Idle pose

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Zero Suit Samus's idle pose in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

An idle pose is a pose that Samus Aran or other characters take when they are not moving in the Metroid Prime series, Super Smash Bros. series and Metroid Dread. Samus does not have any idle poses in most of the 2D Metroid games, or Metroid: Other M, nor does the Federation Force in Metroid Prime: Federation Force.

Metroid Prime

In the Nintendo GameCube versions of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, if Samus is left alone for a long period of time without any button input and without interrupted by damage, her vision will begin to wander more slightly and she will perform several idle poses among the following:

• The most common pose is Samus calibrating her Arm Cannon. She will flip a panel on her cannon with four lights with colors that correspond to the game's four Beams. This occurs even before she obtains any of the three extra Beams. The same goes for Echoes, although in that game it is a circle divided in half, with the upper half being gold and the lower half being black. When she presses the panel, her Arm Cannon extends with various motions such as the tip extending or the entire Arm Cannon extending outward.
• Samus will begin to perform various movements with just her Arm Cannon alone. These include swaying it side to side slowly, or pointing it upward at various speeds and angles. Because these poses make no use of Samus's left arm, the Arm Cannon may clip through her left arm if the Arm Cannon glitch is performed.
• Samus will place her hand on the Arm Cannon, sometimes "calibrating" it in various spots using her left hand or simply leaving her left hand there in a battle ready pose. If Samus has the Plasma Beam or Annihilator Beam active, more of her left arm may be seen. This is due to the Arm Cannon's tall shape.
• Samus may sometimes raise her left hand and clench her fingers and/or stare at both the front and/or back of her hand before lowering it.
• Samus may rarely point her finger at a spot in front of her. When performed during a battle, she appears to point at an enemy's precise position within view (including if they are behind terrain). A similar pose is shared with Dark Pirate Commandos from Echoes.

After about 4 consecutive idle poses performed, Samus will finally lower the Arm Cannon off-screen until gameplay is resumed. When the Arm Cannon lowers, it temporarily returns to its default Power Beam configuration no matter which beam is currently active. It will quickly return to the active configuration once Samus resumes motion, the FIRE button is pressed, or a Beam is switched. No bullets will be fired from the Arm Cannon when it is lowered, and it must be raised and complete its "recalibration" back to its current beam configuration before it can fire once more. This motion can leave Samus temporarily open to attack from surprise enemies if they catch her off-guard.

Samus's left arm appearance will match with whichever suit she is currently wearing. The Grapple Beam will also be present on the left arm during idle poses, if the item itself is obtained.

In Prime, using the Phazon Beam does not allow Samus to access any idle poses. Instead, Samus slowly moves her Arm Cannon in a small circular motion every few seconds. She does not lower her Arm Cannon under any circumstances no matter how much time has passed while Hyper-mode remains active.

Idle poses are no longer present in the Wii versions of either game, due to the introduction of Wii Remote controls; if left idle, Samus's Arm Cannon returns to the center of the screen with a blinking yellow symbol. She may still wander her sight around during this time, but she performs no other motions. Eventually, the Wii Remote will enter Sleep Mode, and automatically pause the game. When this is done, it is shown that Samus has her Arm Cannon lowered until the Wii Remote is reconnected.

Metroid Dread

If left idle, the HUD will disappear and Samus will lower her Arm Cannon, standing up straight. Her head can be angled to look at the ceiling by holding up on the left Joy-Con stick, which in larger rooms will pan the camera upwards. The idle animation does not occur in E.M.M.I. Zones while the E.M.M.I. is active, and will be interrupted if an enemy that was off-screen comes on-screen, except for Fings and Dizzeans.

Super Smash Bros.

Every character has an idle pose and at least two animations when they have not moved for some time. The character will often perform some sort of action in place, without gameplay impact. In Link's case however, the direction in which he is standing idle affects his ability to block projectiles with his Master Shield. Idle poses were introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

In Samus's only idle pose in Melee, she simply stands in place with her hand on her Arm Cannon, much like her stance in Super Metroid. Starting from Brawl, Samus would either raise her cannon and trace her finger over it, or lower it for a moment. Dark Samus's idle poses are identical to Samus's, although she levitates in midair while doing them.

Zero Suit Samus's pose in Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 has her stand in place, slightly "dancing", while holding her Paralyzer steady. In her first idle pose, she raises the Paralyzer beside her head and looks left and right, before assuming her previous stance. In the second pose, she lifts the Paralyzer, opens its top and calibrates it before lowering it again. She has a new idle stance in Ultimate, wherein her Paralyzer is held beside her head at all times. Her idle poses are otherwise identical, if quicker.

Ridley's stance consists of the dragon standing in place, consistently clenching his claws and teeth. In his first idle pose, Ridley shakes out his shoulders. In his second, he turns slightly to his right and utters a quiet growl.

Gallery

The cannon's control panel in Prime.

If left idle long enough, Samus will hold the Arm Cannon like this in Prime.

Identical hand on Arm Cannon pose, Echoes (Light Suit).

The cannon's control panel in Echoes.

Samus places her left arm on the bottom of the Arm Cannon (note Samus's open-hole wrist)

Alternate Arm Cannon calibration seen in Echoes (her left arm is stretched further, calibrating the tip of the Arm Cannon).

Samus calculates an enemy's position during a combat situation in Echoes.

Another idle pose has the sections of Samus' Arm Cannon split, as if she were charging, before she lowers it. This also occurs in Corruption after she interacts with an object as well (see here).

Samus's idle pose in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in third-person, viewed through a glitch.

Closeup of Zero Suit Samus's idle pose in Ultimate.

Dark Samus actually assumes Samus's idle pose briefly, after using a Bomb.