Metroid Prime (creature)


 * This article is about the creature Metroid Prime. For the game, see Metroid Prime.
 * For other uses, see Metroid Prime (disambiguation).

Metroid Prime was the main antagonist of the game of the same name, and is furthermore the main antagonist of the Metroid Prime Trilogy as a whole. A highly-mutated Metroid of unknown origin infused with huge quantities of Phazon, Metroid Prime was the guardian of Tallon IV's Leviathan.

History
Note: The following history is based on Chozo Lore as it appears in the PAL and Wii versions of Prime''. For the original NTSC version of Metroid Prime's history, see the Alternate History section.''

A Chozo prophecy foretold that their adopted world of Tallon IV would become infested by a great evil, known to them as the Worm. Some time later, the prophecy came to fruition: a Leviathan from the planet Phaaze crashed onto Tallon IV and released Phazon, a highly poisonous and mutagenic substance. The Phazon seeped into the soil and life of Tallon IV, destroying the ecosystem and violently mutating the life that could endure the substance. The Chozo were also greatly affected; many died, and some returned as malevolent spirits, which the Chozo refered to as "The Turned".

Seeing the evil that was corrupting their home, the surviving Chozo created a temple, known to them as the Cradle, to contain the continued spread of Phazon, and its source, the Leviathan. In order to ensure a seal around the cradle, as well as provide their prophesized Defender access to the Leviathan's Impact Crater, they created and scattered twelve key-like Artifacts known as the Cipher. Their efforts with the Cradle only stopped the brunt force of Phazon; Tallon IV now suffered the fate of a slow death as the exposed poison spread out. The Chozo concluded that Tallon IV was doomed unless it was saved by their prophesized Entrusted One. With this thread of hope, they left behind Power Suit modules in hopes that one day a savior would fulfill the prophecy and deliver the planet from death.

Decades after the last Chozo had died out, the Space Pirates discovered Tallon IV, and became extremely interested in the mutagenic properties of Phazon. The Pirates established multiple research facilities on Tallon IV, and began importing Metroids for use in their experiments. Though the exact origins of Metroid Prime are unconfirmed, it seems likely that it was originally one of these specimens. Presumably it escaped from one of the Space Pirates' Metroid quarantine sites, and was somehow able to penetrate the Chozo's Cipher and enter the Leviathan.

As Metroid Prime fed on the Leviathan's Phazon, the Space Pirates became aware of its presence through the energy shield of the Cipher. Though they never identified it as a Metroid, they were able to recognize its life signs as belonging to a massive creature, and determine that it was absorbing enormous quantities of Phazon directly from the Phazon core.

Scans

 * Genesis Chamber, Phaaze
 * "These husks are identical to the bioform you encountered within the crater on Tallon IV."

Samus's arrival
When Samus arrived on Tallon IV, the planet was significantly corrupted by Phazon. She explored the planet, exterminating many of the corrupted creatures and destroying the Space Pirate base. She eventually collected the twelve Chozo Artifacts and gained access to the Impact Crater, though she had to fight off Meta Ridley beforehand.

Inside, instead of the normal blue Phazon seen throughout the planet, Red Phazon could be seen. This Phazon was 86% stronger than normal Phazon, strong enough to mutate Metroids into Fission Metroids, and to cause damage to Samus' suit, despite the protection given by the Phazon Suit. As she progressed through the Impact Crater, she encountered Metroid Prime.

Battle
Samus' battle with Metroid Prime is the last in the game. Metroid Prime has two forms. When scanning Metroid Prime, a close-up of the top of its armored form reveals its Core form is present inside the exoskeleton, exposed only through a small slit that serves as a visor.

Exoskeletal form
The first form of Metroid Prime is completely encased in a thick black carapace, save for its glowing red eyes. It uses a shielding system where the color of the (initially) grayish-white markings on its body indicate what beam is its weakness. The same can be said of the color and nature of the beam it fires from its massive maw (which spans the bottom of its entire carapace). Purple represents the Wave Beam, blue-white represents the Ice Beam, red represents the Plasma Beam, and yellow represents the Power Beam. Samus must switch to the beam (or beam combo) required and fire at Metroid Prime's human-like visage to damage it. After a set amount of damage, Metroid Prime will retaliate by closing the lid where its visage is exposed before attempting to ram Samus, which she can avoid by entering Morph Ball form and rolling into grooves in the ground under the creature. It will also attack with Ultrafrigid Breath, Multi-Missiles, Snare Beams, and Particle Wave Projectors. As Metroid Prime takes more damage, it retreats into deeper caverns, using stronger and stronger attacks as it goes. Its movements and attacks become progressively more erratic as well, as it will shift screens more frequently and its attacks become more unpredictable. Eventually, it crawls toward one final pit and falls, and Samus follows it.



Core form
When Samus lands, she finds Metroid Prime's exoskeleton open with its top missing and the armor plating oozing Phazon. Metroid Prime flies out of the cast-off body in its second form, the core essence of Metroid Prime. In its second form, Metroid Prime is only vulnerable to pure Phazon. This core form is a deep, translucent blue, with six tentacles attached to an elongated body shaped like that of a Hunter Metroid, with three overdeveloped nuclei, and a mouthless, gaunt, humanoid face with fiery eyes. It uses its tentacles to shoot waves of energy throughout the room which Samus jumps over to avoid, and it will spawn various species of Metroid; as the battle progresses, it escalates from spawning Tallon Metroids to Hunter Metroids and Fission Metroids. However, when it creates a Metroid, Metroid Prime also creates a small pool of pure Phazon. Thanks to the Phazon Suit, Samus can stand on these pools and enter Hyper-Mode. This allows her to fire Phazon at Metroid Prime through the Phazon Beam, greatly damaging it. Throughout the battle, Metroid Prime attempts to elude Samus by repeatedly shifting out of the visible spectrum. Samus continues her assault by utilizing her Thermal and X-Ray visors to continue targeting Metroid Prime. Eventually, Metroid Prime is overwhelmed, and completely destabilizes. Once Samus has defeated Metroid Prime's second form, it morphs into an odd-looking blob, similar to a Metroid or a Core-X from Metroid Fusion. Tentacles come out of it and grab Samus, pulling her towards it. Samus pulls back, and is eventually separated from her Phazon Suit, which is pulled into what remains of the Metroid Prime. This leaves her in her Gravity Suit. All other sources of Phazon in the vicinity explode, causing the entire cavern to collapse. She calls in her ship using the controls on her arm cannon, and leaps from the collapsing structure onto her hovering gunship.

Dark Samus
Despite Samus killing Metroid Prime and causing the cavern to collapse, the "Worm" was reborn. With the absorption of the Phazon Suit, and pieces of Samus' DNA, Metroid Prime was able to reconstruct itself into a body similar to Samus'. Because Dark Samus was once Metroid Prime, she is technically a Metroid. She could travel across the reaches of space and was more powerful than ever before. Following her rebirth, she also seemed to exhibit intelligence at an almost human level. This sentience also made her far deadlier than the simple beast she used to be. She was dubbed "Dark Samus" due to the dark color of her suit and her malevolent nature. Space Pirates called her the "Dark Hunter" because the Space Pirates mistook Dark Samus for the original Samus, whom they already called "The Hunter". Samus learns of this in a Space Pirate facility during the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Dark Samus is supposedly defeated for good in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Alternate History
In the original North American GameCube release of Metroid Prime, the history of the Metroid Prime entity was significantly different from the versions presented in further releases of the game. This version of events is considered to be non-canon.

In this version of events, the Chozo had reached a complete understanding of the universe, and left their bodies behind as they ascended to a higher plane. The impact of the Leviathan was initially a curiosity to them, but the violent spread of Phazon soon ripped them back into the physical world in the form of ghosts. Metroid Prime was already present within the Leviathan at its impact, confirming the prophecy of the Worm. Notably, in order for Metroid Prime to have already existed within the Leviathan, Metroids must have existed at the Leviathan's place of origin, later revealed to be the distant planet Phaaze. This conflicts with the explanation of Metroids given in the Metroid manga, which states that they were created by the Chozo and released only on SR388.

The Chozo built the Cradle to contain both the Leviathan and Metroid Prime itself, and sealed it with their 12 Artifacts. However, in their ghostly forms, the Chozo were severely affected by the corrupting power of Phazon. Many were completely corrupted, and became hateful spirits known as the Turned. Those remaining struggled to discern the past from the future, and were confused by repeated visions of Samus Aran. This constitutes another contradiction with the manga, as the only Chozo who Samus was shown to be personally familiar with were those native to Zebes.

As the ghostly Chozo fought to maintain their sanity, they also witnessed the arrival of the Space Pirates, who began experimenting with Phazon and Metroids. According to Space Pirate Data, Metroid Prime was discovered in a cavern by a Pirate mining crew. It quickly killed the miners, though was able to be contained by security units and drones. Studies were then conducted on the creature, codenamed Test subject Z-d which led to the discovery that it was genetically similar to a Metroid, though much more "evolved". It had a limitless capacity for Phazon and was not negatively affected by the substance whatsoever. It never stopped growing and had some psychotic behavior, likely due to the Phazon.

Metroid Prime was at one time kept in a stasis tank. There was a large batch of Phazon in the room it was in and, sensing it, the creature destroyed its tank and consumed all the Phazon. It also managed to assimilate several weapons and defense systems from fallen security units and began using its new weapons against the Space Pirates. They were able to contain it, but they were not able to remove the equipment, making them an integral part of Metroid Prime's body. This ability to assimilate weapons into its own body would explain how Metroid Prime was able to absorb the Phazon Suit from Samus, and thus become Dark Samus.

Metroid Prime eventually managed to fully assimilate the equipment, granting it incredible armor plating and powerful defense screens. The Space Pirates speculated that Metroid Prime would become impossible to contain if it continued to grow more powerful- this evidently was correct, as it somehow escaped the Pirates and returned to the Impact Crater by the time Samus encountered it.

Origin Theory
Despite the Prime subseries being over, Metroid Prime's origin was never fully explained. According to Page 3 of the Art Booklet packaged with Metroid Prime Trilogy, Metroid Prime was originally a Metroid that became corrupted by absorbing Phazon from the Phazon Core present inside the Leviathan that impacted Tallon IV. Based on this information, one may conclude that the Leviathan attracted a Metroid into its body after landing. However, there is no Chozo Lore on Tallon IV which states the existence of a single Metroid living among the peaceful race during their reign, leading to another conclusion: the Metroid that would become the Phazon Core's guardian was among the specimens brought to the planet by Space Pirates many years later. Evidence supporting this are Pirate log entries written in their computers describing events of Metroids escaping captivity on several occasions. However, the retconned Pirate Data in later versions of the game firmly established the marauding race's inability to bypass the Cradle's impenetrable containment field, seemingly making it impossible for any outsider to enter the Impact Crater unless one had the 12 Artifacts to the Chozo Temple.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption introduced the existence of several Metroid mutants, all resulting from Tallon Metroids being heavily exposed to Phazon. Two of these, the Phazon Metroid and one of its branching stages of evolution, the Hopping Metroid, are directly reminiscent of Metroid Prime's Core Essence and exoskeleton, respectively. The Phazon Metroid can phase out of existence to become intangible in a similar fashion to Prime's core form, allowing it to traverse through both solid surfaces and weapons fire unhindered. The Hopping Metroid can no longer fly or phase in and out, but has gained an exoskeleton and legs, all akin to Prime's flightless armored form. Due to these similarities, it is largely believed that the Metroid on Tallon IV which became the Prime creature followed the same stages of evolutions/mutations witnessed in Corruption, and that the Phazon Metroid's defining characteristic of phasing through barriers is what allowed it to bypass the Cradle's force field. Additionally, the loss of abilities seen in the Hopping Metroid potentially explains Metroid Prime's imprisonment inside the Impact Crater. Further evidence is the remains of exoskeletons with an uncanny resemblance to Prime's inside the Genesis Chamber on Phaaze, prior to the final battle with Dark Samus. These seemingly molted husks imply that several Metroid Primes have indeed evolved from Metroid mutants also present on the planet. Interesting to note as well is the early concept art of Metroid Prime in the above right image, sharing features with both its final rendition and Hopping Metroids, with the surrounding environment resembling the inside of a Leviathan with its numerous optical organs.

In summary, Metroid Prime is theorized to have once been a Larval Metroid from either Zebes or SR388, converting into a Tallon Metroid when it was brought over to Tallon IV by Space Pirates for their Phazon experiments. It later escaped and exposed itself to heavy doses of radiation from the mutagen, transforming it into a Phazon Metroid. Instinctively, it sought out more sustenance to quench its relentless hunger, bringing it to the impact site of the Leviathan where concentrated Phazon was located. Using its unique ability, it phased through the Chozo Temple's otherwise impenetrable containment field, and continued feeding on the radioactive substance until it became a Hopping Metroid, trapping it within the Impact Crater in the process. Unable to phase through to the outside world anymore, the creature continued to feed and gestate, becoming the Metroid Prime which Samus encountered in the Phazon Infusion Chamber.

Inconsistencies
Despite this, there are several inconsistencies that exist with the theory above, along with in-game events related to the life form known as Metroid Prime that have not been explained in official canon:
 * The Impact Crater on Tallon IV seemingly lacks a Phazon Core, which is the life form that is tasked with the production of Phazon until the entire planet is corrupted. It is generally believed that the Metroid Prime's insatiable hunger, a trait commonly found in all Metroids, compelled it to eat the Phazon Core. The fact that Metroid Prime can create pools of Phazon at will, along with its own log entry describing it as the source of Phazon on Tallon IV, enforce this theory; the Big Metroid from Super Metroid has also demonstrated the capacity to rob the abilities of its devoured prey.


 * Metroid Prime 3 states that Leviathans die soon after they have impacted their target planet, requiring them to quickly call upon a local predator to protect the former's Phazon Core. If the Space Pirates brought the future Metroid Prime many years later, the Leviathan was undoubtedly dead by then, and should have been unable to secure a guardian into its body, unless the Metroid entered the Leviathan out of its own volition.


 * Although the first Metroid Prime game features Pirate computers with data entries detailing events of Metroids escaping containment, they always conclude with the creatures being recaptured and/or killed. However, based on the disgruntled personalities and overall unhappiness seen in personal Space Pirate log entries, along with the harsh disciplinary actions reserved for bad performances, it is not unlikely that a Pirate may have intentionally refrained from reporting an escaped Metroid to his superiors; Samus herself witnesses several unreported outbreaks during her mission.


 * The lack of any Phazon Metroids or Hopping Metroids on Tallon IV. Other than the final boss, the only mutants encountered on the planet by Samus were Hunter Metroids and Fission Metroids, none of which possess strong similarities or the abilities of either of Prime's two forms. It is possible that the larva that would become the Metroid Prime seen at end of the game had nevertheless achieved the Phazon Metroid stage (or something akin to it with the phasing ability) by mere chance due to Phazon's unpredictable mutagenic properties.


 * The controversial, unexplained sheer magnitude of Metroid population on Phaaze, which suggests that the species has existed on the living planet for a very long time. Coupled with the presence of husks resembling Prime's near the Leviathan Womb in the Genesis Chamber, as well as the nearby Metroid mutants, have led some fans to believe that the final boss of the first Metroid Prime game traveled from Phaaze to Tallon IV via the Leviathan that impacted the latter planet. Giving further credit to this idea is Dark Samus, Metroid Prime's later form, referring to Phaaze as 'her' homeworld in the Pirate Lore The Source Discovered. There is also an unused Space Pirate Data entry (Citadel) found in the game's files that is written in a manner suggesting Metroids are native to the planet, though it is important to note that unused scans/log entries are generally non-canon. Ultimately, since SR388 is mentioned in numerous games as being the only homeworld of the Metroids, and considering that Space Pirates often import the species to different planets, it can be logically concluded that the marauding race and Dark Samus were responsible for introducing Metroids to Phaaze some time before the events of Corruption. The expansion of their population can be attributed to the mutated strains capable of spawning their lesser kind, such as Metroid Hatchers and/or other Metroid Primes evolving on Phaaze.

Mike Sneath interview
"Metroid Prime shell was a lot of fun to model and the concept for this boss was very clearly layed out as Andrew did several different views for this design. The part that was actually more challenging was the core of the creature. The main reason the core was challenging was because there were limitations to what could do with multiple layers of transparent polygons. The core had a jelly like outer skin with a glowing brains and arteries underneath the skin. In the end I worked with the programmer who helped by giving me a couple of shaders that enabled me to work around the limitations I was running into with sorting transparent polygons."

Metroid Prime (Exo)
"The form of the Metroid Prime that Samus first encounters. It can become invulnerable to all but one of Samus's weapons at a time. The body color alternates between yellow, purple, white, and red, with the color indicating the weapon that can deal damage. After taking a certain amount of damage, the Metroid Prime exoskeleton reveals its core essence.

GCN Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime (Core)
"The core form of Metroid Prime after losing its exoskeleton. It can make itself invisible for a set time, which requires Samus to make a visor change. Normal hits do not have any effect on it--the Metroid Prime can eventually be defeated by using the Phazon Beam while standing in a Phazon puddle."

GCN Metroid Prime

Trivia

 * Metroid Prime's prophesied Chozo name, "The Worm", may be a reference to Wormwood from the Book of Revelation. In Revelation, Wormwood is described as a "great star" falling from the heavens, landing on Earth and poisoning a third of its waters. Also the term, Worm, has been a loathsomely used metaphor throughout the ages to generalize a malignant, and devouring force that causes rot.
 * Metroid Prime's first form can be construed to be a heavily-mutated Gamma Metroid, with its spider-like limbs, chitinous plating, central "horn" and the presence of eyes, along with its ability to ram prey and fire energy projectiles.
 * When Metroid Prime's exoskeleton is hanging from the ceiling it strangely looks like a face.
 * The exoskeleton's head resembles the head of a Trooper Pirate.
 * The Metroid Prime's core form, along with the Fission Metroids, are chronologically the first Metroids in the Metroid series to achieve complete invulnerability against their species' greatest weakness: cold temperatures (though this was an unintentional benefit acquired from mutations caused by Phazon). Years later, during the events of Metroid: Other M, the Galactic Federation would successfully replicate this resistance on the unfreezable Metroids located in the BOTTLE SHIP for the bioweapon program Project Metroid Warriors.
 * Metroid Prime can become vulnerable to cold when its carapace markings switch to a white-blue coloration. At this point it can be temporarily immobilized with the Ice Spreader, and Fission Metroids will occasionally be given a weakness to the ice beam.
 * Disturbingly, in both forms, Prime's face looks strikingly humanoid, albeit without a mouth. Andrew Jones did a 1,000 self-portrait series of himself and later claimed that "my portraits are quite a departure from my metroid concept work, but I think you would be surprised that there are a few of the portraits that were the inspiration behind the final bosses in prime 1 and two."
 * Oddly, some of Metroid Prime's weaponry seem to insinuate a mechanical origin. In the NTSC release, this was explained in that Prime assimilated Space Pirate technology. However, this is retconned in the Trilogy and PAL releases; if its projectiles are indeed mechanical, it is unknown how Prime obtained these.
 * Metroid Prime in its Core form closely resembles the look of the heads of the alien creatures from the film Independence Day. Another similarity is that, like Metroid Prime, these aliens use an organic exosuit, concealing their true form.
 * The theme of Metroid Prime's core essence was remixed for the second phase of Gorea's battle in Metroid Prime Hunters.
 * When battling Metroid Prime's core form, Samus can stand on its discarded shell, completely avoiding the shockwaves. Also, there is a twig on the side of the room opposite the discarded exoskeleton. When standing on this twig, it seems as though Samus is at ground level, though the shock waves Metroid Prime uses do not affect her when standing on it.
 * Metroid Prime's exoskeleton resembles the final physical form of Stephen King's It. It's final physical form was that of a giant spider that resided in the sewers. They were also both purely evil alien creatures. They both assumed three distinctive key forms during the course of their cycle; humanoid, physical, and incorporeal. ​​
 * Metroid Prime's forms consisted of Dark Samus, exoskeletal, and core essence. It's forms consisted that of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Spider-monster, and It's Deadlights.
 * Metroid Prime's core form artwork also shows three heavily mutated nuclei, also noting the resemblance between it and all variations of Larval Metroids.
 * The form Metroid Prime takes on after death slightly resembles a Core-X from Metroid Fusion.
 * If Metroid Prime's Exo form is defeated in Subchamber 4 when it is on the back side of the chamber, the cutscene will still depict it burrowing through the wall on the far side.
 * The Scan Point will still be visible in the Scan Visor even if Metroid Prime has become invisible to the Combat Visor. This can provide an alternative, but slightly less effective method of seeing it.
 * The scan images for the essence phase depicts a completely different brain as to what is seen ingame. This brain appears to be the third amoeba-like form it takes before overloading.
 * In at least the NTSC GCN release, if the player ends up skipping the cutscene where Metroid Prime's head form emerges, the BGM will be turned off.