Zebes

''This article is about the planet featured in the Metroid series. For the Super Smash Bros. Stage, see Planet Zebes''

Zebes was a planet in orbit around the sun FS-176 and habitat of the devious Zebesian Space Pirates and Mother Brain. Zebes was the locational setting of the original Metroid, its enhanced remake, Metroid: Zero Mission, and Super Metroid. According to Metroid Prime, Zebes had a mass of 4.8 trillion teratons and is in the same system as Oormine II, Twin Tabula, Bilium, and Tallon IV. Samus Aran was raised on Zebes by Chozo after her home on the Earth colony, K-2L, was destroyed by Space Pirates.

Features
Zebes had a vast network of underground caverns and labyrinths that lead deep into the planet. Strangely, a deep cavernous area in the planet known as Brinstar seemed to be the home of more than 60% of the planet's wildlife. Brinstar was home to a dense forest, yet the vegetation didn't seem to have anything to photosynthesize. Perhaps the plants only needed water, or maybe the majority were carnivorous as indicated by the foliage in Lower Brinstar. It is also possible that Brinstar plants use chemosynthesis.

Another strange fact is the existence of huge deposits of water just below the surface. Labeled Maridia, the water from this realm spiraled in all directions, eating away at the land, creating huge and sometimes dangerously vast mazes of water. The ground "liquefied" in some areas and formed deadly quicksand traps leading deeper into the planet.

Crateria is the crust of Zebes. It is constantly hit by acid rain.

There was also a Wrecked Ship that had crashed in a pool on Crateria long ago. The ship appeared to have crashed before or during the Chozo's civilization, as there were several Chozo Statues in its compromised hull. During Chozo occupation, a Planetary Protection Shield was enabled, and subsequently disabled by the Space Pirates with a micro black hole.

Moons
Samus uses the phrase "Great Moons of Zebes!" in the early Captain N: The Game Master comic. It is shown in Metroid (manga) that Zebes has two moons, one very large in appearance from the surface and another that is smaller. Both moons also appear in Metroid Prime as holograms in the Observatory. The larger moon has a normal revolution and rotation, while the smaller moon has a retrograde orbit. It is unclear as to how it rotates, due to the small size.

Life
Life on Zebes was very diverse, ranging from huge animals made entirely of molten rock, to small flying creatures that generate their own light, illuminating the entire room. Life was abundant; one could sit down on a rock, and seconds later have it scurry away from under them. The remains of a strange civilization had also been found, indicating that there was once a strong civilization on the planet, however, no live specimens were ever found.

Areas

 * Crateria — The surface area of Zebes that Samus's gunship first landed on in Metroid: Zero Mission and later in Super Metroid. It was constantly deluged by heavy acid rains.
 * Wrecked Ship — An ancient, flooded ship that crashed into Crateria. The area is home to Phantoon, one of the Space Pirate leaders in Super Metroid.


 * Brinstar — A lush underground jungle area of Zebes. Home to the Super Metroid miniboss Spore Spawn.
 * Kraid's Lair — A subsection on Brinstar that was a moist area teeming with flora and small animal life. As the name implies, this was the habitat of Kraid, a veteran Space Pirate leader and the other main Enforcer.


 * Norfair — The fiery underground caves of Zebes. The Fire-Sea of Norfair has incredibly high temperature, requiring Samus to obtain the Varia Suit. Home to the Super Metroid minibosses Crocomire and the Gold Torizo, and the Zero Mission miniboss Imago Cocoon.
 * Ridley's Lair — An area of Zebes that is even below Norfair. Ridley's Lair was completely artificial, made of Chozo Ruins and possibly Space Pirate technology. The area was arguably the same as the Lower Norfair area from Super Metroid, which also served as the base for Ridley, the most infamous of the Space Pirate leaders and one of the two main Enforcers. In Super Metroid, Samus required the Gravity Suit to explore the area safely.


 * Maridia — The flooded caves of Zebes. In Super Metroid, some Space Pirate lab compounds were situated in this area. Maridia also included the result of failed attempts at cloning Metroids by Space Pirates. One of the Space Pirate leaders, Draygon, lurked in the area in Super Metroid.
 * Chozodia — Ancient Chozo ruins.
 * Space Pirate Mother Ship — Destroyed Space Pirate vessel.


 * Tourian — The main Space Pirate base on Zebes was located here. Entirely mechanical, Tourian was the location of the Metroid labs and the place from which Mother Brain, the leader of the Space Pirates on Zebes, resided and commanded her forces. Samus has twice destroyed this area. The first Tourian was built strangely quite near to the surface, however when it was destroyed, another Tourian was rebuilt much further into the depths of the planet, some parts as deep as Norfair and perhaps even farther.

History
Originally a Chozo colony, Zebes (or the Chozo research/tech) has been desired by the Space Pirates for quite a while. The Space Pirates tried to invade it on the dawn of the foundation of the Galactic Federation, but were unsuccessful.

It was after this time that Chozo inhabitance took the orphaned Samus Aran under their wing, as well making breakthroughs with the design of the Metroid by Gray Voice & the organic computer Mother Brain.

After Samus had become a Federation Police Force officer, the Space Pirates returned with the Space Pirate Flagship, Mother Brain betrayed the Chozo to the Space Pirates and the Chozo colony were all evacuated, or wiped out.

For the next few years the Space Pirates secretly used Zebes as there primary base of action, and under the guidance of Mother Brain became a more effective and deadly force, conducting unthinkable experiments to weaponize the Chozo-made parasitic lifeform, the Metroid.

The Galactic Federation sent Samus back to Zebes to destroy the threat of Metroids and Mother Brain. Samus managed this as well as taking out the Space Pirate Mother Ship seemingly ending the Space Pirate presence on Zebes.

For the next few years the planets only inhabitance were roughly 200 archaeologists and researchers, there studying the many Chozo ruins on the planet's surface and in subterranean tunnels.

Eventually the Space Pirates returned to Zebes, rebuilding there previous strength, as well as re-making Mother Brain.

Destruction
After Samus defeated Mother Brain for the second time on Zebes in Super Metroid, yet another self-destruct sequence was activated. However, unlike the first, which destroyed the first Tourian, the second decimated the entire planet: As Samus escaped in her ship, the planet ignited with a blinding flash and a tremendous explosion. Afterwards, Zebes was no more.

Primary Inhabitants

 * The Chozo once inhabited Zebes, raising the orphaned Samus Aran.
 * Zebesian Space Pirates &mdash; Space Pirates led by Ridley who set up a base on Zebes. It has been confirmed that Space Pirates did not originally come from planet Zebes, contradictory to Super Metroid's manual, where it refers to them as 'Zebesians'.
 * Metroids inhabited the lowest level of Zebes, brought to the planet by the Space Pirates.

Metroid Prime Scan
''Planet Zebes Mass: 4.8 trillion teratons.

Profile: Planet's crust is primarily Urthic ore, making it ideal for subterranean construction. A class XIX planet, Zebes is inhospitable to most bioforms. The world was considered unremarkable until it became a base for Space Pirate forces.''

Metroid Prime Website
object type: Planet

mass: 4.8 trillion teratons

dimensions: 11,700 km diameter

sentient inhabitants: 200, mostly researchers

composition: Urthic Ore

"Zebes is a Class 5B planet with an Urthic ore crust ideal for subterranean construction. Though many zones on Zebes are seemingly inhospitible to life, extremely tough organisms have evolved on this planet that can thrive in conditions that would kill ordinary terrestrial creatures.

Planet Zebes is as rich in history as it is in Urthic ore. It is well known across the Galactic Federation as the site of bounty hunter Samus Aran's heroic stand against Space Pirate rogues. In the deeps [sic] below Zebes, the Space Pirates were conducting unthinkable experments with parasitic lifeforms known as Metroids. If harnessed as a biological weapon, the Metroids could have quickly neutralized large armies and forced entire solar systems to accept Space Pirate rule. Working for the Galactic Federation, Samus cut a swath through the Space Pirates' ranks, destroying everything in her path, including the Metroid threat.

Planet Zebes is also a popular destination for archeologists studying the enigmatic Chozo, a wise race of birdlike humanoids that prized peace over all other things. They built many civilizations on planets across the universe, including Zebes. Chozo ruins are a common sight on the planet's surfce and in subterranean tunnels. Space Pirate attack is the most widely accepted explanation for the Chozo's disappearance from Zebes."

Other Information

 * A girl in Custom Robo for the Nintendo GameCube, when guessing what the "Z" in "Z Syndicate" stands for, guesses Zebes, among other words which also include various Nintendo references.
 * Zebes has occasionally been mistranslated as "Zebeth", due to the fact that "s" and "th" make the same noise in Japanese pronunciation, though it has been confirmed that the planet's official name is Zebes.
 * A popular Metroid-based comic website (www.zebeth.com), run by James Harder (under his pen name Kabutroid), was named Planet Zebeth and revolves around Samus and her adventures with a decidedly out-of-character cast.
 * According to the Metroid Manga Chapter 2, Zebes is the second planet from its sun, FS-176. In Metroid Prime, the planetary orbits are very irregular and Zebes is shown to only (possibly) occupy the second closest position rarely. Whether Samus was referring to that specific timeframe or events between then and Prime (such as the Pirate attack that involved using a black hole to break through the Zebesian Chozo's defenses) caused alteration in the revolution.
 * According to Mother Brain in the Metroid Manga, Humans can only naturally survive in Brinstar and Crateria probably due to the fact that the rest of Zebes is more like Venus than Earth
 * The death of Amorbis in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes parallels the destruction of Zebes when the Dark Sphere cracks and explodes.
 * Zebes is one of three planets to be destoyed, the others being Phaaze and SR388.
 * Planet Zebes is 11,700 km in diameter, while Earth is 12,756.2 km in diameter. Not only does this mean that Zebes is slightly smaller than Earth, but because of lesser mass, Zebes may also have lighter gravity.

Links
Complete Map of Zebes from Metroid:

Complete Map of Zebes from Super Metroid: 

Complete Map of Zebes from Metroid: Zero Mission: