Samus Aran: Difference between revisions

Samus Aran debuted in ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'' (1986) for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The original game concepts for ''Metroid'' were done by director Makoto Kanoh and designer Hiroji Kiyotake. Like [[Link]], Samus is mostly silent during gameplay and acts as an avatar for the player — however, she is occasionally given spoken dialogue or monologues, with her level of expressiveness varying between games. This carries over to her incarnations in ''Super Smash Bros.'', where Samus is completely silent (although the [[Galactic Avenger]] event description in ''SSB4'' is written as if spoken by her) and her [[Zero Suit Samus|Zero Suit]] self has a small number of spoken lines. ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid: Other M}}'' attempted to introduce more emotion and backstory to Samus; however, the game's approach was poorly received by fans and critics, discouraging this kind of storytelling in future games. Titles such as ''Metroid: Samus Returns'' and ''Metroid Dread'' would revert Samus to her traditional silent and stoic depiction, using body language to convey her personality. Samus is a hardened warrior who is fearless in the face of danger, willing to take on enemies much larger than herself. However, her refusal to kill the baby Metroid shows a softer, sympathetic, even maternal side of Samus, and her hopeful desires for peace. She also greatly respects her Chozo heritage, seen in ''Dread'' where, after Quiet Robe beseeches her to stop Raven Beak's plans, she responds in the language of the Chozo people with a promise to end the warlord's ambitions.

The first ''{{b|Metroid|game}}'' game saw Samus on her initial mission on the planet {{s|metroidwiki|Zebes}}, sent to stop the {{s|metroidwiki|Space Pirate}}s from harnessing the dangerous {{b|Metroid|creature}}s. Samus successfully carried out the mission by defeating [[Kraid]], [[Ridley]], and finally [[Mother Brain]], the mechanical lifeform controlling the Space Pirate hideout. The game kept Samus's gender a secret (with the intent of surprising gamers after they completed it); even the game's English instruction manual refers to Samus as a male. However, clearing the game quickly unlocks an ending where Samus would remove her Power Suit to reveal a bikini, and the well-known "JUSTIN BAILEY" cheat code would allow her to be playable in a leotard. Since then, almost every game in the series would depict an unsuited Samus in some way, typically as part of an ending sequence. In the game's remake, ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Zero Mission}}'', an epilogue allows the player to play as [[Zero Suit Samus]] for the first time. After being shot down during her escape from Zebes, she fights her way through a Space Pirate mothership to recover an upgraded Power Suit and escape.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid II: Return of Samus}}'', Samus is sent to SR388, the homeworld of the Metroids, to exterminate them all after they were deemed too dangerous to exist. Samus accomplishes this mission, destroying even the Queen Metroid, but after completing this task, the last Metroid egg hatches and the infant bonds to Samus as though she were its mother. Samus chooses to spare the baby Metroid and take it with her. The game's story is retold and expanded upon in the remake ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Samus Returns}}'', most notably by having Samus and the baby Metroid encounter Ridley before leaving the planet.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Super Metroid}}'', with the last Metroid in captivity, the galaxy is at peace. Galactic Federation scientists study the Metroid, but just as Samus leaves the Ceres Colony, it is attacked, and Samus returns to witness Ridley making off with the infant Metroid. Samus chases him to Zebes where she once again defeats Kraid and Ridley, along with many other creatures, but is attacked by a giant Metroid on her way to Mother Brain. The giant Metroid, in reality a grown form of the infant, recognizes Samus at the last minute and flees. In a final epic battle, Samus fights Mother Brain's new mechanical body, but is almost defeated. However, she is saved by the baby Metroid at the last moment, though it is killed by Mother Brain. Using the Hyper Beam the baby Metroid had taken from Mother Brain, Samus avenges the baby and kills Mother Brain, escaping Zebes before the entire planet explodes.

A ''Nintendo Power'' comic adaptation of ''[[Super Metroid]]'' was the first depiction of Samus's backstory, which was later expanded in the ''Monthly Magazine Z'' {{s|metroidwiki|Metroid e-manga}}. These comics established that she was born on the mining colony K-2L to parents Virginia and Rodney Aran, the latter being a member of the Galactic Federation. When Samus was 3 years old, her parents were on a mission in the K-2L mines to retrieve a precious mineral known as Afloraltite when the Chozo arrived. One named Old Bird quickly befriended Samus, before departing. Soon after, the miners were ambushed by the Space Pirates, led by none other than Ridley.  While Ridley considered Samus cute, he decided to kill her out of mercy, inadvertently killing Virginia as she leapt between the two. Rodney then detonated the Afloraltite, sacrificing himself to destroy the Pirates and bury Ridley under rubble. Old Bird and the Chozo returned soon after, finding Samus was the sole survivor of the incident. They decided to adopt the orphaned girl and took her to planet Zebes. As she grew up, she was infused with their DNA, trained with them in combat, and was given a Chozo Power Suit. Eventually, Samus left the planet and joined the Galactic Federation. She was present for the Space Pirates' occupation of Zebes, in which she reconcile her troubled relationship with her guardian Gray Voice just before his death at the hands of Ridley. Soon afterwards, Samus left the Federation due to her disagreements with procedures and general distaste for authority, as well as an argument with her superior officer, Adam Malkovich. Samus became a bounty hunter instead, and developed a reputation as the best in the galaxy.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Fusion}}'', Samus is assigned to escort a research expedition on SR388. There she is infected by an X-Parasite, and subsequently crashes into an asteroid when she passes out in her ship. Unconscious, parts of her suit are surgically removed by the Galactic Federation due to the X-Parasites infecting it. Her life is saved only when she is given the {{s|metroidwiki|Vaccine "Metroid"}}, made from the baby Metroid's cells, giving her Metroid-like qualities such as immunity to X-Parasites and weakness to cold. After this, Samus is sent to the BSL Research Station to investigate a disaster. There, she encounters the SA-X, an X-Parasite that form from her infected Power Suit. Learning that a rogue Federation branch is planning to clone Metroids as a bioweapon and secure the X-Parasites for the same purpose, Samus resolves to destroy both the station and planet SR388 to prevent such an outcome. Samus sends the BSL crashing into SR388, escaping after absorbing the SA-X and destroying an escaped Omega Metroid.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime}}'', set between ''Metroid'' and ''Metroid II'', Samus investigates a Space Pirate distress call from the Frigate Orpheon. She discovers the Pirates had been studying a new form of mutagen called Phazon, and encounters the reconstructed [[Meta Ridley]]. Samus pursues Meta Ridley to the planet Tallon IV, where she learns that a Chozo colony had lived there and a meteorite had struck on the planet long ago, warping a Metroid into an evil creature known as Metroid Prime. Samus searches through Tallon IV, uncovering not just Space Pirate research on the Phazon mutagen and Metroid Prime itself, but Chozo lore as well, detailing their spiritual way of life on Tallon IV before their end. Samus opens the way to the meteorite, defeating Meta Ridley at the entrance, and seemingly defeats Metroid Prime despite it stealing her Phazon Suit upgrade.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime Hunters}}'', Samus is sent to the Alimbic Cluster after the Galactic Federation intercepts a message claiming that "Ultimate Power" lies in the center. Samus explores four separate areas: Alinos, Arcterra, Vesper Defense Outpost, and the Celestial Archives, and secures the Octoliths, keys to the Infinity Void, where the ultimate power was said to be. Other bounty hunters named Sylux, Trace, Noxus, Spire, Kanden, and Weavel, stand in her way, each seeking the ultimate power for their own ends. The message turns out to be a trap, an attempt by the monstrous being Gorea to escape imprisonment. Samus, after securing an ancient Alimbic superweapon called the Omega Cannon, vanquishes Gorea and earns the respect of the Alimbic people.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 2: Echoes}}'', Samus is sent to the planet known as Aether to find a lost group of Galactic Federation troopers. She learns another Phazon meteorite had struck Aether, splitting it in two at the dimensional level: one dimension of regular Aether and the other an oppressive world called Dark Aether, which boasted a literally corrosive atmosphere of evil. Samus explores the planet, destroying the dark Ing creatures and reclaiming the light of Aether for the native Luminoth species. She also encounters [[Dark Samus]], a doppelganger of herself born from her Phazon Suit and the remains of Metroid Prime. With the help of the Luminoth, Samus stands against the Emperor Ing, destroys Dark Aether and apparently Dark Samus as well.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption}}'', Samus and three other bounty hunters, Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda, are hired by the Galactic Federation to heal the Aurora Units across the galaxy, which are infected by Phazon. However, Dark Samus, now leading the Space Pirates, plots to corrupt the entire galaxy with Phazon. On Norion, Dark Samus "corrupts" Samus and the three bounty hunters with Phazon, so the Federation attempts to harness it using PED systems. However, the hunters succumb to Dark Samus' influence, forcing Samus to trek across three planets, Bryyo, Elysia, and the Space Pirate Homeworld, to kill the corrupted hunters and complete their missions. Samus and the Federation then travel to the planet Phaaze, the origin of all Phazon, where Samus finally destroys Dark Samus and renders all Phazon inert. As Samus flies off into space, a mysterious ship (later confirmed to be Sylux) follows her.

''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime: Federation Force}}'' marks Samus' first role in the series as a supporting character. Samus is hired to investigate the Bermuda System, a three-planet system with abandoned Galactic Federation resources. As the mech suit-equipped members of Federation Force are already undertaking missions there, Samus occasionally intervenes to assist them. Samus eventually discovers that the Space Pirates are building the battleship ''Doomseye'' to attack Federation headquarters; however, she is kidnapped and brainwashed, and serves as the game's final boss under Space Pirate control. Once freed from the brainwashing, Samus helps the Federation troopers escape from the ''Doomseye'' and rescues them from the void of space with her [[gunship]].

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid: Other M}}'', set just after ''Super Metroid'', Samus responds to a distress signal from a research station called Bottle Ship. There she runs into Adam Malkovich, her former commander in the Galactic Federation, and his platoon, including her former colleague Anthony Higgs. They discover that the Bottle Ship was run by Federation staff creating illegal bioweapons cloned from Zebes, such as the Space Pirates and Ridley, but they had broken out and killed them all. Samus later discovers that they used the remnants of the baby Metroid, which were on her suit, to clone Metroids as bioweapons. In order to control them, they created an android with Mother Brain's AI called MB, but she staged a bioweapon rebellion, leading to the current state of the ship. In the end, Adam sacrifices himself to kill the remaining Metroids, Samus defeats the Queen Metroid, and the Galactic Federation kills MB. Samus leaves the Bottle Ship with Anthony and Madeline Bergman, the creator of MB. After Samus leaves, the Galactic Federation chooses to self-destruct the Bottle Ship. Samus is allowed to return for Adam's helmet, which she succeeds in after a battle with Phantoon. Samus makes her escape just as the station is explodes.

In ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Dread}}'', set after ''Metroid Fusion'', Samus is dispatched by the Galactic Federation to ZDR, having received video evidence of X-Parasites on the planet despite their supposed destruction. The Federation had sent E.M.M.I. robots to investigate, but they lost contact. As the only being with immunity to the X-Parasites, Samus hopes to end the X's existence. Soon after arriving on ZDR, Samus encounters a hostile Chozo named Raven Beak, leader of the warmongering Mawkin tribe. Raven Beak attacks her and steals her abilities, though her body's reaction makes him spare her. As she wakes up and explores the planet in search of a way back to her ship, Samus encounters the E.M.M.I. robots, which now seek to kill her. A friendly Chozo, Quiet Robe of the peaceful Thoha tribe, warns Samus of Raven Beak's plot to dominate the galaxy using the power of the Metroid DNA in her body, with Samus vowing to stop him. Samus' latent Metroid abilities begin to awaken, one of many side effects of the "Metroid" vaccine. This culminates in Samus obtaining the Metroid Suit and unleashing tremendous, but wild power, defeating Raven Beak, the remaining X and ultimately, ZDR itself. Samus' new condition almost dooms her when she nearly drains her ship's batteries, but an X-possessed Quiet Robe restores her original condition, allowing her to escape.