User blog:Tuckerscreator/Uncovering Metroid:Part 3

Today, we look into another more important aspect of my script: the story and the scale! Let’s start with a little summing up and then an explanation of what is to come.

Currently, there are 7 films: Zero Mission, Prime, Prime: Hunters, Return of Samus, Super, Fusion, and the final film which remains yet untitled. But they all serve up to lead up to Samus’s ultimate quest: her journey to restore the Chozo as the rightful rulers of the races and bring peace to all the warring races.

And what shall the depiction of those be like? Let me give some concrete descriptions.

From a universe perspective, this film’s scale is VERY LARGE! From the ravaged dunes of a mining colony to the deserts, oceans, and underground cities of Zebes, and even to our Moon, now terraformed and become a vast military base, and eventually down to the surface of Earth itself and all its various cities. We see all over the place, and INCREDIBLE amount of detail is required for all of them! For one thing, we must always be careful to avoid “Planetville” syndrome, where one city ends up constituting ALL of a planet. This can happen even when depicting Earth, as shown in the recent-but-excellent Star Trek film, where the only events of planetary disaster on Vulcan and Earth occurred only in places where plot-important characters could look and marvel! But a planet is a very big place and so one city can not equal the whole adventure! Averting this is VERY hard, but the payoff of people knowing you’ve put in your work is always worth it.

Then there is the focus to science and history. With this film, I DO want to revolutionize the science-fiction genre, and the best way to do it, I feel, is to stick to real-world science. Films like Star Wars typically show a BLATANT disregard for such knowledge, but it is only inevitable that in the future somebody will point out all the flaws and do it the right way, so why not now? Besides, often the real thing ends up being more exciting overall. For example, space battles become much more visceral when you realize the seemingly impossible maneuvers that can be performed when there is no gravity and no air resistance. This includes:


 * 1) Facing backwards to shoot while flying forwards.
 * 2) Spinning at rapid speeds to increase your firing range.
 * 3) Enclosing your opponent in very tiny, intense circles to destroy him.
 * 4) Flying with your thrusters off and letting your momentum let you “infinitely coast.”

And many others! Quite simply, it lends the film a more visceral feel if we know that is how it could happen and often the results can very very exciting or sometimes very scary!

Now, what about the STORY of this universe? Let me give a bit of history beforehand. Those of who hate spoilers, I’m afraid there is no getting around it in this blog of mine, so: SPOILER ALERT!

I have decide to merge this universe of Metroid in my script with that of Halo. This is a surprising and very controversial decision, but let me explain my reasons.


 * 1) The two universe merge surprisingly well and with incredible emotional effect. The Forerunners, super-advanced ancestor race, now disappeared. Could it have been that the Chozo once knew them? The Sangheili, proud reptile-like warrior race. Has the war taken a toll on them and degenerated them all into Space Pirates? Humanity, now super-advanced. But is their population still ravaged by the war? The Flood, parasitic zombie-maker. Does it have any connection with the similar cousins of Phazon and the X?
 * 2) The Halo universe contains elements previously unseen to Metroid that grant greater power to many events. A Pirate assault on a mining colony changes VERY GREATLY once you bring the Flood into play! The ODSTs, incredible soldiers we can not afford to forget. And what about legacy of the Spartans?
 * 3) The previous reason, now Metroid to Halo. Is the Chozo sudden downfall related to the fall like that of the Forerunners? Do the Spartan super-soldiers hold any relationship to Samus? Why did attempts at salvation from disaster like the Halo Array, the Metroids, and the Omega Cannon all go so wrong?

But what about from a personal perspective, that is the perspective of Samus? Well, for her, it is ALSO quite a spectacle!

For me, it always felt as though the Metroid series was leading up something for Samus, that she had some sort of ultimate destiny in story. Fans of the Zelda series have heard all about ultimate destiny enough times to make their ears bleed, but I mean in a way more drawn out, that each adventure was meant to prepare herself for something, that she was always fighting for some purpose greater than herself.

So for my backdrop, here is what I have. Observe.

It is the 27th century, 200 years since the events of the Human-Covenant War, and much has transpired since then. The UNSC has allied with the Chozo government, The Emissary, and the thousands of other alien races to form the Galactic Federation. Incredible advances in science and technology have offered better living for all. Yet even so, much trouble remains afoot.

Humanity, and the other inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy are angry at the Chozo for their confiscation of Forerunner relics, who take them while stating that the powerful artifacts are much too dangerous for humanity to handle at this time. The Sangheili race, as well as many others, are following the words of a long-bygone demagogue named Cavamee, who advocates piracy as a way of life and commerce. The Federation is in a massive arms race in order to combat Pirates, and this leads us to the lonely mining colony of K-2L. The Emissary has come to K-2L in search of a mysterious source of power, descended from a line of warriors, which was foretold could save them from a soon to be coming “dark time.” They find Rodney Aran, and his wife Virginia and daughter Samus, together the last descendents of the Spartan-IIs. Then an attack occurs on the colony by Space Pirates and Samus is taken to Zebes to be raised as their ultimate warrior. But Samus is not the ultimate warrior they wanted. She may be descended from the Master Chief himself, but she did not receive his gifts, his augmentations, his incredible powers. The TRUE ultimate warrior was her sister, being carried at that moment by Virginia Aran, but lost when the attack by the Pirates came. Samus… is nothing more than a backup plan.

She does not learn this for many years. It is not until her return to Zebes once it crawls with foes that Mother tells her the secret of her adoption. It tears at her heart and soul, but her Chozo father now passed on tells her this was not so: She was a backup, but it wasn’t her ancestry that convinced them, it was her heart. They knew she was the one with the spirit to save them.

Zebes falls. The Federation falls into disarray. Pirates rage and run amok. An infertility crisis strikes the galaxies. And throughout it all Samus fights to fulfill her ultimate destiny.

And what is that destiny? Why, a meeting with The Mind, the grand Precursor who has wrought here all these woe, the great mind being who rules his own personal universe where HE makes the rules and they come to being.

Fhew, it’s going to be an epic adventure! And in the meantime, let’s head off to buy some lunches! YOUR TURN!