Chozo Statue

Chozo Statues (referred to as Artifactor Statues in the Metroid II manual) are statues made by the Chozo and were put on planets to observe their sentient inhabitants. The Chozo Statues often help Samus Aran in her quests by offering upgrades for her Power Suit that help her defeat enemies. The most powerful Chozo Statue was the Chozo Guardian. An aggressive subcategory known as the Torizo resemble the Chozo Statues, however these will not only move around, but also attack Samus.

Some statues can be destroyed, but most are impervious to damage. They seem to have limited sentience, possibly containing Chozo spirits of sorts. This is supported by the Meta Ridley boss battle in Metroid Prime, where the statues surrounding the Cipher retaliate and blast him into an abyss at the battle's conclusion. Some statues' eyes, and sometimes other parts on their body, glow bright yellow.

Creation and function
Scans found in Metroid Prime indicate that only the most skilled Chozo crafters are able to create statues. The statues themselves are often seen bearing Item Spheres in their talons, but may have other abilities, including (but not limited to) data storage, healing and limited mobility. They also frequently serve as sentinels of the Chozo's secrets, and have been implied to have a rudimentary awareness of their surroundings. Some statues are even able to come to life and attack intruders: Known as Torizo, these mechanical guardians are equipped with weaponry to punish those who would defile the secrets of the Chozo. The Torizo also seem to contain bodily fluids, suggesting a partially organic nature; however, it is unknown whether this is the case for all Chozo statues.

Interestingly, the statues in Metroid: Zero Mission interact with Samus's beams in a particular fashion, namely that the statues stop the Wave Beam, which cannot pierce organic matter, but are pierced by the Plasma Beam, which can. This suggests that the statues in the game contain an organic interior.

The Chozo Lore called Statuary states, "As we have done for millennia, we Chozo work constantly on our statuary. The statues are our sentinels: blind but ever watchful, they are and have always been, repositories for our most precious secrets and strongest powers. The crafting of each is a long and sacred process, performed only by those Chozo who have lifetimes of experience in such things. We have left these relics on planets across the solar system. Some are merely reminders: silent emblems of the Chozo that serve as icons of peace in lands that know only war. Others wield subtle strength, exerting their influence in ways beyond the understanding of mortal creatures. Still others are guardians of our secret ways, and these can be as terrible as they are beautiful. Those who respect and honor these relics will know the friendship of the Chozo. Those who deface or destroy them will know our wrath, unfettered and raw."

Appearances
In Metroid: Zero Mission, several statues will be empty-handed and initially be standing on their feet, waiting for Samus to use her Morph Ball to fit in the palm of their hands; this will result in the statues indicating the location of other statues which hold Power-ups on her map of Zebes. Afterward, they will cautiously sit down and immediately recharge Samus's health and weapon ammo before closing their eyes and loosening their grip on her. With the exception of the Chozo Statue holding the Power Grip upgrade, all other statues in the game can recharge Samus's suit and weapons. Interestingly, the one holding the Power Grip has a very unique look compared to the rest, and might be based on Metroid Prime 's designs. The statues holding the Unknown Items have a slightly different look to the others; they are weathered and slightly damaged looking, and look rather more pointed and aggressive than the others.

A Chozo Statue can be seen in Metroid Fusion, but it is actually an X Parasite mimicking one. The Fake Chozo Statue implies that Chozo Statues are partially organic in nature, as the X-Parasites can only mimic biological organisms. There is also what seems to be an X-infected Torizo called the Nettori.

In Super Metroid, some Chozo Statues will help Samus navigate her environment. For example, one in the Wrecked Ship carries Samus past a bed of Spikes and into a passageway leading to the Gravity Suit; another found in Ridley's Lair drained the Lava out of the room to allow further progression, granting access to the Gold Torizo mini-boss battle, the Screw Attack, and ultimately, Ridley. Interestingly, this statue in Ridley's Lair will not activate unless Samus has the Space Jump, requiring her to use a glitch on the other side of the room leading to the Screw Attack in order to access it. Throughout the Metroid Prime Trilogy, items were rarely placed in the hands of Chozo Statues. Several appear in Metroid Prime, with designs unlike any seen before in the 2-D Metroid games. While the majority of them merely serve as decorations, the most notable is the large monument statue that gives Samus access to the Ice Beam, a Chozo Artifact, and an Energy Tank in the Hall of the Elders. This statue is also gifted with the ability to perform physical movements and is guarded by several Chozo Ghosts. Worthy of noting are the statues in the Artifact Temple that were capable of dealing the final blow to Meta Ridley by shooting red beams from their eyes.

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, most of the statuary of the Chozo serve once again as ornaments. However, there are two statues that stand out from the rest: one is found at the entrance to SkyTown which has been shrouded by Phazon Vines, and another that holds the Spider Ball. The statue that holds the Spider Ball is in the typical Chozo Statue position and appears to be wearing the Varia Suit. This is second occurrence of a Chozo Statue holding an item in the Prime series, the first being the statue holding the Chozo Artifact of Strength.

In Metroid: Samus Returns, once the item in a Chozo Statue's hand has been retrieved, it will be replaced by a Big Aeion Orb, which will restore Samus's Aeion Gauge. Area 2 has four statues total, the largest number of Chozo Statues out of all the areas in SR388. Interestingly, the shoulders of Chozo Statues in Samus Returns resemble the round pauldrons of Samus' Varia Suit. In addition to traditional Chozo Statues, Samus also comes across Aeion Ability Artifact statues which feature a large Chozo Statue in the background shining light onto the head of a large bodiless mechanical Chozo statue, which Samus can only enter using the Morph Ball. This statue head will "swallow" Samus when she grabs the Aeion ability causing her to come out the back where she incorporates the power of the Artifact into her Power Suit. The light shining from the other statue in the background disappears.

Metroid II manual
Artifactor Statue - "This is a relic of an ancient civilization. This statue holds the item sphere."

Super Metroid manual
"The ancient bird people of Zebes are immortalized in the form of several statues scattered throughout the planet. By firing on the balls that are held by many of these Chozo statues, you'll reveal special items."

Metroid: Zero Mission manual
"Chozo Statues often hold items. Change to Morph Ball form on a statue's palm to have all energy, Missiles, and Power Bombs filled to the maximum. "

Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, a Chozo Statue appears as a trophy, which reads:

""These statues, which provide power-ups to Samus and have some connection with her Power Suit, have been found in many places, most notably Zebes. The Chozo boasted the most advanced civilization in their galaxy. Some say that when they could advance no further, they chose to withdraw and observe other life forms."

The Brinstar stage also has a Torizo in its background that sits down every so often (after walking in the background), assuming the pose of an authentic Chozo Statue, and it sometimes offers a Screw Attack to the players every so often, though this is very rare.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Brinstar stage from the previous game returns, and it also has a sticker.


 * Chozo Statue Metroid II: Return of Samus- [Aura] Attack +25 (Lucario)

Metroid: Samus Returns website

 * Chozo Statues:"Bizarre remnants of a past civilization that hold helpful Item Spheres you can use."

Metroid: Samus Returns manual
"Remnants of an ancient civilization. Hit the Item Spheres in their hands to reveal the items they're guarding."

Destroyed Statues
One of the statues in Metroid: Zero Mission in Norfair is broken and cannot be repaired. The reason of its demise is unknown but it appears to have meant to lead Samus Aran to the Chozo Statue that held the Screw Attack as both statuaries were identically colored. Throughout Zero Mission, both the statue that pinpointed a location for Samus and the one holding the item indicated on the map by the initial statue shared the same colors. The unknown items and the Screw Attack were the only upgrades that had no initial statues to indicate their position (the latter's was destroyed). In Metroid: Samus Returns, in Area 1 Samus finds the Statue that once held the Spider Ball destroyed by a cave-in, while she finds its Item Sphere containing the Spider Ball under some nearby rubble.

In Area 2, Arachnus' ball form can be found curled up in a Chozo Statue's hands presumably after consuming the Item Sphere containing the Spring Ball. Arachnus will jump up and destroy the statue if Samus approaches or attacks it, though it will leave behind the Spring Ball when it is killed.

Samus comes across a damaged Chozo Statue in Area 4, with its upgrade missing. Shortly after, she narrowly escapes the Diggernaut mining robot, which drops the Space Jump after believing it has killed her. It can be inferred that the Diggernaut destroyed that statue and took the item, either intentionally or unintentionally. Later, it is seen sucking in the Power Bomb upgrade from another Statue using its vacuum ability, although it did not destroy the Statue holding it.

Another statue that suffered a similar destruction appears in Area 8 on SR388 of Metroid II: Return of Samus shortly before entering the Metroid nest and located directly under the Queen Metroid's chamber. It lacks a head, which is on the ground nearby, with the Item Sphere containing the Ice Beam right behind its body. It is possible that the Metroids, perhaps the Queen herself, were aware of the item being held by the statue and knowing the danger it posed for them, attempted to destroy it. This destroyed statue is not seen in Samus Returns as the Ice Beam is only obtained once and appears as a separate standalone beam option along with the Power (which is stackable with the Wave, Spazer, and Plasma Beams) and Grapple Beam.

A third statue gets destroyed by the first Torizo in Super Metroid as it breaks out of said statue.

Prize (Nintendo Land)
A Chozo Statue with a blocky appearance is a prize in Nintendo Land. The prize sits in the exact same way as a statue in the Metroid games, although it does not hold an Item Sphere. Situated in front of Metroid Blast, it does not have a special function when activated. Its description reads: "The highly advanced Chozo were once a great civilization, but this greatness cost them dearly and resulted in their ultimate demise..." This is partially untrue as the Chozo disappeared from the galaxy due to several factors, though one of them was indeed attributed to their own technology.

In other media

 * In the House M.D. episode "Occam's Razor", House can be seen playing Zero Mission on his GBA SP several times. In two of these scenes, Samus is shown rolling into the hand of the first Chozo Statue in the game, apparently causing a Game Over.
 * NES Remix includes a Chozo Statue Miiverse stamp.
 * The video game Guacamelee! features "Choozo statues", a reference to the Chozo Statues.

Gallery
Statua Chozo Статуя Чозо