Aether

For other uses, see Aether (Disambiguation).

Aether is a rogue planet in the Dasha region of space. It is the home of the Luminoth. Fifty years ago, a Leviathan from planet Phaaze crashed into the Aether with unusual force, destroying the planet's natural beauty and bringing with it pure darkness in the form of the Ing Horde, and their home, the alternate dimension of Dark Aether. The exact details of the event and how the Dark dimension was created are still unclear; however it is believed that the Leviathan's Wormhole creating abilities are somehow to blame. The meteor was transported to Dark Aether before impact, causing the crater which scarred a whole face of the planet. Despite there being no sign of the meteor or its mark, Aether itself still felt the force of its impact and bore the signs of desecration.

Since splitting with Dark Aether, the planet became plagued with violent electrical storms in its atmosphere and purple clouds, a direct result of the battle for dominance between the two planets. In addition to creating Dark Aether, the impact left Aether mostly rocky and barren, ruining what had once been a beautiful landscape. A few weeks after the impact, when the Luminoth race which dwelled there eventually emerged out of their shelters to see what happened to the planet, they discovered that the meteor was nowhere to be found. The Luminoth then realised the extent of the meteor's consequences, and a war with the Ing that would last decades began. The planet was eventually restored to light by Samus Aran when she visited the planet on a rescue mission of a Galactic Federation squad lost on the planet, near the war's end. Areas of Aether include the Temple Grounds, the Great Temple, Agon Wastes, Torvus Bog, and the Sanctuary Fortress.

History
The Luminoth had no home planet to begin with. However, after meeting other races (including the Chozo) who had laid claim to a homeworld, they decided to do the same, eventually settling on Aether. Aether, as a rogue planet, had no sun; instead of sunlight, the planet depended on an energy source the Luminoth named "The Light of Aether". The Light was so powerful, it threatened the planet's well-being, and so the Luminoth built the Energy Controllers to channel it. The controllers used the Light to power a teleportation system and weather control grid, in addition to many other Luminoth creations.



Ruin came in the form of a Leviathan from Phaaze, similar to the one that had struck Tallon IV before, except that the Phazon energy in this particular Leviathan was ten-fold compared to Tallon IV. The impact itself was devastating: Agon, which had been a vast plain, became a desert wasteland; and Torvus, which had been a lush forest, was flooded with water. In addition, the pure phazon energy in the leviathan itself caused the original Aether to split from a new world called Dark Aether, and the Light of Aether was split between the two planets. As the Luminoth lived on Aether, a new race called the Ing was born on Dark Aether, and began invading the Luminoth's world through portals.

In response, the Luminoth developed technology such as the Light, Dark, and Annihilator beams, the Light and Dark suits, portal-opening devices, and light beacon technology that kept them safe from Dark Aether's caustic atmosphere. They also created the Energy Transfer Module, a device meant to take the energy from Dark Aether's energy controllers and restore it to Aether. Despite their efforts, the Ing pressed into Aether, taking over Agon, Torvus, and the Sanctuary Fortress one by one. The team that ventured into Dark Aether retrieved the keys to the Sky Temple, where the Emperor Ing resided, but was then split up and killed, one by one, and the Energy Transfer Module was stolen by the Ing.

Having lost all hope, the remaining Luminoth locked themselves in suspended animation, hoping for a miracle to save them. The current Sentinel of the Luminoth, U-Mos, stayed awake to watch as the Ing approached. U-Mos soon met the bounty hunter Samus Aran, and asked for her help in saving the planet. What brought Samus to the planet was news of a missing GF starship; the G.F.S. Tyr, which had disappeared while in pursuit of a Space Pirate ship. The GF force had damaged the Space Pirate ship, forcing it to crash land onto the planet's surface. The GF ship followed, but was damaged by lightning when traveling through Aether's turbulent atmosphere, and made an emergency landing as well. Samus locates these GF troopers and learns this, but they had already been killed by Ing forces long before she arrived. She then learns more of these "Ing", and then sets out on a journey much larger than what she had originally planned: she was to destroy the Ing's dwelling, Dark Aether, by returning "the Light of Aether" back to its rightful place in order to restore the planet to a more stable state.

After this mission was completed, the Galactic Federation came to Aether and collected most of the remaining Phazon from the planet. The Phazon they left behind was collected by the Space Pirates, who also unknowingly picked up Dark Samus. The Luminoth, meanwhile, began the task of rebuilding their planet.

Inhabitants
Aether had many unique creatures, some of which are similar to bioforms of Tallon IV and are speculated to be gifts from the Chozo to the Luminoth during their meetings. The planet also had many mechanisms, most of which had gone rogue by the time Samus arrived, and now serve the Ing, and also off-world creatures. Below is a list of every enemy or species encountered on Aether, or mentioned to have inhabited but no longer do.


 * "Humility" Class Turret (Space Pirate)
 * Agon Bearerpod
 * Alpha Blogg
 * Alpha Sandigger
 * Alpha Splinter
 * Bloatsac
 * Blogg
 * Bloggling
 * Blueroot Tree
 * Bomb Guardian
 * Brizgee
 * Caretaker Class Drone
 * Dark Alpha Splinter
 * Dark Blogg
 * Dark Luminoth
 * Dark Missile Trooper
 * Dark Pirate Commando
 * Dark Pirate Trooper
 * Dark Quad
 * Dark Samus
 * Dark Splinter
 * Dark Trooper
 * Dark War Wasp
 * Darkling
 * Diligence Class Drone
 * Federation Marine
 * Fish
 * Green Kralee
 * Grenchler
 * Growler Class Turret
 * Guardian
 * Hydling
 * Infant Tallon Metroid
 * Ing
 * Ingsmasher
 * Kralee
 * Krocuss
 * Lightflyer
 * Luminoth Turret
 * Luminoth security sensor array
 * Luminoth security sensor probe
 * Luminoth sentry pod
 * Lumite
 * Maintenance Unit
 * Mechlops
 * Mekenobite
 * Metroid
 * Metroid Cocoon
 * Octopede
 * Pillbug
 * Pirate Aerotrooper (Space Pirate)
 * Pirate Commando (Space Pirate)
 * Pirate Grenadier (Space Pirate)
 * Pirate Trooper (Space Pirate)
 * Preed
 * Quad
 * Rezbit
 * Sandbat
 * Sandgrass
 * Sandigger
 * Seedburster
 * Sentreye
 * Serenity Class Drone
 * Shredder
 * Shrieker
 * "Shrike" Class Assault Skiff
 * Spider Guardian
 * Splinter
 * Splinter Cocoon
 * Sporb
 * Tallon Metroid
 * Torvus Bearerpod
 * Torvus Hanging Pod
 * Tree
 * Venom Weed
 * "Vigilance" Class Turret (Space Pirate)
 * War Wasp
 * Worker Splinter
 * ULF 43
 * ULF 45
 * ULF 47
 * ULF 48



Temple Grounds
The area Samus Aran makes planet fall on. In the game Temple Grounds acts as an overworld-type area, linking all of the other areas. It's the area surrounding the Luminoth-built Great Temple.

Great Temple
Great Temple is the last refuge of the Luminothand houses the last of the Luminoth placed under stasis sleep and guarded by the sentinel of the Great Temple, U-Mos.

Agon Wastes
The barren desert area of Aether. Before the event the Luminoth refer to as the Cataclysm, the Agon Wastes was a lush green field of grass, named the Agon Plains. This area became the location of the Space Pirate mining and lab headquarters. This is also the area where Samus fights Dark Samus for the first time.



Torvus Bog
This forest area of Aether has turned into a rotting bog after the Cataclysm. It is home to many dangerous creatures, such as the dreaded Grenchlers.

The Torvus Bog is divided into two areas: The upper Torvus and the lower Torvus.

The Upper Torvus is the Bog area and The Lower Torvus is the temple built by the Luminoth, which was later completely flooded with water.

Sanctuary Fortress
A giant fortress building built by the Luminoth to be the ultimate sanctuary for the Luminoth population. Filled with independent mechanisms and sentry androids, it is a very dangerous area. Sanctuary Fortress also contains parts of and unassembled Quadraxis, a fully assembled model being taken by the Ing during the war. In Dark Aether, the Ing have claimed the fortress as their "Hive" and have re-built and possessed most of the machines from Light Aether.

Trivia

 * In Greek mythology, Aether is the name of the personification of the upper sky, space, and heaven.
 * The concept of planet Aether may have originated from the now obsolete scientific theory, "luminiferous aether."
 * The planet's name was foreshadowed in Metroid Prime by the rooms Research Lab Aether and Aether Lab Entryway.
 * In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Aether is the name of Ike's Mastery Skill. Also, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it is Ike's up special attack. Interestingly, the screenshots for Ike's moveset on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website show Ike using this move on Samus.

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