Dark Samus

Dark Samus (ダークサムス DaakuSamusu) is a being of Phazon taking on the form of Samus Aran. She made a brief cameo appearance in the secret ending of Metroid Prime, was a central character in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and was the main antagonist in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Biography
After Samus defeated Metroid Prime on Tallon IV by absorbing Phazon and using it as a weapon against Metroid Prime, the creature began to destabilize, and in a desperate move, it absorbed her Phazon Suit and subsequently exploded. As Samus left the planet, a new creature was born from Samus' DNA and the remains of Metroid Prime, using Samus' Phazon Suit as a mold to contain its new body - the creature known as Dark Samus.



Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Dark Samus, now with a new Chozo-based shell and instincts that commanded her to absorb and spread Phazon, managed to leave Tallon IV in search of it in Samus's stolen Phazon Suit, though now black and dark blue in color with skeletal features and Phazon markings (most notably on the shoulders), suggesting her 'suit' has more organic components than Aran's. This makes her look more menacing than her heroine counter part. She eventually discovered the planet Aether, which was rich with Phazon. A Leviathan from Phaaze had landed on the planet fifty years prior, ripping open a second, darker dimension. Dark Samus explored Aether and absorbed any Phazon she could find on the planet.

The Space Pirates, prior to Dark Samus' arrival, had established a base on Aether. Once Dark Samus arrived, they initially thought she was Samus Aran, but were confused as to her strange dark suit and her forceful invasions to obtain Phazon. Some of their Metroid specimens were also reported as stolen, and the Pirates, having spotted her at one time near the containment tanks attempting to breach them, believed that this "Dark Hunter" (as they began calling her) was to blame for the theft.

Samus Aran eventually landed on Aether to investigate a missing team of Galactic Federation Marines who had landed on the planet in pursuit of a Space Pirate frigate. Samus first encountered Dark Samus in the marine base, where Samus followed her into a portal to Dark Aether. There, she found Dark Samus absorbing Phazon, with several shadowy creatures above which Samus would soon learn are the Ing. Dark Samus fired a shot at the Light Crystal that protected her from Dark Aether's poisonous atmosphere. With the crystal broken, the Ing stole most of Samus's power-ups. She escaped through the portal with only a few pieces of equipment intact. It was at first unclear if this meant that Dark Samus was working directly for/with the Ing Horde though it was only due to the Ing choosing to attack Samus over the far less vulnerable Dark Samus, as the former could not resist Dark Aether's atmosphere.

The next encounter took place in the Agon Wastes, within a Space Pirate base. Dark Samus appeared in front of Samus, behind a locked gate, and floated away. Unable to bypass the gate, Samus explored the rest of the base and reached a room full of Phazon collected by the Pirates. There, Samus had her first battle with Dark Samus. Once Dark Samus was defeated, she began to destabilize and unleashed a massive Phazon explosion before collapsing and disintegrating into Phazon particles in the air. Samus believed that her foe was dead after the encounter.

However, this was not the case. The particles that Dark Samus transformed into managed to reach Torvus Bog. Samus saw the cloud transform into Dark Samus, though she did not fight Samus. Instead, she merely laughed maniacally and disappeared, supposedly to mock her. Samus later saw the same cloud in the Sanctuary Fortress, and it once again transformed into Dark Samus. She then destroyed the bridge to the Sanctuary Fortress and left, forcing Samus to find an alternative route across the chasm. Samus later saw Dark Samus firing at several Dark Pirate Troopers; this confirms that the Ing regard her as an enemy and not an ally as thought at the beginning. She disposed of them and began absorbing several canisters of Phazon. Samus pursued her foe, cornering Dark Samus within an elevator and battling her once more. Samus defeated her once again and the doppleganger, losing stability in her body, allows herself to fall off the top of the tower as a hasty retreat before Samus attempts to stop her.

Once Samus had defeated the Emperor Ing and absorbed the remaining planetary energy, Dark Aether became unstable and began to collapse. Samus, having only eight minutes to escape, hurried out of the Sky Temple and began moving toward the exit. However, Dark Samus suddenly appeared, blocking off the escape route and forcing Samus to battle her again. Due to the huge amount of Phazon that she had absorbed, Dark Samus had begun to deteriorate, causing her suit to become transparent and revealing her organs along with a humanoid face with three yellow eyes inside her helmet that bore a slight resemblance to Metroid Prime's core form, thus revealing Dark Samus to be the reborn Metroid Prime. The eye on the back of her hand featured on the arm that reached out of the pool at the end of the first game was also rendered visible (though with a smaller pupil and yellow rather than blue; why and how these changes occurred is uncertain, although it may just be a random mutation (like the third eye on her face) resulting from the massive quantities of Phazon she had consumed by that time). It is interesting to note that her "organs" are actually energy-based, and are shaped in galaxy spiral-type shapes in various colours. It also appears that she has a skeletal system, albeit shaped like Samus's suit.

Both Samus and Dark Samus battled in two phases, though Samus defeated her once again. During the fight, Dark Samus tried several times to kill Samus by launching pure Phazon at her, but Samus absorbed the Phazon into her Charge Beam, and shot it back. The attack penetrated Dark Samus's Phazon shield, and caused Dark Samus to destabilize, just as she had as the Metroid Prime, and she collapsed, defeated once again by her own attacks. In her dying moments, she painstakingly reached out in an attempt to touch Samus (possibly trying to absorb the Light Suit like she did the Phazon Suit), but dematerialized into a cloud of Phazon particles at the last second. Samus escaped Dark Aether and brought peace to the Luminoth on the planet, and it seemed that Dark Samus perished along with Dark Aether.

Yet, even though Dark Samus lacked a corporeal form, she still existed, and as shown in the 100% ending of Echoes, in which the Phazon particles again reform into Dark Samus's body, it would be only a small amount of time before she would return.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Sometime between the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Galactic Federation took some of the Phazon from Aether. However, they left most of this behind, and the Space Pirates soon collected the remaining Phazon and, unknowingly, the particles of Dark Samus. Using the Phazon collected by the Space Pirates, Dark Samus regained her physical form (now with a more armored look to it) and wiped out a third of the Space Pirates aboard the ship. The rest were brainwashed into accepting her as their new leader.

Soon after Dark Samus had established her followers, she left them for several months. During her absence, her followers maintained order by executing those who doubted that she would return. When she did return, she brought with her a Leviathan - she had managed to find her home planet, Phaaze. She also had the Pirates modify a Leviathan to act as a gunship with computers and weapons in it. This could be the leviathan that Samus uses to get to Phaaze. Bringing the Space Pirates back with her, she began her mission to spread Phazon across the universe.

Under her orders, the Space Pirates attacked the G.F.S. Valhalla and stole the ship's Aurora Unit, 313. The Aurora Unit was corrupted with Phazon and implanted into Phaaze, allowing Dark Samus to directly control the planet and all of its assets - including the Leviathans. The first Leviathan that she controlled was sent to the Space Pirate Homeworld. According to a Space Pirate log, the Space Pirates fought back against the Leviathan, but failed. All remaining Pirates were brought under her control.

Next, Dark Samus sent three more Leviathans to planets important to the Galactic Federation - one to Norion, containing an important military base; one to Bryyo, the Federation's primary source of Fuel Gel; and the last to Elysia, containing a vital research facility. While the ones on Bryyo and Elysia collided without any trouble, Dark Samus encountered opposition on Norion - specifically, in the form of Samus Aran and three other bounty hunters: Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda. Just before they activated the cannon to destroy the oncoming Leviathan, Dark Samus confronted them, crashing through a window as a small blue comet-like object, repelling the Hunters' attacks with a Phazon shield. Despite the Hunters' efforts, she overpowered them and corrupted them with Phazon. Believing her work to be done, Dark Samus flew off, but Samus, using the last of her strength, managed to activate the cannon and destroy the Leviathan before falling unconscious.

After this, Dark Samus herself does not appear until the game's climax (at least, not in her own physical form); however, due to her "mark of corruption" that she had left on Samus, Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda, the latter three succumb to Phazon Corruption and are, apparently, completely possessed by Dark Samus (this is most evident in the cutscene just prior to the battle with Rundas). Over the course of the game, Samus is forced to kill all three of them. Each time one of them dies, a shadowy apparition of Dark Samus appears before them, absorbing their bodies and their powers. This form is a black collection of smoke that has what may be tentacles acting as "wings". After each absorption, Dark Samus swoops down and flies away similar to a bird. This form depicts Dark Samus' visor.

Dark Samus was confronted for what may have been the final time in the depths of Phaaze, where she challenged Samus to a grand final battle. However, after being injured considerably, Dark Samus called forth the stolen Aurora Unit 313 and merged with it in a last-ditch effort to defeat Samus. After a grueling two-part battle, the Aurora Unit was destroyed, and because it was directly linked to Phaaze's core, it began a chain reaction that culminated in Phaaze exploding. As a result, Dark Samus was presumably defeated for good.

If Samus were to succumb to the Phazon corruption inside her while in Corrupted Hypermode, she transforms into what appears to be a "new Dark Samus", or something resembling it, leading to an alternate Game Over screen; this cutscene likely refers to Samus falling under the complete control of Dark Samus (becoming 'one' with her, as seen with Rundas) instead of literally turning into her. Also in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Dark Samus takes on a more heavily armored shape that more closely resembles Samus's Light Suit from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, somewhat losing her more skeletal look. This change may refer to her failure to steal the authentic Light Suit from Samus in Echoes.

Attributes
As Dark Samus, the creature utilized many abilities similar to Samus, in more powerful forms. It could fire two types of Phazon beams (which the scan mentioned to be altered versions of the Power Beam) at enemies in the form of either a continuous stream of small shard-like bursts (dubbed the "Shrapnel Beam" by fans), or a thin laser Beam which she shot in an arc. She possessed standard Missiles as well as Super Missiles to blast opponents into bits. Also, she used what appeared to be a Phazon-charged Ice Spreader attack. She could also do a powerful dive bomb attack (which could be a Phazon-based Screw Attack, Shinespark or a combination of both), a Phazon Boost Ball that generated vast amounts of kinetic energy in alarmingly short times, raise pillar-shaped shields of pure Phazon energy in this form, is capable of both flight and levitation, and can render herself invisible; it is interesting to note that her Morph Ball form contained an eyeball on each side of the sphere. However, when Dark Samus consumed too much Phazon, she gained the disadvantages she possessed as Metroid Prime: although she was eventually able to render herself invulnerable to all conventional weaponry, Phazon fired at her could overload and destabilize her, resulting in her generating very powerful Phazon attacks to discharge the used Phazon radiation from her body, including a massive beam of pure, highly concentrated Phazon.

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Dark Samus' abilities are further augmented. In addition to most of her previous abilities, she can now produce near-perfect clones of herself (fittingly called "Dark Echoes") and is much more resilient to Phazon attacks (though Hyper Missiles are still effective on her). Combining with the Echoes temporarily also allowed her to form a purple energy shield around her body which rendered her invulnerable until she had to separate back into herself and the Echoes. After she unleashed the massive blast of Phazon at the four Hunters using what appears to be a version of the Charge Beam, the corruption within them seemed to be connected to Dark Samus; after the defeat of each hunter, a strange, black, wraith-like entity in the shape of Dark Samus would appear above the hunters, and fly off into space, presumably back to Dark Samus herself. This seems to be the manner through which she gained the Hunters' abilities, such as Ghor's Plasma Beam, Gandrayda's ground-based energy wave, and the ability to create giant Phazon pillars like Rundas could with ice. It is also possible that this entity was a form of Dark Samus herself, which she used to possess the Hunters. She also has the ability to merge with the stolen Aurora Unit at the climax of the game, a technique which may have also been adapted from Ghor or connected with her apparent possession abilities. After this merge, the mutated Aurora Unit is capable of launching out holographic-like Dark Echoes from its eye; these copies will either shoot at Samus or enter Morph Ball mode and boost around the area in an attempt to ram her (reminiscent of her attack in the previous game).

In Echoes, Dark Samus seems to be somewhat incomplete; this is supported by the fact that she is constantly absorbing Phazon, looks slightly deformed, and has a range of chaotic attack moves. In Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime's tentacle was broken off of Samus prematurely, possibly not absorbing enough DNA to create a whole, stable Dark Samus. Dark Samus seems to act almost mentally unstable in Echoes cutscenes, even laughing maniacally in several instances. In the same game, Dark Samus also became physically unstable due to excessive Phazon exposure. While her physical body continues to be unstable in Prime 3: Corruption, she is surprisingly calm and attacks in a more organized and orderly method, suggesting she has absorbed sufficient Phazon to reach a stable mentality; this also explains how she was able to brainwash the Pirates, plan the coordinates of the Leviathan impact locations, and steal Aurora Unit 313.

Dark Samus is a very durable life-form, able to regenerate from any injury short of massive destabilization, and traveling unaided through space and freely between the Dark and Light Dimensions of Aether. She can survive in the vastness of space, travel through it, and survive the explosions of planets, even dimensions. This is how she has constantly been able to regenerate herself after defeat and fly to another planet for Phazon absorption. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption reveals her to be sentient and capable of long-range planning, as noted through a series of Space Pirate data logs that record the fanaticism she inspires among the mind-warped pirates. They detail her plans and how she reacts to certain events, and credit her with being something near a deity whose rule of the galaxy will be great. She might have been and may still be the greatest threat ever to the Galactic Federation, and Samus's most powerful opponent to date.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A "Dark Samus" appears in "Co-op Event Match 7: Battle of the Dark Sides". This one looks more like the Legend of Zelda series's Dark Link (who she is partnered with), in that the character is only a black silhouette of Samus.

Dark Samus also has a trophy based on her Echoes appearance, which reads:

"A twin image of Samus, encountered near the beginning of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Dark Samus is identical to Samus in every way but color--she even uses similar attacks. There are many theories on the origin of Dark Samus, but none are proven. Dark Samus uses Phazon for energy and can absorb it to heal damage. Samus encounters Dark Samus a number of times."

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, 2004

This trophy description is slightly erroneous, as Dark Samus' appearance does differ quite a bit from the original Samus'. While her origins have been confirmed, this occurred after Brawl's release.

Alejandro Roura animation
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Trivia

 * 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."
 * Alejandro Roura animated Dark Samus in Echoes.
 * Dark Samus freeing the Metroid specimens in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is the only act of compassion she expresses during her existence. It is believed she felt pity towards the caged creatures, seeing how she was and still technically is, a Metroid herself. Her imprisonment by the Cradle on Tallon IV may have had an effect on this as well. However, she does not seem to have a problem with imprisoning Phazon Metroids for research on Elysia and on the Pirate Homeworld during her brief time leading the Pirates; it is possible she had the Pirates do so in order to use Metroids in accordance to her grand scheme.
 * It is possible that Dark Samus is composed of Space Pirate DNA, as the Phazon Suit contained strands of the Omega Pirate's DNA. However, she attacks other Space Pirates. This could be explained in Space Pirate Logs in Echoes, which state that she only kills those who deny her the Phazon, implying that she is more concerned about the Phazon. This might explain why she attacked the Dark Pirate Troopers before the second battle in Echoes, as there was Phazon behind them.
 * Dark Samus rarely walks in her encounters. She will mostly glide across the floor instead. The only seen occurrences of her walking are in the cutscenes prior to the first two battles in Echoes, as well as in the ambush in the Control Tower in Corruption, and finally, in the above animation videos by Alejandro Roura.
 * Contrary to popular belief, Dark Samus is not weak against the Light Beam. She is in fact weak against the Dark Beam as she is a life-form that was born in the normal (light) dimension. The reason for this erroneous belief is the fact that her name contains the word Dark, which is shared with the names of all Darklings naturally weak to light.
 * Although Dark Samus is said to be wearing a version of the Varia Suit in Echoes scans, the suit she is wearing is technically the Phazon Suit. However, Samus's Phazon Suit is only a slight variation of the Varia Suit (much like the Gravity Suit), and Dark Samus's a variation over that.
 * In each of her physical appearances, resemblances to the Metroid Prime are visible. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime's face and organs can be seen inside her in the final battle. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, her chest area is an alteration of Samus' that resembles the creature's face. Interestingly, unlockable artwork in Echoes depicts her as having organs similar in shape and look to spiral galaxies.
 * Dark Samus is one of two antagonists in the Metroid series that is known to have Samus' DNA, the other being the SA-X. Other duplicates of Samus without her DNA are the green training hologram in Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt and Gandrayda's Samus-G form in Corruption.
 * According to promotional storyboard designs, the scene where Dark Samus points her arm cannon and fires Phazon at Samus in their first encounter in the beginning of Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is based off of the climax of Aliens: "D.S. points a gun at Samus. When camera is fixed, Samus slightly twists her neck. * Refer to the scene in "Alien 2" climax when Ripley points flame gun at Mother Alien."
 * In Echoes, Dark Samus's arm cannon greatly resembles Samus's, but in Corruption, Dark Samus's arm cannon has a strange outgrowth that extends past the end of the barrel. This extension slightly resembles a hand as there are five points on it with glowing lines of phazon leading to the tips.
 * Dark Samus' first form also resembles the Alien creature slightly, due to her predominently black coloring, clawed fingers and skeletal feet.


 * In all of her appearances, she is accompanied by a consistent theme song, titled Darkness which is a remix of the Zebetite theme in Metroid and Zero Mission. However, during the final battle in Echoes, the Escape! theme was played due to the fact that she is fought while escaping Dark Aether. Darkness is remixed once more in the battle against the AU 313.
 * Although Dark Samus never speaks in-game, she has strange echoing laughter and cries of pain that are consistent in sound during her appearances in Echoes and at points during the battle in Corruption. Strange whispers can be heard in cutscenes prior to battling Dark Samus as well as some cutscenes afterwards. Her lack of sound in Corruption may be attributed to her more resilient and stable nature. However, she does scream when she dies in Corruption, having a voice quite similar to Samus's.
 * As she dies in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the camera pans to her raised left fist. She opens it quickly, mirroring the scene of her "birth" in the ending of Metroid Prime where her open hand clenches into a fist. After her death, the scene cuts to the bubbling Phazon seed within Samus disappearing, completing the imagery of the festering pool of Phazon that Dark Samus was derived from.
 * Dark Samus was partly inspired by the Ruins Test in Metroid: Zero Mission, during which Samus fights a mirror version of herself.
 * Dark Samus's Morph Ball form resemble the enemies Glire, Glice, and Glunder from the Super Smash Bros. Brawl adventure mode. All of the mentioned subjects are round, with a central "eye" on each side of them.
 * The eye on the back of Dark Samus' hand bears striking resemblance to the open pupil of a Gadora.
 * Dark Samus is referred to as a class Platinum-AAA threat level by the Space Pirates in Echoes. How much this increased by Corruption is unknown.

List of Appearances

 * Metroid Prime (100% ending & concept art.)
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
 * Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether
 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Preview
 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime (100% ending & concept art.)
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
 * Metroid Prime Trilogy

Music

 * Music from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, titled "Darkness":
 * Music from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, titled "Dark Samus":