Pillbugs are small, insectoid creatures encountered in the Agon Wastes and Sanctuary Fortress on Aether in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. They can be found crawling through spaces only accessible with the Morph Ball. When approached, they curl up into balls and roll slightly faster. They inflict little damage, and can be destroyed by being flipped over by a Morph Ball Bomb and then attacking the now vulnerable underside. If Samus has the Boost Ball, she can occasionally use this to destroy them. A boss variation called the Spider Guardian appeared in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as a Sub-Guardian. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, another variation appears called the Phazon Pillbug, appearing in the Gel Processing Site and Burrow on Bryyo.
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Pillbug
Morphology: Pillbug
Cave-dwelling herbivore.
Vulnerable to concussion blasts: use them to stun and damage this enemy.
Pillbugs prefer to dwell in dark caverns, though they can exist in lit areas. Navigating with a series of sensitive antennae, they roam through caves in search of moss and fungus. Pillbugs can move rapidly, and will ram unwary targets to clear their paths as they search for food. A Pillbug can be jarred loose from a surface with a concussive blast; doing so reveals its vulnerable belly.
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Pillbug concept art
- Pillbugs bear some resemblance to both real-life pillbugs (also known as woodlice) and prehistoric trilobites.
- Other than a few invading Space Pirates, Pillbugs are the only organic bioforms to inhabit the Sanctuary Fortress.
- A much larger variant of Pillbugs appears in Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether, though none of these size are encountered in the entire game. Considering the nomenclature for similar variants within the game, it is likely that these are Alpha Pillbugs.