Neo-Ridley

Neo-Ridley is the tenth boss Samus faces aboard the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion.

Biography
The first time Samus sees Ridley on the Main Deck, he is frozen inside the Sub-Zero Containment room and is likely dead. After the station loses power, Samus enters the back of this room while making her way back to her ship. As she approaches Ridley, his eyes suddenly glow; instead of coming to life and attacking Samus, however, he shatters while a big X Parasite (those found within the Core-X) leaves his body.

As Samus continues exploring the station, she meets a Core-X mimicking Ridley that is known as Neo-Ridley. This "new" Ridley has enlarged talons, which may be due to the Core-X attempting to create a bigger and better Ridley in the same way that Arachnus-X has improved powers from the original. It is possible that the Federation attempted to clone Ridley, but the result was flawed, which could also explain why his wings appear smaller than usual. Worthy of noting is the sprites for Ridley's original form prior to Neo-Ridley (the frozen corpse and the X-mimicked "rotting" body found in Sector 1) seem to be directly based off of the Super Metroid Ridley sprite art.

The presence of an X-based Ridley and Space Pirates onboard the BSL station is enigmatic, given that the pirates were thoroughly routed and Ridley defeated in Super Metroid. The Fusion web site indicates that the pirates were onboard the station on a marauding mission, and are presumably not Federation-preserved specimens as has often been conjectured by fans. Exactly why the frozen Ridley was on the station is unclear. It is possible that the pirates were attempting to resurrect him once again using the station's equipment, given that they, after their defeats, likely had no equipment of their own to do so. It is also possible that the Federation had either recovered Ridley after his defeat or attempted to create their own clone of Ridley, in which case they would have sent him to the BSL station for study.

It is entirely possible that after the event of Metroid: Other M, the Federation collected Ridley's dead husk from the Bottle Ship and it eventually made its way to the BSL station. This explanation seems most plausible, because it explains why the body seems to shatter or crumble when Samus encounters it, on the account of being extremely fragile after being drained by the Queen Metroid.

Battle
Neo-Ridley will attempt to ram himself into Samus, try to grab Samus with his talons, and shoot large fireballs from his mouth. His large size makes it difficult for Samus to avoid him, requiring her to do a fair amount of maneuvering. All the battle involves is repeatedly firing Diffusion Missiles or the Charge Beam against the beast, considering that unlike most powerful enemies Samus faces, Neo-Ridley does not have a specific weak spot. The Charge Beam is the preferred method as it contains the Plasma Beam; this allows it to pass through Ridley and cause continuous damage.

As he takes more damage, Neo-Ridley will change colors from blue to purple to red. Once Neo-Ridley is defeated, he will transform into a Core-X like every other boss on the BSL station. Once Samus absorbs the Core-X, she obtains the Screw Attack, the second-to-last power-up on the station.

Trivia

 * Ridley is the only boss in Metroid Fusion that does not use the upgrade obtained from him in any way. However, Ridley's spinning fireballs and/or his extremely flexible (and invulnerable) tail might be a way of demonstrating the Screw Attack. He also used these abilities in Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission.
 * When Ridley is frozen and possessed by the Core-X and again just before the battle with Neo-Ridley begins, his eyes glow as they did in Super Metroid, suggesting that he was alive at that point.
 * Omega Ridley is also the antepenultimate (third from last) boss in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and both have been infected with a form of enemy.
 * Ridley is seen frozen on the Main Deck for the first half of the game, which brings up the question as to how he was captured by the Federation and why he is being kept there. It is possible that after being resurrected so many times Samus and/or the Federation decided it would be more practical and effective to contain him. They might also have wanted to contain him while keeping him in perfect condition so that they could research him in a similar way to the cloned Metroids (since Ridley is the only known member of his species). Another possibility is that this is not Ridley himself but another of his species (if there are others).

Gallery
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