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An Atomic[1][2] (アトミック)[3][4] is an energy-based, floating creature found in Super Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Their physiology is very simple, consisting of a large sphere with three or four smaller spheres embedded into it, depending on the game. Atomics are always found within spaceships, which suggests they are artificial life-forms.
Aside from coloration, they are identical in appearance to the Bombu species and the two maintenance units, the Harmony Class Drone and Diligence Class Drone.
Description[]
Metroid: Zero Mission[]
Atomics[4] appear on Zebes in both the Space Pirate Mother Ship and the Wrecked Ship sections of Chozodia on Zebes. Their main body is green and the three smaller segments are yellow; the latter's constant motion is the only visual indicator that an Atomic rotates as it flies.
They are not present when Samus Aran stealthily infiltrates the mothership for the first time and only emerge during her second visit, and are thus likely released by the Space Pirates for additional security. They can initially be found hovering in a passive state if they are unaware of Samus's presence, but if she is spotted, they will begin to maintain their distance from her, flying away if she gets too close and even more so when Samus uses her Screw Attack. This behavior, however, allows Samus to easily corner them, due to their movements getting hindered by nearby surfaces and this can facilitate targeting them. Unlike its iteration in Super Metroid, Atomics cannot phase through walls or surfaces, though in rare cases, they may become stuck inside one.
An Atomic firing off electricity.
Periodically, Atomics attack by accurately firing extremely harmful bolts of electricity at her; these attacks can be anticipated by the glow they emanate when charging their bodies. A bolt fired will fly directly ahead close toward Samus's current known position and can be angled in eight different directions. When their bolts impact a surface, a large surrounding explosion is created for a brief second. The impacted surface then becomes a temporary hazard due to the field of electricity coursing around the area of impact. This makes the aforementioned cornering tactic a double-edged sword, as their projectiles and all their effects become harder to avoid the more Samus closes in on the Atomics. A direct hit from a bolt and the resulting splash damage from touching a charged surface are both strong enough to interrupt both the powerful Screw Attack and a Shinespark, simultaneously damaging Samus. Samus may not receive damage during the latter if she is struck immediately after she has impacted on a surface. Bolts are fired one at a time within every few seconds.
Atomics are invulnerable to all Beam weapons and can only be eliminated by two Missiles, a Super Missile, the aforementioned Screw Attack, or the Speed Booster. If Samus has obtained the Charge Beam and has a fully charged shot loaded, Atomics will fly directly to her location once onscreen. When doing so, they do not attack with electricity and any electric attack stored will be halted until Samus's charged shot is gone. With both the Charge Beam and the Screw Attack, Samus can take advantage of this behavior by luring the Atomics toward her and somersaulting directly into them for an easy kill.
Battle Statistics[]
| Attack | Damage Output |
|---|---|
| Contact damage | 15 units of damage |
| Lightning strike and Splash radius | 25 units of damage |
| electrified surface | 5 units of damage |
*Statistics are calculated with both the Varia Suit and Gravity Suit, as Samus would have these at the time of encounter.[5]
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption[]
Atomics appear very rarely and are only found within two instances; one is found in the crashed G.F.S. Theseus in Bryyo Cliffside on planet Bryyo and the other shelters within the Xenoresearch Lab on the G.F.S. Valhalla. In their 3-D appearance, the creatures' bodies are comprised of four dark red spheres attached to a larger, grey translucent sphere in which bright energy can be seen within.
Although officially named Atomic like its counterparts from Zebes, its behavior is virtually identical to the Pulse Bombu of Metroid Prime and the Harmony Class Drone of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Whenever Samus is nearby, they begin dropping their red segments directly below them, which create an explosion on impact. Their Logbook entry explains that their hazardous energized bodies constantly creates excess electricity, which is packed into the red spheres, resulting in immediate regeneration to replace the discarded segments. Curiously, they only begin shedding these segments when approached by Samus, unlike the Pulse Bombu that constantly drops them, regardless of her presence. Each bomb delivers 10 units of damage (on Veteran Mode).
Atomics fly aimlessly and very slowly around the room they are in, and as such, they can be avoided easily. They do not seek out Samus unless she charges her Beam weapons near them, at which point they will aggressively fly towards her location, due to their attraction to intense energy sourced. When colliding, an Atomic delivers 15 units of damage (on Veteran Mode) along with briefly disrupting visor functions (regardless of whether damage is sustained or not). Atomics can only be destroyed with the Charge Beam, requiring Samus to begin her attack at a distance in order to charge her weapon and fire it before the creatures can reach her. An Atomic's defenses can reflect even enemy attacks.
An Atomic releasing an explosive segment of itself on-board the G.F.S. Theseus.
Encounters with these creatures are short-lived, as completing various tasks will cause them to permanently disappear. In both aforementioned locations they appear in, they are entirely optional to battle and can be avoided. The one aboard the Thesus vanishes once the Satellite Uplink is established and Samus exits the room completely. Although the one onboard the Valhalla's Xenoresearch Lab can appear multiple times during Samus's initial visits within the room, if she inserts two Energy Cells to bring the generator back online to full power, the moment she leaves the room completely afterward, Phazon Metroids will fill the room instead, replacing the previous creatures found there (which includes the Atomic).
Interestingly, the cyan and yellow coloration of the previously mentioned Pulse Bombu and Harmony Class Drone make them visually closer to the Atomics from the 2-D games in comparison to Metroid Prime 3's variant.
Super Metroid[]
The Atomics[1] reappear during Samus's second mission on Zebes and are located exclusively within the Wrecked Ship on Zebes. While the vessel's energy is being drained by the Space Pirate commander Phantoon, all Atomics are initially encased in half-spherical glass casings embedded in surrounding equipment. However, they break loose from their short-circuiting containers once the ship becomes operational after Phantoon's defeat, likely a result of the massive amount of energy returning all at once.
Despite being exactly the same in appearance to their previous 2-D iteration, they differ drastically in all other aspects. Unlike the variant from Zero Mission, which try to maintain a set distance from Samus or the variant from Metroid Prime 3, which flies aimlessly unless drawn by Samus's Charge Beam, Super Metroid's Atomics will actively pursue her the instant she steps inside their rooms and damage her on contact. As they chase her, they are able to move through any surface unhindered, much like the Wave Beam and Rinka. This is their only method of attack, as they lack the long-range projectile seen in Samus's previous visit to Zebes. These Atomics can be damaged by all weapons in her arsenal.
In several rooms of the Wrecked Ship, immobile Atomic-like entities can be found pulsing with a bright green color alongside their containers. These remain encased even after the ship is reenergized. The Atomics' connection to the Wrecked Ship in this game hints at a stronger link to the Chozo than the ones from Zero Mission, which are seemingly tied to the Space Pirates.
Internal enemy data[6][]
ATOMIC
| Enemy Data | |||||||
| Color | HP | ATK | E | BE | M | SM | PB |
| Normal | 250 | 40 | 0 | 65 | 31 | 2 | 2 |
Information
Official data[]
Logbook entry[]
Atomic
Corporeal energy that sloughs explosive segments of its form.
Development data[]
Internal data for the Pulse Bombu and Scatter Bombu, as well as the Harmony Class Drone and Diligence Class Drone, reveal they are named "AtomicAlpha" and "AtomicBeta", respectively. This directly suggests that all these entities were originally meant to be Atomics, thus explaining their shared physiology. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Atomic is internally named AtomicAlpha, ironically being a recycled Pulse Bombu.
Trivia[]
An Atomic's damage SFX from Zero Mission.
- The Wrecked Ship's Atomics from Super Metroid were likely to have originally served as power sources, as the glass containers most of them escape from are connected to the ship's surrounding machinery and appear to be short-circuiting, hinting at their energy-based nature. These Atomics are thus likely to be of Chozo origin, seeing as the Wrecked Ship's original owners are none other than the birdlike race.
- While the Atomic in Zero Mission is implied to be of Space Pirate origin due to being mostly seen patrolling the mothership, it may actually be reversed-engineered from the Chozo's model, as the Pirates are known to do with alien technology.
- This would also explain the usage of the electricity-based projectiles in the Atomics aboard the mothership, as the Space Pirates are known to experiment with bioweaponry.
- While the Atomic in Zero Mission is implied to be of Space Pirate origin due to being mostly seen patrolling the mothership, it may actually be reversed-engineered from the Chozo's model, as the Pirates are known to do with alien technology.
- Atomics in Zero Mission share another aspect with Bombus and the similar Luminoth drones: its projectile, an electrical bolt similar to the one discharged by the Scatter Bombu and the Diligence Class Drone.
- When an Atomic's projectile impacts a surface, it creates an electrified explosion somewhat similar to the orbs dropped by the Pulse Bombu and the Harmony Class Drone.
- Atomics and Bombus' energy-based nature makes them akin to the semi-sentient Phaazoid. Unlike the Atomics' presence being restricted to spaceships, Phaazoids can form anywhere, including out in nature, as long as the locations are on a planet that holds a destroyed Leviathan.
- The Atomics from Zero Mission are one of the few beings in the Metroid universe that can simultaneously break through the Screw Attack and damage Samus Aran.
- Atomics do not appear on Zero Mission's Easy Mode.
- Also in Zero Mission, an Atomic's lightning bolt appears similar to the Ruins Test's lightning bolt (also housed in Chozodia) and can inflict the same base damage (50 units lost without Varia Suit and Gravity Suit).
Gallery[]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b Super Metroid internal memory files
- ^ Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- ^ Super Metroid Hisshou Kouryakuhou Official Strategy Guide Book pg. 23
- ^ a b Metroid Zero Mission Perfect Guide [1]
- ^ Under normal suit conditions, contact damage is 30, lightning strike/explosion is 50, charged surface damage is 10.
- ^ The data isn't listed in Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide.