SA-X

The SA-X (short for Samus Aran-X) is the main antagonist of Metroid Fusion. It is the eleventh boss Samus faces on the Biologic Space Laboratories research station.

Biography
The SA-X is an X Parasite mimicking Samus. After Samus's first encounter with the X on SR388, her Power Suit was infected by the parasites. The Galactic Federation surgically removed infected portions of her suit and sent the pieces to the Biologic Space Laboratories research station's Quarantine Bay. Once there, the X inside the infected suit parts seemingly combined and transformed into a copy of Samus in her standard Varia Suit (it should be noted in SA-X's first closeup, the helmet and upper torso seem to be a shade of purple, and her eyes appear to be white, with no visible pupils). The SA-X used a Power Bomb to escape the Quarantine Bay, breaching the capsules containing X-infected specimens from SR388 and starting the mass infestation.

From then on, the SA-X roamed the station, occasionally crossing paths with Samus and attacking her on sight. As it had the use of the Ice Beam, Samus originally stood no chance against it because the Metroid vaccine had left her with an extreme vulnerability to cold. Thus, whenever Samus encountered the SA-X, she would have to hide or run from it.

The copy was first seen when Samus was traveling to Sector 1 to try and stop the X infestation from spreading. As Samus went down the Main Elevator, the SA-X blew up a wall of the elevator room, walked into the room, and paused for a few moments; it is here that a close-up of its face could be seen. The SA-X then jumped over the elevator shaft, destroyed the room's hatch with a Super Missile, and left the room through the destroyed hatchway. When Samus reaches Sector 1, Adam informs her that some "unknown agent" had severely damaged the Main Elevator and disabled it the time being.

The second encounter took place in Sector 2 after Samus downloaded the Bomb data. As soon as she left the Data Room, an explosion shook the surrounding area, immediately after which the SA-X's footsteps could be heard fading away into the distance. When Samus dropped down to the lower part of the room, she discovered that the hatch she had come through had been badly damaged and rendered totally inoperable.

Samus' first physical encounter with the SA-X also occurred in Sector 2, shortly after the defeat of Zazabi. Attempting to return to the Navigation Room, Samus discovered another damaged and completely impassable hatchway. Using her Bombs, she was able to open a hole in the floor nearby and dropped into a room with two sections. The SA-X was in the bottom section, but it soon left the room.

The next encounter, this time in Sector 6, occurred when Samus discovered a wall of Power Bomb Blocks that she could not pass, as she had not yet recovered her Power Bombs. The SA-X entered the room almost immediately afterward, forcing Samus to hide in a passageway under the floor; it then used a Power Bomb of its own to destroy both the wall and a significant portion the floor. It then jumped down the next area and exited the room.

The third actual encounter took place in Sector 5 after Samus had downloaded the Power Bomb data. While using Power Bombs to get around blockages created by the X, Samus entered a portion of the sector she had not previously explored. Almost immediately afterward, the SA-X suddenly entered the room right behind her. To escape, Samus had to jump over a pillar and use Bombs or a Power Bomb to find a secret passage in the wall behind it. Unfortunately, if Samus set off a Power Bomb, the explosion would destroy the pillar behind her, revealing her position to the SA-X and alerting it to her presence. It would then run over to the wall and fire Ice Beam shots until Samus left the room.

The SA-X showed up once again in Sector 2 shortly after Samus activated the Auxiliary Power Station. While traveling towards the source of the vegetation choking the Main Reactor, Samus dropped into a large chamber only to discover that the SA-X was there waiting for her. As she still lacked a way to damage it, Samus was left with no choice but to run from the SA-X until she could reach a safe hiding place, though she could slow it down by hitting it with Ice Missiles.

When Samus' navigation computer requested that Samus destroy B.O.X., he warned Samus that the SA-X was hunting for her in Sector 6. After destroying B.O.X., she reached the Restricted Laboratory and discovered the Federation's secret Metroid breeding project. Following the sound of the explosions rocking the lab, she found the SA-X attacking infant Metroids, though it was quickly overpowered and overwhelmed. However, the SA-X's assault had activated the emergency fail-safes -- moments after Samus escaped, the Restricted Area was jettisoned from the research station and exploded. Samus believed that the X mimic was gone for good.

However, her feelings of victory were short-lived. After the incident, Samus' gunship's computer told her that there were no fewer than 10 SA-X because the X reproduce asexually. By this time, the Galactic Federation had taken an interest in the SA-X, believing it to have strong potential as a bioweapon. The computer went on to tell Samus that the Federation did not expect her help in containing the SA-X, which is why they had stopped sending her support data.

Once the computer was revealed to have Adam Malkovich's personality, he told Samus to go the Operations Room and adjust the station's orbit path to intercept SR388. Just as Samus reached the Operations Room, another SA-X ambushed her in an attempt to stop her from destroying the station. By this time, Samus had recovered almost all of her lost abilities, including those she needed to damage the SA-X. Therefore, she was able to finally confront her doppelgänger, and after a fierce struggle, Samus emerged victorious. However, the SA-X, in form of a Large X, escapes before being absorbed by Samus.

It died while fighting a large Omega Metroid, when the Metroid hit the SA-X with the exact strike that had immobilized Samus. It allowed Samus to absorb it, and Samus gained its powers.

Artificial intelligence
Despite having Samus's powers and, according to Adam, a high intellect, the SA-X is infamous for its incredibly poor artificial intelligence coding. There are various holes and ledges that Samus can hide on or in that will cause SA-X to endlessly run and jump back and forth without hitting Samus, sometimes even if she is within easy reach.

In one example, in the first encounter of Sector 2, if Samus attracts attention, it will chase after her, but if she climbs up the hole she came through, the SA-X will run to the wall, lose interest in the chase and walk peacefully across the room to leave.

In another example, in Sector 6, the SA-X Power Bombs a floor above a Morph Ball tunnel, revealing Samus if she isn't quick enough; if Samus rolls into the intact part of the tunnel on the right side (the part where she came in through) and is seen doing so, it will Screw Attack and Space Jump to the top part and back down to the bottom in an endless cycle.

Also in the same scene, if Samus falls into the Fake Block chamber and hangs there while the SA-X is alerted, it will drop down to the lowest part of the room and constantly runs back and forth across the floor.

Additionally, in the next room, when Samus climbs into the Morph Ball shaft, the SA-X, like before, will constantly run back and forth.

When hiding from the SA-X in the second encounter of Sector 2, if Samus fires any projectile or drops a Bomb behind the pillar (in the farthest room to the left) when the doppelganger turns to leave, the SA-X will turn around as if it had heard something, but it does not extensively search the room and will shortly lose its interest before leaving unless its attention is attracted again. This goes on until Samus stops or she reveals herself to her opponent.

Notably in Sectors 6, 5, and 2 (second encounter), if Samus stands on top of one of the various pillars she uses to hide from SA-X or goes into a narrow Morph Ball tunnel but stays albeit close to the edge, her opponent, seemingly not being able to comprehend the fact that it needs to jump higher to reach Samus or aim and fire at her, will try to Screw Attack up to her but will always fall short, and it will keep trying the exact same method until Samus leaves its sight.

Despite its horrid AI coding, the SA-X is truly intelligent. For instance, the SA-X destroyed the Quarantine Bay with a Power Bomb in order to escape. It also destroyed numerous Data Rooms and/or passages to them as an attempt to prevent Samus from regaining her powers. Additionally, the SA-X predicted her movements: it was waiting for her in Sector 2 as it knew she was going to try to destroy the Nettori as well as following her into Sector 6, the Restricted Laboratory and the Operations Deck. If Samus hung on a ledge out of the SA-X's reach, it will fire a Super Missile in order to dislodge its enemy due to the rumble created by the said Missile. Finally, it knew the most efficient way to destroy a Metroid; freeze it with the Ice Beam then shatter it with a Super Missile. Also, if Samus is behind it but not close to it, the SA-X will ignore her unless Samus walks up to it or she attracts attention.

Powers and Abilities
During the course of the game, the SA-X demonstrates the following abilities of Samus's Power Suit:
 * Super Missile
 * Ice Beam/Plasma/Wave/Spazer
 * Screw Attack
 * Morph Ball
 * Power Bomb
 * Space Jump

The battle
The SA-X uses the Ice Beam, Screw Attack, and sometimes Super Missiles (it fires them when Samus hangs from a ledge out of reach) against Samus. Only the Charge Beam can damage it -- Samus can temporarily freeze it with an Ice Missile, but it causes no actual damage. The SA-X has a tendency to go into a Screw Attack as a counter-attack whenever Samus lands a blow; if Samus tries somersaulting into it with her own Screw Attack, both will take damage. As the SA-X takes on more damage, it begins to look more and more distorted; once it cannot take any more damage, it falls to its knees (much like Samus herself at the end of Super Metroid).

When the SA-X kneels down, it stops fighting. When Samus approaches, though, it transforms into a gigantic beast, that appears to be a sort of mutated Hornoad-like creature. One possible explanation for this form is that it was a fusion of every host the SA-X had previously infected, namely a Hornoad and Samus herself; this would explain why the form looks like a giant mutated Hornoad with a swollen Arm Cannon on one of its arms. It also retains a visor like that of its suit beneath its multitude of eyes. Despite still having a type of Arm Cannon, the SA-X then jumps around the room trying to stomp on Samus. Ultimately, this tactic proves much less effective than when the SA-X was only mimicking Samus, as there are a couple of ways for Samus to avoid damage: if Samus stands on the upper ledge in front of the Operations Room door, she can use the Wave Beam to shoot down through the floor, but the SA-X can't jump high enough to reach her. Alternatively, Samus can use the Screw Attack to somersault right through the SA-X; this won't hurt the SA-X, but Samus won't take any damage, either. In order to damage the SA-X, Samus must once again use the Charge Beam.

Once the mutated form is defeated, the SA-X reverts back to a Hard Core-X and attempts to both fly into Samus and hit her with the Ice Beam. Once Samus defeats the Core-X, the X inside retreats out of reach, eventually phasing through a wall and escaping.

The conclusion
Once Samus reaches the Docking Bay where her gunship should be, she instead encounters an Omega Metroid. The Omega Metroid attacks Samus, leaving her with an ounce of her energy left. Just as the Omega Metroid is about to deal the finishing blow, the SA-X that fled after Samus defeated it re-appears and transforms back into its Varia Suit form. It then uses its Ice Beam against the Omega Metroid, causing it to back away from Samus. Once the Metroid reaches the end of the room, it retaliates and attacks the SA-X, draining what little vitality it had recovered after its battle with Samus. The SA-X then reverts to its X form and allows Samus to absorb it, completely restoring her energy and granting her both the Ice Beam and the Omega Suit. Once Samus defeats the Omega Metroid, her gunship returns, allowing her to escape. The BSL station then crashes into SR388. All of the remaining SA-X were supposedly destroyed along with the planet and the rest of their kind.

Why the SA-X seems to assist Samus is unclear, but it is likely that the X saw two threats: one with only a few strands of Metroid DNA (Samus), and a full-blooded, incredibly powerful Metroid (the Omega Metroid). The SA-X then attacked the greater threat; if this is the case, then it probably intended to finish off Samus after the Omega Metroid was dealt with. It is possible, however, that Nintendo was recreating the ending of Super Metroid where the Metroid hatchling, after growing a relationship with Samus (its "adoptive mother"), sacrifices itself to save her from the final blow. The SA-X may have done the same thing. Less likely but still possible, after being defeated by Samus the SA-X grows to respect Samus as an admirable adversary and therefore protects her.

Official website
"While exploring SR388, Samus was infected by an X Parasite. Samus survived the infection, but so did the parasite. Now an exact replica of Samus at full power, SA-X may be the most potent foe Samus has ever faced."

Trivia

 * While the X were capable of infecting the organic parts of the Power Suit, it was already believed that they could not replicate robotics and technology; thus, the technology and metal shell of the suit should not have been replicated. Yet it is known that the SA-X had multiplied at least 10 times over the course of Fusion, thus raising the question as to how the SA-X copies obtained the technological aspects of Samus' suit. A logical explanation is the X could have just 'grown' pieces to resemble the parts of Samus' suit while retaining all of the suit's abilities, presumably through data in the biological components. Also, when Samus is fighting the SA-X, it begins to look distorted as the fight goes on and mutates into a large creature near the end of the battle, which also suggests that the appearance of the suit was affected by the SA-X's will and that it is not actually wearing a real suit at all. This is likely to be the case with several other X forms which display inorganic components, among them Nightmare, the Human Core-X, and the Zombie researcher. Alternatively, it is possible that the suit is 100% organic or connected to Samus' genome in some way.
 * The SA-X knew the 'formula' to kill Metroids (as it had acquired the knowledge from its victim) and used it against Samus Aran prior to her acquiring the Varia Suit: the SA-X would first freeze her and then shoot a Super Missile.
 * Despite this, the SA-X never used this combination of attacks against the Infant Metroids located in the Restricted Laboratory and instead shot concussive weapons in an erratic manner. This may have been because it was being swarmed at the time by the Metroids.
 * Interestingly enough, the SA-X will peacefully walk until it sees an enemy despite the fact that most other X went rampant and that Samus classifies it as a "killing machine".
 * Despite the fact that it appears peaceful, the SA-X is often seen causing wanton destruction. This is obvious when it uses Super Missiles to destroy hatches, or a Power Bomb to destroy walls and escape from containment.
 * The fact that the Federation wanted to capture the SA-X for military use despite its obvious malicious intent is similar to the theme of the Alien series, where the corrupt Weyland-Yutani company wants to use the malicious Aliens as bio-weapons.
 * In trailers for Fusion, the SA-X's sprites appear to be directly based off of Super Metroid ' s Varia Suit sprites.
 * SA-X can be temporarily frozen (though only for a very few moments) if Samus fires Ice Missiles at it, buying her more time to escape. This mirrors Samus' occasional weakness to being frozen demonstrated in the Prime series.
 * The SA-X is one of two beings in the series that is known to have Samus' DNA, the other being Dark Samus. Other doppelgängers that do not share DNA with Samus include Samus-G and the green training hologram in Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Interestingly, SA-X does not display any emotion during the course of her existence. Dark Samus, on the other hand, is known to be capable of compassion, hatred and amusement.
 * Before the final confrontation with it, the SA-X is one of five villains in the series able to best Samus in a fight, the others being Ridley in the Super Metroid intro, Mother Brain in the Super Metroid ending, the Omega Metroid in Fusion's ending and Dark Samus in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
 * Despite Samus' Screw Attack resembling something akin to a buzzsaw after absorbing the ability from Neo Ridley, the SA-X uses the green Screw Attack present in Super Metroid.
 * The SA-X is referred to using genderless pronouns, even though it could be assumed female due to containing Samus' DNA (this was the case with Dark Samus).
 * It is highly assumed that the SA-X has the Gravity Feature from Metroid: Other M as the color palette of the Power Suit is always orange, similar to the Varia Suit. However, this appears to be false as it is seen in the Docking Bays with a hangar door wide open to the vacuum of space, and thus, having the room decompressing.
 * Despite Adam stating there were no fewer than 10 SA-X in existence, the only one the player will ever find after this revelation is the one in the Operations Deck. No other SA-X will be encountered if the player continues to explore other parts of the station.
 * During the final stage of the SA-X fight, if Samus deals the finishing blow to the Hornoad-like creature far enough away, it will stand in one place and emit the same sound repeatedly until Samus stands close enough to it. Upon Samus's approach, it will slouch and transform into a Hard-Core X.
 * The SA-X is one of the three bosses who engages Samus more than twice over the course of the game, the others being Dark Samus of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Ridley of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and the Rhedogian of Metroid: Other M.
 * The SA-X has empty eyes, unlike Samus. However, the latter did lose her pupils in one moment, during the Metroid Manga when she begged her friends to kill her after Ridley gave her more trauma.