SAMUS ARAN

, is the fictional protagonist of the ''Metroid'' video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game ''Metroid'', Samus is a female bounty hunter armed with a cybernetic power suit with a number of advanced technologies built into it. She hunts the aliens called the "Space Pirates" and energy-draining alien parasites called "Metroids," while attempting to complete missions given by the Galactic Federation. Samus is voiced in ''Metroid Prime'', '', ''Metroid Prime Hunters'', and '' by Jennifer Hale, but only for incidental sounds (such as cries of pain, grunts and death screams).
Her gender is unusual for a game protagonist of her time; ''Metroid'' led players to believe Samus was a male cyborg (including references to the character as male in the English instruction booklet) until the very end of the game, where it was revealed that Samus is in fact an athletic young woman.^[1] Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the ''Metroid'' series, it has become a tradition to depict her in much more revealing attire at the end of each game, often as a reward for satisfying certain conditions (such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game’s items collected). Samus is considered the first playable female character in a Nintendo game.
Samus's creation is usually credited to ''Metroid'' producer Gunpei Yokoi, but the original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanoh and Samus was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake^[2].

Contents

Equipment

Role in the ''Metroid'' series

Roles outside of the ''Metroid'' series

''Super Smash Bros.'' series

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

Other appearances

References

External links

Equipment

Samus's main distinguishing feature is her Power Suit, a modular suit of armor created for her by a fictional alien race called the Chozo. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect her from adverse environments (including the vacuum of space) and enemy fire. During gameplay, the suit can be upgraded to various other forms for added protection. She can also receive various power-ups which augment her abilities, including Space Jump boots, energy tanks, the Screw Attack, and numerous modifications to her weapons. In ''Metroid Fusion'', her infected Power Suit is removed and she utilizes the Fusion Suit instead (which upgrades by downloading data sent by the Galactic Federation, or by absorbing powerful X-parasites).

For transportation, Samus uses her distinctive gunship, which resembles her helmet. She has had several gunships throughout the series, 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's gunship was in '', and the differences in the gunship's design, with very few exceptions, have been cosmetic in nature. The ship's most common incarnation is seen in ''Metroid II'', ''Super Metroid'' and '', as well as making various cameos in non-''Metroid'' games.
The gunship serves the player primarily as a save point and a place to recharge energy and ammunition stores. It is often used as a goal for escaping during the many "self-destruct countdown" sequences in the series. In some games in the series, it is destroyed or damaged through the course of the story. Within the last chronological game, ''Metroid Fusion'', the ship is replaced by another ship containing an A.I. which acts as Samus's commanding officer. In '', the gunship plays a key role in Samus' mission. Controlled by Samus' command visor, it is used to travel to various locations in the game and, after being upgraded, can shoot missiles to destroy obstructions or to provide air support against enemies. The gunship can also lift and drop items using a grapple attained later in the game.

Role in the ''Metroid'' series

Within the Metroid games, the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran, is best known for defeating the Space Pirates and the dangerous, life-draining Metroids. At the start of ''Metroid'', Samus's 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's past. 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 infused with "Chozo blood".^[3] Information in '' and ''Metroid Prime'' also strongly suggests that she was raised on the planet Zebes by the Chozo, who referred to her as "the Hatchling"^[4], and that she became their most prized warrior.
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 '' continues the plot when Samus's gunship is shot down, forcing her to infiltrate the Pirates' mothership in order to escape.
In '', Samus is charged with returning to planet SR-388 and eradicating 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 quickly 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) and continuing on to New Tourian in search of Mother Brain. She then goes on to attack a cybernetically enhanced Mother Brain, who nearly defeats her before being attacked by the Metroid hatchling. Mother Brain attacks the Metroid in retaliation, eventually destroying it. Samus then defeats Mother Brain and escapes as the planet self-destructs.
''Metroid Fusion'' takes place after the events of ''Super Metroid''. In this game, she 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's past is revealed in this game, mostly through narration by Samus herself. Throughout her mission, Samus is stalked by her doppelgänger, the SA-X.
''Metroid Prime'' chronicles Samus's mission to Tallon IV, between the events of ''Metroid'' and ''Metroid II'', 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 '', continuing after ''Metroid Prime'', Samus is sent to the unstable planet Aether for a search and rescue mission. She soon discovers a doppelgänger of herself, Dark Samus, formed of the remains of Metroid Prime and Samus's Phazon Suit. Samus works to restore the planet's energy, guided by the indigenous Luminoth and battling against the powerful Ing.
In ''Metroid Prime Hunters'' (which takes place chronologically between the events of ''Prime'' and ''Prime 2''), 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 '' (which takes place directly after ''Prime 2''), Dark Samus returns and corrupts Samus (as well as several other bounty hunters) with Phazon, as well as corrupting several planets with Phazon seeds called "Leviathans". Samus must journey across these planets to stop the spread of Phazon caused by the Leviathans.

Roles outside of the ''Metroid'' series

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

''Super Smash Bros.'' series

Samus appears in the Nintendo multiplayer fighting game series, ''Super Smash Bros.'', where she can use her array of weapons in combat against other Nintendo-owned characters. The ''Metroid II'' version of her gunship also appears as a trophy in the second game of the series.
Samus has also been announced for the upcoming game ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' for Nintendo's Wii console. Samus loses her Power Suit after using her Final Smash, called the Zero Laser, reverting into what is known as "Zero Suit Samus", and the pieces of her suit can be thrown, much like the hammerhead in ''Melee''. This form is based on her suitless design shown in '', '', '', and ''Metroid Prime Hunters'', in which Samus wears a blue, skin-tight suit and no headgear.^[5]

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

#''Famicom Wars'' (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and his face on the result screen is Samus's helmet.)^[7]
#''Nintendo’s Tetris'' (1989, NES) (Cameo, appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)⁷
#''F-1 Race'' (1990, Game Boy) (Cameo, appears cheering before Course 7)⁷
#''Galactic Pinball'' (Virtual Boy) (Cameo, her ship appears in a minigame)
#'' (1996, SNES) (Cameo, after Mario's party defeats Yaridovich, he may find her sleeping, until Mario travels to Land's End, and a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)
#''Kirby Super Star'' (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his rock defense he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screw Ball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offensive segment of the game.)⁶
#''Kirby’s Dream Land 3'' (1997, SNES) (Cameo, appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids)⁶
#'' (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Contains a microgame based on NES ''Metroid'')
#'' (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (Contains the same ''Metroid'' microgame from ''Mega Microgame$'')
#'' (2005, Nintendo DS) (Contains a microgame based on NES ''Metroid'')
#'' (2005, Game Boy Advance) (Contains two microgames based on NES ''Metroid'')
#'' (2005, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying “Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?” Also you can get a 1x1 item that is a Metroid in a case. When you touch it, it glows and plays a small clip of ''Metroid'' music.)
#''Geist'' (2005) (Samus’ helmet is seen in a women’s locker room⁷
#''Tetris DS'' (2006, Nintendo DS) (''Metroid''-based course, Catch; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; A difficulty level on Standard mode is ''Metroid'' Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original ''Metroid'' playing on the top screen.)
#'' (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on the Metroid Prime series.)

Other appearances

Samus was also a semi-regular character in the '' comic books from Valiant Comics, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System, where she filled in the void left by Simon Belmont and Mega Man, who did not appear in the comic due to the characters being owned by Konami and Capcom respectively. 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. Samus's gunship also makes an appearance, albeit in a very different form than in the games. Interestingly, the ship's class in the comic was "Hunter IV", suggesting that the ship's canonical designation ("Hunter Class") may have been derived from the comic. However, it is also possible that the name is simply coincidental, given that Samus's official occupation is that of a bounty hunter.
In the animated series of the same name, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain was the show’s primary villain. Series writer Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her"^[8].
Samus also starred in her own comic story, apparently set in the same continuity, titled “Deceit du Jour”; it was the only ten-page story to have the ''Metroid'' umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another bounty hunter, “Big Time” Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging one of her own weapons before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time later attempts to kill her with it, it explodes, covering Samus's escape.
Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in ''Nintendo Power'': a 60-page one for ''Super Metroid'' ^[9] and a 24-page one for ''Metroid Prime''.^[10].
A super deformed doll in Samus's likeness drove the plot for a ''Mario VS Wario'' comic that was published prior to the ''Super Metroid'' comic.

References

1.
2. El Origen de Metroid
3. ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', "Samus Aran" trophy
4. ''Metroid Prime'' FAQ at GameFaqs.com
5. Zero-Suit Samus profile, Smash Bros Dojo!
6. Metroid cameos
7. Metroid and Samus cameos
8. Interview with Jeffrey Scott, The Unofficial Captain N Homepage
9. Super Metroid: Comics, Metroid Database
10. Downloads for ''Metroid Prime'' (including the comic series), Samus.co.uk

External links

★ Translation of official e-manga detailing Samus's Origin

★ Rag, Koran (2004). “''Metroid Prime'' Chozo Lore FAQ”. Accessed July 4, 2005.

★ IGN: Smash Profile - Samus