Zero Suit

The Zero Suit is a skintight full-body jumpsuit worn by Samus Aran underneath her Power Suit, and appears after many recent Metroid game endings.

Appearances
The suit first appeared in Metroid: Zero Mission after Samus defeated Mother Brain and initially escaped from the surface of Zebes. While in orbit, Samus was pursued by a small fleet of Space Pirate ships, and even escaped, but was subsequently shot down from afar. Samus crash landed onto the surface of the planet nearby the Space Pirate Mother Ship, stripped of her Power Suit. In order to escape from the planet, Samus needed to infiltrate this ship to find a small escape vessel -- this is what was expected to be found within the ship at the very most. Luckily, Samus came across the Ruins Test during her infiltration mission, granting her a more advanced Power Suit than before.

The Zero Suit is seen in four other Metroid games: in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime Hunters as part of the good endings, and at the beginning and 100% ending of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Finally, it is seen in several instances in Metroid: Other M. It seems to have replaced the Justin Bailey suit as the outfit worn by Samus in 100% endings.

The Zero Suit also appears in the Game Over sequences for Zero Mission and Other M. In the former, Samus' Power Suit disappears, before she leans back and her hair comes undone from its ponytail. In Other M, Samus will fall to the ground, her suit disappearing when she hits ground.

The Zero Suit appears several more times in Other M. In the cutscene preceding the battle with Ridley, he grabs Samus and scrapes her against the wall, her suit deteriorating. However, she reactivates it as she falls. When nearing Sector Zero, Samus comes across an Infant Metroid reminding her of her deceased Baby. Adam shoots her, deactivating her suit. Finally, after the credits, Samus removes her suit to hold his helmet, but not before the Bottle Ship self-destructs as Zero Suit Samus runs to her gunship. This is the second time Samus can be played in the Zero Suit.

Specifications
While in this suit, Samus takes much more damage but is more agile. She is capable of grabbing and hanging from ledges and performing Wall Jumps due to her already-present superhuman acrobatic skills from her Chozo DNA and training. Samus resorts to crawling on her hands and knees to clear small paths, in the absence of the Morph Ball. She retains Power Suit upgrades she has acquired, but is unable to manifest or use them in any way (with exception of Energy Tanks). In Zero Mission she also carries the Paralyzer with her, which briefly stuns her foes with an energy blast, but must recharge between shots. It is unknown what the Zero Suit is made of, or how Samus gets into and out of it, as the suit does not have any zippers or belts. It is possible that it is removed in a similar way to the Power Suit: by deforming at Samus' will. The material has to be some sort of firm polymer, or latex, something that allows Samus to stretch in different positions, but still holds together.

It is possible that the Zero Suit is mixed of Chozo technology, as it is shown to have their symbol implanted on it while Samus is capable of equipping and removing the Power Suit via the symbol. It is likely that the "symbols" on her back, breast and hand are energy-matter converters, transforming the Power Suit and any upgrades into pure energy and storing it via a mental command. When it receives another mental command, it releases the energy, which then reverts to its natural, corporeal form.

The Zero Suit in Metroid Prime Hunters does not possess gloves, has a glowing green line at the base of the neck, different line markings, and does not appear to have the breast sigil. The Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Zero Suit has lighter grey areas than the navy blue depicted in Zero Mission and Corruption. Metroid: Other M ' s Zero Suit also bears different line markings, as well as larger (if impractical) heels. She also holds the Paralyzer in a black holster on her right leg.

In Metroid: Other M, Samus in her Zero Suit demonstrates how the Power Suit is activated. First, the lights on the back flash once, before a blast is fired from the breast sigil, and the Power Suit materializes. During the Countdown sequence, she is played much like in Zero Mission, but with some minor differences. Firstly, she no longer continuously spin jumps in the air. When spin jumping, she will spin once and then fall to the ground, similar to Brawl. Secondly, of course, the Zero Suit has a different appearance: It is more of a "metallic" blue, and is not so skintight as it is less form-fitting around her chest. Energy Tanks are no longer retained, and Samus only has 100 units of energy to sustain her. This is further complicated by the fact that she is unable to use Concentration. Due to this, however, she is no longer as weak, and will only take about 10% damage from contact with flaming debris or 15% damage from Zebesian attacks.

The Paralyzer also works slightly differently. Uncharged shots can actually stun Zebesians, and the Paralyzer can be charged similar to the Charge Beam, like in Brawl. Because she needs a free hand to grab ledges and hold onto walls, and because she has Adam's helmet in her other hand, Samus always keeps her Paralyzer holstered unless she needs to use it, and for this reason is unable to fire from ledges. Search View is also unable in Zero Suit mode, probably because Samus no longer has her helmet and targeting technology activated. Finally, Samus no longer crawls under gaps. Instead, she will quickly slide under gaps or closing gates. This is presumably due to her conditions at the time.

In flashbacks of her early Federation days, such as during Ian's death, Samus wears harness pants on her Zero Suit for unknown reasons.

Super Smash Bros. series (Zero Suit Samus)
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Samus is playable in the Zero Suit. After Samus uses her Final Smash, the Zero Laser, her Power Suit falls off, leaving her in only the Zero Suit. The player can also hold Z on the Wii Nunchuk at the character selection screen when selecting Samus, minus on the Wii Remote, or one of the shield buttons on the Nintendo GameCube controller. When the stage selection appears, Zero Suit is displayed as a character instead. 'Zero Suit Samus' functions as a separate fighter with her own armament and combat style, in much the same way that Princess Zelda has an alter-ego, Sheik, with different moves. As in the Metroid games, Zero Suit Samus is more vulnerable, but also quicker and more maneuverable. She carries her Emergency Pistol, now named the Paralyzer. Exclusive to this game is a new Plasma Whip which she can use as both attacks and tether recoveries, similar to the Grapple Beam she uses with her Power Suit. As well, she has a move called the Flip Jump, where she springs off the ground. When Zero Suit Samus emerges, the pieces of her Power Suit lying on the ground can be picked up and thrown at other fighters. Zero Suit Samus' Final Smash is called Power Suit Samus. It restores Samus' Power Suit, as well as drags nearby enemies close to Samus, and blasts them away for damage. This move mimics the Crystal Flash in ways, though it does not heal Samus in any way.

Zero Suit Samus' palette swaps may be references to the Justin Bailey in its various appearances. Her blue costume is a reference to the Zero Suit in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and the Justin Bailey in Metroid Fusion, the pink costume appears to reference the first Justin Bailey in Metroid, the black costume appears to reference the Super Metroid version of the Bailey and the green costume appears to resemble the leotard that Samus wore in the Captain N: The Game Master comics.

Samus is first seen breaking into the base of the Subspace Army in this form. Soon she comes across a Pikachu being drained of its electrical power. Samus uses her whip to break the container the Pikachu is being held in, summoning a security force of R.O.B.s. Later, she comes across her Power Suit, but is confronted by two Shadow Bug clones mimicking her Power Suit. After their defeat she is able to recover her Power Suit. Once the level is cleared the player can choose either form at will in cleared levels and levels that allow the player to choose any character

At this time, it is currently unclear whether Zero Suit Samus will be returning in SSB4.

Trivia

 * The Zero Suit can also be unlocked in Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse for the Wii along with a Luigi costume. The Zero Suit can be unlocked by photographing 20 or more spirits on the game's Ghost List. This may be a pun based on the fact that the series's title in Japanese means Zero. Tecmo, the creators of the Fatal Frame series, also helped create Metroid: Other M.
 * The Zero Suit also appears as one of the Nintendo-themed costumes that can be worn by certain characters in the Wii U version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
 * In Metroid: Zero Mission Samus crawls on her hands and knees where she would normally use the Morph Ball while she is wearing the Zero Suit. In the original Metroid the Morph Ball was created because it would have been to hard to animate her crawling in the same fashion. Also, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Zero Suit Samus crawls in much the same way she did in Zero Mission. Crawling is absent in Other M, being replaced by sliding under closing gates and hanging obstacles.
 * A jumpsuit similar to the Zero Suit appeared in The Coming of a Hero, part of the Nintendo Comics System.
 * Zero Suit Samus, like most Brawl characters, has unused SFX for hits at high damage percentages. She also had an unused trophy, kneeling with the Paralyzer, and was intended to have a unique victory theme, like Meta Knight.
 * The Zero Suit appears in a microgame distributed online in WarioWare D.I.Y., in which the Zero Suit is worn by Samus if the microgame is correctly played twice.
 * When asked if another sequence played in the Zero Suit would appear in Metroid: Other M, Yoshio Sakamoto said, "It's a little hard to say right now, but if it's something people want, then there may be the possibility for that." This later proved true.
 * Concept art from Other M suggested that the lights on Samus' back would glow strongly during intense situations, but it is unknown if this happens ingame.
 * Metroid: Other M Premiere Edition does not reveal that the Zero Suit is used in the countdown sequence, but features artwork of the Zero Suit next to the description, creating an implication for those unaware.

Appearances

 * Metroid Zero Mission (GBA, 2004)
 * Metroid Zero Mission Japanese commercial


 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN, 2004)
 * Metroid Prime Hunters (DS, 2006)
 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, 2007)
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, 2008)
 * Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii, Japan-only 2008)
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes (Wii, Japan-only 2009)
 * Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii, 2009)
 * WarioWare D.I.Y. (NDS, 2010)
 * Metroid: Other M (Wii, 2010)
 * TV Commercial :60 Spot


 * Dynasty Warriors Vs. (3DS, 2012)
 * Tekken Tag Tournament 2: wii U Edition (Wii U, launch window)