Frigate Orpheon

For other uses, see Frigate Orpheon (Disambiguation)

Frigate Orpheon
Planet	226 kilometers above Tallon IV with a 51.60" orbital inclination
Environment	Mechanic / Spaceship
Sub-Areas	2 Sub-areas: Main Section Ventilation System
Bosses	Parasite Queen
Upgrades	None; Samus loses her upgrades when leaving the spaceship
Connected areas	Only accessible using the Gunship
Distinctfeatures	Crashes into Tallon IV
Map	[1]

Frigate Orpheon (also known simply as the Space Pirate Frigate) is a Space Pirate frigate from which Samus Aran receives a distress signal in Metroid Prime. It is the first area explored in the game. The vessel is operated by the Space Pirate Science Team as a transport and research vessel and is key in the transportation of Metroid samples from the fallen base of Zebes to the research facilities on Tallon IV. Other than Metroids, the vessel houses various other bizarre species that the Space Pirates are conducting tests on, most likely for militaristic purposes; the most notable being the Parasite Queen and reborn Ridley. Phazon can also be found on the frigate. The ship is crippled in orbit due to a fusion core accident (caused by a dying Parasite Queen falling into the Reactor Core). The frigate later crashes onto the surface of the planet shortly after Samus defeats the Parasite Queen. Samus later finds the wreckage and has to traverse through it to reach the Phazon Mines.

The Orpheon is where the defeated Ridley is resurrected/rebuilt into Meta Ridley after his defeat on Zebes. It is also where Samus first encounters him (in his new cybernetically-enhanced form) during her escape from the crippled Orpheon. It is unclear exactly why Meta Ridley is still aboard, as most of the able-bodied crew has evacuated six hours before Samus's arrival. He may have decided to remain and guard the ship, or at the time still needs time to recuperate before moving.

Areas and Main Rooms

Samus arrives at the Orpheon in her Gunship.

Main Section

The main area of the frigate, composed of three decks; by name, these are Alpha, Beta and Gamma, serving as the emergency evacuation, biohazard research, and propulsion areas, respectively. Samus lands here and traverses it to reach the Parasite Queen.

Main Rooms

Samus stands up after losing her abilities in Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha.

• Exterior Docking Hangar
• Emergency Evacuation Area
• Reactor Core

Ventilation System

After the Reactor Core is sent into critical condition, Samus is forced to escape through this area of the ship.

Main Rooms

• Biotech Research Area 2

Music

The theme that plays in the first couple of rooms before the Emergency Evacuation Area is titled Intro Space. The general theme begins when Samus encounters the dead Parasite Queen. Frigate Orpheon Escape plays during the evacuation sequence.

Upon Samus's return to the submerged Frigate, Crash-Ship-MAE plays in the first few tunnels that formerly served as ventilation shafts. The music transitions to Crashed Ship when she enters the Reactor Core.

Official Data

Pirate Data

Fall of Zebes

Metroid Prime

Logbook entry

Log 09.992.3 Zebes has fallen. All ground personnel are presumed dead, either killed by the Hunter clad in metal or in the subsequent destruction of the underground facilities. Our research frigates Orpheon, Siriacus and Vol Paragom were in orbit at zero hour and managed to retreat. Frigate Orpheon is now docked at Vortex Outpost. Orpheon's cargo appears to have a 100% survival rate: Metroids are healthy but on restricted feeding schedules due to uncertain supply status. We are ready to begin research on the Metroids and other promising life-forms. Security status remains at Code Blue: no signs of pursuit from the Hunter.

Development Notes

The orbited Frigate Orpheon region is internally named IntroLevel.

According to Jack Mathews, the technical lead engineer for Prime, the crashed Orpheon was implemented to reuse the area's assets.

Ashley Rochelle worked on the redesign of the Orpheon for Metroid Prime Remastered.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl the Frigate Orpheon stage is based on this area. A Parasite Queen watches from the background and the stage flips occasionally with the power occasionally going out (both similar to its crashed state).

Trivia

The Frigate Orpheon as depicted in the Metroid Prime comic

• Three more Parasite Queens are encountered on the Orpheon by Samus (two already dead, one in hibernation, with the fourth being the Reactor Core boss). The first one is encountered in the Emergency Evacuation Area (either killed by the Pirates or succumbed to Phazon poisoning). The second is located in Biohazard Containment (died due to infusion of Phazon Batch 0732.C, it being incompatible with its DNA). The final Parasite Queen is found in Biotech Research Area 1, in hibernation. After Samus defeats the Reactor Core Parasite Queen, she must return to this room during her escape from the crippled Orpheon, where she witnesses the Parasite Queen battling two Space Pirates as it tries to escape its stasis tank. The Pirates manage to subdue it, but are subsequently killed by an explosion caused by the Parasite Queen falling. Samus can collect whatever items come out of the two Pirates. Strangely, this third Parasite Queen disappears from Biotech Research Area 1, possibly incinerated, crushed, or flung out of the vessel.
• Before the Reactor Core's meltdown, most of its crew has evacuated the vessel six hours before Samus's Gunship arrives due to the escape of two Parasite Queens (the one Samus defeats in the Reactor Core and the one found dead in the Emergency Evacuation Area). It is likely that some if not most of the crew who flees the Orpheon are members of the Space Pirate Science Team. A small number of the frigate's still-living crew remain onboard, mainly those unable to evacuate (the injured) and possibly those who were either forced (or bravely chose) to remain there (as the Pirates may also be trying to retake the ship). The injured are likely left behind as they are no longer useful (or beyond help).

The derelict Orpheon at Frigate Crash Site.

• The images on the screens of the computers on the frigate are reused for the screens of the computers in the Pirates' Glacier One facility in the Phendrana Drifts, as well as the Phazon Mines. Some of the images are also reused for screens on the crashed G.F.S. Theseus in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
• In the Parasite Queen trophy from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it is said that the frigate has a nuclear power reactor.
• The destruction of the Frigate Orpheon is similar to that of Ceres Space Colony in Super Metroid. Specifically, the scene where Samus pursues Ridley to Tallon IV. In both games, a crashed ship is also explored later, although Super Metroid's equivalent is unrelated to Ceres Space Colony.
• The frigate is the first location visited in Metroid Prime, and is therefore the first location in the Prime series, as well as the first location explored in 3-D.
• The Orpheon, before its crash, is the only area in Metroid Prime besides the Impact Crater to not contain any upgrades. Rather, it is one of the two locations where Samus loses upgrades. (The Varia Suit, Morph Ball, etc. at the Orpheon, and the Phazon Suit in the Impact Crater.)
• Scanning the dead, dying, or wounded Space Pirates will reveal how each was killed or injured. For example, a scan might tell that the Space Pirate was immoblilized due to acid fusing its joints together.
• Certain screens on the ship reveal that the ship's shape resembles that of the Space Pirate Mother Ship, possibly indicating that it may be of the same class as the Mother Ship. The Orpheon is identified as a Zebian-class research frigate in an unused scan in Metroid Prime Remastered, potentially furthering the similarity since Zebian could be an alternate spelling of Zebesian.
• Issue 163 of Nintendo Power and page 14 of Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide refer to the Orpheon as the Pirate Ship. This is also an alternate name for the Space Pirate destroyers in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
  • Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide refers to it as a "Spage Pirate frigate". This is also the name of most Space Pirate starships.
• The frigate Samus boards is explicitly stated to be the Orpheon on a panel in the Storage Cave, Phendrana Drifts.
• The Frigate is the only location where the hatch of each room can be scanned, telling what room each leads to.
• The Frigate is the only area in the game that lacks a dedicated introductory cutscene; thus, the area's name is never announced, and since there is no world map to be zoomed out to, the in-game name of the area only becomes apparent when loading a saved game.
• In Metroid Prime Remastered, each area has a unique loading screen when a file is selected from the Samus Data Screen. The crashed frigate is the only subarea with a different loading screen from its parent area; in this case, a screenshot is shown of Reactor Access (the room right beside the local Save Station) instead of the Landing Site.

See also

• List of rooms in Metroid Prime/Frigate Orpheon
• Pirate Frigate (Pinball)
• Frigate Orpheon (stage)
• Frigate Orpheon (theme)

Gallery

Unused intro from early demo.

Official render

Official render

Official render

Official render

Official render of Samus encountering the Parasite Queen.

Exterior Docking Hangar

Air Lock

Emergency Evacuation Area

Biohazard Containment

Reactor Core Entrance

Samus battles the Parasite Queen in the Reactor Core

Samus escapes inside one of the many ventilation shafts in the Orpheon.

Samus exits the vessel, tracking Ridley.

Samus escapes the frigate just in time.

The crashed frigate seen through a crack in Transport Tunnel C.

Another angle from the same room.

Scan images

Map of the Frigate in the Metroid Prime Demo.