Power Suit

For other uses, see Power Suit (Disambiguation). A  Power Suit (ノーマルスーツ Nōmaru Sūtsu) is a suit of powered armor designed by the Chozo. This term applies to two things: Samus Aran's basic suit without any upgrades, and her suit as a whole regardless of its current upgrade level. This is likely because the word "Power Suit" is short for powered armorsuit. A Chozo known as Dryn was apparently instrumental in the development of the technology, and Mother Brain claims to be the creator of Samus' original Power Suit. Two specific models are well-known: the first is a suit given to Samus in her teenage years by the Chozo who raised her (seen in Metroid: Zero Mission). This suit was significantly damaged as a result of a Pirate attack during this game's events, however, and was soon replaced with an enhanced version featuring slight physical differences. Presumably, this second Power Suit is an ancient model, given its depiction in Chozo prophetic murals and its compatibility with some of the oldest Chozo-produced upgrades such as the Space Jump, Plasma Beam and Gravity Suit.

Description
Samus's Power Suit comes with a standard Power Beam and the Oxygen Supply Equipment allows her to survive almost indefinitely underwater and in outer space, including the ability to resist most airborne toxins. Its basic functions are not always sufficient for a busy bounty hunter, so the Chozo used a modular construction allowing the suit to be outfitted with a wide variety of weapons systems and special armor. The Chozo themselves left many such tools on various planets they inhabited, including the Varia and Gravity Suit upgrades. The Luminoth, another ancient race technologically equal to the Chozo, were able to produce modifications compatible with the Power Suit, including the Dark Suit and the Light Suit (although they were unrecognized until Samus met U-Mos). A considerable amount of the suit is biological, which resulted in the Suit's Phazon corruption following Samus’s encounter with the Omega Pirate. Exposure to the large quantity of unrefined Phazon ore caused a kind of mutation, rendering the suit impervious to radiation from blue Phazon, and allowing Samus to fire the devastating Phazon Beam under certain conditions. The Power Suit contains 99 units of energy that sustain it (this amount is improved by 100 whenever Samus gets an Energy Tank) and if completely drained, it becomes unable to protect Samus, and she is forced to revert to the Zero Suit, a blue bodysuit that grants weaker protection but allows for much more agility, and is equipped with a stun pistol, the Paralyzer.

While active, the Power Suit bonds with Samus biologically, and cannot be taken off without her permission or cooperation. It has been observed on many occasions that the methods which Samus uses to remove the Power Suit is to have it dematerialize with a bright flash. When the suit is inactive, Samus is able to retain the upgrades within herself until it becomes active again (observed in the events of Metroid: Zero Mission.) But it has also been observed that she can have it materialize at will, (seen several times taking place in the origins manga, once at the beginning of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and at the start of Metroid: Other M) suggesting that this suit is not meant to be dismantled to be removed like regular armor, and that it is somehow put on or taken off by using an energy-to-matter reaction (it also has been shown that at least the helmet can be removed manually, as Samus demonstrates this in some of the special endings in the series). When this is not possible to do, the Galactic Federation has been able to modify it while she is unconscious. In the first instance of this, they added PED functionality to take advantage of a Phazon infection in her bloodstream. Later, the weaker Fusion Suit is built on the remains of Samus's Power Suit after large portions were surgically removed due to X Parasite infestation.

The Power Suit is apparently able to assimilate almost any technological upgrade into its system, regardless of the upgrade's origins (in some cases such as the Energy Transfer Module before Samus meeting U-Mos, it will be listed as unidentified). This is shown when Samus acquires the Hazard Shield and Nova Beam, both of which are of Space Pirate design. The suit however, was once unable to assimilate the Plasma Beam, Gravity Suit, and Space Jump upgrades in Metroid: Zero Mission, despite being of Chozo origins. This was due to the fact that her old Power Suit was developed in a fairly archaic time period and not compatible with the three, newer upgrades.

While Samus worked with the Federation Police Force, she had a symbol on the left shoulder of her Power Suit. It looked like a spiraling galaxy, likely a Federation mark. Another small feature of the Power Suit is a glowing green (or blue) "L" shape on the left chest plate. In Metroid Prime, the shape points outward, rather than inward, like in other games. In Super Metroid and Metroid: Other M, the Power Suit has a yellow coloration with the large shoulders of the Varia Suit. However, in Super Metroid the front-facing sprite used in elevators and save points has flat shoulders. The large shouldered yet yellow Power Suit is likely a result of the Legendary Power Suit. Despite this, when the Varia reverts to the Power Suit in Metroid Prime, the shoulders become flat and orange and stretch all the way to her shoulders, while before the obtainment of the new Power Suit, the shoulders "fan" up and extend (in height) past Samus's head.

The Power Suit has often lost several of its abilities at the beginning of each game, or they are limited in use. In Metroid Prime, Samus was caught in an explosion while escaping the Frigate Orpheon, and as a result she lost her Charge Beam, Missile Launcher, Morph Ball, Bombs, Varia Suit and Grapple Beam, and was forced to track them down later. In Metroid Prime Hunters, she began with some of her abilities from Prime. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, numerous Ing stole her Missile Launcher, Space Jump Boots, Bombs, Boost Ball, Spider Ball, Grapple Beam and Power Bombs. Mysteriously, Samus does not have any of the Beam weapons she obtained on Tallon IV, nor does she have the Gravity Suit. The most recent Metroid games have explained why she has started off or lost some of her abilities, but upgrades such as the Gravity Suit or Plasma Beam have disappeared from her arsenal with no explanation at all. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus began with most of her latent abilities and did not lose any of them, although mysteriously she did not use the upgrades she had obtained on Aether and did not later return, such as the Power Bombs, the Missile Launcher or Spider Ball; she later regains some of these. In Metroid II, Samus brought to SR388 her Morph Ball, Missiles, but ironically no Ice Beam. Metroid: Other M acknowledges that Samus retains all her upgrades from Super Metroid (with the exception of the High Jump Boots, Spazer Beam and X-Ray Scope), but she does not use them, even during the short training sequence before the concept of authorization from Adam Malkovich is introduced. Currently, Super Metroid is the only game in which Samus starts off with not a single upgrade in her possession except for her Power Suit and Beam (despite it taking place immediately after Metroid II), and no explanation is given at all.

In Metroid: Other M, Samus' visor is most of the time transparent allowing her face and hair to be seen, but often her visor will flash light green, becoming opaque. How she can see through it during this is unknown. She normally does this in combat situations but disables the tint when talking or in a non-hostile situation. When her health drops to critical levels, the tint turns red-orange, but back to green when she restores enough energy. The visor does not do this in other games; instead it is normally always semi-transparent.

Control
Samus' Power Suit requires immense levels of concentration and mental determination to operate efficiently. Due to years of training with the Chozo, Samus learned how to control her emotions and maintain the Suit's use for long periods of time.

In Metroid: Zero Mission, Samus removed her Power Suit after escaping the exploding Tourian, believing that the mission was over, and also to relieve herself of the Suit. However, Space Pirates ambushed her and succeeded in forcing her to crash land back on Zebes, ultimately disabling her ability to re-summon her Power Suit. Samus later obtains a new suit after defeating the Ruins Test in Chozodia. This new Suit (which Samus uses for all her subsequent missions) demands the same methods of control as the previous one. Whilst Samus can usually remain in control, there have been occasions where she experiences lapses in her focus, especially in times of great anxiety or stress.

When Samus was faced with her nemesis Ridley, his shocking return on the Bottle Ship caused her unable to repress her emotions and suffered a Posttraumatic stress disorder-related breakdown, bringing her Suit to dematerialise and leave her defenseless. She also lost composure when she was hit by a Freeze Gun shot during an encounter with an Infant Metroid later on. In this instance, it was unlikely that the shot itself was the cause of her Suit's failure, but rather catalyzed because of her conflicting emotions about killing the creature at the time. Finally, she disabled her suit by choice when she shared a moment with Adam's helmet, but this proved to be a mistake yet again as the Countdown soon started and she was forced to escape in her Zero Suit.

Official Metroid Prime website
"Weapon effect: N/A

Weapon range: Unlimited

Weapon potential: Medium

''Samus Aran's Power Suit provides life support functions, and is well shielded from attack. The modular nature of the Power Suit allows for the addition of weapons, visors and other gear as needed. The Power Suit's shielding loses energy with each hit, but can be replenished by collecting energy upgrades. The origin of this suit is the subject of much speculation."''

Metroid Prime manual
"Samus's standard Power Suit was built specifically for her by the Chozo people. It is integrated with her body, acting as a sort of second skin--not only does it provide shielding in battle and augmented physical strength, but its life-support systems allow her to survive in water and even space without additional equipment."

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Trophy
"Samus in the basic version of the legendary Power Suit, made for her by the Chozo race. Samus is most often seen at the beginning of each game in this suit. The normal Power Suit has the lowest level of protective power and features no additional functions. She can use the cannon on her right arm for power shots and build up her arsenal through item pickups."

NES Metroid

GCN Metroid Prime

Sticker

 * Samus - Metroid [Specials: Indirect] Attack +15 (Samus, Zero Suit Samus)

Metroid: Other M Art Folio - Power Suit Samus
"My Power Suit is my greatest weapon. Designed by the Chozo, it boosts all of my natural athletic abilities while providing an array of defensive and offensive attributes. Boasting full armor capable of sustaining ballistic damage, life-support systems, my upgradable Arm Cannon, and Morph Ball capabilities, it truly is a part of me."

Metroid: Other M manual
"The Power Suit that Samus is wearing will acquire new features as you progress through the game."

Metroid: Other M Status screen data
"Samus's basic suit."

Trivia

 * The fact that the shoulder joints of Samus' suit are so far apart compared to her actual figure has been a source of confusion among fans, since her arms would literally have to be pulled from their sockets to fit the suit.
 * In the commercial for the original Metroid, Samus's suit can be seen giving off a cloud of steam, possibly implying that it produced large amounts of heat. However, this was probably for dramatic effect.
 * In Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime Pinball, the Power Suit speaks at certain points, the former depending on the version. In the Japanese, European and Australian versions of Prime, such cases include when the Ventilation Shaft fills with gas, when engaging a horde of enemies that causes the doors to lock, and when Samus' abilities are lost (the suit will list each item that Samus has lost) at the beginning of the game. Cases in Pinball include when a Jackpot is scored. In Pinball, the suit voice is provided by Lorelei King.
 * In Metroid: Other M, the Power and Zero Suits are technically the only suits used, as the Varia and Gravity are labeled as "Features" rather than "Suits". However, Samus has the Varia suit on since it has shoulder pads.
 * In Metroid: Other M, when Samus's energy is critically low, the colors from her visor, chestplate, shoulderplate, the Arm Cannon's lining, and the hind knee joints change from green to red.
 * In Metroid Prime, the Power Suit was modeled and skinned by Gene Kohler.
 * Samus has the ability to enable select parts of the Power Suit, the most notable would be her Arm Cannon, being utilized in the Justin Bailey as seen in the original Metroid, as well as the Metroid Manga.
 * Weavel and Sylux are also stated to possess Power Suits, though Sylux's is of stolen Federation designs and Weavel's is more a mechanical body than a suit.
 * In the original Metroid, both the Power and Varia Suits had the same shape, but different colors.
 * In Metroid Zero Mission, if an IPS patch is used on a ROM to enable a semi-removed ability toggle similar to that of Super Metroid's, Samus retains her shoulder-pads in the Legendary Power Suit even if her Varia and Gravity Suits are turned off.