Terminal Fall



A Terminal Fall is an accidental "death" that can occur in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Certain areas and rooms, either indoors or outdoors, are visited in the three mentioned games, which are suspended high above the ground. If they are not careful when moving about platforms, Samus or members of the Federation Force can fall off the ledge. While presumably they would end up falling to their death, for the sake of easing gameplay, they will respawn a few seconds after falling, either where they fell off or on the ledge they were intending to reach. Falling in this way does not cause a Game Over, or in Federation Force, the mission to fail. In Echoes and Corruption, the screen will flash and Samus will grunt in pain, with some of her energy lost. Samus can also fall in Metroid Prime Hunters, specifically in rooms on the Celestial Archives that are open to space, but these falls are fatal and will cause a Game Over.

The Meta Ridley battle in Corruption can be considered a prolonged Terminal Fall, as Samus is knocked down the Generator Shaft and must defeat her nemesis before she falls to the bottom. Rundas rescues her before she falls to her death.

Terminal Falls are named in the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc. When approaching the back ledge of Transport to Agon Wastes, a message will appear on Samus's Heads-Up Display, saying "Warning: Terminal Fall Ahead!"

List of rooms/locations with Terminal Falls

 * GFMC Compound
 * Transport to Agon Wastes
 * Windchamber Gateway
 * Torvus Transport Access
 * Grand Windchamber
 * Ing Windchamber
 * Sandcanyon
 * Meditation Vista
 * Gloom Vista
 * Much of the Sanctuary Fortress and Ing Hive
 * Docking Bay 5 (G.F.S. Olympus)
 * Repair Bay Shaft
 * Docking Hub Alpha
 * Hub Access
 * Cargo Dock A
 * Generator A
 * Cargo Dock C
 * Generator C
 * Cargo Dock B
 * Generator B
 * Cliffside Airdock
 * Gateway Hall
 * Gateway
 * Hillside Vista
 * Crash Site
 * Falls of Fire
 * Machineworks Bridge
 * Gel Purification Site
 * Hall of Remembrance
 * Almost all of SkyTown, Elysia
 * Landing Site Alpha
 * Landing Site Bravo
 * Landing Site Charlie
 * Airshaft
 * Phazon Harvesting
 * Drill Shaft 1
 * Docking Bay 5 (G.F.S. Valhalla)
 * Hangar A Access
 * Aurora Chamber
 * Landing Site (Phaaze)
 * Federation outpost
 * Temple (Bion)
 * Power station
 * Federation research station
 * Ancient Ruin
 * Weapon factory
 * Underground Lake (falling into water)
 * Military Facility
 * Setting of M08: Dustoff
 * Setting of M09: Blender
 * Setting of M10: Black Hole
 * Volcanic area (falling into lava)
 * Federation mining outpost
 * Ancient skiff
 * Underground tomb

Trivia

 * Terminal Falls are not possible in the original Metroid Prime or any of the traditional 2D style Metroid titles; in open rooms such as the Artifact Temple or Control Tower, Force Fields around ledges prevent Samus from falling.
 * In Metroid: Other M, attempting to jump out of the Sector Zero entrance corridor towards a detached section of the sector, will cause Samus to automatically fall and trigger a Game Over. This will happen even when the Gravity Feature is enabled.