Non-canon warning: This article or section contains information that may not be considered an official part of the Metroid series in the overall storyline by Nintendo.
A victory pose is a short animation that the winning fighter in a Super Smash Bros. match performs when the match ends, while the losers stand behind them or in separate windows applauding the victor. Each character has three different poses that they perform randomly after a match, though it is possible to force them to perform a specific pose by holding a button before the cutscene begins. Each victory pose is accompanied by the fighter's series symbol and a victory theme, often a jingle from the character's home series. In the case of Metroid characters, it is an either triumphant or sinister arrangement of the Item Acquisition Fanfare.
The losing fighter(s) will stand either in the background or in a separate window, and are shown to clap for the winner. The full animation can be seen if a match is cancelled and a No Contest screen is triggered. All fighters will be seen on this screen in their clapping animation. While Zero Suit Samus and Ridley clap normally (the latter in a more sarcastic manner), Samus and Dark Samus clap their left hands on their Arm Cannons.
Samus[]
Samus's victory poses in Super Smash Bros. are as follows:
- Samus appears with her back to the camera, before she turns and aims her Arm Cannon towards the screen.
- Samus aims her cannon upward, then to her left, and finally upwards again with a noticable shake. The first two moves are accompanied by a flash.
- Samus swipes her cannon to the right and cocks it. This is also her animation when she is selected on the character selection screen.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, all of these poses were completely replaced. The three new poses remained with her for the subsequent two games, but were replaced again in Ultimate. They are as follows:
- Samus does a high kick with her right leg and aims her Arm Cannon at the screen, clenching her left fist.
- While crouching, Samus fires five blasts in a panoramic fashion, before posing with her cannon up. The final pose matches her classic pose on the cover of Metroid II: Return of Samus, and later Metroid: Samus Returns. She also utilizes this particular victory pose after beating the final boss/penultimate boss of Adventure Mode (which one depending on how long the player took to clear the mode and which difficulty it was played under).
- Samus kneels and punches twice with her fist, and then fires an explosive blast before assuming the same pose as in her Melee render.
Her new poses in Ultimate are as follows:
- Samus fires a Super Missile before assuming the pose in her Ultimate render, which she also made in a Metroid: Other M render.
- Samus performs the same victory pose as mentioned above, but she now fires fast, Plasma Beam-like shots.
- Samus Spin Jumps onto the ground, lands and aims her Arm Cannon to her right.
Zero Suit Samus[]
- Zero Suit Samus performs three backflips, before turning around and holding her Paralyzer. In Ultimate, these are front flips, and are augmented by her Jet Boots.
- Zero Suit Samus slashes her Plasma Whip twice at the camera, and in Brawl and Ultimate says "Be still."
- Zero Suit Samus performs a side kick flex, which slightly resembles the Screw Attack symbol. In Super Smash Bros. 4 and Ultimate, she makes an audible grunt when she finishes the kick.
Ridley[]
- Ridley flies onto the ground, skids to a halt, turns and assumes a menacing pose.
- Roars and flips in the air with a visible wind effect, before flipping again and landing on the ground, also slashing the air with his claws forcefully enough to leave an afterimage.
- Ridley pounds the ground repeatedly with his back to the camera, before turning to face it with a grin on his face. This alludes to his portrayal as a bloodthirsty psychopath in the origin manga.
Dark Samus[]
- Dark Samus splits off into a Dark Echo. They both do a flip kick and spin around before merging back into one. She then assumes a similar pose to Samus's Ultimate render (and the aforementioned Other M render). This appeared at the end of her Character Showcase Video, the only video to show a character's victory pose. This pose resembles the movements of her Dark Echoes during the battle with her in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
- Dark Samus raises her hand in the air, and performs a fist pump. This motion resembles the scenes of her birth in Metroid Prime, and the scene of her death in Corruption, both of which involved her clenched fist. It also resembles a similar gesture made by Dark Samus as she's about to fight Samus in Corruption.
- Dark Samus levitates with her back to the camera, glowing with Phazon energy. She then turns around, and as her name is displayed, the camera zooms in sharply on her visor. Her empty eyes can be seen, which resemble the SA-X's eyes in Metroid Fusion. Dark Samus is not normally shown to have eyes in the Metroid Prime series, but they are visible during her final battle in Echoes. Her glowing with Phazon energy to a certain extent also resembles the scene where she is destabilizing in the ending to Echoes as well as Corruption.
