Samus Aran

"Sammy" redirects here. For the former Retro Studios artist, see Sammy Hall.
"Samus" redirects here. For other uses, see Samus (Disambiguation).
"Newborn" redirects here. For the Chozo Artifact, see Artifact of Newborn.
"Princess" redirects here. For other uses, see Princess (Disambiguation).

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran^?) is an intergalactic bounty hunter and the protagonist of the Metroid series.

The daughter of Rodney Aran and Virginia Aran, she lost her parents during a Space Pirate raid on her home of K-2L. Later, Samus was adopted by the mysterious Chozo and taken to Zebes, where she was infused with their DNA and raised to become a warrior. Once she reached adulthood, Samus joined the Federation Police and served under the Commanding Officer Adam Malkovich. Though she ultimately left to become a Bounty Hunter, she was nonetheless hired by the Galactic Federation on many occasions. Equipped with her cybernetic Power Suit, Samus has become famous for accomplishing missions previously thought impossible. Her most renowned achievements are the destruction of the Space Pirate base on Zebes, her role in ending the Galactic Phazon crisis, her extermination of the Metroid species, and her disobedience of orders at the Biologic Space Laboratories research station where she chose to destroy the deadly X Parasites rather than turn them over to the Galactic Federation.

Samus broke ground early in the gaming world when she debuted in the 1986 game Metroid. Originally players were under the impression that Samus was a male, as even the instruction booklet suggested this. However, completing Metroid in under five hours revealed Samus to be a young woman.^[3] Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, she traditionally removes it at the end of most games, often as a result of satisfying certain conditions such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game's items collected or even both.

Biography

Main article: Biography of Samus Aran

A fictional "Second Office of Trentesse" organization, mentioned in the Japanese Nintendo Official Guide Book for Super Metroid, features a short profile of Samus.

Personality and portrayal

Samus' personality has never been explored in-depth within the context of the games, a conscious decision by Nintendo to help the player imagine themselves better as the in-game character. However, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Metroid: Other M are perhaps the most notable games in the series to give insight into Samus' personality, as well as other media formats such as comics and manga. Prior to Metroid: Other M, her voice would only be represented by text at the beginning narration, as well as throughout Metroid Fusion.

Typically, Samus is depicted as a melancholic, heroic loner of few words. Despite her great achievements, she remains lonely and brooding, and seeks revenge against the Space Pirates - especially Ridley, who was personally responsible for the death of her mother. Despite her tragic origins, Samus has been shown to have unparalleled willpower and resourcefulness, succeeding where thousands failed and stopping at nothing to save the galaxy from any threat that may arise. Such is Samus' determination that she was even willing to sacrifice herself to prevent the spread of the body-snatching X Parasites.

Despite her reputation for destroying even the deadliest of foes, Samus is also known for her compassion, and has consistently stood up to protect the helpless and downtrodden. Two notable instances of this were when she volunteered to single-handedly save the Luminoth race from the brink of extinction, and when she helped innocent Etecoons and a Dachora escape a self-destructing Zebes. In Metroid II, Samus also bonded with a Metroid who was born in front of her eyes, and decided to spare it, possibly recalling her three-year-old self during the attack on K-2L. It later sacrificed itself at the end of Super Metroid to save Samus, leaving her heartbroken and emotionally scarred for some time, as shown in Metroid: Other M.

Witnessing her mother's death at Ridley's hands left Samus with posttraumatic stress disorder, which manifested as a severe panic attack upon her first encounter with Ridley in adolescence. She appears to have since learned to cope with this trauma, as she has rarely hesitated to do battle with her hated nemesis since then: Upon learning that he had survived their first battle on Zebes, Samus expressed only anger and wasted no time rushing to her Gunship and chasing Ridley all the way down to the planet Tallon IV. Samus' PTSD resurfaced a second time when she encountered a cloned Ridley on the BOTTLE SHIP during the events of Metroid: Other M - a period of time in which Samus was already emotionally vulnerable following the death of the Metroid hatchling and the destruction of her childhood home of Zebes.

During the events of Metroid: Other M, Samus was depicted as going through a period of severe self-doubt after the destruction of her childhood home and the death of the Metroid hatchling. During this time, her behavior was more passive, less self-reliant, being uncharacteristically dependent on Adam Malkovich when she joined him and his platoon in investigating the BOTTLE SHIP, despite later stating that she dislikes the very idea of taking orders from a commanding officer. Her PTSD regarding Ridley also resurfaced during this mission, to the point that she could barely communicate when attacked by his clone, and could not regain her composure until Anthony Higgs was apparently killed trying to defend her. Other M's depiction of Samus has garnered significant criticism for being perceived as inconsistent with her depictions in all other games, as well as the questionable implications of her submissive behavior and interactions with Adam during the game's events. However, Other M is the only time these traits have been observed; by the time of the events of Metroid Fusion, which takes place after Other M, Samus is once again portrayed as self-reliant and strong-willed, if somewhat more introspective.

Age

Samus' precise age has never been revealed, with the Japanese Prime site even stating that her age is unknown. Other M concept art reveals that in her early years of around the time of the K-2L attack, that she is "4-6 years old,"^[4] contradicting early media saying it happened when she was three, and in her Federation military period, she is "15-17 years old."^[5]

Inspiration from the Alien Series

It is plausibly assumed that Samus was inspired by Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley from the Alien series. Her relationship with the Metroid is comparable to Ripley's relationship with a surviving LV-426 colonist named Rebecca "Newt" Jorden. Like the Baby, Newt dies in the sequel, Alien³, and just like Samus, Ripley feels guilt over her death. Unlike Ripley, Samus has never shown to be traumatized by the Metroids she faces on her various missions.

In Other Media

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—"

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Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

In licensed Metroid material outside of the games, Samus’s personality is largely left up to the writer in question. As such, her personality has varied considerably between major publications. The Magazine Z manga depicts her as suffering from childhood trauma and often thinking heavily about her role and the role of the Pirates. In the Captain N: The Game Master comics, Samus is depicted as brash and money-hungry (as just about any bounty hunter would be), though she is willing to compete fairly with Princess Lana for the protagonist Kevin Keene’s feelings, suggesting her behavior is something of a "tough-guy" act.

While Samus does not have a royal heritage in any of the games, she was depicted as the queen of Garbage World in A King of Shreds and Patches in Captain N, and Anthony Higgs gives her the nickname "Princess" in Metroid: Other M (although in concept artwork James Pierce says "Heey, Princess!" likely referring to Samus). Non-canonically, she is also depicted sitting on the throne in the King Conan Diorama in Corruption. This would seem to indicate that she became an empress to the Reptilicus, although this is never depicted in-game.

Physical appearance

Samus Aran is a human. According to the Super Metroid Players' Guide, she is 6 feet 3 inches tall (roughly 190 cm) and weighs 198 pounds (roughly 90 kilograms); however, the manual of Metroid II: Return of Samus attributes these measurements to her Power Suit instead.^[6] Physically, her body is quite lean under the armor, though her superhuman abilities may be accountable to her muscle/bone density given her hybrid genetics and augmentations. Her hair color is blonde, her eye color is blue with a green tinge, and she appears to be Caucasian. Samus typically wears her blond hair in a modified ponytail with a red headband, with a lock on either side. The exact hairstyle, however, can vary from game to game.

Samus's appearance varied widely in the early games. In the original Metroid, her hair was miscolored brown, though it would turn green once the player acquired the Varia Suit. If Metroid II: Return of Samus was played with a Super Game Boy, Game Boy Player or Game Boy Advance, her hair would be miscolored red. It wasn't until Super Metroid that she officially became blond, although the non-canon comic colored her hair purple. In addition, the gamebook Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order depicted her hair color as largely being black.

Similarly, Samus's Hairstyle has varied in the early games and other media. In the original Metroid, her hairstyle was depicted as wavy and reaching just beyond her shoulder blades in the ending, while in Metroid II and Super Metroid, it was depicted as straight with a part on the left side of her forehead and bangs, respectively, with the former only reaching her neck and the latter reaching her shoulders. In Fusion, she has two bangs, one of which partially covers her left eye slightly, and is depicted as long enough to reach down her back. In addition, in Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's hair, similar to Fusion was depicted as long enough to reach down her back. Samus's signature hairstyle debuted in Metroid: Zero Mission, and has been present in every Metroid game released since. The only exception is Metroid Prime Hunters which, though it retained Samus's ponytail, lacked the two locks of hair on each side of her head. Previously, Samus had been depicted with a ponytail in Metroid Prime and (briefly) at the end of Metroid II and Super Metroid.

Samus's face structure has also varied between games. Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion gave her a wider face and larger eyes than later incarnations. In particular, her appearance for Super Metroid is stated to be based on American actress Kim Basinger. In Metroid Prime, her jaw was squarer, her eyes deeper-set and her lips more defined, giving her a Caucasian appearance. Zero Mission gave her higher cheekbones and a thinner face than previous installments, and that template has been the basis for every game since. Echoes' incarnation is possibly her most panned appearance, due to the in-game model suffering from the uncanny valley. Prime Hunters, on the other hand, gave Samus a face that appeared to be a blend of Zero Mission's and Prime's depiction. Samus retained the deep-set eyes, traditional ponytail, and fuller face from Prime, but also had Zero Mission's higher cheekbones. Corruption's is closer to that of Zero Mission, with a thinner, more stylized face. Samus Returns gave Samus a slightly angular face, along with slightly rounder eyes. In other media, such as Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's face was rendered with a similar design to various Japanese anime, such as Speed Racer.

On the other hand, Metroid: Other M is perhaps the largest change Samus has ever had to her appearance since Zero Mission. She is depicted for the first time with short hair and green eyes, with subtle facial features reminiscent of Asian descent. While her adult appearance still gives her a ponytail, the two locks on either side of her head have been heavily reduced in size, her bangs have been altered and her ponytail has been moved to the nape of the neck. She also has the beauty mark that Yoshio Sakamoto alluded to in the Super Metroid developer interview, under the left side of her lip. A mole was marked in concept art for Metroid Prime, but was not added to the model. Before the credits, Samus is briefly depicted with her hair down, the first instance of this in 3-D. With her hair down, she has locks of hair hanging over her shoulders. After Anthony steps in, the lock over her right shoulder is no longer there. She then ties her hair back into her ponytail, mirroring the scenes in Metroid II and Super Metroid where she unties the ponytail. A development screenshot pictured her young appearance with black hair, which given the intended focus on the Japanese audience as well as Samus's rebellious past being focused on, may have been intended to imply that Samus dyed her hair blonde as an act of rebellion (as the act is considered such in Japan due to its associations with Western/American culture).

Powers and abilities

Samus Aran's infusion with Chozo DNA, as well as her warrior training since her childhood, has turned her into a superior athlete. Her training began at the age of 3 and continued up until she was 14 years old. As a result of the Chozo’s influence, Samus is capable of running and jumping heights far past normal human ability, as well as surviving falls that would otherwise kill an ordinary human. Samus is also more adaptive to foreign alien environments that normal humans cannot survive in, such as the majority of Zebes and Elysia.

Samus also demonstrates good sharpshooting skills. She is an excellent marksman, with an incredible aim, and is tremendously deadly in combat. She exhibits prodigious puzzle-solving and hacking skills. She also possesses a lithe figure that allows her to crawl through tunnels and gaps that would normally require the usage of the Morph Ball. All of these are, of course, augmented further by her Power Suit. If need be, Samus will engage in melee combat, often using kicks and wrestling tactics to weaken her foe for a point-blank shot.

The extent of Samus’ training after she joined the Federation Police is currently unknown, but it is clear that the Federation has made one major augmentation to her abilities: her infusion with Metroid DNA. This infusion was done in a last-ditch attempt to save her life after she was infected with the X Parasites, and thus it was not completely known at the time what the side effects would be.

As a result of the infusion, Samus gained immunity to X Parasites, as well as the ability to absorb them for energy. However, she also inherited the Metroid’s crippling weakness to cold, though this disability was negated after she absorbed the essence of the SA-X. However, Samus does not seem to have inherited the Metroids' ability to float or to absorb bio-energy from life forms beyond the X Parasites.

Equipment

Power Suit

Samus’ most notable piece of equipment is her Power Suit, which has become virtually synonymous with her own identity. This suit was given to her during her time with the Chozo and was built to be fused with her mind, body, and spirit. The original Power Suit was destroyed when Samus crash-landed on Zebes after an ambush by Space Pirates, but her duel with the Ruins Test gave her a new, upgraded suit, which is able to absorb dozens of upgrades of alien origin. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect Samus from adverse environments and enemy fire, and it can be upgraded to dozens of other forms, each with its own different advantages. While some suits are stronger than others and have different abilities, they all maintain the same basic shape and usage.

Zero Suit

Beneath the Power Suit, Samus wears a skin-tight bodysuit known as the Zero Suit. Because of its negligible weight, this suit allows Samus to perform at top physical performance level and gives some weak protection from enemy fire. She also owns an emergency pistol known as the Paralyzer, which auto-charges to fire stunning shots, though it has no lethal capacity.

Samus Aran's Gunship

For transportation, Samus uses her Gunship, which usually resembles her helmet. Samus has been seen in five gunships of unique design: Her first ship design was used and destroyed on her initial Zero Mission, while the second was used in her mission to Tallon IV and the mission to the Tetra Galaxy. She has had other two ships custom-made for her in Aliehs III's shipyard: Her modular ship used in the waning days of the Phazon crisis, which combined Chozo and Federation technology, and the ship for which she is best known. This gunship model was first seen in the mission to Aether, and stayed with Samus until its destruction in SR388's asteroid field. After its destruction, Samus was assigned a new ship from the Federation with an onboard AI for her investigation of the BSL.

It is currently unknown if/how her first two ships and the "iconic" ship are related, although information on the Metroid Prime website suggests that her ship in that game was the same one as her Zero Mission model, perhaps salvaged from the wreck on Zebes.

Misplacing Upgrades

A curious aspect of the Metroid series is that Samus begins most games with a minimal amount of equipment, even after accumulating a sizable number of upgrades in the preceding game that would help her on subsequent missions. This is evidently a necessary gameplay mechanic needed for every title in the series, but it is unknown why this occurs so frequently in-universe, and has become a subject of humor over the years.

Later games in the series have presented plot-related explanations for this: In games such as Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus starts out with a considerable amount of gear but is quickly stripped of most of it by attacks or unfortunate incidents. Samus then regains these abilities over the course of the game, in addition to a vast array of other upgrades that expand her arsenal well beyond its initial size. Additionally, Samus seems to relinquish most of her upgrades at the end of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, explaining why she only has her basic abilities by the time of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is the first Metroid game where Samus is not the main protagonist or even playable, but plays a role as a secondary character, aiding the Federation Force. After the Space Pirates are discovered in the Bermuda System, the Galactic Federation asks Samus to investigate their activities. She is briefly seen flying over Excelcion, and she destroys one of the missile factories on Talvania while the Force destroys another. During M10: Black Hole, Samus contacts the Force directly to warn them of a fifth Missile Transport ship, which they destroy. She also assists the Force after the Rohkor Beetle battle, using her Ship Missiles to finish it off. After M14: Tremor, the Force mysteriously loses all contact with Samus.

A Decoy item in the game deploys a scarecrow-like model of her to distract Space Pirates.

Battle

In M22: Convergence, it is revealed that Samus was captured by the Space Pirates and brought aboard their battleship Doomseye. She is then brainwashed, transformed into gigantic size and forced to fight against the Federation Force, serving as the game's final boss. After she is defeated, she reverts back to her normal size and freed from the Pirates' control, but is then buried under falling debris. She survives and later assists the Federation Force in escaping the battleship's destruction, rescuing them with her Gunship when they are sucked into the vacuum of space. At the end of the mission, she commends the Federation Force and looks forward to their future efforts.

Samus spends the entire fight in gigantic Morph Ball form, laying large destructible Bombs in sets of three and attempting to ram the Marine with the Boost Ball. She constantly rolls around the field but does not actively chase the Marines.

Samus is surrounded by a purple shield that negates all the Marines' attacks, although she can be frozen with the Freeze Shot. However, the shield does not cover the green cores on her sides, which if shot enough times disables the shield and stops her movement. Once the shield is down, the Marines must shoot and push her into the electric fields at the edges of the room, similar to Blast Ball. After enough damage, Samus regains her shield, repeating the process. Using the Scan Bolt on Samus can make her more floaty, and thus easier to shoot into electric fields.

Once she loses all her health, Samus shrinks slightly but regains all her health; the process must be repeated two more times. After one full depletion, Samus will start using her Spider Ball to roll across the ceiling, eventually stopping at the center to drop down to the ground and produce a shockwave. After the second full depletion, Samus rolls much faster, drops larger red Bombs, and also lays Bombs while using Boost Ball and Spider Ball. Her Bombs can be destroyed to get AUX ammo. The red Bombs have a large blast radius when they explode. The mission's bonus objective is to never take damage from Samus's Bombs.

Behind the Scenes

Concept and Creation

Samus Aran first appeared in 1986, as the playable protagonist in the video game Metroid. Originally, Samus was created solely as an alternate identity for the player to put themselves into and was given no separate personality or defining features, characteristic of the creative treatment of many video game characters of the time. Partway through the development process, one member of the team suggested: "Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the character turned out to be a woman?” A vote was held and Samus was changed into a woman. The identity of the developer who suggested making Samus a woman is unknown, and when asked in 2017 and 2018, Yoshio Sakamoto and Hirokazu Tanaka were unable to remember. Sakamoto suggested that it may have been someone who has since left Nintendo.^[7][8]

Since the film series Alien was acknowledged as a major influence in the development of Metroid, it is reasonable to assume that the inspiration for making Samus a woman may have very well come from the film's own Ellen Ripley. Indeed, in the Nintendo Power-published Super Metroid comic, her personality was based on a mix of Ripley and Princess Leia from the Star Wars series. Contrary to popular belief, Samus was not created by Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi. The original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanō and were designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.^[9]

The name Samus is the female variant of the name Seamus, which is Celtic for James, which means: "He who supplants". Her last name of Aran may refer to the Aran Islands on the west coast of Ireland. Combining the two gives the meaning: "She who supplants an island" or "She who conquers an isolated area by force."^[10] Pronunciation of the name over the years has varied from either SAMUHS A-RUHN (as in the verb "run"), A-RAHN (using the "CAT" vowel for the first two As and the verb form of "ran"), but it wasn’t until the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption that pronunciation of her name was finally cemented as SAMUHS ERR-EN, and it is likely to remain this way since. An interview with several of the developers of the original Metroid states that her name originated from the famous footballer Edson Arantes "Pelé" do Nascimento.

Voice

Super Metroid marked the first time Samus had written dialogue in a game, narrating the events directly after Metroid II: Return of Samus. Her speaking role was expanded in Metroid Fusion, where she spoke in more narrative monologues, and also conversations with her computer. Though Fusion was well praised, there was some controversy over Samus’s several inner monologues and as a result, aside from an opening narration as well as the beginning of the expanded portion of the plot in Metroid: Zero Mission, she did not speak again until Metroid: Other M, the first Metroid game to feature Samus in an extensive, voice-acted role.

However, it was initially intended for Super Metroid to give her an audible voice for the first time in the series. A short voice track recorded by Minako Hamano could be heard as Samus died, as well as a brief view of the latter's nude body during the death sequence. These elements were reconsidered because of American sensitivity to nudity and the voice sounding "too sexual", thus Tomoyoshi Yamane added the black bathing suit to her and the voice track was removed. Sakamoto claimed in a Super Metroid interview that he has "a special version of the ROM" with the original death sequence. Aside from this, heavy breathing sounds that were presumably emitted from Samus could be heard in the game's Samus Data Screen, with them being sped up briefly when a save file is selected.

Samus first received a voice in the game Metroid Prime, although she had no in-game dialogue: instead, she only utters various grunts or yells when damaged, a scream when killed, and rarely, breathing when at low energy or in an extreme climate. Dialogue for Samus was considered, but scrapped as Retro Studios felt it did not suit the game.^[11] Though Nintendo Power claimed that Jennifer Hale provided Samus's voice for the Prime games, the credits make no mention of this. In a 2018 interview, Prime and Echoes audio lead Clark Wen revealed that Samus's voice recording was handled by Nintendo, who sent recordings from a dozen voice actresses. The recordings Wen used in the final game included the initials of the actress in the filename from his ProTools session, "JH", which he was reasonably certain stood for Jennifer Hale. However, Samus's death scream was different as he wanted an actress with a higher register for it; the initials for that actress are "VM" (suggested to be Vanessa Marshall).^[12] Wen did recognize one of the other actresses as Gabrielle Carteris.^[11]

Her second voice actress was Alésia Glidewell in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who also voiced Knuckle Joe and Krystal in the same game. Most surprising about Glidewell's depiction of her is that Samus is given a voice-over with speaking lines for the first time. While she is in her Zero Suit (a separate character known as Zero Suit Samus), she speaks for all three of her taunts, and in one victory pose cutscene. Her lines are:

• "Is that all?"
• "Try me."
• "You’re mine."
• "Be still."

Although Samus lacked a voice actress in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, she occasionally communicated via mechanical sounds such as during taunts, and if knocked either into a star fade or into the screen, she would utter a mechanical roar. Glidewell's taunts are retained in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Metroid: Other M features Samus speaking again, voiced by Jessica Martin. In the Japanese version, she is voiced by Ai Kobayashi. Martin's Samus voice in this game, particularly her monologues, was criticized for sounding completely monotone during these times, which occurred due to Yoshio Sakamoto ordering her to voice her that way to match the Japanese voice track (in Japan, characters that spoke in a monotone during tense moments were indicated to be stoic and badass characters).

In the Japanese commercial for Metroid: Zero Mission, Samus is portrayed by Chisato Morishita.

Gender

Samus' true identity as a woman was a heavily guarded secret and was obscured by the Power Suit’s androgynous appearance. The game manuals for Metroid in Japan used pronouns like "it" mainly because the Japanese language only has gender-neutral pronouns like aitsu. The American manuals flat-out referred to Samus as a "he", but it is unknown if this was an attempt to keep Samus' gender a secret or simply a mistranslation. Only by beating the game in under an hour could the player gain access to a secret ending where Samus would remove her Power Suit and reveal herself as a woman. It has become a tradition for Samus to do so in every Metroid game since if the player completes the proper in-game requirements.

In the 1994 Japanese Nintendo Official Guide Book for Super Metroid, a number of biography cards were published about each of the members of the development team. Hirofumi Matsuoka, one of the background artists and a designer for Samus in the original game, answered one of the questions (which asked if there were any secrets of Samus that only he knew) with the statement "Samus isn't a woman. As a matter of fact, she's actually a newhalf."^[13] Newhalf (ニューハーフ, nyūhāfu^?) is a Japanese slang term used to refer to transgender women or transvestites, roughly equivalent to the English slur "shemale".^[14] The sincerity of this quote has since become a source of heated debate; some fans have cited it as canonical proof of Samus being a trans woman, while others have dismissed it as a crude joke from a non-authoritative source.^[15] Regardless of Matsuoka's intentions, his remark has been contradicted (and likely overruled) by series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, who joked in 2004 that a Metroid game on the PlayStation 2 would be "as likely as Samus Aran being a newhalf."^[16], as well as canonical material that depicts Samus as being female as early as her toddler years.

Toys

A number of Samus figures and toys have been produced over the years. A gallery of these is below.

Famicom Choco

Famicom Choco (crouching)

Samus Aran Bobblehead

Samus (JoyRide Studios)

Metroid Prime lifesize statue

Yujin

First 4 Figures (Varia Suit, Metroid Prime)

First 4 Figures (Varia Suit, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

First 4 Figures (Gravity Suit)

First 4 Figures (Zero Suit)

First 4 Figures (Phazon Suit)

First 4 Figures (Light Suit)

Samus Aran Crystal

Figma (Varia Suit, Metroid: Other M)

Max Factory Zero Suit statue

Figma (Zero Suit, Metroid: Other M

Figma (Varia Suit, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Samus amiibo

Zero Suit Samus amiibo

Samus Aran amiibo

Jakks Pacific (Varia Suit)

Jakks Pacific (Gravity Suit)

Jakks Pacific (Phazon Suit)

Add a photo to this gallery

Role in other media

"What's the matter? All I said was that Komaytos look like little Metr—"

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Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.

Being one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, Metroid, and Samus with it, have been featured in a variety of other media, as cameos, or in promotional material, as well as being mentioned or spoofed in other games or on television.

Super Smash Bros. series

Main article: Samus (Super Smash Bros.)

Samus is a member of the "perfect-attendance crew", a term for the twelve fighters who were playable in Super Smash Bros. and have appeared in every game to date. Her special moves are based on power-ups from the Metroid series, with her standard moves being original melee attacks. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, she has a separate character transformation, Zero Suit Samus, who becomes a separate fighter in subsequent games.

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

1. Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus' helmet.)^[17]
2. 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.)^[17]
3. F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy) (Cameo, appears cheering for the player with four other women before Course 7)^[17]
4. Galactic Pinball (Virtual Boy) (Cameo, her ship appears in a minigame where the player must shoot oncoming Metroid enemies, similar to Space Invaders)
5. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES) (Cameo, after Mario's party, defeats Yaridovich and until Mario travels to Land's End, he may find her sleeping in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. Also, a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)
6. Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his stone ability he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offense segment of the game.)^[18]
7. Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES) (Cameo, appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all using an Ice power, Samus will remove her helmet.)^[18]
8. Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) (Playable character)
9. Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, Nintendo GameCube) (Playable character)
10. Animal Crossing (Nintendo GameCube) (An e-Reader card called "Samus's Suit" gives the player a Power Suit to wear in the game. This is coded on the card, and not the game, however.)
11. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest (2003, Nintendo GameCube) (Includes a trailer for Metroid Prime.)
12. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Contains a microgame based on NES Metroid called Metroid (microgame), with Samus firing missiles at the Mother Brain. Though she cannot move, the Morph Ball is functional.)
13. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Samus was intended to appear at Starbeans Cafe, among other Nintendo characters, during a scripted event. Dialog remains in the game's code- "Cashier: Whoa! A power outage? Yikes! Samus Aran! I see you're rocking and rolling as usual! ...Looks like your energy tanks are empty! Sorry, but can't you give your Hoolumbian to Samus? Oh! Feeling better?" She would then give the player an Energy Tank in exchange for the drink. Ultimately, most of the items were replaced with similar ones in the final game, though the Energy Tank became a Power Grip accessory.)
14. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (Contains Metroid (microgame) from WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!)
15. WarioWare: Touched! (2005, Nintendo DS) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid)
16. WarioWare: Twisted! (2005, Game Boy Advance) (Contains two microgames based on Metroid and another full game called "Mewtroid" starring a rolling cat with an Arm Cannon and Brinstar music.)
17. Animal Crossing: Wild World (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.)
18. Geist (2005, Nintendo GameCube) (Samus’s helmet and red clothing are seen in a locker within the women’s locker room at Volks Corporation.)^[17]
19. Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch Mode; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; A difficulty level on Marathon Mode is Metroid Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen, but with a more realistic background.)
20. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii) for the Wii was intended to include Samus and Link, but Nintendo did not allow Activision to include them. A video shows her using many of her attacks from the series, which would have been motion-activated.)
21. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Samus also occasionally appears in two other games, with a Super Metroid cartridge in one and Samus playing an upright bass again (as she had in Tetris) in another.)
22. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2007, Wii) (Playable character, Zero Suit Samus is also a playable character. Mainly partnered with Pikachu, she plays a large role in the game's story, The Subspace Emissary.)
23. Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Japan 2008, Wii) (Zero Suit is one of two unlockable Nintendo costumes.)
24. Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, Nintendo DS) (Samus statue and Screw Attack, now correctly named, appear in this SNES remake.)
25. Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008, Wii) (Samus Helmet, Metroid, and Varia Suit available in-game.)
26. Phantasy Star Ø (Japan 2008, Nintendo DS) (Samus' Arm Cannon is one of two available Nintendo weapons.)
27. Dead or Alive: Dimensions (2011, Nintendo 3DS) (Samus makes an appearance towards the end of every match on the Geothermal Power Plant to kill Ridley with her Power Bomb. An interview confirmed that she would not be playable.^[19])
28. NES Remix 2 (2014, Wii U) (Metroid is featured in this NES game compilation for Wii U.)
29. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, Nintendo 3DS) (Playable character)
30. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) (Playable character)
31. Miitomo (2016, Phone Devices) (Samus Helmet, Metroid, Ridley, T-Shirts and Varia Suit.)
32. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Nintendo Switch) (Playable character)

In other media

• Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, the main character, despite his own affections for another woman, Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story "Breakout", Samus prefers to win Kevin’s affections fairly. Samus gunship also makes an appearance, though 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.
• In the Captain N: The Game Master cartoon, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain was the show's primary villain. Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her".^[20]
• Samus also starred in her own Nintendo Comics System stories, 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 her own gun (after he damages her Arm Cannon) before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus' escape.

• In the 1989 movie The Wizard, Metroid can be seen briefly (in a full-screen shot) on a PlayChoice-10.
• A super deformed doll in Samus' likeness that Princess Peach desired drove the humorous plot for a Mario VS Wario comic that was published one month prior to the Super Metroid comic.
• Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid^[18] and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime.
• Samus also appeared in the Samus and Joey series of manga, where she meets a boy named Joey and adventures with him.
• Samus once appeared in a Kool-Aid commercial that advertised Metroid II: Return of Samus. An animated version of her is seen in the back of a bus with two children.
• In the episode of the show "Code Monkeys" called "Valley of the Silicon Dolls", Larrity searches for bounty hunters to kill the robotic teddy bear that Dave, Jarry, and Black Steve reprogrammed. Towards the end of the episode, a warped version of Samus' ship rises up and Samus jumps out and kills the teddy bear. She then removes her helmet and reveals that she is actually Mary. She then morphs into a ball and rolls away. This version of Samus has the arm cannon on her left arm instead of her right, probably due to copyright issues with Nintendo.
• Samus can be seen on Nintendo Monopoly representing New York Avenue for $200, and is featured prominently on the box based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes artwork.
• Samus is shown on pages 26 and 27 in How to Draw Nintendo Greatest Heroes & Villains.
• In the official Men in Black 3 game by Gameloft, available for the iOS and Android, one of the recruitable agents from the Locker Room at MIB Headquarters is a woman named Samantha Aran. Both her appearance and name are obvious references to Samus Aran, and her former services included being a counter-terrorist, similar to how Samus thwarts terrorists' plans, most notably the many Space Pirate operations.
• In the Valentine's Day couples section of Nintendo Power^{[citation needed]}, the winning couple was Jango Fett from Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and Samus Aran. Coincidentally, Jango had a similar backstory to Samus, as he had been orphaned at a young age by an immense war and taken in by Mandalorians and trained in their culture.

Official data

Click the link on the right to open this section.

Gallery

For additional art, see Samus Aran/Gallery.

Samus Aran

Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order featured the earliest depiction of her face. Super Metroid guide. Metroid Fusion/Metroid Zero Mission Metroid e-Manga Nintendo Comics System Metroid (Magazine Z manga) Metroid (Magazine Z manga) Metroid (Magazine Z manga) Metroid EX Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid Prime Model of Samus's right hand from Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime Hunters Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid II: Return of Samus Metroid: Samus Returns Super Metroid Metroid: Other M Metroid Other M Metroid: Other M Metroid Other M Metroid: Other M Metroid: Other M (textures) Metroid Fusion Metroid (1986) Samus in cake form, created for MercurySteam to celebrate the release of Samus Returns. Scanned case covers (Japanese) Scanned case covers (Japanese) Add a photo to this gallery

Power Suit models

Metroid E-manga Metroid (Magazine Z manga) Metroid: Zero Mission Metroid Zero Mission Metroid Prime Metroid Prime Metroid Prime |Metroid Prime (Nintendo Power comic) Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt Metroid Prime Hunters Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Metroid Prime: Federation Force Metroid Prime: Federation Force Metroid Prime: Federation Force Metroid II: Return of Samus Metroid II: Return of Samus Metroid: Samus Returns Super Metroid Super Metroid Metroid: Other M Metroid: Other M Metroid: Other M Metroid Fusion Metroid Fusion Metroid Fusion Metroid Fusion Metroid Fusion Metroid (1986) A Piercing Screech Add a photo to this gallery

References