 Samus Aran in her Varia Suit, as she appears in the 2007 video game, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption |
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| Series | Metroid |
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| First game | Metroid (1986) |
| Created by | Makoto Kanō |
| Designed by | Hiroji Kiyotake |
| Voiced by | Jennifer Hale (2002–2007)[1] Alésia Glidewell (2008)[2] Jessica Martin (2010)[3] |
Samus Aran (サムス・アラン) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is a bounty huntress typically fitted with an armor suit with weapons that include beams and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley, along with the energy-draining alien parasites called Metroids. Orphaned at a young age, Samus was brought up by the Chozo alien race, which trained her as a warrior. The Chozo also gave her the Power Suit, which features the ability to collapse Samus into a sphere to roll through tight areas such as tunnels.
Samus has appeared in nine Metroid video games as of 2009. She has also been featured in media outside of the series, including comic books such as Captain N: The Game Master, all three games in the Super Smash Bros. series of multiplayer fighting games, and the video games Super Mario RPG (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996), and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997), in which she makes cameo appearances. Makoto Kanō created the characters for the original Metroid while Hiroji Kiyotake designed them. The idea for Samus to be female came up partway through the development of Metroid when the developers determined that it would be an interesting twist to reveal her as female at the end of the game. Samus is one of the first major female protagonists in a video game, and her popularity among fans has helped her top several lists of the best video game heroines of all-time.
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The style for the original Metroid game was designed to be a cross between the side-scrolling gameplay of the Super Mario games and the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of the The Legend of Zelda series, with inspiration from science fiction.[4] The game's characters were conceived by Makoto Kanō, while Hiroji Kiyotake designed them.[5] Samus is able to collapse into a ball to travel through tight areas. Calling the ability the Morph Ball, the developers conceived of it because it required less effort to animate than "a cyborg crawling on all fours", and the producer for Metroid, Gunpei Yokoi, took advantage of this shortcut.[5]
The game's atmosphere was influenced by Ridley Scott's film, Alien (1979).[5] Coincidentally, the film's sequel Aliens (1986) was released the same year as Metroid, inspiring the game's developers to create a female lead in the vein of Sigourney Weaver's character, Ripley. Series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto recalls, "We were partway through the development process when one of the staff members said 'Hey, wouldn't that be kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman?'"[6] The developers voted on the concept, and it passed.[5] The game's instruction manual refers to Samus as if she were male to keep her true gender a secret until the end of the game.[7] Samus was one of the first major female protagonists in a video game. Sakamoto noted that during the course of the Metroid series, developers constantly try to express Samus's femininity without turning her into a sex object.[6] Samus's image was based on actress Kim Basinger from 9 1/2 Weeks and My Stepmother is an Alien.[8]
Samus spent her childhood with her family on the mining planet K-2L. The planet was raided by Space Pirates, who were looking for bounty. The leader of the Space Pirates, Ridley, killed most of the people in Samus's colony,[9] including her parents,[5] and then destroyed the planet.[9] Orphaned, Samus was found by a bird-like alien race known as the Chozo,[5] who brought her to their home planet Zebes. Samus was infused with Chozo DNA to give her a strong resistance to foreign environments, then trained as a warrior and given one of the alien race's artifacts,[9] a powered exoskeleton called the Power Suit that biologically entwines itself with Samus's mind and body.[5]
She enlisted in the Galactic Federation Police, but later left for unknown reasons.[4][9] Samus, who is 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) in height and 198 pounds (90 kg) in weight, now works as a freelance bounty hunter, and is called on by the Galactic Federation to execute missions "because of her superior skills and sense of justice".[9] Samus is motivated at least in part by wrath as well as an accompanying sense of duty, since her "bounty hunting" helps the galaxy get rid of unsavory elements such as the mysterious lifeforms known as Metroids, who can drain life energy and are frequently used as biological weapons.[4][9] She also takes the opportunity to exact revenge on the pirates who murdered her family. Typically, one of her suit's arms carries a cannon, which can be charged to shoot an extra-powerful blast,[5] a limited number of missiles, and various beams.[4] Samus's suit can collapse into a sphere, a mode called the Morph Ball, allowing her to roll through tight areas such as tunnels. The suit can scan objects to learn more about them, and has a grapple beam used to cross large distances, such as chasms.[5] Since Metroid II: Return of Samus, Samus has been accompanied by her gunship, which is used in the games to save progress and restore health and ammunition.[5]
Samus's suit can be enhanced by power-ups, the first introduced being the Varia Suit. In the original Metroid, it gives a pinkish color to the Power Suit, but in Metroid II: Return of Samus, because of the limited monochrome graphics on the Game Boy, the Varia Suit has giant shoulder pads to differentiate it from her other suits. The design has remained with the suit ever since.[7] The difference between suits was explained in Metroid: Zero Mission, in which after completing her first mission on Zebes, Samus is shot down and her Power Suit is rendered useless. There, she re-visits a Chozo shrine that she first visited as a child, and receives upgraded armor, with the larger shoulder pads.[9] When the Varia Suit is destroyed, Samus dons the less protective Zero Suit. She wears a unique suit in Metroid Fusion called the Fusion Suit, a weakened version of the Power Suit. Other suit upgrades in the series include the Phazon Suit, Hazard Suit, and Light and Dark Suits. Also in the Metroid Prime series, the eponymous Metroid Prime creature fuses with the remnants of Samus's Phazon Suit to become Dark Samus, an evil doppelgänger of Samus.[4]
Samus typically works alone. Before Metroid: Other M (2010), she had never spoken in any of the games in the Metroid series, conversing only through text dialogue.[citation needed] In the first Metroid, her gender was kept a secret until the end of the game—the instruction booklet for the game referred to her character as male. If the player completes the game quickly enough, she is first revealed as female at the end of Metroid. Typically emotionless, Samus reveals some of her true self in Metroid Fusion. Without her suit, she let slip some emotions while dealing with her artificially intelligent computer.[5] In Super Metroid, Samus bonds with a Metroid before it sacrifices itself to save Samus from Mother Brain. Seeking revenge, Samus destroys Mother Brain in a scene that is "more than a little emotionally charged".[9] In the Chozo's scrolls, Samus is recorded as The Newborn, an "orphaned warrior filled with vengeance".[9] Thanks in part to her Chozo heritage, the Chozo consider her the hope of their race. The Galactic Federation sees her as the protector of the galaxy, and the Space Pirates refer to her as the Hunter.[9]
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Metroid series fictional chronology |
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Metroid (Zero Mission) |
In Metroid (1986), Samus is tasked by the Galactic Federation to track down Space Pirates on their home planet of Zebes. At the end of the game, she battles Mother Brain, the organism that controls the planet's defenses, and escapes in time to avoid the planet's self-destruction. In Metroid II: Return of Samus (1992), the Galactic Federation once again commissions Samus to exterminate all Metroid creatures on the planet SR388. She travels deep into the planet's caverns, where she encounters a Metroid Queen. After dispatching the creature, Samus discovers a small Metroid hatchling, which she spares. The baby Metroid follows Samus to her gunship, after it imprints on her. In Super Metroid (1994), the baby Metroid is stolen by Ridley. She travels back to the Space Pirates' rebuilt base on the planet Zebes. Locating the now fully grown Metroid, Samus discovers a new and more powerful Mother Brain. She defeats it with the help of the Metroid, which sacrifices itself to save Samus. In Metroid Fusion (2002), Samus returns to the planet SR388, where a parasitic infection nearly kills her. Large sections of her corrupted Varia Suit are surgically removed, and she is injected with baby Metroid DNA to save her, which alters her appearance dramatically. To prevent the parasites from spreading beyond SR388 and the space station orbiting above it, Samus sets the station to crash into SR388 and barely escapes before both the planet and station are vaporized.[5]
In Metroid Prime (2002), Samus learns of Phazon, the mysterious mutagen that can change the genetic material of an organism. She visits a Space Pirate station before encountering Meta Ridley. Afterward, she travels to the planet Tallon IV, a Phazon-corrupted Chozo colony in ruins. After collecting twelve Chozo artifacts, Samus is able to access the source of the Phazon contamination, a Phazon meteor. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004), Samus is sent to the planet Aether, a Phazon meteor-ravaged planet split into light and dark dimensions, where she battles the Ing, creatures that are able to possess other organisms. In Metroid Prime Hunters (2006), Samus competes against six other rival bounty hunters in a race to recover an alien ultimate weapon. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007), Samus is infected by Phazon and is slowly corrupted by the mutagen while she works to prevent it from spreading from planet to planet.[5] Metroid: Other M, currently slated for release in 2010, will provide more information about Samus's backstory.[10]
Samus was featured in a series of comic books called Captain N: The Game Master, published by Valiant Comics in 1990. In the comics, Samus is depicted as brash, money-hungry, and fiercely independent.[11] An article at 1UP.com describes Samus in the Captain N comics as "rambunctious, reckless, and gets into pissing contests with Lana over Kevin's affections, which makes for some of the most entertaining situations in the series". The reviewer added, "Not to say that the deadly quiet, contemplative Samus who fights for truth and justice in the more recent Metroid games isn't awesome, but there's something compelling about a Samus who's greedy and conniving—and is proud to admit it."[12]
Comic book and manga adaptations of Metroid games were also developed.[9][13][14] Samus is a playable character in all three games 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.[15][16] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) also features an alternate form of Samus called Zero Suit Samus, in which the heroine loses her Power Suit and has a different set of movements and attacks.[17] Samus also cameos in the Super Mario RPG (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996),[15] and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997) video games.[18]
Samus has been generally well-received by video gamers. Paul O'Connor, the lead game designer for Sammy Studios and a fan of the Metroid series, described Samus as a "quiet and mysterious presence in Metroid Prime".[19] While playing Metroid Prime, he felt a connection with Samus after sharing her exploration of an alien world and the catastrophe it experienced. O'Connor commented that curiosity about the unknown is a human trait, remarking that players empathize and identify with Samus because she is often rewarded for indulging in her curiosity.[19] IGN remarked that Samus has a cult following greater than most other female video game characters.[15] In the book Videogames and art, Andy Clarke notes that in the original game, Metroid, the player is not briefed on Samus's past or future; the only interaction that they have with the character is by being her through gameplay, while bits of information can be gleaned from the handbook and through concept art. Clarke remarks, "Samus is very rare for the character intimacy gained solely through game play and for her stasis and then drastic change," referring to the revelation that she is female.[20]
On IGN, Samus was chosen as the most requested character who should have her own movie franchise by the website's users. The website remarked that her tragic past makes her a perfect candidate for a movie, especially the loss of both her parents to the Space Pirates. Among their list of voted characters, IGN considered Samus to be the video game character that "could lead the pack of video game adaptations that actually manage to live up to the source material".[21] The website believed that Samus's theme song should be "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith because she "spends her time running around in a manly battle suit blasting first and taking names later".[22] Samus's popularity led to a toy line; First 4 Figures, a United Kingdom-based toy company, built 2,500 Varia Suit Samus figures, selling all of them.[23] Samus ranked fifth on GameDaily's Top 10 Smash Bros. Characters list.[24] In his review of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann called Samus one of the characters that made Nintendo "what it is today".[25] IGN ranked Samus as the third-best character for Super Smash Bros.[26]
As a female in a male-dominated role, Samus has been considered both a breakthrough for female characters in video games, as well as a sex object.[9] GameDaily considers Samus the video game industry's "first dominant female, a femme de force that didn't rely on a man to save her".[27] They also listed the discovery of her gender as the greatest moment in Nintendo history.[28] The Irish Times found it refreshing to learn that the series' protagonist, who is "well disguised under the suit of heavy armour", is female.[29] In the book Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections by Gail Hawisher, Cynthia Selfe, and James Paul Gee, they wrote that Samus is perhaps the most nonsexualized female video-game character ever,[30] a belief shared by Steve Rabin, who in Introduction to Game Development also considers Samus as one of Nintendo's most popular video game mascots.[31] Justin Hoeger wrote in The Sacramento Bee: "Unlike most other female video game characters, Samus isn't some husky-voiced bimbo in tight leather included only for sex appeal. Samus is tough, silent, heavily armed and spends most of her time in a bulky suit of high-tech Power Armor."[32] She was listed on GameDaily's list of hottest blondes in video games, described as both one of Nintendo's most famous protagonists as well as a "curvaceous, drop-dead-gorgeous woman".[33]
The Toronto Star argued that the sexual politics surrounding Samus and the Metroid series needed to stop, as they considered it unwarranted. They remarked that although Samus is female, it is not a significant characteristic after considering the fact that she spends most of her time in a suit of armor that "precludes creepy ogling".[34] The newspaper believed that the "big crazy shock to the gaming public" that followed after Metroid revealed that Samus is female was "some seriously misspent energy [...] Metroid Prime's heroine is not a woman for the benefit of the sweaty/excited crowd, and neither is she a standard-bearer nor a courageous leader in the struggle for video game civil rights. She is a supremely talented action figure, and in the closeups on her helmet you can kind of see that she wears mascara, but that is all."[34] Rupert Goodwins of The Independent wrote, "Samus Aran [...] is apparently female, although the Transformer-like suit she wears could just as easily contain a large centipede; it's hardly a breakthrough for feminism."[35]
Heidi Dangelmaier, a computer science graduate from Princeton University, conducted research on developing interactive titles for game manufacturers before pursuing a business in which she works with manufacturers to expand video games to target girls more. In an article for The Washington Post, she remarks that she was unhappy with what she considered a halfhearted attempt to include girls in the audience for video games. Dangelmaier said of Samus and Capcom's Cammy video game character: "That's not a woman, that's a drag queen. [...] Does she have the right contours? Sensibilities? Sense? Probably she's quite brutal. I don't think this is a role model for women or something we would aspire to be. [...] You're going to find some girls who like these games, but generally they know they're being left out."[36]
GameDaily ranked Samus seventh on a list of the Top 50 Hottest Game Babes, describing her as "a refreshing change of pace, a tough, no nonsense warrior that isn't afraid to remove her famous orange and yellow power suit and let her hair down, especially to reveal her skin tight clothing".[37] The website also ranked her number one on a list of the Top 25 Nintendo Characters of All Time.[38] In another article, they listed the "smart and sexy heroine" archetype as one of their Top 25 Video Game Archetypes, using Samus as an example.[39] UGO.com ranked Samus 11th on a list of the Top 11 Girls of Gaming,[40] and eighth on a list of the Top 50 Hottest Sci-Fi Girls.[41] The website noted that the original "jaw-dropping moment" was when Samus was revealed to be a woman in the original Metroid,[42] a moment which Game Informer considers to be the greatest twist in video games.[43] GameTrailers named Samus number one on a list of the Top Ten Women of Gaming,[44] and number three among Axe's Top Ten Gamer Babes.[45]
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Samus Aran is a game character that exists in Nintendo's Metroid universe. Samus acts as a Bounty Hunter for the Galactic Federation, though information surrounding her is extremely vague, and sometimes contradictory. Only in recent history, with games like Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion, was her story, history and universe fleshed out.
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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.
Originally the character of Samus Aran was written to be a male cyborg whose entire body had been surgically strengthened with robotics, giving him superpowers. 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.
However, upon defeating the game, fans were surprised to discover that there was actually a woman underneath the Power Suit, in a time when very few female video game characters were active heroines. Interestingly, players could discover that fact earlier on by entering JUSTIN BAILEY followed by 12 dashes or 12 spaces in the passcode reentry screen in the NES version.
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".[9] 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 donned Samus in her Power Suit 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.
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.
Little is known about Samus's personality or past, other than the fact that she prefers to work alone although she had once served under Galactic Federation general named Adam Malkovich. She was born on the colony planet K-2L, which was destroyed by the Space Pirates when she was a child. She was rescued by the Chozo and raised on their home on the planet Zebes, which was later taken over by the Space Pirates. The Chozo altered the DNA in her blood, making her the only human capable of using Chozo technology.
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).
Samus is rarely seen without her Chozo-designed Power Suit. In addition to providing protection, the suit is readily available to modifications including upgrades to enhance performance. Her most famous upgrades are probably the Morph Ball (also known as the Maru Mari) and the Screw Attack.
The Morph Ball allows Samus to roll into a small ball (the size of the ball varies from game to game) and lay bombs. In Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, there are two types of Morph Ball bombs. The default bomb is a small timed explosive, which is capable of damaging enemies. The more common use of the basic bomb, however, relies on the fact that Samus' own ordnance does no damage to her. Because of this, the explosive force of a Morph Ball bomb can be exploited to propel the Morph Ball upward to reach areas otherwise unreachable, while Samus remains unharmed. Another advantage of the Morph Ball bombs is that they are not affected by gravity, so with correct timing, a bomb can be laid in midair and subsequently used to "jump" even higher. Samus can also obtain Super Bombs which have great explosive force and are often used to blow holes through walls and gain access to closed-off areas. These bombs are also highly effective against enemies, but they do not propel the Morph Ball in any way.
Samus' Screw Attack allows her to turn into a spinning enemy-damaging mass when she jumps. It also allows her to perform several midair jumps, and to reach very high places by repelling from walls at an upward angle.
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.
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 beginning of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, 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.
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, and the Metroid II version of her gunship appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl for the GameCube/Wii. 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.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, players can cause Samus to lose her Power Suit by using her Final Smash attack, Zero Laser. When not wearing her Power Suit, she wears the Zero Suit, a blue form-fitting suit seen in Zero Mission and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. In this suit, she has a different set of movements and attacks, and pieces of her destroyed Power Suit can be picked up and thrown. This alternate suit is also selectable at the beginning or during a match by using a secret code. Zero Suit Samus's Final Smash is named Power Suit Samus, where she reverts back into her Power Suit. This is the first game in which Samus has actual spoken lines of dialogue. This occurs when she is taunting while wearing the Zero Suit.
Samus also can wear a pink or green Varia Suit, the Gravity Suit, Phazon Suit(Melee), the Power Suit version of the Fusion Suit(Brawl), and the Dark Suit(Brawl). Each Suit comes with a different color Zero Suit underneath as well.
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.)
 Samus's suits |
 Metroid series |
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| Metroid - Metroid 2: Return of Samus - Super Metroid - Metroid Prime - Metroid Fusion - Metroid: Zero Mission - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Metroid Prime Pinball - Metroid Prime: Hunters - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Metroid Prime Trilogy - Metroid: Other M |
| Characters |
| Samus Aran Mother Brain - Ridley - Kraid | Metroid - Phazon Space Pirates | X Parasite | SA-X | Ing |
| Misc |
| Metroid timeline - Samus's suits - Samus's visors - Samus's beams - Morph Ball -Screw Attack - Speed booster - Galactic Federation - Chozo Planets: Zebes - SR388 - Aether |
| Samus Aran | |
|---|---|
| Game series | Metroid series |
| First game | Metroid (1986) |
| Created by | Makoto Kanoh[1] |
| Designed by | Hiroji Kiyotake[2] |
| Voiced by | Alésia Glidewell (2008-present)[3] |
Samus Aran (サムス・アラン Samusu Aran?) is a female (girl) video game character, who is the main character of the Metroid games. Because she does not remove her suit or talk much, people thought she was a boy until they saw the ending of Metroid, which shows Samus without her suit. She's a bounty hunter, and helps the Galactic Federation. She has many enemies, including Mother Brain, Ridley, Kraid, Dark Samus, and the Metroids.
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The makers said that the Metroid series is supposed to be like the 1979 film, Alien, and Samus was like one of the film's characters, Ellen Ripley. Players thought Samus was a boy until the end of the original Metroid game. One of the makers said that it would be "kind of cool if it turned out that this person inside the suit was a woman". The rest of the makers liked it so it happened
Samus' suit is orange and red, and runs on Energy Tanks. It was made by creatures called Chozos, and can gain new powers and abilities. She has lots of other suits as well.
The Metroid Prime series takes place in between Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus.
In Metroid Prime, Samus has to go to the Frigate Orpheon, and meets Meta Ridley, the revived form of an enemy from Metroid. She loses her powers on the frigate through an accident, and escapes to the planet Tallon IV. She eventually has to do battle with the final boss, Metroid Prime.
In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus meets a creature called Dark Samus, which is Metroid Prime fused with a suit Samus got on Tallon IV.
In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus and three other bounty hunters
Samus was the first female character to appear in the Super Smash Bros. series, and has been in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. She's only in her suit in the first two, but in the third, she can be in Zero Suit Samus form, which comes from Metroid: Zero Mission. She takes many moves from the Metroid series, including the Charge Beam, Bombs, Screw Attack, and Missiles.
   | ''Metroid Prime'' Chozo Lore FAQ - Metroid Prime Chozo Lore FAQ - IGN FAQs |
| | Super Metroid: Comics - The Metroid Database :: Prepare For Redirection |
| | Translation of official e-manga detailing Samus's Origin - One Girl in All The World |
| | Interview with Jeffrey Scott - Interview with Jeffrey Scott |
| | IGN: Smash Profile - Samus - IGN: Smash Profile: Samus Aran |
| | One Girl vs. The Galaxy - One Girl Against the Galaxy: 20 Years of Metroid and Samus Aran from 1UP.com |
| | Ultimate Nintendo FAQ - May 2002 - N-Sider.com: Ultimate Nintendo FAQ (may 2002) |
| | Jennifer Hale - Jennifer Hale Trivia and Quotes - TV.com |
| | Credits for ''Metroid'' - Game Credits for Metroid |
| | ''Metroid Prime'' FAQ - GameFAQs: Metroid Prime (GC) Chozo Lore FAQ by Koran Rag |
| | GameFaqs.com - Video Game Cheats, Reviews, FAQs, Message Boards, and More - GameFAQs |
| | Samus cameos - The Metroid Database :: Prepare For Redirection |
| | Metroid.jp - METROID OFFICIAL SITE |
| | Official Metroid E-Manga - METROID OFFICIAL SITE |
| | - Metroid Database - The Metroid Database has moved! |
| | IGN Presents The History of Metroid - IGN: IGN Presents The History of Metroid |
| | IGN Stars: Icons - Samus Aran - IGN: Stars: Icons - Samus Aran |
| | Metroid: Zero Mission director roundtable - IGN: Metroid: Zero Mission Director Roundtable |
| | Samus' Outer Appearance Development (with screenshots) - Samus Aran is a Hottie! - thisischris.com |
| | Samus Aran Fansite providing news and info about the Heroine - SamusCentral.com - Your Samus Aran and Metroid resource |
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