Samus Aran

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran; pronounced SA-MUHS A-RUHN or A-RAHN using the "CAT" vowel for the first two As) is the main character and protagonist of the Metroid series. Introduced in 1986 in Metroid, Samus is a Human (infused with Chozo DNA & later strands of Metroid DNA) Bounty Hunter famous for her accomplishments on missions thought otherwise impossible. Armed with a cybernetic Power Suit built by the Chozo, an ancient, highly intelligent race, she is a powerful opponent in battle. She hunts Space Pirates and energy-draining alien parasites known as Metroids, while completing missions given by the Galactic Federation. Samus is voiced in Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime Hunters, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption by Jennifer Hale, but only for cries of pain, grunts and death screams.

Samus broke ground early in the gaming world in Metroid. Originally players were under the impression that Samus was a male, as even the instruction booklet confirmed this. However, completing Metroid under an hour revealed Samus to be a young athletic woman. However, the name Samus is the female variant of Seamus, so it is possible to figure it out previously. Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, it has become a tradition to depict her in much more revealing attire at the end of each game, often as a reward for satisfying certain conditions, such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game’s items collected or even both.

Contrary to popular belief, Samus was not created by Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi. The original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanoh and was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.

According to Metroid II: Return of Samus' instruction booklet, Samus Aran weighs in at 90 kilograms and is 1.9 meters high. (Most likely in her Power Suit)

Biography
"I don't know what's worth fighting for."-Samus Aran

Much of Samus's life and history is a mystery. She was living with her parents, Rodney Aran and Virginia Aran, on the Earth colony K-2L at the age of three; they died, however, in a Space Pirate attack on the colony led by Ridley, while Samus was three years old. She was the sole survivor of the raid. Eventually, a group of Chozo found her alone and stranded on the destroyed colony. Old Bird decided to take Samus. They brought her to their planet, Zebes, and raised her with Chozo influence. She was infused with Chozo blood (from Grey Voice, though she did not learn this aspect for many years), and later given the powerful Power Suit, built entirely out of Chozo technology. She proceeded to leave the planet, join (and quit) the Federation Police, and eventually became a universally renowned Bounty Hunter.

After becoming the most famed and capable of all Bounty Hunters, succeeding in missions everyone considered impossible, Samus was summoned by the Galactic Federation and given the orders to infiltrate Zebes, the planet she grew up on. Apparently, Space Pirates had overrun the world. She had two objectives:
 * 1) Eliminate the threat of the Metroids, a newly discovered species which the Space Pirates were using for evil purposes, and
 * 2) Destroy Mother Brain — the "mechanical life form" or "life vein" and central computer of Zebes' ecosystem, which had become the leader of the Space Pirates. According to the manga, Mother Brain once served the Chozo but betrayed them to serve the Pirates as part of its own plans.

Samus successfully carried out the mission. This would bind her to this duty as she is often called upon to combat this threat. Afterward, Samus discovered a distress call and upon investigation discovered the source to be the Space Pirate Frigate Orpheon on which the pirates were studying Phazon, a highly radioactive material that can mutate life-forms and has an ability to reproduce itself. Due to escalating events onboard the ship, thanks to Samus, it impacted into Tallon IV's surface. Samus saw and pursued Meta Ridley, a winged dragon-like monster she had defeated on Zebes, was now rebuilt through the best Space Pirate technology, to the surface of the planet.

On Tallon IV she found that the planet had been corrupted by Phazon when a meteor had struck it twenty years earlier. Samus found Chozo lore and ruins on the planet which told of how the meteor hit the planet and brought an evil creature with it, to which they referred to as "The Worm". The Space Pirates landed on the planet, and quickly built up facilities to mine the highly valuable, and dangerous Phazon, but years earlier, most of the Chozo population had died off due to Phazon poisoning (the survivors fled to an unknown destination). Interestingly, the Chozo lore foretold a "hatchling" would save the planet, with descriptions strongly resembling Samus.

Along the way, she discovered through Chozo Lore that an "Evil Entity" had been sealed off in the Phazon meteor impact crater by a series of Chozo Artifacts. Samus found a Space Pirate mining colony on the planet, mining for Phazon to use for experiments on themselves and Metroids to create an unstoppable military force. She halted all Phazon production, but inadvertently acquired an abnormal suit upgrade that allowed her to safely come into contact with Phazon, and bolstered her arm cannon with extreme levels of power when in direct contact with pure Phazon - This suit upgrade turned her suit to shades of Black and Crimson (the Phazon Suit).

Samus ultimately sought to investigate what was sealed off inside of the impact crater, so she found and collected all of the 12 Chozo Artifacts necessary to break the seal. However, when she approached the seal, Meta Ridley confronted her - he had swooped in and destroyed the portal that lead to the Impact Crater. Samus weakened Meta Ridley and the Chozo Ghosts united and drew their powers together to create a powerful beam that knocked Meta Ridley off of the Temple Grounds to his "death". She then found the source of all evil that came within the meteor — Metroid Prime, a mutated Metroid and living off Phazon. Samus destroyed Metroid Prime, which left the Chozo Temple on the verge of destruction, but just before its death it reached out, grabbed Samus, and absorbed her Phazon Suit. This led to the birth of Samus's greatest enemy, Dark Samus. Born of Phazon, this new being craved the substance with an avarice intensity, and would do anything to get its hands on it.

Some time after, Samus found out that the Galactic Federation had received a telepathic message from the Tetra Galaxy saying, "The secret to ultimate power resides in the Alimbic Cluster." The Federation sent her to the Alimbic Cluster to ensure either federation control of it or that it remain secret. She encountered several other hunters who wanted the ultimate power including an enemy of the Federation by the name of Sylux (mentioned below 4 paragraphs down) who stole a ship and a suit from the GF. Samus's goal was to collect all 8 Octoliths by defeating the guardians. Once she had done so (having also scanned things for information about the Alimbics), she returned to the Planet of Alinos to activate the Alimbic cannon to open access to the Oubliette, a chamber sealed in another dimension to trap away the incredibly powerful and dangerous Gorea, a monster which destroyed the Alimbics. After watching the other hunters get all their power sucked away, obtaining the Omega Cannon (a.k.a the ultimate power), and defeating Gorea, she left the Alimbic Cluster.

Some time afterwards, Samus was contacted by the Galactic Federation, who had lost contact with a group of Galactic Federation troopers in the Dasha Region on a planet called Aether. There she encountered Metroid Prime again, this time looking similar to Samus, but corrupted and twisted by the Phazon hunger. This being became known as "Dark Samus". Samus also found some moth-like beings on Aether called the Luminoth, an intelligent and peaceful species similar to the Chozo. One of their leaders, U-Mos, told Samus that they lived in peace on Aether until a meteor impacted the planet's surface, splitting Aether in two dimensions — their normal world and the other entirely filled with darkness. This "Dark Aether" was home to a vicious and vile race known as the Ing, which in the Luminoth language means "terror". She then went exploring through Aether, searching for the Sky Temple keys while also getting new suits and abilities to help her survive longer in Dark Aether. When Samus recovered all of the Sky Temple keys, she was able to reach the Sky Temple itself to fight the Emperor Ing, the ruler of the Ing Horde. She was victorious, but when she got the last bit of energy, Dark Aether started to collapse into destruction and she had to escape. She reached the exit of the Sky Temple only to have Phazon enshroud it. Dark Samus forced Samus to fight her one last time, and was finished off again and reduced to Phazon dust. Samus managed to restore the planet Aether to its original state. Later, she left the planet, with the thankful Luminoth never forgetting how she saved them and their world from destruction.

However, Dark Samus was not totally destroyed. Samus's final showdown with the creature is shown in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Corruption takes place exactly six months after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, with the player again taking the role of Samus. The story begins with a meeting between Samus Aran and the Galactic Federation, in which she met three other bounty hunters; Ghor, Rundas and Gandrayda, and helped fend off a Space Pirate attack on the GFS Olympus. They were quickly dispatched to the nearby planet of Norion and ordered to activate its defense system to fend off the pirate attack. During this mission, an asteroid-size "Leviathan seed" was sighted heading toward the planet. The Hunters, having restored power to the defense system, rushed to the control room, but were attacked by Dark Samus just before activating the system. Dark Samus released a blast of pure Phazon energy and corrupts all of the hunters. With all of them unconscious, a heavily wounded Samus managed to activate the laser just in time to destroy the Leviathan.

Samus awoke one month later and learned that she and her fellow hunters were corrupted by Phazon from Dark Samus's attack. However, the Federation scientists discovered that Samus's body was now self-producing Phazon and had even developed a Phazon Enhancement Device (P.E.D.) that allows Samus control her internal Phazon on a safe level and to enter Hypermode. Samus then learned that the other three hunters had left a couple of weeks earlier for missions to three other planets where seeds had been planted, but the Federation lost contact with them seven days prior. Samus was then ordered to destroy each Leviathan Seed one by one and seek the whereabouts of the other hunters.

Samus traveled to the planets Bryyo, Elysia, and the Pirate Homeworld to find upgrades to further enhance her abilities to destroy the seeds. However, she learned that the Phazon corruption, initially thought to be benign, could cause her body to overload with Phazon energy which she must expel to prevent total corruption. (If Samus stays in hypermode past an allotted time, she enters corrupted hypermode in which the Phazon meter rises up. If the meter maxes out, Samus will be utterly corrupted, transforming into another Dark Samus, which leads to an automatic "Game Over.") She learned that each of her fellow hunters fell to the Phazon corruption and to protect herself she battled each hunter in turn, killing them. As each hunter fell, Dark Samus showed up to drain the Phazon energy and their abilities from their bodies, with Samus powerless to stop her. Samus was able to destroy the sources of Phazon in both Seeds on Bryyo and Elysia. She also helped the Federation lead an all-out attack on the Pirate Homeworld, which allowed her to destroy the Homeworld Seed as well.

The Aurora Unit 242 then discovered the location of planet Phaaze, the source of all Phazon in the universe and Dark Samus's place of origin. Traveling with the Federation through a wormhole, Samus arrived and descended on the planet. Samus began absorbing dangerous amounts of Phazon energy, nearly corrupting her completely, but managed to prevent this by venting all her available energy tanks and locking herself in permanent Hypermode. After venturing to the planet's inner sanctum, she battled Dark Samus one final time, who then fused with a stolen Aurora Unit that was linked with Phaaze's core. Samus was able to defeat Dark Samus, which destroyed the Phazon in her body and caused the planet to self-destruct. The Federation fleet escaped through another wormhole, but also lost contact with Samus in the process. Eventually her ship appeared, and she reported that her mission was complete. She then flew off into the bowels of space. If the player collects every pickup until the game's end, a special ending shows what is rumored to be the Delano 7, Sylux's ship (Samus's hidden rival as revealed on Metroid Prime: Hunters), following Samus's gunship as it flies off.

At this point, the Galactic Federation deemed the Metroids too dangerous to exist. Samus was then sent to SR388 by the Galactic Federation to exterminate the remaining Metroids. Once there, she found that Metroids mutate into different forms, each stronger than the last. She successfully annihilated all the Metroids and their queen, though while leaving the planet she found an egg. As she stared at it, an Infant Metroid appeared out of the egg and saw Samus immediately, which led to it believing her to be its mother. Samus, going against her orders, took the Metroid Hatchling to her gunship and left the planet. She took the hatchling to the Ceres Space Colony, where the scientists planned to study the Metroid and their scientific properties.

Just as Samus was leaving the station, a distress signal was sent from the station to Samus. She returned to Ceres and found bodies everywhere. She went to the room containing the Metroid Hatchling and saw Ridley stealing it. After a struggle, Ridley flew out of the station to Zebes, with Samus chasing him. Back on Zebes, Samus discovered that the Space Pirates had rebuilt their base on the planet and had resuscitated Mother Brain, as well as Ridley and Kraid. She once again defeated Kraid, Ridley, (along with Phantoon, Crocomire, and Draygon which were new commanding bosses) and with the aid of the infant Metroid, who gave up its life to save Samus, managed to destroy Mother Brain in its new form. Samus left the planet as a self-destruct timer counted down, which caused the planet to explode just as Samus left it.

The Galactic Federation soon had another mission for the famous Bounty Hunter. She was to go with Galactic Federation troopers to SR388 to collect samples of life for the Biologic Space Laboratories (BSL). The troopers and Samus landed on the planet, and when Samus and the troopers were trying to capture a Hornoad, a parasite injected itself inside Samus. After the mission was complete and she was back in her gunship, the parasite, which had infested her central nervous system, caused her to lose consciousness and drift into an asteroid belt. Fortunately, she was ejected from the ship and the escape pod was retrieved by the BSL and transported to Galactic Federation HQ. The parasite that attacked Samus was known as the "X Parasite".

The X had infected such large portions of her Power Suit that it had to be surgically removed, drastically altering her physical appearance. She was initially given a minimal chance of survival, but the scientists found a cure. Using the Infant Metroid cell to make a vaccine, the X Parasite was completely removed from her body. It was revealed that the Metroids were the main predators of the X on SR388, and now that they were extinct on the planet, the X roamed free and without competition. A new suit was given to Samus — the Fusion Suit.

Samus was then sent to the BSL research station where the last batch of creatures from SR388 and the infected parts of her Power Suit were sent. She was to investigate an unexplained explosion in the Quarantine Bay. For this mission, she was overseen by a computerized Commanding Officer, her second CO. Upon investigating the station, she found that an X Parasite had taken the form of her Varia Suit, and it became known as the SA-X (Samus Aran X). Samus later found out that, based on the asexually reproductive nature of the X, there were at least 10 SA-X on the station. Samus also learned a disturbing fact on the station — she found out that the Galactic Federation had been conducting a secret Metroid breeding program. Once the SA-X discovered this, it made its way to where the Metroids were contained, after Samus had broken in with the Wave Beam. It began destroying the area, so the section that housed these programs was detached from the station, with Samus barely escaping and one of the SA-X disposed of. This destroyed the Federation's research.

After making her way to a nearby Navigation Room, it was then that Samus discovers that her former CO Adam Malkovich was the computer's personality on the ship's computer. It turned out that the minds of great scientists and military leaders were frequently uploaded to computers. After Samus had left and defeated Ridley-X after receiving an extremely vague objective, Adam trapped her in a Navigation room in Sector 1 of the station. He informed Samus that the Federation was on its way to the lab to capture the SA-X for study. This enraged Samus, and, after a heated discussion, Adam was convinced to release her, his "true" personality coming through. Samus decided then to change the orbit of the lab so that it would impact SR388, believing it to be the only way to destroy the X Parasite for good. But before she could do this, she faced a SA-X. She destroyed it, but the X inhabiting her armor escaped before she could absorb it. While evacuating the station, she found an Omega Metroid waiting for her at the docking bay. Though she tried to fight it, she was unable to harm it in any way, and was injured badly.

It was then that the SA-X showed up to kill the Metroid, but it was eventually destroyed. The Core-X floated over Samus, advertising its availability to her. Samus absorbed the X and used the Ice Beam attack that it provided her to finish off the Metroid. Her ship was piloted back into the docking bay by Etecoons and Dachoras (Adam was unable to pilot the ship as it could only be operated manually). Samus then left the station. It is unknown what the Galactic Federation's current view of Samus is. While she did defy a direct order by the Federation, there were extenuating circumstances and the true threat of the X parasites was not known to the Galactic Federation at the time the order was given.

Equipment
Samus's main feature is her Power Suit, a suit of armor created for her by the Chozo on Zebes. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect her from adverse environments and enemy fire. The suit itself can be upgraded to such forms as the Varia Suit, the Gravity Suit, the Phazon Suit, the Dark Suit, and the Light Suit, as well as her suits in Metroid Fusion, the Fusion Suit and Omega Fusion Suit. While some suits are stronger than others and have different abilities, all include Samus's main weapon: a built-in arm cannon (The zero suit is an exception, and is replaced with a weaker, handheld energy pistol/energy whip, dubbed the Paralyzer in Brawl). The arm cannon's standard ammo mere energy, but Samus can also acquire different kinds of beams, and the cannon can also shoot missiles. She can also receive other various power-ups which improve her abilities, including Space Jump boots, and the Screw Attack.

For transportation, Samus uses her gunship, which usually resembles her helmet. She has had several gunships throughout the series, one of which has been described as a custom Hunter-class starship made especially for her by the Galactic Federation. The first appearance of Samus's gunship was in Metroid II: Return of Samus. The ship's most common incarnation is seen in Metroid II, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, as well as making various cameos in non-Metroid games.

Abilities/Skills
Outside of her power-suit (her Zero Suit form), Samus is amazingly athletic and can easily survive a fall from heights that would be impossible for a normal human. She can also run faster and jump higher, easily out-performing an Olympic-level athlete (her natural abilities are super-human at best). She was infused Chozo DNA (turning her into a Chozo/human hybrid) shortly after being brought to Zebes by the Chozo after the death of her parents (this was done as humans lack the ability to adapt to Zebes), which may explain her enhanced abilities. As a result she appears to able to adapt to places (and planets) difficult or impossible for a normal human (like Zebes and Elysia's Skytown, both of which were originally Chozo settlements). She possesses a slender, athletic figure that is quite limber allowing her to squeeze through Morph Ball-sized openings (thus allowing for stealthy infiltration and easy access). Samus was taught & trained by Chozo since she was 3 to age of 14 (according to volume 2 of manga), at this point she was allowed to leave Zebes & return to the Federation, where she later joined the Federation Police. She was then formally trained by Federation Police (either though an academy and/or boot camp programs). The full extent of her Federation training is unknown, however she probably learned various Federation protocols & procedures, doing field reconnaissance (as she does the manga's volume 3), & likely trained in the use small-arms like the Paralyzer pistol (and possibly GF Energy Rifles). She makes good use of these abilities (allowing her to survive long enough to regain her Power Suit) when she is stranded on Zebes after her ship is shot down, following Mother Brain's defeat in Metroid: Zero Mission. She also appears to be a decent shot & pilot (even though these skills are often augmented by her Power Suit and/or Gunship technology).

During the events of Metroid Fusion, Samus is infused with the Infant Metroid's cells to save her from X Parasite infection. This alters her cellular structure, giving her the ability to absorb the X into her system and can regain her lost Power Suit abilities by absorbing Core-X or Hard Core-X. Sadly, there was a downside to this as she also gained the Metroid's one weakness: an extreme sensitivity to cold temperatures (this weakness is later bypassed after absorbing the Mega Core-X & regaining the Varia Suit, giving her the ability to freely absorb Blue X). She is now a Chozo/Metroid/Human Hybrid, technically making her last living Metroid which is fitting as the name "Metroid" means "Ultimate Warrior" in the Chozo language (not to mention its the name of the series itself). It is unknown if Samus gained the Metroids' unique ability to leech life-energy. She doesn't seem to possess the Metroids' ability to levitate. After absorbing SA-X's Core-X, Samus gains the Omega Fusion Suit and all her lost Power Suit abilities (including her Ice Beam).

Roles outside of the Metroid series
Being a well-known Nintendo character, Samus has made numerous appearances in other titles and media.

Super Smash Bros. series
Samus is one of the original eight characters in the Super Smash Bros. series and has appeared in all three games in the series. The array of weapons she can use includes Missiles, the Charge Beam, the Grappling Beam, the Screw Attack, and Bombs, as well as a flamethrower. Her gunship from Metroid II: Return of Samus appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and in its opening cut scene. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Samus is playable in her Varia Suit form and in her Zero Suit Samus form when she uses her Final Smash move which causes her to lose her armor.

Also surprisingly, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while Samus is in her Zero Suit, she talks while doing taunts. This marks the first time Samus has ever spoken in a video game with a voice, not just in textual form. Samus's voice in SSBB was done by Alésia Glidewell, perhaps better known as Krystal's voice actress in Star Fox: Assault.

Super Smash Bros.
"Samus Aran is the toughest bounty hunter in the galaxy. Using a special suit powered by the technology of the bird people which allows her to execute daring acrobatic feats, Samus pursues the airborne life form, Metroid, throughout the universe." Works: Metroid (NES), Metroid II: Return of Samus (GB), Super Metroid (SNES)

Super Smash Bros. Melee
"This intergalactic bounty hunter's full name is Samus Aran. Clad in a Power Suit made by the Chozo race and infused with their enhanced blood, she cleared the planet Zebes of a Metroid infestation. Samus is an orphan, the sole survivor of a Space Pirate raid that destroyed an Earth colony named K-2L."

Metroid, 08/89

"Samus has an abundance of projectile weapons, making her a long-distance attack specialist. The most powerful weapon in her arsenal is the Charge Beam, but be warned: It can be reflected. Her missiles have homing capabilities, but when fired as Smash Attacks, they fly on a straight trajectory and have boosted power."

[B: Charge Shot] [Smash B: Missile]

While Samus's arsenal of missile weapons is indeed formidable, her enemies are in for a rude awakening if they guard against nothing else. Her grappling beam captures foes and latches on to walls, and the Screw Attack drags foes upward in a series of spins that doubles as a recovery move. Samus can also use her Bombs to perform Bomb Jumps.

[Up & B: Screw Attack] [Down & B: Bomb]

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
"The intergalactic bounty hunter named Samus Aran. Orphaned at an early age, she was taken in and raised by the alien race known as the Chozo. The Power Suit she wears is a product of their technology. Her unique combat skills combined with her athleticism and Arm Cannon have seen her through countless missions."

Metroid (1987) Super Metroid (1994)

Stickers

 * Dark Suit Samus Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - [Throwing] Attack +16  (All)
 * Gravity Suit Samus Metroid: Zero Mission - [Weapon] Attack +11  (Samus, Zero Suit Samus)
 * Running Zero Suit Samus Metroid: Zero Mission - [Weapon] Attack +25  (All)
 * Samus Metroid Fusion - [Electric] Resistance +16  (Samus, Zero Suit Samus)
 * Samus Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - [Explosive] Attack +18  (All)
 * Samus Metroid - [Specials: Indirect] Attack +15  (Samus, Zero Suit Samus)
 * Zero Suit Samus Metroid: Zero Mission - [Leg] Attack + 9  (Samus, Zero Suit Samus)

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

 * 1) Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus's helmet.)
 * 2) Nintendo’s Tetris (1989, NES) (Cameo, appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)
 * 3) F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy) (Cameo, appears cheering for the player with four other women before Course 7)
 * 4) Galactic Pinball (Virtual Boy) (Cameo, her ship appears in a minigame where the player must shoot oncoming Metroid enemies, similar to Space Invaders)[[Image:Samus Mario RPG.gif|thumb|right|Samus Aran's cameo in the Mushroom Kingdom castle's Guest Room in Super Mario RPG. If Mario attempts to talk to her, she says, "...... I'm resting up for Mother Brain." ]]
 * 5) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES) (Cameo, after Mario's party defeats Yaridovich, he may find her sleeping, until Mario travels to Land's End, and a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)
 * 6) Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his rock defense he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offense segment of the game.)
 * 7) Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES) (Cameo, appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all, Samus will remove her helmet.)
 * 8) Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) (Playable character)
 * 9) Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, Nintendo GameCube]) (Playable character)
 * 10) Animal Crossing (Nintendo GameCube) (An e-Reader card called "Samus's Suit" gives the player a Power Suit to wear in the game. This is coded on the card, and not the game, however.)
 * 11) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Contains a microgame based on NES Metroid, with Samus firing missiles at the Mother Brain. Though she cannot move, the Morph Ball is functional.)
 * 12) Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Samus was intended to appear at Starbeans Cafe, among other Nintendo characters, during a scripted event. Dialog remains in the game's code- "Cashier: Whoa! A power outage? Yikes! Samus Aran! I see you're rocking and rolling as usual! ...Looks like your energy tanks are empty! Sorry, but can't you give your Hoolumbian to Samus? Oh! Feeling better?" She would then give the player an Energy Tank in exchange for the drink. Ultimately, most of the items were replaced with similar ones in the final game, though the Energy Tank became a Power Grip accessory.)
 * 13) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (Contains the same Metroid microgame from Mega Microgame$)
 * 14) WarioWare: Touched! (2005, Nintendo DS) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid)
 * 15) WarioWare: Twisted! (2005, Game Boy Advance) (Contains two microgames based on Metroid and another full game called "Mewtroid" starring a rolling cat with an Arm Cannon and Brinstar music.)
 * 16) Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?" Also you can get a 1x1 item that is a Metroid in a case. When you touch it, it glows and plays a small clip of Metroid music.)
 * 17) Geist (2005, Nintendo GameCube) (Samus’s helmet and red clothing are seen in a locker within the women’s locker room at Volks Corporation.)
 * 18) Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; A difficulty level on Standard mode is Metroid Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen, but with a more realistic background.)
 * 19) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii) for the Wii was intended to include Samus and Link, but Nintendo did not allow Activision to include them. A video shows her using many of her attacks from the series, which would have been motion-activated.
 * 20) WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Samus also occasionally appears in two other games, with a Super Metroid cartridge in one and Samus playing an upright bass again (as she had in Tetris) in another.)
 * 21) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2007, Wii) (Playable character, Zero Suit Samus is also a playable character. Mainly partnered with Pikachu, she plays a large role in the game's story, The Subspace Emissary.)
 * 22) Fatal Frame IV (Japan 2008, Wii) (Zero Suit is an unlockable costume.)
 * 23) Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, Nintendo DS) (Samus statue and Screw Attack, now correctly named, appear in this SNES remake.)
 * 24) ''Animal Crossing: City Folk" (2008, Wii) (Samus Helmet, Metroid, and Varia Suit available in game.)
 * 25) Phantasy Star Ø (Japan 2008, Nintendo DS) (Samus's Arm Cannon is one of two available Nintendo weapons.)

Other appearances

 * Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, the main character, despite his own affections for another woman, Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story "Breakout", Samus prefers to win Kevin’s affections fairly. Samus's gunship also makes an appearance, though in a very different form than in the games. Interestingly, the ship's class in the comic was "Hunter IV", suggesting that the ship's canonical designation ("Hunter Class") may have been derived from the comic.


 * In the Captain N: The Game Master cartoon, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain was the show's primary villain. Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her". She was a major character in the comics, however.


 * Samus also starred in her own Nintendo Comics System story, apparently set in the same continuity, titled “Deceit du Jour”; it was the only ten-page story to have the Metroid umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another Bounty Hunter, 'Big Time' Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging her own gun (after he damages her Arm Cannon) before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus's escape.


 * Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime.


 * A Toys 'R Us commercial had a father and son traveling through game-worlds looking to buy NES games. They jumped into Tourian, both dressed as Samus, though Kraid's Toy Store did not have the games. The father shouted, "Stand back, son!" and dropped a Morph Ball Bomb that brought them crashing through the roof of Toys 'R Us, where the costumes vanished.


 * Samus once appeared in a Kool-aid commercial that advertised Metroid II: Return of Samus. An animated version of her is seen in the back of a bus with two children.


 * A super deformed doll in Samus's likeness that Princess Peach desired drove the humorous plot for a Mario VS Wario comic that was published prior to the Super Metroid comic.


 * Metroid appeared in the movie "The Wizard"for few moments (along with a slew of other Nintendo cameos), while Jimmy Woods is training on a PlayChoice-10 arcade machine. The entire screen briefly displayed Samus climbing a blue vertical shaft in Brinstar with Rippers and Zoomers.


 * An Animal Crossing e-Reader Card is called "Samus's Suit". When scanned, it says, "Mabel's Comment: They say the suit makes the bounty hunter. Try on this Samus suit and find out!" If a Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable is used, a pattern can be uploaded to give the player a Power Suit pattern on their shirt and helmet on their hat. The pattern can also be put on umbrellas, floor tiles, and wallpaper.


 * In an episode of Fox's House M.D., the main character, House, is seen playing Metroid: Zero Mission on a Game Boy Advance, and later Metroid Prime Hunters on a Nintendo DS. He also said to a patient "Don't let the Space Pirates kill you," while playing one of the games in the Prime series.


 * In an episode of the show "Code Monkeys", Larrity searches for bounty hunters to kill the robotic teddy bear that Dave, Jarry, and Black Steve reprogrammed. Towards the end of the episode, a warped version of Samus's ship rises up and Samus jumps out and kills the teddy bear.  She then removes her helmet and reveals that she is actually Marry.  She then morphs into a ball and rolls away.  Though this version of Samus has the arm cannon on her left arm instead of her right, probably due to copyright issues with Nintendo.

A montage of footage from Metroid Prime 2
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