Zebesian

Zebesians are a sub-group of the Space Pirates. The true planet from which not only Zebesians, but the entirety of Space Pirates, originate from is currently unknown; presumably, they are not from the Space Pirate Homeworld as the Metroid Prime Trilogy art booklet states that it is one of several homeworlds. However, series director Yoshio Sakamoto has said that the Pirates that invaded Zebes took "Zebesian" as a general name for themselves after the conquest of the planet, comparing it to most "Americans" actually being descended from Europeans and only calling themselves Americans after conquering the true Native American tribes.

Ridley is said to have been the 'original Zebesian' according to the information in the first game's instruction manual. This has not been mentioned again, even in subsequent retellings of the game's story, and may no longer be canon; however, this may be similar to how ancient Roman generals took the titles of places they conquered, such as Germanicus.

Metroid: Zero Mission
The Zebesians seen in Metroid: Zero Mission are chronologically the first Space Pirate forces encountered in the Metroid series of games (excluding their leaders Kraid, Ridley and Mother Brain, which are encountered before any Zebesian). They appeared only in Chozodia, which featured both the Space Pirate Mothership and a nearby Chozo temple. Their main form of attack involved opening their clawed weapons and shooting beams in the direction of Samus Aran. If she were to be spotted by the Pirate Alarm Systems or by a Zebesian during her explorations, the Zebesians would be more than capable of giving chase by crawling through tunnels, climbing on walls, and running at a slightly higher speed than Samus can manage.

There are only two variants of Zebesians in Zero Mission: a common red type and the rare Silver Space Pirates. The latter were much more resilient, faster, and could inflict incredible damage. They were only seen within the Mother Ship, most notably during the final Countdown when Samus was required to defeat two at once before escaping.

When Samus first entered Tourian, a cutscene showed several Metroids feeding on a Zebesian; as she explored further, Samus found withered Zebesian corpses scattered about in almost every room prior to the Mother Brain's chamber, showing that Tourian was heavily populated by Space Pirates (unlike the original NES Metroid) and that they were initially going to be fought there.

Super Metroid
In Super Metroid, Zebesians had a larger variety and could be found in every area on Zebes with the exception of the Wrecked Ship (which still contained pirate activity in the form of Ki-Hunters). The different variants of Zebesian, from the weakest to the strongest class, are as follows: normal grey color, Green, Red, Pink, Yellow and Silver. With each new class encountered, Samus required stronger weaponry to deal with them; for example, the basic Grey Pirates fall to a single Power Beam shot, but the Green Pirates are only vulnerable to a Missile or several Bombs. When hit by a weapon, regardless of whether it damaged them or not, the Zebesians mostly took a defensive stance and covered their heads with their claws.

Super Metroid ' s Zebesians, as well as their beam shots, are noticeably sluggish when compared to those found in Zero Mission. In the latter game, Zebesians were capable of shooting both horizontally and diagonally while the Super Metroid Zebesians were restricted to shooting only what was in front of them. Also, the Zebesians in Super Metroid never chased after Samus, even if she entered their line of sight. With the exception of the Silver Space Pirates, the overall lack of agility and poor aim of Super Metroid ' s Zebesian Space Pirates made them an easy challenge. The only advantage these Pirates had over their Zero Mission counterparts was their ability to fire more than two beams in a single attack (the former could only shoot one from each claw).

Curiously, Zebesian Pirates can be seen shooting beams from not only their claws, but from their eyes as well (most notably the wall-climbing Zebesians). Since Super Metroid is the only game that illustrates this ability, an explanation is never given.

Metroid: Other M
In Metroid: Other M, feral Zebesians have been gathered and cybernetically enhanced as part of a bioweapon program in the Bottle Ship; this program was intended to create a Special Forces Unit with a similar structure to the Space Pirates for the Galactic Federation. Their original form resembles that of the Zebesian-X from Fusion but with newly added prosthetic limbs and metal-covered heads and chestpieces; these Federation-based implants seem quite crude in comparison to those made by Pirates from the Prime series. Controlled and presumably stimulated by MB and Ridley's clone respectively, all Zebesians are capable of wall-clinging, firing beams, jumping ground-pound attacks and claw slashes. When hit with the Ice Beam, only their claws are frozen rather than their whole body.

In training, a holographic Zebesian, named Zebes-Horogram is controlled by the Head Quarantine Officer. It was used both in the Sense Move and Missile training. During the Sense Move training, it remained invisible (save for its outline) while it fired its beams at Samus. In the Missile training, Samus was required to locate it via Search View before attacking with a Missile. Afterward, Samus and the holographic Zebesian fought against each other. Interesting to note is that this hologram represents a normal, unenhanced Zebesian, which are never encountered in the entire game (the first trailer of Other M originally portrayed her fighting them in the Bottle Ship, as well as concept art).

A dead Zebesian was found in the Exam Center of the Biosphere, making large beeping noises. After it was discovered, Samus immediately recognized it as a Zebesian, albeit a cybernetically enhanced one. She also spotted a Galactic Federation logo upon the deceased bioform. When Maurice Favreau announced that the Galactic Federation was experimenting with bioweapons, it quickly became clear that they included the Zebesians in their project; the Federation intended to control the remnants of this dangerous marauding race before replacing them with Project Metroid Warriors.

Two variants appear in Other M:

Cyborg Zebesians are the weakest variant encountered (normal Zebesians do not make an appearance). They are enhanced, (partially or entirely) metal-covered Zebesians. Their claws are completely replaced with prosthetic ones. These can fire Missiles as well as beams. Their armor begins to break off as they take damage, revealing arm cannons below the prosthetic claws and snapping off the fins on their backs.

Super Zebesians are red-armoured Zebesians that can fire a red and green charged version of their basic laser attack out of a large cannon that has replaced one of their claws. This charged shot has the properties of a Wave Beam, similar to the Wave Trooper Pirates of Metroid Prime. The cannon also bears an uncanny resemblance to the Arm Cannon. When these Super Zebesians trapped Samus, Adam was forced to authorize the Wave Beam so she could counter attack. The Super Zebesians also attack Samus when she is escaping the Bottle Ship. Super Zebesians are capable of raising their claws up like the Zebesians from Super Metroid and firing a barrage of several shots at once.

Metroid Fusion
This game features purple Zebesians with green accents. This Zebesian design, which makes them seem bird-like, reappears in the Metroid Manga and in Metroid: Other M. In fact, Metroid: Other M implies that a Zebesian's true form is this purple variant; all other variations of Zebesian would therefore be wearing various types of body armor.

All Zebesians in Fusion are either infected or mimicked by the X Parasites. These Zebesian-X have improved natural armor that makes them more resilient than the majority of the classes seen in Super Metroid. Curiously, the Zebesian-X found crawling on walls in Sector 1 are weaker than those seen later on, as the former can be killed with a single Missile shot and can be frozen. Regardless, the Zebesian-X retain the jumping and beam-shooting behavior of normal Zebesians. Fusion also contains several mutated Zebesians, called Mermen Pirates; these result from X Parasites combining Skultera DNA with a Zebesian-X, creating a being designed specifically for underwater combat. The strongest variant of Zebesian-X are the incredibly rare Gold Space Pirates, which are quite similar to the Silver Space Pirates featured in Super Metroid.

Super Metroid manual
"These feared aliens are known as the scourge of the Galaxy. They are known for stealing galactic trading ships and leaving the crews stranded in space."

Official Metroid Fusion website
"Using their advanced technology, these galactic marauders are bent on becoming the dominant force in the galaxy. Their presence on the research vessel orbiting SR388 is cause for alarm."

Metroid Fusion manual
"These feared aliens once tried to use Metroids to further their schemes. They cling to walls and attack."

Brawl sticker

 * Zebes Inhabitant Metroid Fusion - [Arm] Attack + 5 (All)

Metroid: Other M Art Folio: Close Combat
"I prefer to use my Arm Cannon, as it allows me to take out most threats from a safe distance. When circumstances call for it, however, I'm happy to engage the enemy hand-to-hand. The augmented power of my suit lends me extra power in combat-sometimes a well-placed kick is the only way to deal with a grappling Zebesian."

Trivia

 * There appears to be contradiction existing in Metroid: Other M in regards to the Zebesians' intelligence. Samus states that Zebesians, even if lead by Ridley's clone, would be unable to work as an intelligent group and would eventually become feral unless lead by Mother Brain. However, the Metroid manga features the race led by Ridley alone actively and strategically attacking Galactic Federation-controlled planets long before they met Mother Brain, meaning they are far from being helpless even with her absence.
 * The Metroid Prime series also contradict Other M by portraying Space Pirates working mostly independently (although the Space Pirates in the Prime games were not Zebesians).
 * The same behavior occurs in Metroid: Zero Mission, when the Pirates are able to operate onboard the Mother Ship without Ridley or Mother Brain's control. However, it is possible that Robot Ridley was to some degree able to control them or that they were not aware of Mother Brain and Ridley's defeat and were just following predesignated orders such as guarding the ship.
 * However, it's also possible that Samus was referring to the Cyborg and Super Zebesians, which seem to be more feral than normal Pirates, since they haven't formed any sort of coherent society or manipulate the Bottle Ship's equipment in any way even though there has been a significant amount of time between their release and discovery by Samus.


 * In Super Metroid, Mother Brain can fire two different beams from her single eyeball; one of them is identical to the beams fired by Zebesian Pirates in the same game.
 * In the first few trailers and released screenshots of Metroid: Zero Mission, Zebesian Pirates have a slightly different head structure from those seen in the final version of the game. They were originally going to have a more bird-like design, similar to those seen in Fusion.