! | This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters. |
The Incinerator Drone is the fourth boss in Metroid Prime. It resides in the Burn Dome located in the Chozo Ruins. Originally created to dispose of waste with its high-intensity flamethrowers, it attacks Samus because it perceives her as a threat.
Battle[]
To defend itself, it will send a pillar of flame into the War Wasp nests overhead, releasing Barbed War Wasps. It can also attack Samus by shooting out horizontal jets of flame, which can be avoided by running, jumping over them, or using Morph Ball to duck near the base of the flames. After several sweeps of flame, a small cylinder with two red glowing spots on either side emerges from the top. These are the only weak points the unit has. After enough damage has been inflicted to the drone, it will tilt its flamethrowers upward and burn the hive above it, causing some Barbed War Wasps to come out and attack Samus. The Incinerator Drone then continues to use its wall of fire to attack. Samus must repeat this process until the Drone is destroyed, leaving the Morph Ball Bomb at its base. Just before its destruction, the Drone sends one final burst of flame upwards, which completely obliterates the Barbed War Wasp Hive, killing any survivors. Barbed War Wasps are not seen again in the game.
Official Data[]
Logbook entry[]
Incinerator Drone
Mechanoid: Incinerator Drone
Programmed for high temperature waste disposal.
Device schematics indicate a high risk of malfunction when internal power core is damaged. Unit has minimal combat programming, but can defend itself if necessary. This drone's intense heat blasts compensate for its lack of battle prowess.
Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide[]
- BOSS BATTLE: INCINERATOR DRONE
- "The Incinerator Drone pops out of the center of the Burn Dome just as the door behind you locks shut. You are trapped, and the only way out is to defeat this flame-spitting boss.
At first, the Incinerator Drone simply spits out flame from its two "arms" as it rotates. Avoid the flames by staying between the two jets of flame. Hold down [L] to keep the Drone targeted as you circle the perimeter of the room.
The Incinerator Drone's weak spot is the red orb that pops out of its shaft. You must position yourself so that you are directly facing the red orb. Shoot it with missiles or your Power Beam until the Drone starts to malfunction. When it does, it draws the orb back into its shaft, making it invulnerable to attacks.
When the Incinerator Drone malfunctions, it shoots flame up to the War Wasp Hive above it. The Barbed War Wasps inside don't like this and begin to come out. Keep an eye on the Incinerator Drone as you snipe the Barbed War Wasps coming out of the Hive. Eventually, the malfunctioning Drone starts up again.
NOTE: If you don't shoot the red orb in time, it will retract. If you let it retract, you'll have to wait until it pops up again, all the time defending against flames and Barbed War Wasps.
Stand in one spot against the wall as the Drone starts up its flames again. This time, the flames will be lopsided. If you stand far enough away from the Drone, you can ignore the high flame stream; it passes over your head. You can jump the low flame stream. Concentrate on shooting at the Barbed War Wasps while jumping the low flame.
When the red orb pops up again, position yourself to fire at it. The faster you damage the orb so that it malfunctions, the less you're likely to be hit by the flame.
You must perform this process a total of four times before the Incinerator Drone is finally destroyed."
- Incinerator Drone
- Found In: Chozo Ruins
- Recommended Weapon: Any
- Weak Spot: Red orb of internal power core
- "The Incinerator Drone has two "arms" that rotate at a slow rate and shoot flames. Dodge the flames and wait for the internal power core to pop up. Fire all you have at the red orb at the top of the core. When it malfunctions, the Incinerator Drone shoots flame directly up to stir up the Barbed War Wasps in the hive. You must keep an eye on the Incinerator Drone while you blast away at the Barbed War Wasps coming out of the hive. When the Incinerator Drone starts up again, it begins to rotate with one side shooting a low-to-the-ground flame and the other a high flame. Continue to stand in one spot while you shoot the Barbed War Wasps. The high flame will pass over your head if you are standing far enough away and you can jump over the low flame when it comes around. While dodging the flames and shooting the War Wasps, you must also watch for the power core to pop up. Repeat this until the Incinerator Drone is kaput. See Barbed War Wasp also."
Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide[]
- INCINERATOR DRONE
- "As soon as you enter the Burn Dome, the door will lock behind you. You must then take out an Incinerator Drone gone haywire. Lock on to the drone and strafe around it in a circle, staying in between the two flames. If the flames are about to hit you, tap the B Button to dash.
After a bit, a small red light will emerge from the top of the device. Shoot it until the flames point upward and fry the War Wasp Hive on the ceiling. Barbed War Wasps will then emerge from the hive and attack. Try to take them out before the flames start up again. Once the device starts to spin again, lock onto it and strafe in a circle, taking out Barbed War Wasps as necessary.
If you hold the Charge Beam while you strafe, you'll suck up any energy that the Barbed War Wasps leave behind. After you strike the red light on top of the device four times, it will malfunction completely and explode. Look for the Morph Ball Bomb in the wreckage. Once you have Bombs, you can also perform a Bomb Jump--lay a Bomb, then hold still until it explodes and tosses you into the air."
Metroid Prime Official Strategy Guide[]
- INCINERATOR DRONE
- MORPHOLOGY
- "Device schematics indicate a high risk of malfunction when internal power core is exposed. This unit has minimal combat programming, but can defend itself if necessary. The intense heat blasts it shoots compensate for its lack of battle prowess."
Metroid Prime Official Perfect Guide[]
- MINI-BOSS: INCINERATOR DRONE AND BARBED WAR WASPS
- "Transform into a Morph Ball and move toward the inside "rung" of this fire-spraying Drone--as long as you stay low to the ground like this, you won't get hit. When the spinning flames pass overhead, run back out of the perimeter in upright-form and aim at the red glowing spot on the apex of the Incinerator Drone--fire a Missile at it to cause damage. Unfortunately, this first Missile will force the flames to rise up and heat the overhead Hive--in turn releasing an unending wave of Barbed War Wasps for the duration of the battle. You'll also see that the flame-axis will momentarily tilt so that its jets are no longer parallel to the ground, thus requiring you to jump over or stand under whichever flame expulsion is coming near your person. In the middle of all this, you'll also find it necessary, of course, to destroy the Wasps that will attack from overhead. Four Missiles will effectively junk the Incinerator Drone. You will then receive the Morph Ball Bomb."
Nintendo Power Volume 163[]
- INCINERATOR DRONE
- "The Incinerator Drone shoots two flames as it turns in a circle. Lock on to the device and strafe, moving quickly enough to avoid the flames. Charge your Power Beam as you strafe, then lock on to the red light that pops out of the top of the machine and blast it.
After you shoot the red light, the drone will burn the ceiling, causing Barbed War Wasps to emerge and attack. Shoot as many as you can before the drone starts up again, then lock on to the drone and repeat the above step. It will take about four charged shots to earn the Morph Ball Bombs."
Development notes[]
Animation data refers to the Incinerator Drone as "monkeyFlamethrower", likely indicating a connection to the unused blood monkey enemy. Additionally, the drone's theme music is titled "rui_monkeylower" in the game's files.
Zoid Kirsch presented a design of the Incinerator Drone in a 2002 conference with Shigeru Miyamoto. When Kirsch answered a question from Miyamoto about the Drone, Miyamoto responded "Thank you, Zoid-o-San". Kirsch later joked that the Incinerator Drone is hated by speedrunners. He fine-tuned the boss battle with Kensuke Tanabe. Kirsch decided to make the drone's fire patterns unpredictable so the fight did not become stale on subsequent playthroughs.[1]
Trivia[]
- The Incinerator Drone's battle theme, Hive Mecha Battle, is shared with another Chozo drone boss, the Hive Mecha, although the Incinerator Drone's version omits the opening choir heard at the start of the Hive Mecha fight. Several Mini-Games in Metroid Prime Pinball reuse the theme and also exclude the opening choir, making them more similar to the Incinerator Drone's variant.
- The Incinerator Drone is immune to standard Plasma Beam shots (obtained via hacking). However, Charged Plasma Beam shots and the Flamethrower may still damage the sensors, the latter requiring precise aiming. It also takes two standard Ice Beam shots (obtained via hacking) to damage it as well. This is likely due to Heat-Resistant shielding and the High-Temperatures it emits.
- The Wavebuster (obtained via hacking) can also damage the Incinerator Drone, albeit in an erratic fashion.
- In the original GameCube version, Samus can move through the "barrels" of the flamethrowers.
- If Space Jump Boots are acquired at this point, Samus can safely jump on top of the Incinerator Drone (the sensors will not affect Samus in any way).
- When viewed with the Thermal Visor (via hacking), only the flames emit any heat signatures.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ Kiwi Talkz. "#121 - Zoid Interview (Metroid Prime, Cameras, Scripting, Sequence Breaking , Programming etc.)" YouTube. January 22, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2022. (starts at 1:00 and 48:01)