Samus Aran

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran; pronounced SA-MUHS A-RUHN or A-RAHN using the "CAT" vowel for both As) is the main character and protagonist of the Metroid series. Introduced in 1986 in Metroid, Samus is a Human Bounty Hunter famous for her accomplishments on missions thought otherwise impossible. Armed with a cybernetic Power Suit built by the Chozo, an ancient highly intelligent race, she is a powerful opponent in battle. She hunts Space Pirates and energy-draining alien parasites known as Metroids, while completing missions given by the Galactic Federation. Samus is voiced in Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime Hunters, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption by Jennifer Hale, but only for cries of pain, grunts and death screams.

Samus broke ground early in the gaming world in Metroid, which led players to believe Samus was a male as the instruction booklet used male descriptions for Samus and her always wearing suits led players to believe she was a robot or male in a robotic suit. However, only by completing Metroid under an hour revealed Samus to be a young athletic woman. Although Samus wears the Power Suit throughout most of the Metroid series, it has become a tradition to depict her in much more revealing attire at the end of each game, often as a reward for satisfying certain conditions, such as completing the game quickly or with a high percentage of the game’s items collected.

Contrary to popular belief, Samus was not created by Metroid producer Gunpei Yokoi. The original game concepts were done by game director Makoto Kanoh and was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake.

Biography
Much of Samus' life and history is a mystery. She was living with her parents, Rodney Aran and Virginia Aran, on the Earth colony K-2L; they died, however, in a Space Pirate attack on the colony, while Samus was three years old. She was the only survivor. Eventually, a group of Chozo found her alone and stranded on the destroyed colony, and seeing this young child all alone, decided to raise her themselves. They brought her to their planet, Zebes, and raised her with Chozo beliefs. She was infused with Chozo blood, and later given the powerful Power Suit, built entirely out of Chozo technology. She proceeded to leave the planet and became a Bounty Hunter.

After becoming the most famed and capable of all Bounty Hunters, succeeding in missions everyone considered impossible, Samus was summoned by the Galactic Federation and given the orders to infiltrate Zebes, the planet she grew up on. Apparently, Space Pirates had overrun the world. She had two objectives: Samus successfully carried out the mission which led her to untold wealth and fame and cemented her destiny to battle the Metroids and Space Pirates.
 * 1) Elimate the threat of the Metroids, a newly discovered species which the Space Pirates are using for evil purposes, and
 * 2) Destroy Mother Brain — the "mechanical life vein" and central computer of Zebes' ecosystem, which was reprogrammed by the Space Pirates.

Afterward, Samus discovered a distress call and upon investigation discovered the source to be the Space Pirate Frigate Orpheon on which the pirates were studying Phazon, a highly radioactive material that can mutate lifeforms. Due to escalating events onboard the ship, it self-destructed and impacted into Tallon IV's surface. Samus pursued Meta Ridley, a winged monster she killed on Zebes, though was now reborn through Space Pirate technology, to the surface of the planet. On Tallon IV she found that the planet had been corrupted by Phazon when a meteorite had struck it some years earlier. Samus found Chozo lore and ruins on the planet which told of how the meteorite hit the planet and brought an evil creature with it. The Space Pirates landed on the planet, and quickly built up facilities to mine the highly valuable, and dangerous Phazon, but years earlier, the entire Chozo population had died off due to Phazon poisoning. Interestingly, the Chozo lore foretold a "hatchling" would save the planet, with descriptions strongly resembling Samus. Along the way, she discovered through Chozo Lore that an "Evil Entity" had been sealed in the Phazon meteorite impact crater by a series of Chozo Artifacts. Samus found a Space Pirate mining colony on the planet, mining Phazon to use for experiments on themselves and Metroids to create an unstoppable military force. She halted all production of Phazon, but inadvertently acquired an abnormal suit upgrade that allowed her to come into contact with phazon, and bolstered her arm cannon with extreme levels of power when in direct contact with pure Phazon- This suit upgrade turned her suit to shades of Black and Crimson. Samus ultimately sought to investigate what was sealed inside of the impact crater, so she found & collected the 13 Chozo Artifacts necessary to break the seal. However, when she approached the seal, Meta Ridley attacked her - this lead to his destruction. She then found the source of evil that came with the meteorite — Metroid Prime, a mutated Metroid and living off Phazon. Samus killed Metroid Prime, which caused the Chozo Temple to explode, but just before it's death it absorbed Samus's Phazon Suit upgrade. This lead to the birth of a mysterious doppleganger that took the form of Samus. Born of Phazon, this new being craved the substance with an avarice intensity, and would do anything to get its hands on it.

Some time after, Samus finds out that the Galactic Federation received a telepathic message from the Tetra Galaxy saying, "The secret to ultimate power resides in the Alimbic Cluster." The Federation sends her to the Alimbic Cluster to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands. She encounters several other hunters who want the ultimate power including an enemy of the Federation by the name of Sylux (mentioned below 4 paragraphs down) who stole a ship and a suit from the GF. Her goal was to collect all 8 Octoliths by defeating the guardians. Once she has done so (while also scanning things for information about the Alimbics) she must return to the Planet of Alinos to activate the Alimbic cannon to open access to the Oubliette, a chamber sealed in another dimension to trap away the incredibly powerful and dangerous Gorea, a monster which destroyed the Alimbics. After watching the hunters get there power sucked away, obtaining the Omega Cannon (a.k.a the ultimate power), and defeating Gorea, she escapes the Alimbic Cluster

Soon, however, Samus was contacted by the Galactic Federation, who had lost conctact with a group of Galactic Federation troopers on Aether. There she encountered Metroid Prime once again, this time taking Samus's form, but corrupted and twisted by the Phazon Radiation.This being became known as "Dark Samus". Samus also found the Luminoth on Aether, an intelligent species similar to the Chozo. One of their leaders, U-Mos, told Samus that they lived in peace on Aether until a meteor impacted into the planet's surface, splitting the world into two dimensions — a light world and a dark world. This "Dark Aether" was home to a vicious and vile race known as the Ing. Samus managed to defeat the Ing and restore the planet to its original state, but not before she defeated Dark Samus, who did everything in its power to stop the planet from being restored. After this, she left the planet, with the Luminoth never forgetting how she saved them.

However, Dark Samus was not yet dead. Samus's final showdown with the creature is to be shown in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Corruption takes place precisely six months after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, with the player again taking the role of Samus. The story begins with a meeting between Samus Aran and the Galactic Federation, in which she meets three other bounty hunters; Ghor, Rundas and Gandrayda; and help fend off a Space Pirate attack on the flagship. They are quickly dispatched to the nearby planet Norion and ordered to activate its laser defense system to fend off the pirate attack. During the mission, an asteroid-size "Leviathan Seed" is sighted heading to the planet. The Hunters, having restored power to the defense system, rush to the control room, but are attacked by Dark Samus just before activating the defense systems. With the other hunters unconscious, a heavily wounded Samus manages to activate the laser just in time to destroy the Leviathan Seed.

Samus wakes up a month later and learns that she and her fellow Hunters were corrupted by Phazon from Dark Samus' attack. However, the Federation scientists discover that Samus's body was now self-producing Phazon and have even developed a Phazon Enhancement Device (P.E.D.) that allows Samus control her internal Phazon on a safe level and to enter Hypermode. Samus further learns that the other three Hunters had left two weeks before for missions to three other planets where Seeds have been observed, but the federation lost contact with them seven days earlier. Samus is ordered to destroy each Leviathan Seed and seek the whereabouts of the other Hunters.

Samus travels between the planets of Bryyo and Elysia and the Pirate Homeworld to find upgrades to further enhance her abilities and destroy the seeds. However, she learns that the Phazon corruption initially thought to be benign can cause her body to overload with Phazon energy which she must dispel to prevent further corruption. (If Samus stays in hypermode past an alloted time, she enters courrupted hypermode in which the phazon meter rises up. If the meter maxes out, Samus will be utterly corrupted and you get an automatic "Game Over.") She learns that each of her fellow Hunters fell to the Phazon corruption and to protect herself she battles each one in turn, killing them. As each Hunter falls, Dark Samus shows up to drain the Phazon energy from their bodies, with Samus powerless to stop her. Samus is able to destroy the source of Phazon in both Seeds on Bryyo and Elysia. She also helps the Federation lead an all-out attack on the Pirate Homeworld, allowing her to destroy the Pirate's planet Seed as well.

The Aurora Units then discover the location of planet Phaaze, the source of all Phazon and Dark Samus's place of origin. Traveling with the Federation via wormhole, Samus arrives and descends to the planet. Samus begins absorbing dangerous amounts of Phazon energy, nearly corrupting her completely, but manages to prevent this by venting all her available energy tanks and locking herself in permanent Hypermode. After venturing to the planet's inner sanctum, she encounters Dark Samus, who fuses with a stolen Aurora unit that is linked with Phaaze's core. Samus is able to defeat Dark Samus, which destroys the Phazon in her body and causes the planet to self-destruct. The Federation fleet escapes via another wormhole, but loses contact with Samus in the process. Eventually, though, her ship appears, and she reports that her mission is complete, then flies off into space. Should the player collect every single pickup upon completion of the game, a special ending shows the (rumored to be) Delano 7, the ship of Sylux (Samus' hidden rival as revealed on Metroid Prime: Hunters), following Samus' gunship as it flies off.

At this point, the Galactic Federation deemed the Metroids too dangerous to exist. Samus was then sent to SR388 by the Galactic Federation to exterminate the remaining Metroids. Once there, she finds that Metroids mutate into different forms, each stronger than the last. She successfully annihilates all the Metroids and their queen, though upon leaving the planet finds an egg. As she stares at it, an Infant Metroid appears out of the egg and sees Samus immediately, believing her to be its mother. Samus, going against her orders, takes the Metroid Hatchling with her to her gunship and leaves the planet. She brings the hatchling to the Ceres Space Colony, where the scientists there plan to study the Metroid and their scientific properties.

Just as Samus is leaving the station, a distress signal is sent from the station to Samus. She returns to Ceres and finds bodies everywhere. She goes to the room containing the Metroid Hatchling and sees Ridley stealing it. After a struggle, Ridley flies out of the station to Zebes, with Samus chasing him. Back on Zebes, Samus finds the Space Pirates have rebuilt their base on the planet and have resuscitated Mother Brain, as well as Ridley and Kraid. She once again defeats Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain, with the aid of the infant Metroid, who gave up its life to save Samus. Samus leaves the planet as a self-destruct timer counts down, causing the planet to explode just as Samus leaves it.

The Galactic Federation soon had another mission for the famous Bounty Hunter. She was to go with Galactic Federation troopers to SR388 to collect samples of life for Biologic Space Laboratories (BSL). The troopers and Samus land on the planet, though a parasite enters her body. After the mission is complete and she is back in her gunship, the parasite had infested her central nervous system, causing her to lose conscious and drift into an asteroid belt. Fortunately, she was ejected from the ship and the escape pod was retrieved by the BSL and transported to Galactic Federation HQ. The parasite that attacked Samus was known as the "X Parasite".

The X had corrupted large portions of her Power Suit. Her suit had to be surgically removed, drastically altering her physical appearance. She was given a minimal chance of survival. However, a cure was found. Using a Metroid cell to make an anti-X vaccine, which saved her, showing the Metroids kept the X under control on SR388, though now that they are extinct on the planet, the X roam free. Samus was given a new suit — the Fusion Suit.

Samus is then sent to the BSL research station where the last batch of creatures from SR388 and the infected parts of her Power Suit were sent. She is to investigate an unexplained explosion in the Quarantine Bay. For this mission, she is overseen by a computerized Commanding Officer, her second CO. Upon investigating the station, she finds that the X Parasite has taken the form of her Varia Suit, known as the SA-X (Samus Aran X). Based on the asexual division of the X, there may be around eleven SA-X' on the station. Samus also leans a disturbing find on the station — she finds the Galactic Federation had been conducting a secret Metroid breeding program. Once the SA-X discovered this, the section that housed these programs was detached from the station, with Samus barely escaping and one of the eleven SA-X disposed of. This destroyed the Federation's research. Samus is then ordered to change the stations orbit to impact SR388, destroying the planet and all the X. But before she can do so she faces an SA-X. She destroys it but is not able to absorb the X inhabiting her armour. Upon evacuating the station, she finds an Omega Metroid waiting for her at the docking bay. She defeats and it finds her gunships computerized CO with the voice and personality of Adam Malkovich, an old commanding officer of hers that she had before the events of Metroid. Srangely, the ship was piloted back into the docking bay by Etecoons and Dachoras. Samus then leaves the station. It is unknown what the Galactic Federation's current view of Samus is. While she did defy a direct order by the Federation, there were extenuating circumstances and the true threat of the X parasites was not known to the Galactic Federation at the time the order was given.

Equipment
Samus's main feature is her Power Suit, a suit of armor created for her by the Chozo on Zebes. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect her from adverse environments and enemy fire. The suit itself can be upgraded to such forms as the Varia Suit, the Gravity Suit, the Phazon Suit, the Dark Suit, and the Light Suit, as well as her suits in Metroid Fusion, the Fusion Suit and Omega Fusion Suit. While some suits are stronger than others and have different abilities, all include Samus's main weapon: a built-in arm cannon (The zero suit is an exception, and is replaced with a weaker, handheld energy pistol). The arm cannon's standard ammo mere energy, but Samus can also aquire different kinds of beams, and the cannon can also shoot missiles. She can also receive other various power-ups which improve her abilities, including Space Jump boots, and the Screw Attack.

For transportation, Samus uses her gunship, which usually resembles her helmet. She has had several gunships throughout the series, one of which has been described as a custom Hunter-class starship made especially for her by the Galactic Federation. The first appearance of Samus's gunship was in Metroid II: Return of Samus. The ship's most common incarnation is seen in Metroid II, Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, as well as making various cameos in non-Metroid games.

Roles outside of the Metroid series
Being a well-known Nintendo character, Samus has made numerous appearances in other titles and media.

Super Smash Bros. series
Samus is one of the original eight characters in the Super Smash Bros. series and has appeared in all three games in the series. The array of weapons she can use include Missiles, the Charge Beam, the Grappling Beam, the Screw Attack, and Bombs, as well as a flamethrower. Her gunship from Metroid II: Return of Samus appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and in its opening cut scene. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Samus will be playable in her Varia Suit form and in her Zero Suit Samus form when she uses her Final Smash move which causes her to lose her suit. Also suprisingly, while Samus is in Zero Suit form, Samus' taunts see her talking. This marks the first time Samus has ever spoken in a video game with a voice actor and not just text.

Cameos in other Nintendo titles

 * 1) Famicom Wars (1988, Famicom) (Unreleased outside Japan; The Red Star commander on Donut Island is called Samasuun, and her face on the result screen is Samus's helmet.)
 * 2) Nintendo’s Tetris (1989, NES) (Cameo, appears playing the upright bass after the player wins a B-type game of level at least 9 and height at least 2.)
 * 3) F-1 Race (1990, Game Boy) (Cameo, appears cheering before Course 7)
 * 4) Galactic Pinball (Virtual Boy) (Cameo, her ship appears in a minigame)[[Image:Samus Mario RPG.gif|thumb|right| Samus Aran's cameo in the Mushroom Kingdom castle's Guest Room in Super Mario RPG. If Mario attempts to talk to her, she says, "...... I'm resting up for Mother Brain."
 * 5) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996, SNES) (Cameo, after Mario's party defeats Yaridovich, he may find her sleeping, until Mario travels to Land's End, and a Samus figurine appears in the toy box of Booster's Room.)
 * 6) Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES) (Cameo, when Kirby uses his rock defense he can become a Samus statue. Also, the Screw Attack icon (called the Screwball) is a treasure in the Great Cave Offensive segment of the game.)
 * 7) Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (1997, SNES) (Cameo, appears after level 5-2, which also contains six Metroids. If Kirby defeats them all, Samus will remove her helmet.)
 * 8) Super Smash Bros. (1999, N64) (Playable character)
 * 9) Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, Nintendo GameCube]) (Playable character)
 * 10) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (2003, Game Boy Advance) (Contains a microgame based on NES Metroid)
 * 11) WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (2004, Nintendo GameCube) (Contains the same Metroid microgame from Mega Microgame$)
 * 12) WarioWare: Touched! (2005, Nintendo DS) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid)
 * 13) WarioWare: Twisted! (2005, Game Boy Advance) (Contains two microgames based on Metroid)
 * 14) Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005, Nintendo DS) (Gulliver, the seagull, references Samus saying "Tell me, have you ever heard of the bounty hunter that can turn into a ball?" Also you can get a 1x1 item that is a Metroid in a case. When you touch it, it glows and plays a small clip of Metroid music.)
 * 15) Geist (2005) (Samus’ helmet is seen in a women’s locker room.
 * 16) Tetris DS (2006, Nintendo DS) (Metroid-based course, Catch; in the title screen, Samus shoots some tetrominoes; A difficulty level on Standard mode is Metroid Themed, with Samus to the right, and clips of the original Metroid playing on the top screen, but with a more realistic background.)
 * 17) WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2007, Wii) (Contains a microgame based on Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.)
 * 18) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2007, Wii) (Playable character, Zero Suit Samus is also a playable character.)

Other appearances

 * Samus was also a semi-regular character in the Captain N: The Game Master comic books, published as part of the Nintendo Comics System. In these stories, Samus has romantic feelings for Kevin Keene, the main character, despite his own affections for another woman, Princess Lana. However, as she states in the story "Breakout", Samus prefers to win Kevin’s affections fairly. Samus's gunship also makes an appearance, though in a very different form than in the games. Interestingly, the ship's class in the comic was "Hunter IV", suggesting that the ship's canonical designation ("Hunter Class") may have been derived from the comic.


 * In Captain N: The Game Master, Samus did not appear, even though Mother Brain was the show's primary villain. Jeffrey Scott claimed in an interview that he didn’t feature Samus in the cartoon because he "never heard of her".


 * Samus also starred in her own comic story, apparently set in the same continuity, titled “Deceit du Jour”; it was the only ten-page story to have the Metroid umbrella title. In this story, Samus duels with another Bounty Hunter, "Big Time" Brannigan, whom Mother Brain has hired to capture her, and who claims to be just as efficient as Samus. In the end, Samus proves her superiority by sabotaging her own Arm Cannon before handing it over to Big Time. When Big Time attempts to kill her with it later on, it explodes, covering Samus's escape.


 * Samus also starred in two comic adaptations featured in Nintendo Power: a 60-page one for Super Metroid and a 24-page one for Metroid Prime.


 * A super deformed doll in Samus's likeness drove the plot for a Mario VS Wario comic that was published prior to the Super Metroid comic.


 * In an episode of Fox's House M.D., the main character, House, is seen playing Metroid: Zero Mission on a Game Boy Advance, and later Metroid Prime Hunters on a Nintendo DS.