Kraid

Kraid (クレイド) is a corpulent, three-eyed green reptilian extraterrestrial from the Metroid series. Kraid is one of the largest enemies Samus ever encounters in her missions, as he takes up multiple screens at a time. Kraid made his first appearance in the original Metroid as part of the game's boss duo, the other being his comrade, Ridley. Though he has no known official rank, Kraid is a high-ranking Space Pirate and may even be a leader, as he is a prominent boss throughout the series. The Metroid Prime manual describes Ridley and Kraid as the Space Pirate army's "mainstays"; one could easily imagine this colossus as the muscle and backbone behind Pirate attacks or raids. As is the case with most Pirates stationed on Zebes, Kraid is not a native of the planet, and his origins, along with his homeworld, remain unknown. In all of his canon-appearances, Samus Aran is always required to defeat him, among others, as a means to infiltrate Zebes' Pirate HQ, Tourian.

Kraid only possesses organic weapons: he shoots projectiles such as dagger-like spikes from his belly and spinning claws resembling nails or fingers from his hands, all of which are infinitely generated in his body. In his resurrected Super Metroid appearance, he gains the ability to spew out rock-like projectiles from his mouth. Except for the original Metroid game, Kraid is always seen tunneling out of the ground (both partially and entirely) prior to his battles within the series, establishing him as a natural digger.

A press kit profile for Super Metroid has Samus refer to Kraid as the "brutal ruler of Brinstar". In official Zero Mission art, Kraid is titled the Awakened Behemoth.

Metroid
In the Famicom and NES verison of Metroid, Kraid is the boss of Mini-Boss hideout I. He is found in a room containing a large platform surrounded by a pool of acid. His original design differed considerably from that of later installments. Kraid's artwork seems to show that, in addition to being approximately the same height as Samus, he also appears to have green fur on his back and only two eyes. There are also spikes located on his back that are shot out and diverge towards the front, similar to boomerangs, in an arching trajectory. The three spikes on his belly and face are always launched in a straight path. The entire boss battle consists of Kraid walking back and forth on his platform as he constantly hurls his weapons at Samus.

All of Kraid's projectiles also serve a defensive tactic; due to their invulnerability, they can destroy all of Samus' long-range weapons on contact. In particular, the middle spike on Kraid's front is aligned with her Arm Cannon's line of fire, requiring either precise jumps to shoot in-between the top spikes, or strict timing in order to shoot his vulnerable body before his spikes reform on him. Samus can, however, use the Ice Beam to temporarily freeze Kraid's spikes in midair and away from him, leaving him completely exposed and unable to generate additional spikes until the ice thaws. Only the front spike closest to the floor can never be frozen because of the absence of crouching or diagonal aim in the game. One must be careful with the Ice Beam, for if Kraid's projectiles freeze before he launches them, they'll remain attached to his body for an extended period, somewhat increasing his defenses and thus further hinder the heroine. The Screw Attack and Bombs also harm him, but at the expense of Samus' health due the close proximity needed to make them effective. Due to all of the mechanics implicated in Kraid's battle, he is generally considered to be a more difficult boss than Ridley.

His defeat triggers one of the Stone Statues and increases Samus' Missile ammo capacity by 75.

There is also a Fake-Kraid which Samus can encounter before fighting the real Kraid. However, since there are multiple paths leading to the authentic Kraid, Samus may never come across the imposter. Fake-Kraid shares the same attacks and the appearance of his namesake, but it is a darker shade of brown with light blue fur and is rather feeble by comparison. Unlike the real Kraid, it respawns even if killed by simply re-entering the decoy's room. Worthy to note is that due to the Famicom console's superior internal memory, the back spikes on Kraid and his doppelganger are thrown in various different trajectories chosen at random, while the NES console's lower specs only offer a single path for these projectiles (among other objects and enemies in-game), making the American version of Metroid slightly less challenging.

Metroid: Zero Mission
In the remake of the first Metroid game, Kraid's size and appearance are retconned to being similar to his appearance in Super Metroid, disproving earlier theories that he somehow grew between his appearances in Metroid and Super Metroid. Kraid's hideout is now named after him and remains separate from Brinstar, unlike Super Metroid where his lair was simply a section of the latter. His weaker decoy is nowhere to be seen.

In the battle with Kraid, he will hurl from his right hand destructible, spinning claws (similar to his chronologically subsequent appearance in Super Metroid) while periodically swiping at Samus with his left arm. In the remake, his entire body is invulnerable save for the inside of his mouth, which can be exposed by shooting a charged beam or any concussive weapon at his eyes. Once Kraid has taken enough damage with any of these, or if Samus is to fall off the pillar she is standing on, he will begin to continously shoot his two lowest belly spikes at her; this destroys most of the pillar in the process, leaving only a tiny block to stand on. Regardless of whether the spikes hit Samus or not, they will stick onto the back wall, allowing her to use them as platforms to reposition herself in front of Kraid's head if she were to fall, but only briefly as they explode within seconds. When Kraid's health is further reduced, he will begin shooting spikes from all three belly holes, crumbling the final remnants of the stone pillar. When Kraid is defeated, he partially sinks to the floor and explodes, unlocking one of the Stone Statues' gates.

Kraid also appears in the second half of the Metroid: Volume 2 manga, which is an adaptation of most of the events of Zero Mission. The manga doesn't outright tell what Kraid is, but he is described as being "Ridley's comrade". Mother Brain also states that "his skin is on par with an anti-optical shield", explaining how most weapons cause him very little damage.

Metroid Prime
The Metroid Prime game's instruction manual makes reference to events which occurred in the original Metroid, such as Samus Aran killing the "gargantuan mainstays of the Space Pirate army, Ridley and Kraid" (foreshadowing their retconned sizes in Metroid: Zero Mission). The manual also mentions that, after the fall of Zebes' Pirate base, the Space Pirates orbiting the planet split into two main camps - one to search for a planet with powerful energy resources (soon settling on Tallon IV), and the other to rebuild their ravaged facility on Zebes and begin resuscitating Mother Brain, Ridley and Kraid. Only Ridley, as the reborn Meta Ridley, would make an active appearance in the game, with the other two's redevelopment at an unknown status during the entire Prime series. However, Kraid was intended to have a larger role in the game. A reborn Kraid (with the fan-coined term "Meta Kraid") was planned to make an appearance as a boss character in the Phazon Mines area on Tallon IV. He was modeled and textured by Gene Kohler for that purpose. As can be seen from the image on the left, he had a helmet on his head, likely made by the Space Pirates. Kohler indicated in an email reply to N-Sider that the helmet was supposed to be an obstacle to be overcome in the planned fight against him. This was later clarified by an anonymous former employee at Retro; Kraid was intended to be defeated by causing objects to collapse onto his armored head. This would be made more difficult by Kraid firing missiles at Samus from his chest, and tipping over the platforms she needed to ascend to damage him.



A piece of concept art meant for his appearance in Prime (image on the right) also indicated that he would fire out multiple thorns at Samus while they were still connected to his body. The fight (and character) ultimately did not make its way into the game in time for the release. Contrary to popular belief, Kraid was not replaced by the Omega Pirate. Due to the scrapped appearance, Kraid's only 3D appearances have been in other series, namely Super Smash Bros. Melee and the Metroid Blast minigame of Nintendo Land.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Though Kraid does not appear in this game, a released storyboard for an unused introduction animation by Ben Sprout features a creature that resembles Kraid attacking Samus, but being destroyed by her Gunship.

Super Metroid
Kraid reappears in Super Metroid in his large form. He takes up approximately two vertical screens' worth of space, making him the largest being in the entire game. Kraid only receives damage when he is shot in the mouth, and he exposes this weakpoint in frustration after being hit in the eyes with a Missile, Super Missile, or beam shot (charged or uncharged). Four Super Missiles or 20 missiles/charged shots in total are necessary to defeat Kraid. As Samus enters his room and stands on the only platform available, Kraid is nowhere to be seen initially, until he tunnels out of the organic thorns covering the entire floor in front of the heroine. Due to the room's low ceiling, only Kraid's upper torso rises aboveground. During this phase, Kraid's attacks consist only of hurling rock-like projectiles from within his mouth (four in a row), and a ram in which he attempts to skewer Samus against the wall with his fingers. Because of the small platform, Samus has limited space to manage his attacks. After a set amount of damage is inflicted on him, Kraid will rise entirely out of the ground, breaking the ceiling above in the process, revealing a far larger room with platforms standing above the thorn-covered ground.

At this point, Kraid will cease to use his rock-like projectiles and instead shoot spikes from all three belly holes, as well as throw his fingertips around the room. These attacks have different properties from their "past" Zero Mission variant: the fingertips now bounce off any flat surface they collide with rather than exploding on contact, thus they remain on the field for a far longer amount of time and can reach Samus from multiple directions. As for the belly spikes, they are not only launched out at a much faster rate, they no longer jab onto the wall behind Samus and instead pierce completely through it, giving her substantially less time to use them as platforms. Kraid's mobility is significantly quicker; as he moves back and forth across the room, he can potentially push Samus off the small platforms and into the hazardous ground below, or damage her by colliding his fingers onto her, or a combination of both. As he dies, the floor will seemingly crumble beneath Kraid and he will fall through it. His death will deactivate one of the Golden Statues.

Akin to the original Metroid game, there is an imposter appropriately named Mini-Kraid. He is encountered two rooms prior to Kraid's; it is dwarf-like in comparison, both in terms of size and strength. Similarily to the Metroid decoy, it respawns after it is destroyed if Samus re-enters its corridor. Numerous Green Space Pirates and Kihunters patrol the rooms before the boss' chamber, seemingly to defend Kraid and Mini-Kraid.

Just outside Kraid's room, there is a mysterious dead body with signs of advanced decomposition. It is unknown if the killer was Kraid or his respective Gadora.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
A trophy of Kraid is obtained when the Brinstar Depths stage is unlocked. Kraid also appears as part of the stage itself—occasionally, he will emerge from the magma, roar, and rotate the arena by slashing it, changing gameplay. Though he is based on his Super Metroid appearance, he has a more greyish colored skin, is enormously larger in size, and his eyes are of a pupiless white color rather than red.

Nintendo Land
Kraid is the first boss encountered by the Mii in Hostile Colossus. He appears as a robot partially submerged in lava and attacks by throwing various projectiles, including his classic, boomerang-like nails. The Mii must shoot the presented target and then fire missiles or charged shots at his throat - after enough damage is inflicted, Kraid will rise out of the lava and begin firing missiles and bullets. He also extends platforms crawling with Zebesians for the Mii to destroy. The Mii must shoot all the targets before attacking the target on Kraid's nose. After taking more damage, Kraid will rise even higher out of the lava, revealing his cylinder-shaped, mechanical body. He will have more targets on his body and must be taken down by a charge shot, after which the pattern is repeated.

If Kraid is defeated, the Mii unlocks Survival Mode for Ground Battle. Kraid's head is also a prize in the game. Its description reads: "This hulking monstrosity dwells in the depths of planet Zebes. His skin is impenetrably thick, so try shooting into his mouth. You'll have to climb his towering body to reach his face!"

His battle theme in the game is a remix of the upper Brinstar song from the original Metroid.

Metroid manual
"This is the head of the Mini-Boss hideout. He hurls horns from his stomach and back. Be very careful of his fierce attacks. If Samus gets hit by him, his energy will be weakened a lot."

Official Nintendo Player's Guide
"This is the Boss who protects Brinstar. He shoots missiles from his stomach, and uses a spinning horn on his back to attack. Missile attacks are the best way to kill him."

Super Metroid manual
"The giant lizard of Brinstar attacks Samus with thorny projectiles and spits spheres out of its mouth. No weapons - beams, missiles, or bombs - have any effect on its body. The creature's weak point is unknown."

Metroid: Zero Mission manual
"The largest enemy in all of the mazes beneath the surface of Planet Zebes, Kraid fires spikes from his belly and claws from his fingertips for extremely powerful attacks."

Official Metroid: Zero Mission website
"Extremely dangerous! Giant lizard-like monster over two stories tall. Possesses iron-shredding claws and fires small projectiles from its mouth. When angered, shoots regenerative claws from giant openings in belly. Can be destroyed by hitting soft tissue in mouth with Missiles. DANGER LEVEL: VERY HIGH."
 * "Soft tissue (weak spot)"
 * "Iron-shredding claws"
 * "Regenerative claws"

Super Smash Bros. Melee Trophy
"A boss enemy from Metroid. Kraid lives in the depths of Brinstar. He immobilizes enemies with his three red eyes, and his powerful jaws can crush anything. He can also shoot the three spikes in his belly; it's said he often fires them at his prey. Once Samus defeated Ridley and Kraid, the way to Tourian opened."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sticker

 * Kraid Metroid: Zero Mission - [Head] Attack +33 (All)

Appearances

 * Metroid
 * Metroid (1986 manga)
 * Captain N: The Game Master
 * Comics
 * Breakout
 * When Friends Fall Out (Flashback)


 * Cartoon (Incomplete list)
 * Metroid, Sweet Metroid


 * Super Metroid
 * Super Metroid (Manga)
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee
 * Metroid Prime (Manual, removed boss)
 * Metroid (2002 manga)
 * Metroid: Zero Mission
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves
 * Super Nostalgic Entertainment System


 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Manual)
 * Nintendo Land


 * NES Remix 2

Trivia

 * Kraid's Super Metroid and Zero Mission sprite artists never bothered creating the large Pirate's entire tail. By extracting Kraid's sprites, it is revealed that his tail always ends abruptly; the sprite artists most likely ignored this detail since players are never capable (and are not meant) to get behind Kraid and explore the areas beyond him until he is defeated, which results in him sinking into the ground and exploding, thus his tail is never fully witnessed.
 * If Kraid had been implemented in Metroid Prime, the Prime series would be the only games in which both Kraid and Ridley utilize any form of technology during their boss battles rather than strictly using their natural weapons.
 * Kraid occasionally appeared in the Captain N: The Game Master comic series, based on his original concept art. One of his appearances occurs when he was imprisoned on RX 338. He attempts to convince all of the prisoners in his block that were put away by Samus to turn on their fellow captive, before she beats them all using Kraid as a weapon. Samus later uses him as a diversion to make her own escape.
 * The cartoon version of Captain N featured Kraid, who had a much different appearance and served Mother Brain in multiple episodes. In Metroid, Sweet Metroid, Duke is seen playing dead as a distraction while Kevin steals Kraid's Missile Gun which is then used by Kevin to kill a Protoplasm. Concept artwork of the creature and its gun identify it as Kraid.


 * It is possible that Kraid may have some relation to the Reptilicus, seeing that he has three eyes and a reptilian appearance, similar to that of the Mogenars and the statues/busts around Bryyo. On top of this, Mogenar's battle theme is extremely similar to Kraid's.
 * In a Toys "R" Us commercial, "Kraid's Toy Shop" is shown, in Tourian, to be sold out of NES games.
 * Kraid's size changes throughout the games. For example, in Metroid, he is about the same size as Samus, whereas in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission, he's roughly 65' tall. In Melee, he is even larger.
 * According to the official Metroid: Zero Mission web site, Kraid is over two stories tall, the low-end being three stories. This would mean Kraid is 9.9 meters tall (32.5 ft.), nearly half of his height in-game.


 * The Squizzard boss in Super Mario Galaxy 2 bears subtle similarities to Kraid. Such similarities include the weak point being the mouth, and spiked projectiles being fired by the flick of a hand. The Squizzard is also half-burrowed in the ground, similar to Kraid in Super Metroid.
 * The color of Samus' suit during the cut-scene with Kraid rising before her in Zero Mission will vary depending on whether or not the Varia Suit is acquired prior to the battle.

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