Metroid: Difference between revisions
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== M-T ==
* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: All over the franchise.
* [[Mama Bear]]: The {{spoiler|baby Metroid's death}} in ''Super Metroid'' results in an asskicking so epic that the Space Pirates refer to Samus Aran as "She Who Must Not Be Named
* [[Meaningful Name]]: To paraphrase [[The Other Wiki]], Samus is the female variant of the name Seamus, which is celtic for James and means "One who supplants
** Perhaps also, one who ''is'' an island, in a metaphorical sense
* [[Metamorphosis Monster]]: While on their home planet at least, the Metroids go from floating parasitic jellyfish to beetlelike creatures to giant armored lizards. In an interesting twist, the first stage is not only the most well-known and arguably most dangerous, but while nearly every game has a variant of the jellyfish stage, the later stages have only appeared in a handful of games.
* [[Metroidvania]]: Pretty much [[Trope Maker|started]] and [[Trope Codifier|codified]] the genre.
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* [[Multiple Endings]]: The Segmented Endings subtrope, whether based on completion time or [[100% Completion|percentage]].
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Samus' Metroid extermination campaign caused an explosion in the population of the X Parasites, which the Metroids had been designed to kill. Oops.
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Ridley started as a dragon space pirate, and adds more to this title in the ''Metroid Prime'' games, culminating in him being a [[Up to Eleven|mutant zombie cyborg dragon space pirate]].
** In ''Super Metroid'', there are two gray Space Pirates that fight by using martial arts, which were called "Ninja Pirates" by fans.
* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Geting 100% without a [[Guide Dang It|guide]] is hard, doing that while beating it in under [[Speed Run|2 hours]] is even harder. If this is you first time playing any particular game, be you a veteren or a newcomer, you WILL die at least 20 times. Now try and get 100% under 2 hours without dying on hard mode!
* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Samus to Mother Brain during the mother of all [[Mama Bear]] moments at the end of ''Super Metroid''. After what Mother Brain did, she completely deserved it.
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* [[One-Winged Angel]]: SA-X, though it later turns into [[Clipped-Wing Angel|a gigantic hulking monster that can be defeated with three charged shots]]. [[Glass Cannon|Just don't let it hit you.]]
* [[One-Man Army|One Woman Army]]: The Galactic Federation staged an all-out attack on the Space Pirate base on Zebes. [[One Riot, One Ranger|When that didn't work, they sent Samus.]]
* [[Opening the Sandbox]]: ''Metroid Fusion'' is the most linear game in the series yet, and thus has very few opportunities to let you backtrack to earlier sectors on your own until the endgame.
* [[Our Monsters Are Weird]]: The titular Metroids.
* [[Palette Swap]]: As mentioned, lava was a palette swap for acid in the first game. It also had palette swaps of multiple enemies in a given area, with one color being tougher than another. The beam troopers in ''Metroid Prime'' are colored based on what beam they use on you.
* [[Perfect Pacifist People]]: The Chozo have evolved to a point in which they live in harmony with nature, shunning violence and destructive technology. Of course, they ''were'' warriors once, and were able to create the advanced armor that Samus uses.
* [[Personal Space Invader]]: The titular Metroids.
* [[Pinball Spinoff]]: ''Metroid Prime Pinball''.
* [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]]: Arguably the Space Pirates, who often are found in lairs breeding bioweapons but rarely found actually committing piracy.
** Justified in that Samus is usually sent in to pirate lairs post-piracy. You can see the pirates in action in the opening sequence of ''Super Metroid'', when Ridley pirates the last metroid from the research station. [[Alliteration|Presumably, pangalactic police prevent protracted piratical processes
** The Pirates did quite a bit of pirating in ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
* [[Plug N Play Technology]]: Samus' suit is described to be "modular", which means it can also identify other technologies and adapt them into itself. The suit is able to form new abilities just by absorbing "data" acquired from rooms and the DNA of the X parasites in Fusion.
** Subverted in ''Metroid: Zero Mission'', where you find a few upgrades incompatible with your suit. {{spoiler|You need the Fully-Powered Suit to use them
* [[Point of No Return]]: Once you've saved at the second save point in Tourian in ''Super Metroid'', you can never go back. [[Guide Dang It|You're never told this]].
* [[Posthumous Character]]: Adam Malkovich is technically this, although ''Metroid Fusion'' puts an odd spin on it. ''Metroid: Other M'', which takes place before ''Metroid Fusion'', will show him before his death.
* [[Power Crystal]]: The ''[[Lensman]]''-like hand crystal on the back of her left hand. Originally just a visual effect, ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' made it integral to use of the Power Grip, and ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' has it as the source of the Grapple Beam.
* [[Powered Armor]]: Samus' suit.
* [[Puzzle Boss]]: Many, including Crocomire.
* [[Puzzle Pan]]: All 3D games, but ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' especially. Sometimes accompanied by weather patterns or fauna movements to smack where you need to go over your head.
* [[Raised by Natives]]: Samus.
* [[Rasputinian Death]]: Crocomire in ''Super Metroid''.
* [[Recurring Boss]]: SA-X in Fusion, though it's not really a boss until near the end of the game. Ridley may be a better example, considering he appears in almost every game, and twice in ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
* [[Remember the New Guy?]]: In the [[E3]] 2009 trailer for ''Metroid: Other M'', a [[Power Armor]]-clad [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Anthony_Higgs man] greets Samus and says "Remember me?", opening his visor. Samus may have, but Metroid fans did not. [[Memetic Mutation|A meme was born]].
* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]]: In the manga, Samus' pet Ponchi appears to be about half squirrel, half rabbit, and ''all'' adorable. Also, the Etecoons <ref>
* [[Roar Before Beating]]: Some of the bosses do this.
* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: In ''Super Metroid''.
** This could also be seen as one of Samus' main motivations, especially against Ridley, who personally killed her mother right in front of her when she was four years old. The entire series could be seen as a bit of this trope against the Space Pirates and [[Arch Enemy|Ridley]].
** While all of ''Super Metroid'' is a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], the last bits of ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' are as well. {{spoiler|Specifically, after you regain the Power Suit after getting shot down by Space Pirates after defeating Mother Brain. A whole lot happens after the defeat of Mother Brain in that game. The music shifts from sneaking and/or alert music to the triumphant main theme after you get the Power Suit, and also, the three unknown upgrades activate. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|This is followed by the annihilation of every Space Pirate on the Mothership
* [[Run, Don't Walk]]: ''Super Metroid'' has a run button, which is even the basis for the infamous [http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/A_Bridge_Too_Far "n00b bridge"].
* [[Samus Is a Girl]]: [[Trope Namer|Duh.]]
* [[Sand Is Water]]: In Maridia, when the Gravity Suit is acquired, water no longer renders Samus sluggish. However, flowing sand pits underwater still slow her down.
* [[Savage Setpiece]]: Multiple non-hostile indigenous creatures will turn into this if you attack them.
* [[Save Point]]: The second type is a common sight in the series starting with the second game; the first game used passwords instead. With the exception of Chozodia save points in ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' and Samus's [[Cool Starship|gunship]], they never refill health. The Save Stations in the ''Prime'' series, however, save and heal.
* [[Scenery Gorn]]: Old Tourian in ''Super Metroid'', {{spoiler|Sector 5 (ARC)}} in ''Metroid Fusion''.
* [[Schematized Prop]]: Many of the more recent games have taken up this trope, most notably using a Power Suit schematic as the item/weapon status screen (''Metroid: Zero Mission'', ''Metroid Prime'', ''Metroid Prime 3'', ''Super Metroid'', ''Metroid Fusion''; the schematized suit was also seen in the instruction manual for ''Metroid II'').
* [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale]]: Very few of Samus's weapons have numbers behind them, but those that do are absurdly powerful
* [[Sea Monster]]: The boss Serris is a sea serpent with [[Super Speed]]. Before Serris, there was ''Super Metroid'' miniboss Botwoon, who was a serpent like Serris who sped up as he took damage, and could spit acid spread-shots.
** There's also Draygon, the boss of Maridia.
* [[Sequel Hook]]: ''Metroid Fusion'' sure seemed to leave one hell of a sequel hook, what with {{spoiler|Samus having ''illegally blown up a Federation outpost'' and become something way other than human. Sure, Samus had her reasons, but all the implications in-game are that the Fed will be ''pissed as shit'' with her now
** A sequel on the DS with 2-D gameplay, ''Metroid Dread'', was supposed to have been shown at [[E3]] 2006, but was mysteriously dropped. Potentially hinted at again in ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'', however.
* [[Sequence Breaking]]: Possibly one of the most well-known examples.
** Even after ''seventeen years'', [[Serial Escalation|people are still discovering new tricks]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuXUvnk6Hg like this
* [[Shapeshifter Baggage]]: No attempt is made to explain where Samus stuffs the rest of her body when she assumes Morph Ball form. The games say it is about a meter in diameter, but the visual size is arguably smaller than that. X parasites are another example, morphing from single cells to monstrous creatures instantly.
** Even [[Lampshaded]] in-game when the Space Pirates tried to copy the Morph Ball technology, and ending up breaking every bone in the test subjects' bodies.
** The ''Metroid Prime'' series depicts her as being turned into energy when in ball form. How she sees is not explained.
* [[Shark Tunnel]]: These are a common feature in the newer games, starting with the tunnel between Brinstar and Maridia in ''Super Metroid'', and including the underwater tunnel in Sector 4 in ''Metroid Fusion
* [[He's Back|She's Back]]: In ''Metroid: Zero Mission''. After {{spoiler|getting shot down and losing your Power Suit}}? Running and hiding from just about everything. After {{spoiler|the Chozo Trial boss fight}}? The Hunter, who sends waves of terror throughout the Space Pirate legions, is reborn, more powerful than ever.
** Hell, the ''first'' thing you do when you get your suit back is clear a small group of Pirates in one shot with your shiny new Plasma Beam. Revenge is sweet >:3
* [[Shifting Sand Land]]: Sector 3 - PYR.
** There's also the Agon Wastes in ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' and the Experimental Simulated Desert in ''Metroid: Other M''.
* [[Shoulders of Doom]]: The Varia Suit adds them.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Several to the ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' franchise. Ridley is named after director Ridley Scott, and the opening shot of ''Metroid Prime'' is almost identical to that of the first film. Even the title logos have similarities (ALIEN - メトロイド).
** A non-enemy creature in ''Super Metroid'' has a turtle like shell that flies around while spinning. Likely a nod to [[Gamera]]. Or possibly Bowser.
*** Its offspring look strikingly similar to [[Super Mario Bros.|Buzzy Beetles]].
** A blink-and-you'll-miss-it example is the name of the planet that houses one Federation shipyard, where the GFS Olympus and Samus' gunship (the one used in ''Metroid Prime 2''; she goes through gunships like other people go through tissues) were built: [[Alien (franchise)|Aliehs III]].
** And then there's the fact that, as of ''Super Metroid'', Samus can [[Getter Robo|SHIIIIINESPAAAAAAAARK]]!
** Houston from the ''Super Metroid'' Comic in ''Nintendo Power'' seems to refer to Captain Dallas from the first ''[[Alien]]'' film.
** In-universe example: {{spoiler|
** The original Famicom Disk System version of the first game's Escape theme and subsequent arrangements in future games don't have it, but the NES version features a slight expansion that includes [[Recurring Riff|a recurring six-note melody]] from the ''[[Kid Icarus]]'' soundtrack.
** [[Michael Jackson|Moonwalking]] in ''Super Metroid''.
** Outside the actual series, in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', one of Zero Suit Samus' air-attacks is the Inazuma Kick from the ''Gunbuster
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: Sector 5 - ARC.
** There's also the Cryosphere in ''Metroid: Other M'' and the Phendrana Drifts in ''Metroid Prime''.
* [[Sole Survivor]]: Samus, twice over: first when the K-2L colony was slaughtered by the [[Complete Monster|Space Pirates]], and again when the Space Pirates, under Mother Brain's direction, invaded Zebes and killed the remaining Chozo. Well, on Zebes, anyway. And then there's the last remaining Metroid from ''Metroid II''.
* [[Something Completely Different]]: ''Metroid Prime Pinball'' qualifies.
* [[Space Pirates]]: The primary antagonists for most of the series; only three games didn't have them as the main attackers, and in two of the three, they made cameo appearances anyways.
* [[Space Marines]]: In ''Metroid Prime''. Space Army in ''[[Metroid:
** Samus herself had once been a Space Marine when she was serving under Commander Adam Malkovitch.
* [[Speed Run]]: ''Super Metroid'' and the following sequels have their maps designed so that you can solve them in a fraction of the expected solving time by using special techniques like wall jumping, bomb jumping, mock ball, etc. to get key items ahead of time.
* [[Sprint Shoes]]: Speed Booster.
* [[Starfish Aliens]]: The main ones are X Parasites, the Ing
* [[Statuesque Stunner]]: Samus.
* [[Stealth-Based Mission]]: Infiltrating the Space Pirate Mother Ship {{spoiler|without your suit}} in ''Metroid: Zero Mission''.
* [[Sub Boss]]: ''Metroid II: Return of Samus'' is the only game that doesn't have at least one.
** The tougher Metroids in that one could qualify.
* [[Suddenly Voiced]]: In ''[[Super Smash Bros.|Brawl]]'', Samus finally spoke her taunts. However, they sounded rather... [[Fetish Fuel|odd]]. In ''Metroid: Other M'', she speaks for the first time in her own series.
* [[Superweapon Surprise]]: Don't mess with Chozo statues... just, don't: ''"Those who defile [our statues] shall know our wrath, unfettered and raw."''
** In addition to that: do you know what you get when the peaceful, spiritual race bird race actually trains someone to fight, and gives them the technology to do so? You get ''[[Badass|Samus]] [[One-Man Army|Aran]]
*** And there used to be many more just like her (albeit Chozo). Samus is referred to as the first "Chozo" in many generations to choose the path of the warrior.
* [[Survival Horror]]: ''Metroid Fusion'' will never be confused with ''[[Silent Hill 2]]'', but the claustrophobic environment, the strictly linear gameplay, the profusion of locked doors, and the relentless pursuit by an invincible enemy give the two games an uncanny resemblance.
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* [[Swiss Army Weapon]]: Samus' cannon shoots various beams, including power, ice, plasma, and wave, and also missiles.
** Hell, the whole Power Suit could be a Swiss Army ''Outfit''.
* [[Sympathy for the Devil]]: As the series goes on, you realize the Metroids aren't so bad
** In ''Metroid: Other M'', maybe {{spoiler|MB when you know her past and the reason of her rampage
* [[Techno Wreckage]]: The Wrecked Ship in ''Super Metroid''.
* [[Temple of Doom]]: Chozodia.
* [[Theme Music Power-Up]]: This occurs in every Metroid, but perhaps the most gratifying moment is in ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' when, after running for your life from Space Pirates with nothing but your [[Emergency Weapon|Emergency Pistol]] and defeating the Chozo Ghost, Samus' unknown items transform into the Plasma Beam, Gravity Suit
* [[Tomato Surprise]]: See [[Samus Is a Girl]] above.
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: In ''Super Metroid'', Samus' surrogate Metroid child returns. {{spoiler|It's gone from tiny to around four times as big as Samus. It later holds off Mother Brain
** In most games, the Ice Beam is a useful weapon, but not that powerful. In ''Metroid Fusion'', Samus develops a weakness to cold and loses the Ice Beam. It becomes a weapon of pure murder when used against her, and {{spoiler|it's the last weapon she gets in the game
* [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia]]: {{spoiler|Happens to Samus in the manga. The trauma of watching her homeworld being destroyed and watching her parents die is essentially forgotten until Ridley forces Samus to remember what happened in their first encounter many years later. After remembering the event, Samus suffers a horrendous [[Heroic BSOD]] and begs her comrades to kill her
* [[Turtle Power]]
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