List of creatures in Metroid

This is a list of creatures that appear in Metroid.

Dessgeega
Also misspelled Desgeega or Desgeenga, the Dessgeega is a cousin of the side-hoppers, and are found in parts of Norfair in Metroid, Super Metroid, and Metroid: Zero Mission. An X Parasite mimicry of the Dessgeega (which can now shoot thorns from both sides) can be found in the TRO (Tropical) sector of the Biologic Space Labs of Metroid Fusion. A single Dessgeega - seemingly an easter egg - may also be found on the Space Pirate frigate Orpheon in Metroid Prime. When players pass its chamber, it will violently batter its door trying to escape. It can be scanned, but only minor information is shown. Being in an area that is close-quarters, it scares players by making them think it will escape and attack, as it only tries to escape when the players approach. However, when players stumble onto the Frigate's crash site later on, they can reach the room where the Dessgeega was held. The chamber has been infested by "Aqua Reapers", but there is no trace of what happened to the previous occupant. Apparently, it did not survive the crash or escaped beyond the boundaries of the explorable area.

Dragon
The Dragon of Norfair looks more like a seahorse than a typical dragon. Seen in Metroid, Super Metroid, and Metroid: Zero Mission; it appears from a pond of lava and shoots fireballs. It can only be damaged by Super Missiles, fully charged shots, or the Screw Attack. In select scenarios in Metroid: Zero Mission, it can cause death by knocking the player into lava.

Gamet
Gamets are the enemies generated from pipes in Norfair. They resemble armored flies. In the original Metroid, there are 2 color variants--red and purple, the red being stronger.

A Gamet would appear on the first episode of Captain N. It is seen circling the Palace of Power in the beginning and middle of the episode. One is also seen giving chase to an unarmed Kevin in the 12th episode. Gamets would also appear in the Captain N comic book series, more closely resembling their appearance according to the Metroid concept art.

Geega
Geegas are insectoid creatures found in the air pipes of Kraid's Lair. There are two types - a yellow kind and a stronger brown kind.

Geruta
This powerful enemy can fly as a result of its skin generating fire and radiating the energy inside its body. Its feet blow fiery exhaust and it is one of the strongest creatures in Norfair. In the original Metroid, there are 2 color variants--red and purple, the red being stronger.

A Geruta would appear on the first episode of Captain N. It is seen circling the Palace of Power in the beginning of the episode.

Holtz
A Holtz is a spherical armored creature with a pair of bull-like horns. The Holtz appears to have one red eye in the center of its body. A Holtz will fly up on the ceiling. When Samus comes close, it will swoop down and attempt to ram Samus before flying back up.

Mellow
Mellows are fly-like organisms that follow Samus in large swarms.

Nova
Novae are fiery organisms found in Norfair. They behave like Zoomers and look like a fiery version of them as well. X-copies can be found in Metroid Fusion. The X-Novae leave a damaging fire behind them. The Novae-X can also drop fireballs while they're on the ceiling. Novae are commonly confused by some as being Viola. Interestingly, they bear a rather striking resemblance to Lavos from Chrono Trigger.

Viola
Found in the lower levels of Norfair and in some areas of Ridley's domain, Viola are best described as living fireballs. Despite this flaming nature, they can be frozen quite easily. They come in three varieties. The non-flying Violae are the larvae of Multiviola.

Green Viola
Slow moving Violae inhabiting in Ridley's lair. They have a perpetual frown, and their face disappears from time to time. When it appears, the Viola looks like it is letting out a silent moan. They behave exactly like Zoomers.

Red Viola
Red versions of the Green Violae. They travel faster than their weaker green counterparts. They are the equivalent of Geemers in their area.

Multiviola
These orange-red Viola bounce around inside the room they are contained in. They are the only Violae with visible flames around them. Multiviola are rare, but are the only Violae that appear in the region of Norfair outside Ridley's lair. They are the adult versions of Violae.

A Multiviola would appear on the first episode of Captain N midway through the episode when Kevin and Princess Lana journey through the world of Metroid to defeat Mother Brain.

Rio
Rios are flying, insectoid enemies that aggressively follow Samus in a downward, swooping motion. They then hover along the ground, and will only rise to the ceiling again when the player jumps. They also appear in Metroid Fusion as X-Parasite copies in Sector 2 (TRO). The copies, however, don't fly nearly as fast as the originals.

Rinka
Rinka are circular enemies generated in an infinite supply in Tourian. Although all of the Rinka in Metroid and Super Metroid are red, there is also a green version found in Zero Mission, which spawns and flies at nearly twice the speed of the red ones.

Ripper
Small floating beetles which move horizontally back and forth and can only be killed with the Super Missile or Screw Attack. Appears on the cover of the game and box. Rippers are commonly frozen and used as platforms to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. They are found on Zebes and come in many different forms, though they are most commonly brownish, with two main segments - a smallish, pointed head section, taking up approximately one tenth of the body, and the main body, which is protected on the top by a smooth roundish shell in the manner of a turtle. In the original Metroid, the orange ones were indestructible and could only be frozen. The red variant of the normal Ripper can be destroyed, though it would require an extreme amount of regular shots, a missile, or the Screw Attack.

A Ripper would appear on the first episode of Captain N. It is seen circling the Palace of Power in the beginning of the episode.

Rocket Ripper
Red or purple-colored Rippers which travel much faster and have exhaust flames behind them. These generally have more bulk than common Rippers and are boxlike in shape compared to normal Rippers' more ovoid appearance.

Winged Ripper
A unique Ripper with small wings that allow it to travel in a circle instead of back and forth. The Winged Ripper is used as a platform in the boss fight with Imago's cocoon in Metroid: Zero Mission. Of note is that if the player has gotten Super Missiles or the Screw Attack early (see sequence breaking), the Ripper would not die if shot or jumped into, because defeating Imago would be virtually impossible then without the Winged Ripper.

Skree
Skrees are bat-like aerials who hang upside-down from ceilings. They have an extremely high body temperature and are very territorial - if anything wanders into their territory they fly towards the intruder and explode. They have two large claws. in Metroid: Zero Mission, the claws shatter into flying shrapnel.

Skrees would appear on the first episode of Captain N. They are seen circling the Palace of Power in the beginning of the episode and also midway through the same episode when Kevin and Princess Lana journey through the world of Metroid to defeat Mother Brain. One is also seen giving chase to an unarmed Kevin in the 12th episode.

They would also appear in the Captain N comic book series, more closely resembling their appearance according to the Metroid concept art.

Sidehopper
Sidehoppers are insectoids found in Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime (although not as live enemies in Prime) and mentioned in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. They have two armored legs and jump side-to-side, hence their name. In Prime, the only Sidehopper is a Phazon-infused experiment locked behind a blue barrier beside a creature banging on a door. Players tend to confuse this with a Dessgeega, but upon scanning, it says it is a Sidehopper. In Echoes, the Multiplayer map loosely based on the Orpheon is named "Sidehopper Station", due to the fact that, from overhead, it closely resembles the Sidehopper itself. In Super Metroid, Sidehoppers living in Brinstar come in two forms; 'big' and 'small', and can be dispatched with any weapon. There are also two blue Sidehoppers living in a dusty area of Tourian that can only be killed with Super Missiles, although the second blue Sidehopper ends up being killed by an extremely huge Metroid larvae and is turned to dust (These blue Sidehoppers appear as X Parasite copies in Metroid Fusion.). The Sidehoppers in Metroid: Zero Mission have green bodies and bluish eyes and can only be found in Kraid's Lair and make a strange squeaky noise when they crick their necks.

Squeept
Squeepts are enemies found in Norfair. They jump in and out of lava when Samus is close. They can be frozen and used as platforms over large stretches of lava.

Waver
Weak enemies that fly back and forth in irregular patterns. Concept art shows them as insectoids, but details are difficult to distinguish in game. In the original Metroid, there were 2 color variants--blue and green, blue being the stronger. Stronger X duplicates can be found in Sector 5 (ARC) in Metroid Fusion. Unlike the originals, the X-Parasite clones actually charge towards the player if they are nearby.

Wavers would appear on the first episode of Captain N. They are seen circling the Palace of Power in the beginning of the episode and also midway through the same episode when Kevin and Princess Lana journey through the world of Metroid to defeat Mother Brain. They would also appear in the Captain N comic book series, more closely resembling their appearance according to the Metroid concept art.

Zeb
Mysteriously, Brinstar (and many other areas in Zebes) are covered in green pipes which look similar to the pipes in Super Mario Bros., another Nintendo game. The Zeb flies out of these pipes at the enemy. However, it is very lightly armored and does not do much damage. They continue to attack in infinite number, so standing in front of a pipe and repeatedly killing them for their health or missile powerups is an easy way to recharge in the absence of an energy station or missile station. There is a unique pipe enemy for each region of Zebes. These are very similar to rhinoceros beetles.

Zebbo
Zebbos are bee-like enemies that are generated by the pipes in Ridley's Lair.

Zebetite
Zebetites, sometimes called Zeebetites, are Mother Brain's life support units. A rapid barrage of missiles will cause them to shrink and eventually disappear, clearing the path for Samus Aran to advance. However, if the attack is stopped prematurely, they will grow back. Zebetites are extremely resilient and hard to destroy without Missiles, thus making their secondary purpose defense.

Theoretically, the energy provided by these Zebetites are required to keep Mother Brain alive. However, it does not seem to die spontaneously after the Zebetites are destroyed.

A Zebetite appears to be a tube filled with a red organic substance, connected to metallic pipes.

Zebetites have appeared in every Metroid game featuring the Mother Brain: Metroid, Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission. The Metroid password contains a bit for each Zebetite, indicating whether it has been destroyed.

Zoomer
Zoomers are small hemispherical mollusks with spikes along their backs. Their intellect is limited to walking in set patterns along the terrain, meaning that Samus Aran must accidentally run or jump into them in order to be harmed. Zoomers are very weak enemies, and often the first enemies Samus encounters in the beginning of the games. Despite their names, Zoomers are quite slow. Appears on the cover of the game and box.

It should be noted that the Zoomer and Geemer scans in Metroid Prime Hunters state that Geemers are known for rooting around in waste and that Zoomers are known for spreading disease (most notably a type of flesh-eating bacteria which wiped out many native species to Zebes), which is comparable to the real life rat.

In Metroid Prime Hunters, shooting them with the power beam gives out 30 units of energy each.

Geemer
Geemers are stronger versions of Zoomers, and are red. In Metroid Prime, Geemers have retractable spikes that protect them against weaker weaponry, and are only damaged by Missiles, Super Missiles, Missile Combos, Power Bombs, and the Plasma Beam. However, Zoomers are damaged by all weapons. The only way to destroy a Geemer in Metroid Prime Hunters is to shoot it with any of the six sub-weapons or a missile.

When scanned in Metroid Prime Hunters, the readout says: "A small but dangerous creature that exposes sharp spikes on its back when threatened. This scavenger is known to forage through human refuse and is an infamous pest on Zebes."

Species
There are several varieties of Zoomers in Super Metroid. There are the ordinary blue/purple ones found in Crateria, a gray type (also found in Crateria) that can only be harmed by heavy weapons like Power Bombs or the Plasma Beam, and other Zoomer-like creatures which follow identical AI routines but look more like Crabs or Insects.

There is also a unique quirk Geemer in Super Metroid. In Crateria, there is a small enclosed room on the right side, close to the Wrecked Ship. It is visible on the map as a small rectangle surrounded by a much larger room. When Samus enters this room, a Reddish Geemer is visible above her. This Geemer follows a different pattern from normal Geemers, as it will match Samus' horizontal movements on top of the tube. This Geemer can be killed by the Wave Beam or Power Bombs, but the item dropped by it (usually energy or missiles, like any other enemy) can never be collected. Further, this particular passage can be approached from above, but when the player reaches it, the Geemer is absent. Since no programmer has specifically said why they put this Geemer here, it is likely that it is an easter egg.

In Metroid Fusion, there is an X clone creature calledan Owtch which behaves exactly like a Zoomer. However, it more closely resembles a snail-like creature, though it does have a spiked hemispherical shell.

Artificial intelligence
The AI routine for the two-dimensional games is as follows: A Zoomer or Geemer begins by moving in either the left or right direction. When the Zoomer encounters a vertical wall, it rotates by 90 degrees and walks up the wall it hit. Conversely, if the Zoomer walks off of a ledge, it rotates -90° and walks down the wall. This allows Zoomers to move in simple circles around a complex room or object.

There is a flaw in the Zoomer AI in the original Metroid. If the object the Zoomer is standing on is removed, the Zoomer continually spins in place, as the AI is constantly rotating by -90°. This is fixed in Super Metroid, as the Zoomer unceremoniously falls to the floor. When Samus fires a Super Missile at a wall or ceiling, the resulting shockwave causes all Zoomers in the area to fall off the ledge they were on.

Zoomers and Geemers in the 3D games follow a very similar AI modified for three-dimensional movement.

Zeela
Yellow crab like organisms. They behave exactly like Zoomers. In Zero Mission, there is a red variety of Zeela. They don't move any faster than their yellow cousins, but when destroyed, their eyeballs fall down, which can harm the player. In Metroid Fusion, there is an X version of Zeela, which are able to shoot balls of energy from their arms.