Kraid

Kraid is a green reptilian-like alien from the Metroid series. Kraid is one of the largest enemies Samus ever encounters as he takes up multiple screens at a time. Kraid first made his appearance in the original NES/Famicom Disk System Metroid as a part of the game's boss duo, the other being Ridley. Kraid, though not with an official rank, is a high-ranking Pirate, possibly a leader, as he is a prominent boss in the series. Metroid Prime states Kraid, along with Ridley, as the Space Pirate armies' main Enforcers; one could easily imagine this colossus as being the muscle and backbone of Pirate attacks/raids. Kraid only possesses organic weapons: he shoots projectiles such as dagger-like spiked projectiles from his belly and navel as well as spinning boomerang-like nails from his fingertips as his main weapons. In his resurrected Super Metroid appearance, he gains the ability to spew out rock-like projectiles from his mouth. Kraid weighs over 110 tons (100 metric tons, or 220,460 pounds) and is more than 65 feet (20 meters) tall. Kraid appears later in the Metroid manga fighting Samus. It's possible that the manga will finally explain what Kraid is, but that part is currently untranslated.

Metroid
In Metroid, Kraid is the boss of Brinstar. Due to lack of colors and the sprite's limited sizes, the artist's interpretation of Kraid for the game's artwork differed considerably from what the game designers had in mind. Kraid's artwork seems to show that in addition to its smaller size in this game (than all later appearances); it also appears to have a mullet of green hair that runs down his back and only two eyes. However, this is not the case as the “mullet” is actually the darker shade of scales while his third eye can be seen in the middle of his forehead as what appears to be a horn.

There is also a Fake Kraid Samus may encounter before fighting the real Kraid. However, since Kraid's Hideout has multiple paths the player can take to reach the real Kraid, the player may never actually come in contact with Fake Kraid in a playthrough. Fake Kraid is similar in appearance but is a darker shade of green and is rather feeble in comparison with the real one. It only takes a small hit to Fake Kraid to finish it off. Unlike the real Kraid, it regenerates if it is destroyed if the player re-enters the room.

Super Metroid
Kraid reappears in Super Metroid in a much larger form, taking up the space of approximately two vertical screens. In this appearance, its body is invulnerable except for his mouth, which opens after Kraid is shot in the eyes by a missile, Super Missile, or charged shot. Four Super Missiles, or 20  missiles and/or charge shots, are necessary to defeat Kraid. There is, as in the original, a Fake Kraid in this game just before the real Kraid's room though dwarf-like in comparison, both in terms of size and strength. Just like the Metroid decoy, it regenerates if it is destroyed if the player re-enters the room. Just outside the room where you fight Kraid, there is a mysterious dead body that many speculate is the body of Armstrong Houston, though it could also be another Bounty Hunter or a Federation Marine, since it is colored similarly.

Metroid: Zero Mission
In Metroid: Zero Mission, Kraid is reminiscent of his appearance in Super Metroid, suggesting that Kraid was meant to be gigantic in the original and did not "grow" between his appearances in Metroid and Super Metroid. Worthy of note is that there is no Fake Kraid in this game. Oddly enough, the room in which it appeared in the original game is present, however, Fake Kraid is nowhere to be seen. Kraid is also given his own area. In the battle with Kraid, he will shoot his bellybutton spikes at Samus. If the spikes miss they will stick in the back wall allowing Samus a clear path to Kraid's head (the spikes explode after a few seconds pass).

Other games

 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: A trophy of Kraid is obtained when the Brinstar Depths stage is unlocked. Kraid also appears as part of the stage Brinstar Depths. Occasionally, he will emerge from the magma, roar and rotate the arena by slashing it, changing gameplay.


 * Kraid has a mention in the Metroid Prime instruction manual as being resuscitated by the Space Pirates, along with Ridley and Mother Brain prior to the game. It also referred to Samus defeating the gargantuan mainstays of the Space Pirate army, Ridley and Kraid, foreshadowing their retconned sizes in Metroid Zero Mission. Meta Kraid did not make it into the final game, but in one of the Pirate tanks, there is an object that resembles one of Kraid's projectile nails.

Trivia

 * Meta Kraid was originally intended to make an appearance in Metroid Prime as a boss in the Phazon Mines (link), and was modeled and skinned by Gene Kohler for that purpose. However, time constraints prevented him from being included in the final version of the game. He is mentioned in the game's manual as being in the process for resurrection (presumably for Super Metroid or the intended Prime appearance). Of note in the Prime Kraid's appearance is his head: it appears to be covered by a metal dome in the picture. He also appears to have blue veins running through his belly; it's possible that he was to have Phazon and/or Meta enhancements.


 * Kraid occasionally appeared in the Captain N: The Game Master comic series, based on his original concept art. One of his appearances occurs imprisoned on RX 338, convincing all of the prisoners in his block that were put away by Samus to turn on their fellow captive, before she beats them all with Kraid as a weapon. Samus later uses him as a diversion to make her own escape.


 * It is possible that Kraid may have some relation to the Bryyonians, seeing that he has three eyes and a reptilian appearance, similar to that of Reptilicus, Mogenar(s) and the statues/busts around Bryyo.


 * In a Toys "R" Us commercial, "Kraid's Toy Shop" is shown, in Tourian, to be sold out of NES games.