Kiru Giru

"Chozo script translated."

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This article's name is an unofficial translation from official Japanese media and may not represent the canonical English name, if one exists.
An alternate name from an official source may be required.

This article is about the larval form. For the adult form, see Imago.

Kiru Giru
Artwork of a Kiru Giru larva.
Featured in	Metroid: Zero Mission
Location	"Kiru Giru's room", Norfair
Attacks	Spores Winged Ripper
Weakness	Missiles Super Missiles Wave Beam Bombs
Battle Music	"Vs. Kiru Giru"
Reward(s)	Access to Ridley's Lair

Kiru Giru (キル · ギル), also known as giant larvae, are the larval form of the insect Imago, and are native to the Norfair region of planet Zebes. One serves as the fifth boss that Samus Aran fights in Metroid: Zero Mission.

On the official Japanese website for Zero Mission, the Kiru Giru (in all its forms) are referred to as a Giant Evolving Bug (進化する巨大蟲).

Biology

Hatching from small, pink-white eggs, at full size, the Kiru Giru is roughly four times as large as a human. Its segmented, sloped body ranges from blue-green to purple, and features several round nodes running its length, which may serve defensive purposes. Most of its body is invulnerable to attack, except for its bright orange underbelly. While normally sluggish, the Kiru Giru can attack with surprising speed when threatened, using the small legs toward the front of its body to charge at enemies.

When the time comes for it to mature into its Imago form, the Kiru Giru will enter a grey, stringy chrysalis and rapidly metamorphose; within minutes, it is a fully grown adult, and capable of laying eggs.

History

Samus Aran encounters four Kiru Giru specimens while traveling through Norfair. The first two larvae are free-roaming, and have to be destroyed by using the newly acquired Wave Beam and several Morph Ball Bombs, respectively.

Later on, she encounters the long-dead corpse of a third larva, in a corridor infested by carnivorous Tangle Vines. It appeared to be one of the many creatures to have fallen prey to the Tangle Vines, which have pierced and devoured its flesh from within.

The final Kiru Giru she encounters has been similarly ensnared, and is in the process of being consumed by the Tangle Vines. However, this one is still alive, and attacks Samus by firing projectiles from its nodes. The only way for Samus to free the larva is to destroy the Tangle Vines tethering it to the ceiling. When the last Tangle Vine is destroyed, the Kiru Giru plummets through the floor, where it begins to tunnel downward and forms a cocoon around itself. Shortly afterward, it emerges as Imago, and immediately begins to make its nest in its hideout.

Battle

The first two Kiru Giru are encountered in the same room, impeding Samus's progress. Only a layer of stone stands between Samus and the weak point of the first one, and it can be destroyed with just a few shots from the Wave Beam. The second one will actively attempt to charge at Samus, but can be driven back by Missiles in a similar manner to the Crocomire's fight in Super Metroid. To destroy it, Samus must set Bombs while the larva is attacking, so that they detonate while the Kiru Giru is on top of them.

Artwork of the ensnared Kiru Giru

The ensnared Kiru Giru is trapped in a curled-up position, hiding its weak point. To defeat it, Samus must freeze a Winged Ripper flying around the room, jump on it, and shoot the Tangle Vines that are holding the larva with Missiles; however, it is possible to defeat it without using the Winged Ripper by jumping up and firing diagonally. Spores are constantly launched from the larva, either as a result of interior decay caused by Tangle Vines or the latter attempting to reproduce. As Samus destroys the Tangle Vines, the larva slowly changes from grey to its natural colors (possibly because the Tangle Vines are absorbing its blood). When defeated, the larva itself will fall through the floor, opening a path for Samus to exit the chamber. An interesting thing to note is that the Winged Ripper can be killed if it is directly underneath the larva the moment it falls, thus crushing it.

Development notes

Event Viewer listing the internal names.

In the Debug Menu Event Viewer for Metroid: Zero Mission's prototype build, event flags are named IMOMUSHI, SANAGIFUKA, and SANAGISI. Imomushi (イモムシ) is the Japanese word for caterpillar, and Sanagi (サナギ) is the Japanese word for pupa or chrysalis. These names listed are likely the internal names for the Kiru Giru in both its larval and ensnared states, respectively.

• IMOMUSHI refers to the two Kiru Giru seen inside a Norfair hallway. When this flag is active, it loads the post-Kiru Giru version of the hall. Interestingly, only the second (rightmost) Kiru Giru's death activates the flag.
• SANAGISI refers to the flag that stops the ensnared Kiru Giru from loading once activated. SANAGIFUKA is related to the cocooned Kiru Giru and normally activates upon returning to its boss chamber after DMLANDING (Ridley's landing cutscene flag) has been activated. If Samus enters the ensnared Kiru Giru's room from either the bottom door or from the crater with SANAGISI off, the hole leading out of the room will be present and when the boss is defeated, the dropped Kiru Giru may fall into a lower height than normal. Once SANAGIFUKA is active, a hole will appear leading to the Imago's room, plus the cocooned Kiru Giru seen in Ridley's Lair will no longer be present, loading the post-cocoon version of the room instead.

Trivia

• The first two Kiru Giru larvae can be killed simultaneously with a single Power Bomb, if Samus encounters the creatures after exploring Chozodia. Likewise, they can also be defeated with a single Beam shot to their underbellies after acquiring the Plasma Beam.
  • By jumping and firing Missiles or Super Missiles up directly underneath the first larva's weak point, Samus can successfully kill it without acquiring the Wave Beam.
• If Samus enters the Kiru Giru larva hall from the right, the second Kiru Giru will appear more darker and become invulnerable to all attacks, blocking Samus from accessing the other side of the room. Using a Power Bomb will reveal its natural color for the duration of the detonation.
  • Curiously, there exists an image of the first Kiru Giru during this situation, which would normally be unseen otherwise without hacking. The first Kiru Giru is fully grey as if completely hardened and is also invincible, though it is considered a background sprite instead of a solid object, meaning Samus can simply pass through it. A Power Bomb will temporarily reveal a brighter gray color of the immobile creature.
• The room containing the ensnared Kiru Giru also contains the only visible quantities of water in Norfair featured in Zero Mission. If Samus returns after entering Ridley's Lair, the pools will have dried up.
• The ensnared Kiru Giru mini-boss seems to pay tribute to the Spore Spawn, as the former has a theme that sounds very similar to the latter's theme, and both can attack by launching spores.
  • The beta version of Super Metroid shows that a green Ripper was initially going to be present during the fight against the Spore Spawn. If this was retained in the game's public release, another parallel could be drawn between the ensnared Kiru Giru and Spore Spawn battles.
• The mechanic of firing at the Kiru Giru larva to push it back is similar to the battle with Crocomire, the Omega Metroid in Metroid Fusion, and the Desbrachians in Metroid: Other M. Coincidentally, the Crocomire went unused in Zero Mission.
• A Power Bomb will instantly defeat the ensnared Kiru Giru, though this cannot be achieved normally, as Samus cannot skip this battle to obtain a Power Bomb Tank beforehand. This can be seen with the Debug Menu, however, using it to add Power Bombs during the battle.

Gallery

The first Kiru Giru.

A Kiru Giru sprite animation.

The first Kiru Giru in a hardened state (normally unseen).

The second Kiru Giru retreated in an impervious state within its shell.

Kiru Giru husk.

Sprite of the drained husk.

Samus battling the ensnared Kiru Giru.

The larva falls into the floor.

The freed larva in its cocoon.

The larva's empty cocoon.

The Kiru Giru on the Metroid Zero Mission Official Site.