Covern

Covern
Featured in	Super Metroid
Size	Small
Knownlocales	Wrecked Ship
Known worlds	Zebes
Behavior	Disappearing, levitating
Color(s)	Green
Distinctions	Skull-shaped bodies
Attacks	Damage on contact
Weakness	Disappears when Phantoon is killed

A Covern (コーベン, Koben) is a cluster of souls from bioforms that were on board the Wrecked Ship before it had crashed, and have become evil spirits.

Description

Coverns are infinite in numbers and will not stop spawning until Phantoon is killed.

Their body only consists of ethereal skulls. These ghosts continuously materialize into the physical world and dissipate after a few seconds. Their attack solely consists of suddenly appearing in the exact spot Samus Aran once stood mere seconds ago, causing damage if they successfully make contact with her. Connecting to the physical world consequently leaves them vulnerable to all of Samus' weapons.

Once she has defeated the large ghost-like entity of the Wrecked Ship, Phantoon, and subsequently returns the flow of energy to the ship, Coverns vanish. It is unknown if they were forced into servitude under Phantoon or became corrupt from its malevolent presence and could finally move on with its destruction. It is possible that the return of the ship's light destroyed them or simply scared them all away.

It would seem that Coverns and their leader were extremely efficient at scaring away, keeping at bay and/or killing any trespassers who entered their domain, seeing as how they were the sole occupants of the Wrecked Ship until Samus cleared them out. Indeed, organic lifeforms will only be seen roaming the ship with the absence of the spiritual entities.

Official Data

Super Metroid manual

COVERN

"These souls of shipwrecked creatures turn into evil spirits that wrap themselves around intruders."

Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide

KOBEN

Enemy Data								Description
Color	HP	ATK	E	BE	M	SM	PB	Wrecked Ship. They will appear only when the power is off.
Normal	300	60	20	37	27	8	8

Information

Trivia

• Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide uses a direct romanization of the Covern's Japanese name, while Super Metroid Players' Guide refers to Coverns simply as "spectres" on page 13.
• While Coverns and Phantoon are present in Super Metroid they are absent from the sections of the Wrecked Ship featured in the prequel, Metroid: Zero Mission. As a result of the complete lack of supernatural activity, the crashed vessel in the prequel is found powered up; its interior is considerably bright and all of its doors, along with its only save point, are always functioning. In addition, animals such as Zoomers and Zeelas have safely ventured inside, unlike the sequel where the ship is devoid of all natural life until the defeat of Phantoon.
  • It is never explained why Coverns and their leader only haunt the ship during Samus' second mission on Zebes. Interesting to note however is that her first mission ended with the explosion of the heavily populated Space Pirate Mother Ship, which is very close to the Wrecked Ship's crash site. The Coverns may possibly be comprised of not only the souls of Chozo who did not survive their ship's landing, but also the souls of Space Pirates from the nearby Mother Ship.
  • The ghosts may also be comprised of victims who entered the crashed vessel during the time it was occupied by Phantoon and its minions, adding to the Coverns' numbers as the intruders are killed off.
• The Coverns' overall appearance greatly resemble the structures on top of Draygon's head.
• Due to the fact that Phantoon is an important member of the Space Pirate legions and is seemingly leading/controlling the Coverns, these lesser ghosts can be considered to be under the servitude of the Pirates.
• Interestingly, while another form of ghost, the Chozo Ghosts, can only be harmed by the Power Beam, Coverns can be affected by a wider range of weaponry, even the chilling effects of the Ice Beam.
• In the internal data, Covern is referred to as Gai.