Neo-Ridley

Neo-Ridley is the tenth boss Samus faces aboard the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion. This creature is an X Parasite mimicking a clone of Ridley that Samus encountered in Metroid: Other M.

Biography
The first time Samus sees the corpse of the Ridley clone, it is frozen inside the Sub-Zero Containment room on the Main Deck. After the station loses power, Samus enters the back of this room while making her way back to her ship. As she approaches the clone's frozen remains, his eyes suddenly glow, recalling the original Ridley's previous encounters with Samus in Super Metroid. Instead of coming to life and attacking Samus, however, the clone shatters as a big X Parasite (those found within the Core-X) leaves his body and flies away.

As Samus continues exploring the station, she encounters what appears to be the Ridley clone's dry and rotting corpse in the Tourian-like section of SRX. As she approaches, the clone's eyes glow once more before the X Parasite mimicking it morphs into the being known as Neo-Ridley. This "new" Ridley has a considerably altered physical appearance from the original Ridley, including enlarged talons; this is most likely due to the Core-X attempting to create a more efficient Ridley in the same way that Arachnus-X had improved the original Arachnus' capabilities.

The presence of both an X-infected Ridley and Zebesian Space Pirates onboard the BSL station was considered enigmatic after Fusion ' s release, given that the pirates were thoroughly routed and Ridley defeated in Super Metroid. The official Fusion web site indicates that the pirates were onboard the station on a marauding mission, which intially suggested they were not Federation-preserved specimens as has often been conjectured by fans. The events portrayed in the recently-released Metroid: Other M, which chronologically takes place before Fusion, clarify this mystery: after the clone of Ridley was killed by the Queen Metroid and became a dried, rotting corpse, the Galactic Federation intervened in the game's ending. When Samus returns to the Bottle Ship some time later, the corpse has vanished. The Federation would eventually send the Ridley clone's remains to the BSL station to be preserved.

Considerable evidence supports the conclusions made by Other M; for example, the Ridley clone's corpse in Other M is similar in color to the one in Fusion. Also, Ridley's clone would have been extremely fragile after being drained by the Queen Metroid, which certainly explains why the frozen corpse shatters when the Core-X leaves it. This theory is further supported by the presence of another specimen, codenamed Nightmare, aboard the BSL station; Nightmare was also originally encountered on the Bottle Ship and could easily have been transferred to the BSL in the same manner as the Ridley clone. The Zebesian Space Pirates featured in Other M were also likely transferred to the BSL, thus explaining their appearance in Fusion (and retconning the previously mentioned marauding mission out of existence).

Battle
Neo-Ridley will attempt to ram himself into Samus, try to grab Samus with his talons, and shoot gigantic homing fireballs from his mouth. He also uses his classic tail attacks first seen in Super Metroid, which involve spinning his tail (serving as an offensive and defensive measure), whipping it towards Samus and using it in a manner similar to a pogo-stick. His large size makes it difficult for Samus to avoid him, requiring her to do a fair amount of maneuvering. All the battle involves is repeatedly firing Diffusion Missiles or the Charge Beam against the creature, considering that unlike most powerful enemies Samus faces, Neo-Ridley does not have a specific weak spot. The Charge Beam is the preferred method as it contains the Plasma Beam; this allows it to pass through Ridley and causes continuous damage.

As he takes more damage, Neo-Ridley will change colors from blue to purple to red. Once Neo-Ridley is defeated, he will transform into a Core-X like almost every other boss on the BSL station. Once Samus absorbs the Core-X, she obtains the Screw Attack, the second-to-last power-up on the station.

Trivia

 * It's speculated that Ridley's penis is massive, being able to pump huge amounts of semen into Kraid's bunghole.
 * The sprites for the Ridley clone's original form prior to its transformation into Neo-Ridley (the frozen corpse and the X-mimicked "rotting" body found in Sector 1) seem to be directly based off of the Super Metroid Ridley sprite art.
 * When Ridley's clone is frozen, his eyes glow as they did in Super Metroid (and on the later-released Corruption and Other M), suggesting that he was temporarily resurrected by the X. The corpse seen later in SRX also has his eyes glow, however at that point it is the X Parasite mimicking the clone of Ridley.
 * For unknown reasons, the Core-X that infected the body locked in the Sub-Zero Containment room initially takes the form of the dried body seen near the end of Other M before transforming into Neo Ridley.
 * Neo Ridley is the only boss in Metroid Fusion that does not seem to use the upgrade that Samus acquires from him after the battle. However, Ridley's spinning fireballs and/or his extremely flexible (and invulnerable) tail might be a way of demonstrating the Screw Attack. He also used these abilities in Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission.
 * It is currently impossible to determine whether or not Ridley's clone from Other M retained any memories of Samus Aran from the original Ridley. If he did, Neo-Ridley would have subsequently inherited all of these memories as well, since the X Parasites are known to be capable of obtaining their hosts' memories.
 * Omega Ridley is also the antepenultimate (third from last) boss in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and both have been infected with a form of harmful substance.
 * Curiously, Neo Ridley's head structure heavily resembles both of Ridley's forms' seen in Corruption (Meta Ridley and Omega Ridley).
 * Neo Ridley is known by many fans for his loud screeches during the battle.

Gallery
Ridley X

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