Kraid

Kraid is a three-eyed green reptilian extraterrestrial from the Metroid series. Kraid is one of the largest enemies Samus ever encounters, as he takes up multiple screens at a time. Kraid made his first appearance in the original NES/Famicom Disk System Metroid as a part of the game's boss duo, the other being Ridley. Though he has no known official rank, Kraid is a high-ranking Pirate; he may even be a leader as he is a prominent boss throughout the series. Metroid Prime states that Kraid and Ridley are the Space Pirate armies' main Enforcers; one could easily imagine this colossus as the muscle and backbone behind Pirate attacks/raids. Kraid only possesses organic weapons: he shoots projectiles such as dagger-like spikes from his belly and spinning boomerang-like nails from his fingertips. In his resurrected Super Metroid appearance, he gains the ability to spew out rock-like projectiles from his mouth.

Kraid appears later in the Metroid manga fighting Samus. The manga doesn't outright tell what Kraid is, but he is described as being "Ridley's comrade". Mother Brain also states that "his skin is on par with an anti-optical shield", explaining how most weapons cause him very little damage.

Metroid
In Metroid, Kraid is the boss of Brinstar. Due to lack of colors and the sprites' limited sizes, the artist's interpretation of Kraid for the game's artwork differed considerably from what the later game designers had in mind. Kraid's artwork seems to show that, in addition to his smaller size (compared to all later appearances), he also appears to have green fur down his back and only two eyes. In-game, however, the “fur” appears to be a darker shade of scales and his horns seem to be missing; the latter appear very briefly on his forehead and main body before being shot out. There are also spikes located on his back that are shot out and quickly diverge towards the front (like boomerangs). All of Kraid's projectiles, like his future incarnations, are constantly generated in his body.

There is also a Mini-Kraid (also known as a Fake Kraid) Samus may encounter before fighting the real Kraid. However, since Samus can take multiple paths in order to reach the real Kraid, Samus may never actually come in contact with Mini-Kraid. Mini-Kraid is similar to Kraid in appearance, but it is a darker shade of green and is rather feeble by comparison. It only takes a small hit to finish it off. Unlike the real Kraid, it regenerates after it is destroyed if Samus re-enters the room.

Super Metroid
Kraid reappears in Super Metroid in a much larger form, taking up approximately two vertical screens' worth of space. In this appearance, his body is invulnerable except for his mouth, which opens after Kraid is shot in the eyes by a Missile, Super Missile, or beam shot (charged or uncharged). Four Super Missiles or 20 missiles/charged shots are necessary to defeat Kraid. Like most bosses, he is invulnerable to uncharged beam shots. Like in the original Metroid, there is a Mini-Kraid that appears just before the real Kraid's room; it is dwarf-like in comparison, both in terms of size and strength. Just like the Metroid decoy, it regenerates after it is destroyed if Samus re-enters the room. Numerous Green Space Pirates and Ki-Hunters patrol the rooms before the boss' chamber, most likely to defend Kraid and Mini-Kraid. Just outside Kraid's room, there is a mysterious dead body that might have been another Bounty Hunter or Federation Marine. Numerous Sbugs are seen feeding on it. It is unknown if Kraid was the killer or if it was the Gadora that guarded Kraid.



Metroid Prime
The Metroid Prime instruction manual makes reference to Samus Aran killing the "gargantuan mainstays of the Space Pirate army, Ridley and Kraid" (foreshadowing their retconned sizes in Metroid: Zero Mission), events which occurred in the original NES Metroid. Later on, the manual also mentions that, following the fall of Zebes, the Space Pirates had begun resuscitating Kraid (presumably for either the Super Metroid or the intended Prime appearance) along with Ridley and Mother Brain.

Meta Kraid is a fan-coined term for what appears to be a rebuilt Kraid (in the same vein as Meta Ridley), who was planned to make an appearance as a boss character in the Phazon Mines area. He was modeled and textured by Gene Kohler for that purpose. As one can see from the picture, he has a helmet on his head believed to be made by the Space Pirates. The purpose of this helmet is not certain. The fight (and character) ultimately did not make its way into the game in time for the release, along with some other things (such as the Screw Attack). It is only known by artwork and short comments by the artist. Contrary to popular belief, Kraid was not replaced by the Omega Pirate. Due to the scrapped appearance, Melee remains his only 3-D appearance.

Removal
"I had completely finished modeling and texturing Kraid. The level that he was to be included in was well underway to being designed. There just was not enough development time remaining to fully implement all aspects of the scenario that were needed to pull off a highly polished\fun gaming experience... animations\effects\programming\etc. It was decided that Kraid was not imperative enough to the Metroid Prime project to run the risk of pushing up the release date in order to fit him in.

I'm sure the folks over at Retro are designing ways to fit Kraid in possible future Metroid titles."

-Gene Kohler May 11, 2004 (Mythicahq.com)

"According to Mr. Kohler in an email to N-Sider, Kraid is said to have a metal plate covering his face due to it being a designed gameplay feature - an item that you had to overcome in your encounter against Kraid. Although, he said, if the model does appear in a future Metroid title, expect some modifications to be made as the older ideas become refined."

-N-Sider



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 Mini-Kraid in this game. Oddly enough, the room in which it appeared in the original game is present; however, Mini-Kraid is nowhere to be seen. Kraid is also given his own area, unlike Super Metroid where his lair was simply part of Brinstar. In the battle with Kraid, he will hurl spinning boomerang-like claws like he did in previous appearances. Once he has taken enough damage, Kraid will start shooting his belly 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 will explode after a few seconds pass).

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 itself -- occasionally, he will emerge from the magma, roar, and rotate the arena by slashing it, changing gameplay. Though he is based on his Super Metroid appearance, he has a more greyish colored skin, and his eyes are white rather than red.

Metroid manual
"This is the head of the Mini-Boss hideout. He hurls horns from his stomach and back. Be very careful of his fierce attacks. If Samus gets hit by him, his energy will be weakened a lot."

Official Nintendo Player's Guide
"This is the Boss who protects Brinstar. He shoots missiles from his stomach, and uses a spinning horn on his back to attack. Missile attacks are the best way to kill him."

Super Metroid manual
"The giant lizard of Brinstar attacks Samus with thorny projectiles and spits spheres out of its mouth. No weapons - beams, missiles, or bombs - have any effect on its body. The creature's weak point is unknown."

Metroid: Zero Mission manual
"The largest enemy in all of the mazes beneath the surface of Planet Zebes, Kraid fires spikes from his belly and claws from his fingertips for extremely powerful attacks."

Official Metroid: Zero Mission website
"Extremely dangerous! Giant lizard-like monster over two stories tall. Possesses iron-shredding claws and fires small projectiles from its mouth. When angered, shoots regenerative claws from giant openings in belly. Can be destroyed by hitting soft tissue in mouth with Missiles. DANGER LEVEL: VERY HIGH."
 * "Soft tissue (weak spot)"
 * "Iron-shredding claws"
 * "Regenerative claws"

Super Smash Bros. Melee Trophy
"A boss enemy from Metroid. Kraid lives in the depths of Brinstar. He immobilizes enemies with his three red eyes, and his powerful jaws can crush anything. He can also shoot the three spikes in his belly; it's said he often fires them at his prey. Once Samus defeated Ridley and Kraid, the way to Tourian opened."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sticker

 * Kraid Metroid: Zero Mission - [Head] Attack +33 (All)

Trivia

 * Kraid's Super Metroid and Zero Mission sprite artists never bothered giving the large Pirate his entire tail. By extracting Kraid's sprites, it is revealed that his tail always ends abruptly; the sprite artists most likely did this because of the fact that players are never capable (and are not meant) to get behind Kraid and explore the areas beyond him until he is defeated, which results in him sinking into the ground and exploding, thus his tail is never fully witnessed.
 * Kraid occasionally appeared in the Captain N: The Game Master comic series, based on his original concept art. One of his appearances occurs when he was imprisoned on RX 338. He attempts to convince all of the prisoners in his block that were put away by Samus to turn on their fellow captive, before she beats them all using Kraid as a weapon. Samus later uses him as a diversion to make her own escape.
 * The cartoon version of Captain N featured a humanoid rhino-like enemy in several Metroid episodes that was most likely based on Kraid.


 * 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, the Mogenars and the statues/busts around Bryyo. On top of this, Mogenar's battle theme is extremely similar to Kraid's.
 * In a Toys "R" Us commercial, "Kraid's Toy Shop" is shown, in Tourian, to be sold out of NES games.
 * Kraid's size changes through out the games. For example, in Metroid, he is about the same size as Samus, whereas in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission, he's roughly 65 ft. tall. In Super Smash Bros Melee he is even larger, appearing to be about 120 ft. tall.
 * Kraid is titled the "Awakened Behemoth" in Zero Mission concept art.
 * Though it may simply be a coincidence, the Squizzard boss in Super Mario Galaxy 2 bears similarities to Kraid. Such similarities include the weak point being the mouth, and spiked projectiles being fired by the flick of a hand. The Squizzard is also half in the ground, similar to Kraid in Super Metroid.
 * The color of Samus' suit during the cut-scene with Kraid rising before her in Zero Mission will vary depending on whether or not the Varia Suit is acquired prior to the battle.
 * In an interview with Yoshio Sakamoto, Nintendo Power asked where Kraid was during Metroid: Other M. Sakamoto (jokingly) responded that Kraid was running from Samus, but might return to take his revenge against Samus.

Appearances

 * Metroid
 * Metroid (1986 manga)
 * Captain N: The Game Master
 * Breakout
 * When Friends Fall Out (Flashback)


 * Super Metroid
 * Super Metroid (Manga)
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee
 * Metroid Prime (Manual, removed boss)
 * Metroid (2002 manga)
 * Metroid: Zero Mission
 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves
 * Super Nostalgic Entertainment System


 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Manual)