Gandrayda



Gandrayda is a Bounty Hunter who appeared in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Biography
Gandrayda was a Bounty Hunter of unknown origin. However, she possessed metamorphic abilities similar to the inhabitants of Jovia XII. She could assume the form and abilities of most living things, including creatures and even machines differing significantly in size. Her base form is humanoid in shape with translucent, purple skin. Her age was unknown, though a psychological evaluation, her predilection for pranks, and her informal speech patterns in even military settings all indicate that she was relatively young. She viewed Bounty Hunting as a very enjoyable sport and considered the veteran hunter Samus Aran her chief rival. She intended to surpass Samus as a veteran Bounty Hunter as soon as possible. Gandrayda was a very capable combatant, but was often hired for stealth and reconnaissance missions due to her ability to mimic creatures. Lore on the Pirate Homeworld referring to her as "Mistress Gandrayda" suggests that she became a Space Pirate—it is likely that she fell under the influence of Dark Samus after being corrupted by Phazon.

Aiding the Galactic Federation


Along with Ghor, Rundas, and Samus Aran, Gandrayda was asked by Fleet Admiral Dane of the Galactic Federation to help stop the Phazon corruption of the Aurora Units. Once the Space Pirates attacked the G.F.S. Olympus, the GF ship they were currently aboard, Gandrayda helped defend the ship by confronting the infiltrating Space Pirates. She then went to Norion to help the Federation ground troopers and protect the base. When Samus arrived at Norion's Generator C, she found a group of Space Pirates waiting for her. Just as she was about to fight them, one of them turned on its comrades and massacred them before revealing itself to be a disguised Gandrayda, who left "Sammy" behind to do the work of activating the generator, claiming that machines were not her field of expertise.

Once the four Bounty Hunters reached the Control Tower to activate the cannon that would destroy the approaching Leviathan, Dark Samus intervened and attacked them. Gandrayda and the two male bounty hunters were initially knocked down, but then rallied behind Samus. However, Dark Samus then unleashed a burst of Phazon that struck all of them at once, rendering them unconscious.

Corruption
Two weeks later, Gandrayda awakened to discover that Dark Samus's Phazon blast had caused her body to begin producing Phazon. With no visible negative effects, the Federation outfitted her with a Phazon Enhancement Device in order to harness this new source of Phazon. Gandrayda was sent to find the Space Pirate's stronghold, but the Federation eventually lost contact with her. Unknown to the organization, Gandrayda had been corrupted by her internal Phazon a week after she left.

After another week, Samus Aran awoke, and some time later the Federation found the location of the Pirate Homeworld thanks to an emergency GF communication capsule from Gandrayda, but didn't know her current status; it is safe to assume this transmission pod was used by Gandrayda prior to her corruption. Samus infiltrated the planet and eventually received a transmission from a nearby Federation Marine designated NZG41. She managed to reach the Marine and helped him activate an elevator. She and the Marine went up the elevator, though once they reached the Proving Grounds the Marine suddenly began firing at Samus, who dodged the shots in her Morph Ball form. The trooper transformed into Gandrayda, who was now clearly heavily corrupted and eager to battle Samus.

Battle
During the fight, Gandrayda will jump, flip, and run about the room, making it difficult to shoot her. She can create throwing blades that will lock onto and "seek" Samus, though they can be shot down for power-ups. Gandrayda will also use a ground-based impact wave that streaks directly towards Samus. If successfully shot with a fully Charged Beam, she will trip onto the ground, leaving her vulnerable for approximately 2 seconds.

After taking some damage, Gandrayda will begin to use her shape-shifting abilities to transform into different enemies. She'll revert to normal after taking enough damage in these forms or after a certain amount of time. She also shares the weak points of these forms, so Samus can damage her in the same way as she did those enemies. The following is a list of the forms Gandrayda will take at this time:


 * Berserker-G: She will employ energy waves, Phazon Orbs and a liquid Phazon gun.


 * Aerotrooper-G: She will use missile and energy-based attacks.

At 75% health, Gandrayda opens part of the roof, covering the outer portion of the battlefield in deadly Acid Rain, as well as lower the six structures around the room. She'll then continue her attack, and will also begin using new transformations.
 * Swarmbot-G: She will attack in a manner similar to a tornado. If Samus wanders too close, her energy will be drained. Shooting down the individual Swarmbots can reveal power-ups. However, using the Screw Attack is even more efficient.


 * Rundas-G: She will employ his freeze wave, an ice sword, flight ability, and Ice Missiles.


 * Ghor-G (2nd Phase): She will employ missiles, the Plasma Beam, Plasma shots, and she will also attempt to grab the Morph Ball. Ghor-G will also grab Samus if she uses the Screw Attack.

When Gandrayda's health drops to 50%, she will re-raise the six aforementioned structures before mimicking Samus in her iconic Varia Suit. While in this form, she will use a variant of the Boost Ball to bounce around the area and then unmorph to fire a powerful Beam. At 25% health, Gandrayda stops transforming and begins to use Hypermode, where she moves even faster and all weapons used against her outside of Samus' own Hypermode attacks cause insignificant damage. When her Hypermode wears off, Gandrayda turns invisible. Samus must use the X-Ray Visor to keep track of Gandrayda and attack her until she uses Hypermode again.

"Shake Off Gandrayda"
At close range in the second phase of the battle, Gandrayda will jump onto Samus and attempt to strangle and claw at her, and must be shaken off with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. When this happens, the words "Shake Off Gandrayda" appears on the Heads-Up Display and the Energy Meter begins to decrease by five energy units per second while she is grabbing Samus. Gandrayda will attack Samus in a number of ways. Each hit she lands causes the Combat Visor to fill with static. If Samus does not shake her off, Gandrayda will hit and laugh or grunt at her a number of times before jumping off. A list of these attacks is below. A demonstration of these attacks can be viewed here.


 * The most common attack (pictured above) involves Gandrayda grabbing onto Samus from the front and pulling her shoulders or head from left to right thrice, before moving to the center and laughing with no sound. She also appears to grind on Samus, and then jumps off.
 * Gandrayda may also grab onto Samus's right side and slap her in the face three times, using the front and back of her hand. She will then tap on the Combat Visor thrice, while snickering, before jumping off.
 * Gandrayda may also grab Samus's left side and scrape across her visor using her nails, again thrice. After this, she will scratch her fingers on the visor, producing sparks, and roar, then jump off.
 * Gandrayda will jump onto Samus upside down and giggle, then hammer her right fist onto Samus's visor twice. She will then slam both of her fists together, and shout in Samus's face, fogging it up slightly before jumping off.

Death
Once defeated, Gandrayda screamed in agony as she began rapidly cycling through different forms (a Pirate Trooper, Rundas, Ghor, a Berserker Knight, and finally Samus in her current PED Suit) as she reached out to Samus, who saw the wraith-like figure of Dark Samus approaching. After witnessing the fates of Rundas and Ghor, Samus knew there was nothing she could do to save Gandrayda, and instead looked away and clenched her fist as Dark Samus absorbed Gandrayda.

Gandrayda made one final appearance in the Special Ending of the game, in which Samus takes a moment to mourn her fallen comrades on planet Elysia.

This is the music heard when battling Gandrayda:.

Powers and abilities
Gandrayda possessed powerful shape-shifting abilities that allowed her to assume the forms of various creatures as well as copy their abilities and powers. There seemed to be no limit to her shape-shifting powers, as she was able to assume the form of creatures significantly larger than herself such as Beserker Knights and Ghor, as well as transform herself into machines (and multiple entities) such as Swarmbots. She was also shown to be exceptionally agile, able to make high and graceful jumps, flips, and cartwheels in the air. Gandrayda also appeared to have some power over electricity: When not using her shape-shifting powers, she could attack from a distance by creating and throwing electric orbs or electric blades that home in on opponents. In addition, her power seemed to affect machines, as she was able to control the mechanism of the roof and structures during Samus's fight with her. She could also turn invisible to elude opponents.

Weaknesses
Though her shape-shifting powers allow her to infiltrate places with ease and help her in battle, her shape-shifting came with the downside of also gaining the creature's particular weakness.

Trivia

 * Gandrayda is extremely vulnerable to Samus's Screw Attack. It can be possible to defeat Gandrayda in under forty seconds if Samus properly utilizes the Screw Attack. This vulnerability was reduced in Metroid Prime Trilogy.
 * A glitch can be exploited if, when fighting Gandrayda as Ghor, she grabs a Screw Attacking Samus with her whip and then slams her into the ground. Samus will be stuck in her unmorph animation and can be controlled with the game thinking that she is in Morph Ball form. This glitch is no longer present in the Metroid Prime Trilogy version of the game.
 * During the attack on the G.F.S. Olympus, Gandrayda can be seen leaping and kicking a Pirate Militia and then finishing it off with one of her throwing blades in the Repair Bay Shaft before the blast doors close. She is gone by the time they reopen.
 * In keeping with the elemental themes of the Hunters in Corruption, Gandrayda seems to have power over electricity. Many of her attacks, including those resulting from her mimicry, create electrical sparks and interference in Samus's visor (an example is her Rundas mimic's ice giving off electricity), and she also opens the mechanical roof of the battlefield at one point just by clenching her fist. This is also reflected in the Grapple Voltage, the reward for her defeat.
 * When fighting Ghor-G, it is possible to make “him” engage the third phase of Ghor’s battle, though Gandrayda will usually change back before combat.
 * Gandrayda will copy the Hypermode visual effect when morphing into Samus, if Samus is still in Hypermode at the end of the battle.
 * It is only during this final scene that Gandrayda mimics Samus in her PED Suit. In battle, she appears in the Varia Suit.
 * Samus and Gandrayda are the only two known female bounty hunters in the Metroid series (after the death of Gandrayda, Samus is the only known female bounty hunter).
 * Examination of Corruption ' s files has revealed an unused temporary scan for a "Reptilicus-G" form, in which Gandrayda would have been able to become invisible to the naked eye. In the final game, she is able to do so without the need to shape-shift.
 * Oddly, the "Mistress Gandrayda" Space Pirate Data entry in the Pirate Homeworld can only be scanned after she has been defeated. It says Gandrayda had vowed to present to Dark Samus the real Samus's "bloody helmet" as a trophy. By the time Samus scans this lore, Gandrayda has apparently failed to fulfill said vow.
 * If the player fails to shake off Gandrayda, she will taunt and laugh at Samus throughout the animation before eventually getting off.