [[Hurting Hero]]

* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]]: To an extent, as she was raised by aliens. Non-mammalian aliens, at that. Not to mention that she's not entirely human herself anymore.

* [[Knight in Sour Armour]]

* [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Basically everything she steps on triggers a [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]].

* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: All promotional material for the first game outright lied and said that Samus was a male cyborg. This extended to the game manual itself. Of course, this was to preserve the surprise at the end.

* [[One-Man Army|One-Man Army]]: She was called in to Zebes to solve what orbital bombardment could not.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: [[Sarcasm Mode|Thanks again, Ridley]].

* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: Is a bounty hunter who is yet to be seen doing any actual bounty hunting. Her work would suggest she's more like a mercenary.

* [[Raised by Natives]]: By the Chozo.

** Although it's worth pointing out that, chronologically, she had not yet blown up any planets when that comment was made.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: Implied that she has a very massive one against [[Big Bad|Mother Brain]] and [[The Dragon|Ridley]].

** Being immune to her own explosives is important, as it helps Samus remove [[Personal Space Invader]]s from her suit.

* [[Rolling Attack]]: The boost ball can be used offensively. The speed booster can also become this trope in Zero Mission if Samus is in the right terrain.

* [[Samus Is a Girl]]: [[Trope Namer|Obviously.]]

* [[Shoulders of Doom]]: Since ''Metroid II'' on the [[Game Boy]] couldn't use color to differentiate between the different suits, the Varia suit was given big honking shoulders to distinguish its sprite from the regular Power Suit. The design has carried over since then to every subsequent game in the series.

* [[Sobriquet]]: [[Mook Horror Show|Space Pirates call her ''The Hunter'']].

* [[Spy Catsuit]], [[Form-Fitting Wardrobe]], [[Sensual Spandex]]: The Zero Suit. To date, it's ''still'' the most modest clothing she's worn outside of her Power Suit.

* [[Survivor Guilt]]: Notice how she hits all the "psychologically damaged" tropes?

* [[Walk, Don't Swim]]: How Samus handles water; becomes less of a problem with the gravity suit or gravity boost.

* [[Warrior Poet]]: Introspective, calculating and spiritual. That one silent scene of Samus surveying the burning, destroyed Chozo Temple at the end of ''Metroid Prime'' before closing her eyes with some curious, subdued emotion; cements her ''forever'' as one of these.

* [[You Killed My Father]]: And my mother. And my adoptive alien race.

** Or at least drove the latter into hiding beyond the corporeal world.

 

=== Metroid ===

[[File:MZM Metroid 7507.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Achilles' Heel]]: They're really weak to [[Kill It with Ice|ice attacks]], but the SR388 and Tallon IV strands outgrow this weakness eventually, trading it for others.

* [[Asteroids Monster]]: Fission Metroids, the pieces don't share the original whole's weaknesses either.

* [[Boss in Mooks Clothing]]: First two games, of the [[Wolfpack Boss|wolf pack variety]].

* [[Combat Tentacles]]: Hunter Metroids and Metroid Hatchers.

* [[Ground Pound]]: How Hopper Metroids attack after entering hyper mode.

* [[Insectoid Aliens]]: Alpha and Gamma Metroids fall into this category.

* [[Joker Immunity]]: They are almost as bad as [[Doctor Who|the Daleks]] in terms of going extinct and coming back.

* [[Ledge Bats]]: Fission Metroids in the impact crater.

* [[Personal Space Invader]]: They were worse in the first game where it took multiple bombs to dislodge them, which might result in you accidentally being blown back into their grip. It only takes one to get them off in ''Metroid II'' and ''Metroid: Zero Mission''.

* [[Power-Up Letdown]]: The stage between Phazon and Hatcher can't even fly.

** Arguably all of the non-SR388 Metroids count as well (the ones in the Prime series), since they lost their invulnerability to everything but cold. Justified in that Metroid physiology changes depending on where they're born, and they were all infused with Phazon.

* [[Starfish Aliens]]: There is not a single thing in their biology that makes any sense by our standards.

* [[Summon Bigger Fish]]: The basis of their existence.

* [[Vampiric Draining]]: No puncture wounds though. Those teeth/claws are used for gripping their victim, not as the mechanism for the draining.

 

=== General Adam Malkovich ===

 

[[File:AdamMalkovich 4143.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Badass]]: If the INTERGALACTIC QUEEN OF BADASS respects you, it's a given.

* [[Badass Normal]]

* [[The Captain]]: In ''Metroid: Other M'', he leads his squad into the BOTTLE SHIP.

* {{spoiler|[[Dead Little Sister|Dead Little Brother]]: Ian Malkovich}}.

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: {{spoiler|His sacrifice of Ian Malkovich, and himself}}.

* {{spoiler|[[More Expendable Than You]]}}: His reasoning for {{spoiler|going to Sector 0 in Samus' place}}.

* [[Nerves of Steel]]: He ordered a ship to detatch, saving the lives of his crew while sacrificing his brother in the process. He does not break down at all.

 

=== Anthony Higgs ===

 

{{quote|"Hey punk! Don't you know how to treat a lady? Let me teach you a lesson about subtlety!"}}

 

* [[Back-to-Back Badasses]]: He and Samus.

* [[Bald Black Leader Guy]]: Well, he would be leader of his squad as a breach trooper, but a General is around, for some reason, so he's obviously outranked.

* [[Bald of Awesome]]: He's revealed to lack hair at the end of ''Metroid: Other M''.

* [[Big Guy]]: He's the biggest person in Adam's squad, taller even than Samus.

* {{spoiler|[[Disney Death]]}}

* [[The Giant]]: He's more than a head taller than Samus, who is herself a head taller than the civilians on the Bottle Ship. He also carries around the squad's heavy artillery.

* [[Remember the New Guy?]]

 

=== Lyle Smithsonian ===

 

{{quote|"I'm fine, but did it have to be bugs?"}}

* [[Trigger Happy]]: When confronted with a single bug, he shoots it into a pulp and keeps shooting.

* {{spoiler|[[We Hardly Knew Ye]]: He's killed offscreen after the squad splits up}}.

 

=== James Pierce ===

 

* {{spoiler|[[The Killer Becomes the Killed]]}}

* {{spoiler|[[The Mole]]}}: Strongly implied.

 

=== Maurice Favreau ===

 

* [[The Engineer]]: His official role within the squad

* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]

 

=== Keiji "K.G." Misawa ===

 

* {{spoiler|[[Never Found the Body]]: The Deleter disposed of it in a pool of lava. As a result, he is officially listed as "Missing in Action" in the post-credits character log}}.

* [[The Quiet One]]: He doesn't really ''seem'' like the type who doesn't talk much, but nevertheless he only gets about two short lines in the game.

* [[Token Minority]]: Not completely token due to Anthony, but the only squad member of Asian descent.

 

=== Fleet Admiral Castor Dane ===

 

{{quote|"Godspeed, Samus."}}

 

* [[Bowdlerisation]]: <s>Damn</s> NO!

* [[Mission Control]]: Sometimes.

* [[Nice Hat]]: Heck, the hat itself is a [[Memetic Badass]] in its own right.

== Bounty Hunters ==

=== Sylux ===

[[File:Sylux 3529.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Ambiguous Gender]]: Sylux is never referred to by gender-specific pronouns, leading to the common [[Epileptic Trees|fan theory]] that Sylux [[Samus Is a Girl|is female]].

* [[The Blank]]: Like Weavel, his armor gives no indication of him having any sort of face. Whether he even ''has'' one is probably going to be left unsolved until gamers actually get a peek underneath his suit.

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: The hunter, the shock coil, and the doors it opens are all blue.

* [[Cool Ship]]: The Delano 7.

* [[Lightning Gun]]: The Shock Coil: its stream jumps to the nearest target, so little aiming is required, but it is sort of short ranged. Sylux can recover health when using it.

* [[Roar Before Beating]]: In the intro, though Sylux had already beaten someone, presumably the fighting wasn't over.

 

=== Weavel ===

[[File:Weavel 2341.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[The Blank]]: Possibly. It's not entirely clear if that yellow section of his head where his face would be is a cybernetic face or just a visor. A fan theory is that he's a Ki-Hunter, which would make that yellow part his actual face if true.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: What he has been reduced to. It is unknown whether he retains any loyalty to the space pirates or has simply decided to work for his own benefit.

* [[Color-Coded for Your Convenience]]: Weavel's suit has a mild green tint and the battle hammer is green.

* [[Cool Ship]]: Though it's not as prominent as the Delano 7, it can be seen in the intro movie, where Weavel is using it to evade the GF Police. It's also briefly seen on {{spoiler|the Oubliette}}.

* [[Mark of Shame]]: His new cybernetic body is a constant reminder of Weavel being completely wasted by Samus. In fact, it's the reason why he is no longer a high-ranking Pirate.

* [[Space Pirate]]: Though technically, he is no longer officially affiliated with them.

* [[Splash Damage]]: The battle hammer has a bigger blast radius when used by him

* [[The Turret Master]]: He can split his body in half and the lower half will become a turret.

* [[We Can Rebuild Him]]: He was originally just a high-ranked space pirate (probably a Commando or Trooper) until he was completely blown to smithereens by Samus and rebuilt as a cyborg.

 

=== Noxus ===

[[File:Noxus 4264.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Though most of the industrial world considers bounty hunting to be a criminal activity, Noxus became a bounty hunter specifically to fight criminals and other forms of "evil". Times have really changed in the space age.

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: From the hunter himself, to his ice weapon, to the doors that can be opened once Samus gets his weapon, his main color is purple.

* [[Hero Antagonist]]: The only reason he even ends up fighting against Samus is because his goal is to keep the Ultimate Power out of the wrong hands. Presumably, Samus and the Galactic Federation would fall under "the wrong hands."

* [[I Have the High Ground]]: In the game's intro.

* [[Knight Templar]]: He left his home world to go on a crusade against all evil in the universe.

* [[Natural Weapon]]: The Vhoscythe.

 

=== Kanden ===

[[File:kanden 7060.png|frame]]

 

* [[Beware My Stinger Tail]]: His alternate form shoots explosive stingers.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Though, he does it less for the "bounty" part and more for the "hunter" part.

 

=== Spire ===

[[File:Spire 9269.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[The Big Guy]]: He has a sympathetic goal, making him one of the more heroic bounty hunters when they eventually team up. He's also bigger than all, with the possible exception of Kanden.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: To support his search for his kind, or find answers as to what happened to them.

 

=== Trace ===

[[File:Trace 4450.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Bio Augmentation]]: The Triskeleton is the result of this.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: He entered this field of work in hopes he would find suitable worlds for his kin to conquer, which makes you wonder how he ever gets work. That or technology that would revolutionize his empire.

* [[Cold Sniper]]: His weapon, the Imperialist, is a red laser that actually has a sniping scope of sorts. As such, it has the longest range of any of the hunters' weapons.

* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: From the hunter himself, to his sniper weapon, to the doors that can be opened once Samus gets his weapon, his main color is red.

* [[Glass Cannon]]: Samus, or at least the scan visor, suspect him of being one of these.

* [[Human Ladder]]: He stands atop a mount of what can be presumed to be other Kriken in the intro.

 

=== Rundas ===

 

{{quote|"Between the two of us, this should be a breeze."}}

 

* [[Badass]]: The scan visor says his threat level matches Samus's.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: With only ''seconds'' to spare, Rundas [[Catch a Falling Star|saves]] Samus from reaching the reactor of an energy shaft after she just dueled Ridley in a free-fall battle. This was his [[Establishing Character Moment]], and part of what made him so endearing to the fandom.

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Believes himself to be the best in this field, the scan visor says his threat level matches Aran's.

* {{spoiler|[[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: Emphasis on the crazy. You can tell Rundas is really not himself when Samus is sent to see why contact was lost with him}}.

* [[Destructible Projectiles]]: He can stop certain shots with his powers, but given their nature, certain shots can stop his powers.

* {{spoiler|[[Dying as Yourself]]: Maybe. When he is beaten, he seems to look around, confused. He almost tries to speak, but is impaled by an ice spike. It is uncertain whether this was him euthanising himself, or possibly Dark Samus killing him. But it makes it even ''more'' [[Tear Jerker|sad]]}}.

* [[Elemental Armor]]: Sometimes encases himself in it, other times uses it to provide cover. It's surprisingly durable but not unbreakable; the easiest thing to do is trick him into helping you with it.

* [[I Work Alone]]: According to Federation reports, this was his attitude before he met Samus (who he seems to bond with); it explains some of his actions on Bryyo too.

* [[Justice Will Prevail]]: He claims this as the hunters are all arguing: "Hey, relax. We're the good guys. justice will prevail and all that stuff... right, Samus?"

* [[Literally Shattered Lives]]: to a pirate

* [[Not Quite Flight]]: Like old school Iceman, but better at it.

* [[Painfully-Slow Projectile]]: He shoots out a whole bunch to track a target and distract it while he zips off elsewhere; his serious shots are much faster.

* [[Super Mode]]: After getting the P.E.D. suit and icon helmet.

* [[Trophy Room]]: Is rumored to keep trophies from all his successful hunts.

 

=== Ghor ===

 

{{quote|"[[Memetic Mutation|That seems... inefficient.]]"}}

 

* [[Arm Cannon]][[Guns Akimbo|s Akimbo]]: Two in his armor in addition to a [[Chest Blaster]]

* [[The Big Guy]]: With his suit; outside of it, Rundas is larger than him.

* [[Blade Below the Shoulder]]: Power armor has two.

* [[Cool Ship]]: His suit ''is'' his ship.

* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]: Subverted in that he is a really nice person, but played straight with his murder frenzy in his battle suit.

* [[Deflector Shields]]: [[Ramming Always Works|he uses them offensively too]].

* [[Grappling Hook Gun]]: Strictly offensive; he doesn't need to building swing since his suit flies.

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: From his armour suit's shoulders.

* [[Nice Guy]]: When not in his suit.

* [[Pet the Dog]]: His scans say that he occasionally works for free or even gives his bounty money to whoever has been harassed by his bounty targets.

* [[Shockwave Stomp]]: In his flying heavy suit.

* [[Shout-Out]]: His backstory, with him having to replace his body with a cybernetic one that alters his personality, seems inspired by [[Revenge of the Sith|General Grievous]], except that Ghor isn't a villain. {{spoiler|Not initially, at least}}.

* [[The Smart Guy]]: Without his suit. Despite bounty hunting being his preferred profession, he's often asked to crack or control computer systems.

 

=== Gandrayda ===

 

{{quote|"You know, you should never trust strangers, Sammy."}}

 

* [[Bounty Hunter]]: Aspires to be the best.

* {{spoiler|[[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: Which leads her to try and take Samus's helmet as a grisly trophy}}.

* [[Elemental Punch]]: Strikes the ground when she wants space.

* [[Energy Beings]]: It seems the reason Gandrayda is able to shapeshift is because her natural form isn't really physical to begin with.

* [[Homing Projectile]]: Air based blades and a ground based spark.

* [[Huge Schoolgirl]]

* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]]: Though, to what extent she is actually "innocent" is debatable.

* [[Invisibility]]:She has a personal cloaking field

* [[Life Drain]]: Can be reversed for an [[Overclocking Attack]].

* [[Man Child]]: According to scans, her psyche has "a high degree of youthfulness."

* [[Mega Manning]]: {{spoiler|Samus gets Grapple Voltage from Gandrayda}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Shapeshifter Swan Song]]: Including both Rundas and Ghor, and most hauntingly, Samus herself}}.

* [[Shock and Awe]]: [[Morphic Resonance|It is her tell]].

 

=== Ridley ===

[[File:Ridley zerom 2679.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Arch Enemy]]: To Samus.

* [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]: There's a reason he's the leader of the space pirates.

* [[Badass]]: It's heavily implied that the only person in the entire galaxy who is a threat to him is Samus.

** Let's see what he (chronologically) accomplishes:

*** Prior to the series, he single-handedly annihilates ''dozens'' of space colonies (including the one Samus lived in, [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|whoops]]) and occupied Zebes, wiping out the remnants of the Chozo civilization.

*** He fights Samus one-on-one in ''[[Metroid]]'' and, while losing, manages to not only survive the fight but escape the endgame explosion, ''and'' lives through his injuries long enough for the pirates to save his life by making him a cyborg.

*** Let's put it this way: Adam Malkovich expressly considers Ridley to be just as much of a threat as a station full of ''invincible Metroids''. He is probably the only thing in the universe that can ''scare Samus stiff'' (though that has been attributed to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). That is how dangerous this guy is.

* [[Batman Can Breathe in Space]]: And fly, and survive re-entry without issue. His species is known as "the ''Space'' Dragons", suggesting they have adapted to vacuum environments.

* [[Breath Weapon]]: What did you expect from a dragon? Ridley can spit plasma hot enough to melt through spaceship hull.

* [[The Dragon]]: He's not only an actual dragon, but he's the penultimate boss in all of his appearances.<ref>Except for [[Updated Rerelease|Zero Mission]].</ref>

** Not to mention him being the same size as Samus.

* [[Evil Counterpart]]: Perhaps this is [[Alternate Character Interpretation]], but he and Samus tend to parallel one another, with being extremely powerful and intelligent. They are also presented with the same option of killing or sparing {{spoiler|each other as}} a child with opposite results. Additionally, Ridley and Samus are just as unkillable; Samus as a player character can "continue" if killed, and Ridley "continues" every time he dies.

* [[Lack of Empathy]]: He cruelly mocks Samus for her PTSD-enduced memories of her mother being killed by Ridley, as well as that he absorbed a bit of her cells.

* [[Lean and Mean]]: Except the ''Metroid: Other M'' clone, who is more muscular but no less mean.

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Able to tear around the screen at an amazing speed given his size, as well as deal out considerable damage to Samus.

* [[Might Makes Right]]: In the manga: "In battle, nature sides with the strong! You shall realize just how worthless your ideals and such are -- AH HA HA HA HA HA!"

* [[Our Dragons Are Different]]: He is anorexic and can fly in space here.

** [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons]]

{{quote|'''Space Pirate Datalog''': We believe our creation, now called [[We Can Rebuild Him|Meta Ridley]], will become the mainstay of our security force, a job he will certainly relish.}}

* [[Suddenly Voiced]]: His appearances in spin-off material give him the ability to speak. He never speaks in-game.

* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: ''Metroid Prime'' was the first game to even make mention of his recovery, and the explanation for it was not very detailed.

 

=== Mother Brain ===

[[File:Mother Brain 2771.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Big Bad]]: More often than not. Could be considered the most prominent [[Big Bad]] of the main series.

* [[Brain In a Jar]]

* [[Death by Irony]]: Almost manages to kill Samus in ''Super Metroid'', but is suddenly attacked by the fully-grown {{spoiler|baby Metroid she stole}}, which chomps her head in retaliation. Ha!

* {{spoiler|[[One-Winged Angel]]}}: In ''Super Metroid''. Yikes.

* [[Scare Chord]]: The melody for her battle music in ''Super Metroid'' consists of these.

* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: They serve no practical purpose otherwise.

* [[Stationary Boss]]: Most of the time.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: In the manga, it's explained that her true goal is to bring order into the galaxy.

 

=== Zebesian Space Pirates ===

[[File:Metorid Space pirate 4352.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Armored Coffins]]: Their boarding pods.

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]: "They were promptly shot."

* [[Creative Sterility]]: Almost all of their tech is stolen or reverse-engineered.

** But while they steal a good deal of their technology, they are also extremely active in researching and improving their home-grown tech. The Hazard Shield (which is required for them to put up with the acid rain on their base world) is a good example.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Part of what makes many of the logs so hilarious.

* [[EMP]]: They have grenades that produce them, which is strange since they don't work very well against their sworn enemy Samus.

* [[Eternal Engine]]: Their homeworld is like this, complete with a perpetual shower of acid rain.

* [[Evil Knockoff]]: Their attempts to reverse-engineer Samus's technology.

* [[For Science!]]: Even they think that their Science Team has [[Memetic Mutation|vapor for brains]].

* [[Genre Blind]]

** [[Airborne Mook]]: Pirate aerotroopers, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|flying pirates]], aero mines, preeds...

** [[Aquatic Mook]]: Aqua pirates use technology similar to the gravity suit and Aquadrones are built to patrol the depths.

** [[Giant Mook]]: Elite Pirates. Omega Pirate is a [[King Mook|Giant Giant Mook.]] Also berserker knights, of which the Berserker Lord is the boss version.

** [[Heavily Armored Mook]]: Armored Pirates Troopers and Armoured Militia. Advanced and assault troopers count too.

** [[Mecha-Mooks]]: Aeromines, Crawlmines, Crawltanks and various drones.

** [[Nocturnal Mooks]]: What the shadow pirates are supposed to be, but some are too stupid to stay in the shadows.

** [[Slave Mooks]]: Pirate Militia are made up of criminals forced into service and captured slaves. Disobedient militia supposedly become rations for the real troops.

** [[Superpowered Mooks]]: After they discover hypermode.

** Hell, they have to keep reminding personnel not to keep them as ''pets''.

* [[Visible Invisibility]]: Shadow pirates are pretty much invisible by unaided human eyes in the dark; naturally, some will attack in broad daylight, where they are only slightly obscured.

 

=== Kraid ===

 

{{quote|"ROAAAAAAR"}}

 

* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: A giant dinosaur with the standard claws and teeth? Pretty normal as far as video game monsters go. Three eyes? That's only slightly pushing the envelope. Spikes that shoot out of its belly that Samus can jump on? Alright, now ''that's'' not exactly normal.

* [[Disc One Final Boss]]

** Also, the green on his body that is portrayed as scales in all later games is portrayed as ''fur'' in the original's American artwork.

* [[Fake Ultimate Mook]]: "Fake Kraid" in ''Super Metroid'' was actually in the same room as Kraid in the original. This was to add dramatic effect once the player entered the next room and saw just how gigantic the real deal was.

* [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]: He would be invincible if he never opened his mouth or shot spikes out of his belly. Partially justified in that being shot in the eyes with missiles really, really hurts.

 

=== Phantoon ===

 

 

=== Ki-Hunter Pirates ===

[[File:kihunter 1423.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Airborne Mook]]: Their wings can be shot off, but they are still dangerous when grounded.

* [[Natural Weapon]]: The main difference between them and the other Pirate foot soldiers is that they never seem to brandish any weapons besides those they were born with.

* [[Third Eye]]: A large one in the center of their head.

* [[Wall Crawl]]: As zeros, their larval stage.

 

=== Amorbis ===

 

* [[Casting a Shadow]]: Not on their own, but once attached to the dark sphere, they will be capable of flinging safe zone-neutralizing shots of darkness or channel thick purple energy beams.

* [[Feed It a Bomb]]: The only way to damage them is to let them inhale you and then lay a bomb in their mouths.

* [[Suicidal Overconfidence]]: Averted for your benefit.

* [[Worm Sign]]: The sand above where they're about to emerge will begin to flow outward as if being pushed up from below. If the sand you're directly standing on is doing this, '''MOVE'''.

 

=== Chykka ===

 

* [[Barrier Change Boss]]: While any weapons will damage it, during the second phase it switches between being weak to light and dark.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: Some ing possessed creatures may show up while you fight it; naturally, they focus on you, not the giant bug that provoked them.

* [[Giant Flyer]]: Once an adult.

* [[Hermaphrodite]]: Self-impregnating, no less.

* [[Marathon Boss]]: One of the longest boss battles in the series.

* [[Rapid Aging]]: It started out as an egg.

* [[Sequential Boss]]: The first phase is against its larval form, which for all intents and purposes behaves like a fish in the dark waters. After being defeated, it retreats and rapidly metamorphs into its adult stage, which is a massive wasp-like insect that alternates between light and dark forms.

 

=== Quadraxis ===

 

* [[Demonic Possession]]: Presumably, it had joined the war against all living things before the Ing took it over.

* [[Everything's Better with Spinning]]: Sometimes, during its first phase. Subverted, since getting sucked into a top-like mech to be battered is anything but better.

* [[Yin-Yang Bomb]]: Its Annihilator Beam.

 

 

=== The Chozo ===

[[File:Chozo 1930.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[A Fate Worse Than Death]]: The Chozo on Tallon IV returned from their Higher Plane of Existence to deal with Phazon, but many were twisted into insane ghosts by it while sealing the bulk of the stuff away.

* [[Gone Horribly Wrong]]: Both the Metroids and Mother Brain were created by the Chozo to make SR-388 and Zebes nicer places to live. In both cases, the Chozo got a ''lot'' more than they bargained for.

* [[Neglectful Precursors]]: Not even ''they'', with all their technical and spiritual skill, have what it takes to take care of the doom that follows them around like a puppy they fed. Only Samus does.

* [[Steampunk]]: They have done some dabbling in this, as seen by the observatory they left on Elisia.

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]: A major reason why Samus' suit has such [[Clarke's Third Law|impossibly advanced technology]] is because these guys didn't have to worry much about regular physics.

 

=== Metroid Hatchling (Baby) ===

 

* [[Androcles' Lion]]

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: Arguably the biggest damn hero in the entire series.

* {{spoiler|[[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: Subverted as far as [[Mama Bear|Samus]] is concerned.

 

=== X ===

[[File:Core-X Artwork 1326.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Aquatic Mook]]: They create some mermaid pirates if you stick around to see it.

* [[Artificial Stupidity]]: The SA-X. Doubles as multiple [[Crowning Moment of Funny|crowning moments of funny]] if exploited.

* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: This is more or less what happened when the X made a comeback on SR-388. {{spoiler|It's also what would have happened elsewhere had the Galactic Federation gone through with their plans to capture the SA-X}}.

* [[Genetic Memory]]: They retain the intelligence and memories of what they transform into.

* [[Humanoid Abomination]]: Aside from the SA-X, their efforts to mimic humans end up failing, as it results in them becoming gelatinous humanoid blobs wearing lab coats instead. {{spoiler|They end up refining the process eventually, to the point where a Core-X perfectly mimics a scientist in order to set Sector 3 on the fritz}}.

* [[Intangible Man]]: Yes they can go intangible and ignore most physical barriers. However, it is implied by the powerbomb that large enough explosions can still affect them, and it'd stated by Adam that [[Earthshattering Kaboom|big enough ones]] can kill them.

* [[The Soulless]]: Never had one to begin with.

* [[You Will Be Assimilated]]: They even retain the host's knowledge and memories.

 

=== Luminoth ===

 

{{quote|"Through vigilance and strength, we create peace."}}

 

* [[Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance]]: They are basically humanoid moths. So, it's natural that they would have a deep attraction to light.

** Special mention should go to J-Stl and A-Kul. J-Stl killed at least 100 Ing in ''his last stand'', and who knows how many he killed in total. A-Kul: went into Dark Aether, a god awful dimension filled to the brink with Ing that would kill her the second they got a chance and whose very air was deadly, found one of the ten keys to the temple that had all been hidden by the Ing, fought her way to the Sky Temple, and managed to place it there AND leave clues to the other keys before dying.

** The Sentinels of the Temples are perhaps the epitome of this, especially since they probably really are preachers. Scans reveal every one of them went down fighting. The one in Agon died while fending off innumerable Ing hordes, finally succumbing to superior numbers. The one in Torvus was possessed numerous times, and fought off ''each of them''. The Ing finally realized that they couldn't break his will and killed him. And the one in the Sanctuary Fortress was so badass, the Ing had to turn his own weapons of war against him, unable to defeat him themselves.

* [[Higher-Tech Species]]: They developed their unique technology through a combination of contact with the Chozo and their own experimentation on Aether. In fact, they might very well have gotten the chance to join the Chozo as [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] had they not gotten embroiled with the Ing.

* [[Insectoid Aliens]]: They're basically giant moths.

* {{spoiler|[[Kneel Before Frodo]]}}: What they do after {{spoiler|Samus destroys the Ing}}.

* [[Most Writers Are Human]]: The fact that Samus is fighting to help a species of ''humanoid'' moths against a species of very definitely ''non''-humanoid creatures is significant.

* [[Robot War]]: The machines they created for war, and even those for peace, decided that [[Crush! Kill! Destroy!|all living things must die]] while the Luminoth were already in the middle of the Ing war. Only the most basic maintenance bots remained loyal, though they weren't of much help, having no combat ability.

* [[Weather Control Machine]]: One of the marvels they made use of.

 

=== Ing ===

[[File:Ing 4728.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Back From the Brink]]: All that time between Samus making planetfall and getting the Energy Transfer Module? She could very well have gotten possessed by an Ing had she not been extremely lucky.

** Not only that, but they would've succeeded in killing the few remaining Luminoth and stealing the last of the Light of Aether had Samus arrived at the Great Temple any later than when she did. The light world would've been destroyed as theirs became the default one, and they would've likely expanded beyond Aether, as warned by U-Mos. The only two known species that they probably wouldn't completely screw over are the Phazon beings, which they descend from, and the X, both of which possess similar qualities to the Ing.

* [[Beam Spam]]: Warrior Ing can channel energy from other dimensions through portals. They primarily use this tactic to push targets out of safe zones.

* [[Bee People]]: They behave like them.

* [[Demonic Possession]]: What they're good at.

* [[Elite Mooks]]: Hunter Ing and Ing Storms, both capable of flight.

* [[The Heartless]]: ''"The Ing are creatures of shadow and darkness, knowing nothing of peace or mercy."''

* [[Intangible Man]]: Hunter Ing; they still can't handle the light of Aether, but Samus's light beam is trivial to them.

* [[Rite of Passage]]: Ing are forced to fend for themselves as larva, then fight dangerous opponents after maturing. The idea is to make the young ones rely on each other and hate all other lifeforms, and it seems to work.

* [[Starfish Aliens]]: Unfriendly ones at that.

* [[Wall Crawl]]: All of them that are mobile but don't fly can seemingly do this.

* [[You Will Be Assimilated]]: They seem to take a page from the X Parasites, in that both mutate other creatures into new forms. The Ing possess live hosts, however; their attempts to bring back dead bodies were pretty pathetic (though freaky). All X need is DNA; they eat the prey first, then start making copies. [[Scylla and Charybdis|Before you write the Ing off as less dangerous]], know that they can possess Metroids, which X cannot work with at all.

 

=== {{spoiler|Metroid Prime}}/Dark Samus ===

[[File:DarkSamus 3006.png|frame]]

 

* [[Bag of Spilling]]: Just as much as the real Samus, it seems.

* [[Deflector Shields]]: Has them at a couple points

* [[Demonic Possession]]: Tries her hand at it in the third game.

* [[Early Bird Boss]]: Some of her abilities are things Samus could duplicate or at least counter if the [[Call Forward|power-ups were present in the Prime series]]. She also uses super missiles long before the player can get them.

* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: Even though she initially helps Warrior Ing attack Samus, some of the space pirates she is seen fighting with over some phazon were Ing possessed, suggesting one of them went back on any possible deals that could have been made. Since Ing don't make much use of the phazon they already have, it can be assumed they were simply trying to halter Dark Samus.

* [[Flight]]: A consistent ability she keeps after developing it that Samus doesn't really have, though at points she can only hover over the ground.

* [[Hoist By Her Own Petard]]: Thrice.

* [[Humanoid Abomination]]

* [[Invisibility]]: She tries a few different forms of it.

* [[Mind Control]]: Does a whole lot of it later.

* [[Short-Range Shotgun]]: Cruelly averted.

* [[Sobriquet]]: She is referred to by the space pirates as the Dark Hunter. After she took over, they take to calling her the Dark One, and the Black Demon.<ref>These come from bonus material called ''Another Side Story''.</ref>

* [[The Worm That Walks]]: Made of Phazon.

** Though that depends on to what extent you consider Phazon to be sentient/separate beings or just a substance.

 

=== Phazon ===

 

{{quote|"Darkness... coming..."}}

 

* [[Fungus Humongous]]: There are some giant mushrooms that seem very heavily saturated with Phazon.

* [[Green Rocks]]: Phazon has quite a diverse range of uses: mutating plants and wildlife, being weaponized, driving creatures {{spoiler|and several major characters}} insane, etc.

* [[Kryptonite Is Everywhere]]: Justified, as this is Phazon's ''[[Sentient Phlebotinum|goal]]''.

* [[Psycho Serum]]: Phazon tends to drive its infectees insane if it does not kill them.

* [[Scenery Gorn]]/[[Scenery Porn]]: In the midst of Phazon twisting environments into strange forms, it ''does'' make things very pleasant to look at.

 

=== Nightmare ===

 

* [[Cyborg]]: Inverted. It's a machine with organic components installed. Those organic components are what let the X infect it, much like its fellow machine-with-organic-parts, the B.O.X. security droid.

* [[Larynx Dissonance]]: Its voice sounds less like a looming bioweapon and more like a crying baby.

 

=== Gorea ===

[[File:Gorea 3100.jpg|frame]]

 

* [[Batman Gambit]]: It sent the distress signal to all of the Hunters in the galaxy so that they would find the Octoliths and set it free.

* [[Combat Tentacles]]: Either this or a [[Tractor Beam]], depending on how you interpret it.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: The fight between it and the other antagonists of the game see's Gorea win pretty easily.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: The survivors of its initial assault were said to seem lifeless, even if they weren't injured.

* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]: Its second phase does this.

* [[Guide Dang It]]: How to unlock its final phase. More specifically, you have to shoot a number of colored panels on the walls of its arena in a certain order with the proper weapons corresponding to the color of the panel. This is actually hinted at in several of the logbook scans, but it's so vague that most people needed a guide to figure it out anyway.

* [[Improvised Weapon]]: It likes throwing the frozen colonies of cyanobacteria that float around in its prison.

* [[Mega Manning]]: First phase.

* [[Soiled City on a Hill]]: The Alimbics got invaded by aliens. They built a lot of weapons, chased out the aliens, declared themselves invincible, and told everyone to stay away. Gorea then came and wrecked everything.

* [[Telepathy]]: How it communicates.

* [[Villain Teleportation]]: Once you unlock its final stage.