Neo-Ridley

Ridley-X, also known as Neo Ridley, is the ninth boss Samus faces aboard the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion.

Biography
The first time Samus sees Ridley on the Main Deck, he is frozen inside a locked-up, ice-cold room and likely dead. Eventually, Samus enters the back of this room and sees Ridley shatter, with a big X Parasite (those found within the Core-X) floating away from the body. As she continues exploring the station, she meets a Core-X in the form of Ridley, causing him to be known as Ridley-X. This "new" Ridley has extremely enlarged talons on both hands and feet. This may be the fact that the Core-X saw fit to make these improvements to create an obviously bigger and better Ridley, in the same way that Arachnus-X has improved powers from the original or that the federation attempted to clone him but had "flaws". Which could be the reason why his wings were smaller than usual. Worthy of noting is the sprites for Ridley's original form prior to Ridley-X (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.

The presence of an X-based Ridley and Space Pirates on board the BSL station is enigmatic, given that the pirates were thoroughly routed and Ridley defeated in Super Metroid. The Fusion web site indicates that the pirates were onboard the station on a marauding mission, and are presumably not Federation-preserved specimens, as has often been conjectured by fans. Exactly why the frozen Ridley was on the station is unclear, though, it is possible however, that the pirates were attempting to resurrect him once again using the station's equipment, given that they, after their defeats, likely had no equipment of their own to do so.

The Battle
Ridley-X will ram himself into Samus, try to grab Samus with his talons, and shoot large moving fireballs from his mouth. His large size is also difficult to get around, making the battle requiring a fair amount of maneuvering. All the battle involves is firing Diffusion Missiles or using the Charge Beam against the beast, considering that unlike most powerful enemies Samus faces, Ridley X does not have a special way to be damaged. The Charge Beam is preferred, because containing the Plasma Beam, the Charge Beam will pass through Ridley, causing continuous damage.

As he takes more damage, he will change colors from blue to purple to red. Once Ridley-X is defeated, he will transform into a Core-X. Once Samus defeats it, she obtains the Screw Attack, the second to last power-up on the station.

Trivia

 * Ridley is the only boss in Metroid Fusion that does not use the weapon obtained from him in any way, shape, or form. However, Ridley's spinning tail might be its way of demonstrating the screw attack. He also used this ability in Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission.
 * When Ridley is frozen and possessed by the Core-X, his eyes glow as they did in Super Metroid when he appeared, almost suggesting he was alive at that point.

Gallery
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