Rundas

This is a featured article.

Rundas
Rundas, as seen in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
Species	Phrygisian
Homeworld	Phrygis, a moon of planet Bes III.
Death	Terminated by his own abilities on planet Bryyo
Gender	Male
Gunship	Phrygisian-class gunship
Main weapon	Cryokinesis Ice Missile
Affiliation	Bounty Hunter Galactic Federation Space Pirates
Music	Theme of Rundas
Voice actor	Christopher Sabat

“	Hey, relax! We're the good guys! Justice will prevail and all that stuff... right, Samus?	„
—Rundas' last known words

Rundas (ランダス, Randasu) is an ice-wielding Bounty Hunter who debuts in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. He is voiced by Christopher Sabat.

Biography

Background

Concept art.

Rundas was born on Phrygis, a moon of the planet Bes III known mainly for ice mining. Phrygisians are commonly able to manipulate and generate ice. However, Rundas is one of very few to use this ability as a hunter.

A Contract from the Federation

Rundas, along with Ghor, Gandrayda, and Samus Aran, is called to the G.F.S. Olympus, the flagship of the Galactic Federation Fleet orbiting the planet Norion, a major GF military stronghold. They are all assigned by Fleet Admiral Castor Dane of the Galactic Federation to purge the Aurora Units of a corruption virus believed to be of Space Pirate origin, and also to investigate Pirate activity in the system. The briefing is interrupted when Aurora Unit 242 sounds the emergency alarm as a Pirate fleet emerges from a wormhole and begin a surprise invasion on Norion. Rundas and the other hunters are ordered by Dane to get back to their ships and aid in the battle on the planet's surface. Rundas is forced to battle through boarding Pirates to reach his gunship.

Defense of Norion

“	These Pirates are more fragile than they appear.	„
—Rundas

When Rundas and the hunters arrive on Norion, they find that the Pirates have knocked out the Fedtech Plasma Generators that powered the planetary-defense system. The hunters are ordered to bring them back online.

Amid the chaos, Rundas comes to Samus's rescue, quickly and single-handedly destroying four Space Pirate ATCs that have surrounded and trapped her in Cargo Dock A. He informs her that the Federation is allowing all hunters to use their ships' Command Visors during the attack and then tells her to go on and reactivate Generator A while he goes to take care of Generator B. Rundas completes his portion of the mission and contacts Samus again to offer her his assistance in reactivating Generator C, but becomes preoccupied with Pirate reinforcements.

Despite this, he does manage to arrive just in time to rescue Samus once again before she plummets to the bottom of Generator C's Shaft after once again defeating Meta Ridley, flying down after her using his cryokinetic abilities. When he brings her back topside, he remarks that she now "owes him one", before traveling to Norion's Control Tower while she finishes the process of reactivating Generator C.

Once all of the generators are online, the four hunters reach the Control Tower and begin the firing sequence of Norion's main planetary Defense Cannon in order to prevent the approaching Leviathan from impacting the planet. While in the elevator, Rundas also reassures his comrades that they are the good guys, and that justice will prevail. However, Dark Samus arrives to stop them, crashing through the tower window and firing Phazon blasts at them. Rundas is hit by one, but recovers quickly. Before he and the hunters can retaliate, Dark Samus unleashes a powerful burst of Phazon energy that renders Ghor, Gandrayda, and himself unconscious. Samus still manages to activate the cannon, saving Norion before falling unconscious herself.

Awakening Corruption

Rundas emerges in the Temple of Bryyo.

Two weeks later, Rundas awakens to find that, due to Dark Samus's attack, his body is self-producing Phazon with no apparent negative effects. The Federation has equipped him with a Phazon Enhancement Device during his stupor so that he might harness and use this Phazon. Once he is briefed on the effects and abilities of his PED, the Federation sends him on a new mission to the planet Bryyo to destroy its Leviathan Seed. He easily dispatches any of the corrupted Reptilicus that stand in his way. Over time, however, his cryokinesis becomes increasingly Phazon-based, until he loses all control of the Phazon inside of his body and is apparently corrupted by it one week following his awakening, making it easy for Dark Samus to assert control over him. The Federation loses all contact with Rundas after he succumbs.

Rundas under Dark Samus' control.

After his corruption, Rundas apparently becomes a Space Pirate commander, perhaps overseeing the defense of the Leviathan, its shield, and that shield's powering generators. The corrupted hunter's true role during this period, however, remains unconfirmed.

One week later, Samus awakens as well and is dispatched by the Federation to Bryyo to investigate Rundas's disappearance and finish his mission. Rundas begins observing her from afar, but makes little effort to conceal his presence from her, as if intending for her to follow him. He even leaves his gunship in plain view in Bryyo Fire with its engines still warm.

Navigating through Bryyo Fire's Fuel Gel pumping and processing centers, Samus eventually finds Rundas in the Gel Processing Site, staring down at her from the chamber's highest ledge. Without a word, he walks away. Samus proceeds to follow him until she is attacked by Space Pirates within the Temple of Bryyo. When they begin to get the upper hand, she is seemingly rescued by Rundas, who freezes all of the Pirates within seconds. When she approaches Rundas, however, he attacks Samus as well.

Death

Rundas is impaled by his own icicles.

Despite his abilities, Rundas is defeated by Samus, who rips off his armor with her Grapple Lasso and subdues him. He collapses to the ground, breathing heavily, and appears to be confused, frantically looking around as if unaware of what has happened. Rundas notices Samus and, recognizing her, raises his arm. Before the other hunter can respond, however, a large stalagmite of ice erupts from the ground beneath Rundas, impaling him and kills him instantly. Afterward, Dark Samus arrives in an immaterial form to absorb his remains, as Samus is forced to watch.

When the corrupted Gandrayda later engages Samus, the shapeshifter occasionally takesRundas's form", and imitates his attacks, albeit with electricity-charged ice projectiles.

After Samus destroys Phaaze and purges all Phazon from the galaxy, she takes some time on planet Elysia to mourn Rundas and her other fallen comrades.

Personality and traits

Rundas is generally easygoing, with a dry sense of humor and penchant for showing off even in the direst of situations. As Phrygisians do not usually become Bounty Hunters, Rundas is something of a rarity, who greatly enjoys his work, to the point that he keeps trophies of every target whom he has successfully captured or killed in his career. However, Rundas's pride also makes him cocky and arrogant, causing him to believe himself unmatched in his field. This is evidenced by his remark that the Space Pirates' overwhelming of the G.F.S. Valhalla "never would have happened" had he been present. This arrogant demeanor leads him to primarily seek solo missions, and he rarely works with others. Despite this, he is shown to have a sense of camaraderie, particularly toward Samus Aran.

Corruption

After succumbing to corruption, Rundas's behavior changes completely: In place of his casual, cocky attitude, Rundas becomes unrestrained and violent, and lashes out with increasing savagery during his battle with Samus. Also worth noting is that, despite his usual propensity for dry quips, Rundas is the only corrupted hunter to never utter a word when Samus battles him. The reasons for this remain unknown, though it is possible that Dark Samus needs to impose more direct control over him than the other two hunters that she corrupted. Interestingly, the arrogance he has shown throughout his lifetime seems to persist even when under the influence of his internal Phazon, as he seemingly kills his newfound Pirate comrades simply to fight Samus alone on Bryyo.

Abilities

Rundas' cryokinetic abilities

As a Phrygisian, Rundas demonstrates his species' cryokinetic ability to generate and manipulate ice. He is known to surf through the air by jumping up and continuously forming ice at his feet in front of him, and proves to be quite maneuverable while doing so. There appears to be no foreseeable limitation to his ability, nor does he require any water source, for he can create ice even in warm environments such as Bryyo Fire.

In battle, he can fire ice bursts similar to those of Samus's Ice Beam to freeze his foes (even exhibiting the same noise). These bursts are powerful enough to render Space Pirate ATCs inoperable midflight. He can form ice pillars and walls to hinder or trap quicker targets. In addition, he can form ice chunks of varying sizes and lob them at his enemies. Otherwise, he can send winding lines of ice after them, freezing them instantly. As a secondary weapon, he carries Ice Missiles for use in disposing of his frozen victims.

Rundas can also form a thin layer of ice armor to grant him some light protection in longer engagements. It is durable, except at the neck, from which it can be pulled off with enough force.

Rundas is also shown to be a quick, if somewhat awkward, sprinter when he needs to be.

Official data

Logbook entries

Hunter Rundas (Galactic Federation Data)

Temporary scan

Galactic Federation Datafile RU-902.
(Hunter Rundas)
Data moved to Logbook for review.

Logbook entry

Subject is a native of Phrygis, a moon of Bes III known primarily for ice mining. The Phrygisian ability to manipulate and generate ice has come in handy in subject’s career as a Bounty Hunter. Intel suggests that he enjoys hunting, to the point where he keeps trophies from all of the targets he’s successfully captured or killed in his career. Subject is proud, cocky, and arrogant, and considers himself without rivals in his field.

Hunter Rundas

Temporary scan

Hunter Rundas
Possesses the ability to generate and manipulate ice.

Logbook entry

Rundas is capable of generating and manipulating ice. This trait is common among inhabitants of the moon Phrygis, but Rundas is one of the few who have used this ability for bounty hunting. Subject is known for getting results, but considers himself without peer. His arrogant demeanor has led him to mainly seek solo missions, and rarely works well with others.

Hunter Rundas (before battle)

Temporary scan

Hunter Rundas
Reported to have gone missing during a Federation mission.

Rundas

Temporary scan

Morphology: Rundas
Ice armor protects body, but could be ripped off if he was stunned.

Rundas is temporarily stunned.
Ice armor can now be ripped off if pulled with enough force.

Logbook entry

Phazon exposure has greatly enhanced Rundas and his ability to generate ice, making him deadly at any range. His durable ice armor has one weak point--the neck. Serious physical stress can weaken and remove it, exposing Rundas to attack. This weak point cannot be seized as long as Rundas is active. He can create frozen objects at will, and can freeze Missiles in midflight. Smaller ice-based projectiles can be shot down, but it is recommended to evaded larger attacks. Be advised: Rundas can trigger a Hypermode state, elevating his threat level to match your own.

Development notes

In the E3 2006 footage of the game, Rundas has a different, more gravelly voice actor with a British accent. During the boss fight in the released game, Rundas also sounds slightly different from before, where his vocal grunts is more high-pitched and raspy.

Rundas's artificial intelligence was created by Paul Tozour, which was built on top of Dark Samus's.

Trivia

Samus scans Rundas.

• Rundas is the only one of the three Bounty Hunters fought in Corruption who has a separate theme for encounters outside his boss battle, which uses the aptly-titled Rundas Fight.
• The noise that is heard when Rundas shoots ice at enemies is identical to that heard when firing the Ice Beam in Metroid Prime.
• Rundas's last spoken words about reassuring his compatriots that they will succeed since "[they're] the good guys; justice will prevail and all that stuff" is darkly ironic foreshadowing since all of them barring Samus fall under Dark Samus's control.

Rundas appears at the Crash Site.

• When Samus exits the G.F.S. Theseus, she can see Rundas watching her from a cliff, before jumping off and flying away. This is not a cutscene and happens in real-time, so it is easily missed. Scanning him here will depict his normal Hunter Rundas scan.
• Masses of ice, which are all that remain of any Reptilicus that attacked Rundas, can be found throughout the Bryyo Cliffside and Bryyo Fire areas. They can be scanned, and as Samus progresses through the areas, the ice starts to contain particles of Phazon, indicating the point where Rundas either became corrupted or simply utilized Hypermode.
• Rundas is the only Bounty Hunter who can be scanned directly before his/her boss fight and give different information (a possible exception being Gandrayda, who "cloaks" herself as a Galactic Federation trooper before her fight). If Rundas is scanned when he appears in Temple of Bryyo, in the 5–10 seconds of gameplay before he attacks Samus, a non-Logbook scan can be read. It reads "Reported to have gone missing during a Federation mission".
• Little is known about the conditions of the Hunters, but Rundas's case seems, at least, different from Ghor's and Gandrayda's corruption. He attacks Pirates that are supposedly his partners at this point, does not speak a single word during all of his corruption, is frantic and confused at the end of the battle, and dies by his own ice attack. These may be signs that Rundas is fighting total corruption. This, however, is a fan theory and has not been confirmed. It is also unknown if Rundas is killed by Dark Samus to prevent him from escaping her control, or if he kills himself to prevent Dark Samus from regaining control over him.
• Rundas is referred to as "Commander Rundas" in Space Pirate Data, which implies that he joins them after being corrupted, along with Ghor and Gandrayda. Curiously, Rundas kills several Space Pirates just before his battle with Samus, despite having already established an allegiance with the marauding race. He may want to fool Samus into thinking he is on her side and finish her off, or he kills the Pirates in order to have a one-on-one battle with her (the latter theory is more in-line with his proud personality).
• It is possible to make Rundas become "stuck" in the wall by ripping off his ice armor when he is very close to the wall. While stuck, Rundas will endlessly attempt to run out of the wall, meaning he cannot use his attacks and he is completely vulnerable. Firing Missiles or ripping off his armor from a certain angle can free him.
• Should Samus die while fighting Rundas, a checkpoint will be set at the moment when Rundas tries to freeze Samus.

Gallery

Rundas' in-game model.

Cover art render.

Rundas contacts Samus, displaying his unique emblem on the lower left.

Rundas' last known words.

Rundas' PED suit model.

Rundas on Bryyo, corrupted.

Rundas in his ice armor.

Samus attempts to remove Rundas' ice armor with her Grapple Lasso.

Rundas generates three ice balls to attack.

A closeup of Rundas.

Rundas is thrown to the ground after the battle.

Rundas is absorbed by Dark Samus.

Rundas leaves behind the Ice Missile for Samus.

Rundas in the 2006 prototype of Corruption. The only significant difference from his final incarnation is a slight yellow tint.

Rundas from the 2006 prototype, in his Phazon-corrupted form. His PED device is notably absent, and his skin has red reflections rather than the usual blue. Rundas defaults to this form immediately after his introductory cutscene finishes, possibly indicating that his scripting for the scene was unfinished.

Rundas in storyboards.

Rundas textures.

Metroid Prime Trilogy poster.