Elephant Bird

"No matches found in flora and fauna databank"

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The subject of this article is not named in-game.
The current title is from a guide or other published source.

"Fake Chozo Statue" redirects here. For the bosses in Super Metroid, see Torizo.

Elephant Bird
Samus approaching the Elephant Bird statue in Metroid Fusion
Featured in	Metroid Fusion
Location	Sector 1 (SRX)
Attacks	Charge Beam
Weakness	Missiles
Reward(s)	Charge Beam

The Elephant Bird is an X Parasite mimicking a Chozo Statue. Samus Aran encounters it in Sector 1 of the Biologic Space Laboratories research station in Metroid Fusion.

Description

The Elephant Bird's similarity to an actual Chozo Statue is spot-on, and it even appears to hold an Item Sphere containing the Morph Ball upgrade. However, the shielded ball hurts Samus if she touches it, and once Samus shoots the Item Sphere with her beam (thus revealing the fake Morph Ball), it transforms into a special Core-X shooting Charge Beam shots. Samus already had the Morph Ball anyway, also giving away the ruse. Once Samus defeats this X Parasite, she obtains the true item it had in its possession: the Charge Beam.

Theories

How the X Parasite managed to "absorb" the form of an inanimate statue is unknown, and a bit strange. It is possible that the parasite mimicked the form of a Torizo (which is known to contain organic matter^{[citation needed]}), but chose to change immediately to a Core-X instead of battling Samus in this form. It might also be possible that Chozo Statues, like Samus's Power Suit, are partially organic. The Metroid Prime Chozo Lore describes the statues as sentinels and heavily hint at them being partially alive and aware of their surroundings. This is further supported by their ability to "bowl" Samus in her Morph Ball form in Metroid Prime and their ability to walk and change from standing to sitting positions in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission.

Putting aside all theories, this certainly seems to be an in-game reminder of the first Torizo battle in Super Metroid, or simply an homage to the famous item-holding statuary that have appeared throughout Metroid history, especially since the X-mimicked statue is the only Chozo Statue to be seen in Fusion. Additionally, Nettori appears similar to a Chozo Statue and is even referred to as such on the soundtrack, and unused sprites of the beam weapons suggest they may have been obtained normally from Chozo Statues instead of fighting special Core-X in early versions of the game.

Trivia

• The Elephant Bird is featured on the packaging for the Game Boy Player.
• The name "Elephant Bird" is the result of a mistranslation, similar to Varia Suit. The Japanese name for this creature is simply Birdman Statue (鳥人像, Chōjin-zō) or, as commonly translated, Chozo Statue. However, "Zō" also means "elephant" in Japanese, with a similar kanji, 象. Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, the source of the "Elephant Bird" name, does refer to the boss with the correct "Chozo Statue" translation in a later instance.
• The Elephant Bird shares its name with the largest known bird on Earth.
• The Elephant Bird's theme is shared with Nettori's Core-X form. Coincidentally, both bosses mimic the appearance of Chozo Statues.

Gallery

Elephant Bird pretends to be holding a Bomb

Elephant Bird as a Core-X

Unused Chozo Statue sprites for beam weapons in Fusion