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Dark Pirate Commandos are the result of a Pirate Commando being possessed by Ing.

Description[]

Dark Pirate Commandos are an invaluable addition to the Ing Horde, and only Hunter Ing are allowed to possess them; even then, they hold fierce competition for the tremendously strong bodies. Extremely powerful, they also share the Hunter Ing's ability to phase out of the local time-space, "teleporting" from one location to next, leaving after images to confound their opponent; while teleporting, they can only be accurately tracked through the Dark Visor.

Dark Commandos are extremely dangerous and among some of the most durable enemies faced on Aether and Dark Aether. They often strike in ambushes and always in pairs later on in the game, some locking rooms in order to prevent escape. Coupled with their phasing skills is the improved Dark versions of the standard Pirate Commando weaponry; a deadlier energy scythe sprouting from the tips of their weapons which they use against Samus should she come within close quarters, a powerful Dark Matter blast fired from their Arm Cannons, and a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher laced with Dark Energy that fires experimental EMP grenades stolen from the slain pirates. The rooms where they attack also tend to have irregular terrains, hindering those with poor aim. When teleporting, their afterimages can disrupt the homing capabilities of Missiles and lock-on functions. Curiously, Dark Commandos never opt into using rapid fire as what the normal Pirate Commandos were capable of performing.

In certain areas (particularly in the Torvus Bog), if the player fails to defeat all the Dark Pirate Commandos fast enough, they will eventually give up and warp out of the room (releasing the door locks if they were active).

Their strategy consists of teleporting, making one attack or pose, then repeating, with the attack varying by Samus's distance from them. During some points in a battle, a Dark Pirate Commando will stand and point its left fingers towards Samus, likely calculating the battle. This provides Samus with an opening to fire back. They may also raise their arms quickly as if frustrated, both this and the former pose reveal their location into battle. When teleporting and viewed with the Dark Visor, they can sometimes be seen idling looking around the area, believing they are safe from Samus's view within their "stealth". At times, they may also perform a short crouching position for a few seconds while turning to face Samus.

Dark Pirate Commandos share much of the same weaknesses as their unpossessed counterpart. An Entangler shot followed by a Missile will destroy them instantly. The Entangler is also capable of revealing an invisible Dark Commando as it teleports. As with other Darklings, they take extreme damage from Light Beam weaponry. A supercharged Light Crystal/Beacon will also eliminate them instantly should they make contact with one. A well timed Power Bomb will incinerate them if struck by one. A Super Missile can be used to deal heavy knockback to them, allowing for a brief second to fire additional shots on a Dark Pirate Commando. Knockback can also be exploited in areas with large Pitfalls, where the creatures can be pushed into a bottomless pit below. However due to their timespace phasing abilities, a Dark Pirate Commando will not die from a bottomless pitfall and will soon warp back onto solid ground. It is important to note that while teleporting/invisible, Dark Pirate Commandos can still be hit by Samus's weaponry even without the Dark Visor active. The Annihilator Beam is capable of homing in on them when close even during their teleportation. Although they cannot be accurately tracked with the Echo Visor, said visor can still "detect" their location via soundwaves. The visor also negates their afterimages, displaying whether they are physically present on the battlefield ready to attack and disappearing immediately from view when teleporting. This allows for slightly easier locking on than the Combat Visor in the event the Dark Visor is unavailable (via Sequence Breaking), though their projectiles cannot be "seen".

Locations[]

Official data[]

Logbook entry[]

Dark Pirate Commando

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Temporary scan

Morphology: Dark Pirate Commando
Darkling-possessed elite Space Pirate. Increased combat ability due to symbiotic presence. Able to phase out of local timespace.

Logbook entry

The Ing prize the few Pirate Commandos they manage to take alive. Only Hunter Ing are allowed to possess the Commandos, and the competition for that right is fierce among them. The Hunter Ing ability to phase out of local timespace carries over to the Dark Pirate Commando. They will fire bursts of dark matter at enemies, along with experimental EMP grenades stolen from the Space Pirates.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc[]

The Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc reveals that the enemies that became Dark Pirate Commandos in the final product were actually shown to be standard non-possessed Pirate Commandos in the Bonus Disc. This could explain why Dark Pirate Commandos appear more often and why they were featured more prominently in promotional material when compared to their light counterparts.

Unused Logbook entry exists within the Data Network for both a Pirate Commando and a Dark Pirate Commando, where the latter does not contain the word "Pirate" in its name, simply being titled Dark Commando. Both entries use the "Dark" color scheme model, leaving it ambiguous as to which model originally belongs to which entry and the remaining entry is using it as a placeholder model. The Dark Commando's entry appears quite different than the final version. Notably, the Bonus Disc entry doesn't mention Hunter Ing. The latter creature may have been added to the final entry to better incorporate the Dark Commando's timespace phasing abilities. This means there was a possibility the Dark Commandos were meant to behave more identical to their unpossessed counterparts in the final game. If true, then the Dark Commandos may have incorporated alternate attack behavior likely to keep them from being too similar to their unpossessed counterparts, as seen with many other creatures, including scrapped Dark variants.

Dark Commando

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc

Logbook entry

The Ing prize the few Space Pirate Commandos they manage to take alive. Competition is fierce among darklings for the right to possess the Commandos; the winners are among the toughest and most cunning of the Ing. Dark Commandos revel in their destructive power, and put it to use whenever they get the chance.

Trivia[]

  • The Dark Pirate Commando acts in a similar manner to the Chozo Ghosts in Metroid Prime. Both enemies phase in and out of the local timespace and have the ability to fire projectiles that can send static through Samus's visor. However, the Pirates can be immobilized with the Dark Beam while the Ice Beam cannot immobilize the Chozo Ghosts.
  • Dark Pirate Commandoes share their battle theme, Short Battle, with numerous other Darkling creatures in the game. However this does not apply to the Dark Pirate Commandos encountered within Meeting GroundsCulling Chamber, Aerial Training Site, and Profane Path where the standard theme will continue playing (GameCube Version only) and doors will not become locked; these Commandos are treated more like standard enemies.
  • When hit by a Dark Matter blast, Samus's Visor becomes covered in Dark Matter in a similar fashion as an Ing Possession attack.
  • A Dark Pirate Commando bears a similar color scheme as the Dark Suit. These colors were also seen on Amorbis (who guards the Dark Suit), the unused Bonus Disc Ingsmasher, and an E3 Luminoth.
    • If these Dark Commandos were intended to be normal Commandos, then there may have been a possibility that the Commandos from the Bonus Disc somehow obtained "Dark Suit"-like armor for preparation in Dark Aether's atmosphere.

Gallery[]

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