Magmoors are serpent-like creatures found on Tallon IV that inhabit areas of extreme heat, specifically, certain areas of the Magmoor Caverns, which are named after them.
Description[]
Magmoors are predatory creatures. They hide and wait under lava, and only become detectable when they rise out to attack their prey with a powerful stream of fire spewed from their mouth. Their thick hide can absorb any kind of attack received but their head region is soft, being the only weak point the creature possesses. They also remain stationary when Samus is near, choosing not to hide until she backs off. Should Samus run away, a Magmoor will often reposition itself by popping out from another location not too far from its domain in order to continue its hunt.
Though intimidating, they are actually very easy to defeat. Charged beam shots will cause it to flinch for a second (or slightly longer in the case of the Wave Beam). At times they may make a quick roar, allowing time for Samus to return fire. Being fire-based creatures, they are strongly vulnerable to the Ice Beam. Both charged and uncharged shots will freeze the creature, though only the head will appear frozen, with charged shots freezing the head with more thickness. Magmoors are vulnerable to the Plasma Beam despite their fiery complex and ironically, can be burned by the Flamethrower. They appear immune to Power Bombs.
Humorously, Samus can fire a Missile to release a large stalactite from the ceiling, and it may fall on a Magmoor (which often emerge under one), killing it instantly. These Magmoors will no longer respawn.
Magmoors can be found in Lava Lake, Transport Tunnel B, Fiery Shores, Twin Fires and North Core Tunnel.
Official data[]
Logbook entry[]
Magmoor
Morphology: Magmoor
Fire-breathing serpent that dwells in lava.
Magmoors prefer extreme heat zones, and are susceptible to frigid attack forms. Sightless, they navigate the lava currents using their sonar receptors. Magmoors have a keen sense of smell, enabling them to pinpoint targets with startling accuracy.
Official website[]
A Magmoor in Magmoor Caverns from Metroid Prime.
"Magmoors prefer extreme heat zones, and are susceptible to frigid attack forms. Sightless, they navigate the lava currents using their sonar receptors. Magmoors have a keen sense of smell, enabling them to pinpoint targets with startling accuracy."
The Magmoor is a fire-breathing serpent with a spiked back and pronounced jaws.
Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide[]
- Magmoor
- "Magmoors are dragonlike creatures that live in the molten lava of Magmoor Caverns. They emerge out of the lava and shoot flames out of their mouths as you near them. Magmoors are most susceptible to cold attacks, but heavy-damage weapons such as Missiles and the Charge Beam are also effective. Their flame breath has a limited range, so if you stay out of reach, you can send the Magmoor back to their fiery depths with ease."
- Magmoor
- Found In: Magmoor Caverns
- Recommended Weapon: Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Missile
- "Magmoors are lava-dwelling serpents with fiery breath. The flame that shoots out of their mouths has a limited range and can easily be avoided. Keep out of range of their fire-breath and throw a few missiles and Power Beam attacks to send them back to their molten depths. Use the Ice Beam to freeze the creature's head, and they're even easier to dispatch."
Metroid Prime: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide[]
- MAGMOOR
- "The namesake of the caverns is a massive lava-based serpent that breathes fire. You can make quick work of one with the Ice Beam, but until you have such a weapon, stick to Missiles and the Charge Beam for all your Magmoor-elimination needs."
Metroid Prime Official Strategy Guide[]
- MAGMOOR
- MORPHOLOGY
- "The Magmoor is a fire-breathing serpent that dwells in the fiery depths of lava pools. Magmoors prefer extreme heat zones and are susceptible to frigid attack forms. Sightless, they navigate the lava currents using solar receptors. Magmoors have a keen sense of smell, enabling them to pinpoint targets with startling accuracy."
- COMBAT TIPS
- "The attacks that Magmoors muster are very powerful and even a short point-blank blast is more than enough to drain Samus's energy to zero! The key to taking out the Magmoors is to maintain distance from them and hit them with four Missiles or a combination of Charge Beam, Power Beam, and Missiles. Of course, the Magmoor can be destroyed completely by using just a Power Beam, but it requires a great many hits to complete the task."
Metroid Prime Official Perfect Guide[]
- MAGMOOR
- "These draconian creatures emerge from the lava to spew flames your way. Two Charge Beams, or four Missiles will destroy them."
Development notes[]
The Magmoor's internal filename is "magdolite". According to Mike Sneath, enemies in Prime were designed to be faithful to those of the 2D Metroid series, but Nintendo asked for them to be retooled.[1] As such, Magmoors may originally have been Magdollites during development.
The internal file name of the Triclops Pit is "14_over_magdolitepits", suggesting that Magmoors were supposed to be in this room at one point.[2]
Trivia[]
- Magmoors appear in two scenes played as part of the attract mode of Metroid Prime and New Play Control! Metroid Prime.
- A Magmoor's fire breath can open a Blue Door.[3] In some rooms, it can also kill any smaller creatures wandering near the fiery predator.
- The word "Magmoor" is likely a portmanteau of "magma" and "moor".
- In the GameCube version, the second Magmoor can be lured into "jumping" by Samus jumping close enough for it to emerge, but not close enough for it to start attacking. However, in Metroid Prime Trilogy, as with other Magmoors, when in detection range but not attacking range it will merely roar before retreating into the lava. Sometimes, they will not retreat into the lava and continue roaring. Both actions depend on the range Samus is within their territory.[4]
- In Twin Fires, one Magmoor is positioned too closely to a wall. If it performs its fire breath facing the wall, it will instantly die. This may be due to its head attempting to stick out of bounds where an enemy kill plane is touched.[5]
- Magmoors strongly resemble Serris from Metroid Fusion, both are serpent-like creatures possessing five eyes. Magmoors may also bear some resemblance to Namihe, as both are serpent-like creatures that dwell within ultra-hot regions.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ "The entire first year’s worth of characters I modeled for the game were cut. At first, we were making all the enemies looking just like the old Metroid 2D enemies. Nintendo later decided that they wanted the enemies to have a new look, so we scrapped all of those creatures. These weren’t just models that were scrapped, but these were enemies that had a full set of animations and some even had AI programmed. I’m actually very glad Nintendo made that call because I think the newer designs that Jones and Keller came up with were a big improvement over the original 2D designs." https://shinesparkers.net/interviews/mike-sneath/
- ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/Metroid/comments/jmha6f/in_the_internal_files_of_metroid_prime_hall_of/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
- ^ As seen in this clip
- ^ As seen in this clip
- ^ As seen in this clip