Zero Suit Samus in Metroid: Zero Mission, the first game with her now-signature hairstyle.
Samus's Hairstyle[1] is the signature hairstyle of Samus Aran in Metroid: Zero Mission and every game since. Previous games had depicted Samus with her hair either down, in a ponytail, or both, but Zero Mission was the first to establish a consistent style.
Samus keeps her blonde hair in a long ponytail tied back with a red band. She has two loose locks on either side of her head and sideswept bangs with one lock hanging over her nose. This exact style is present in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where Zero Suit Samus is playable. Exceptions to its presence are Metroid Prime Hunters, Metroid: Other M and Metroid: Samus Returns. While Hunters features Samus's hair in a ponytail, she is missing the two locks on either side of her head. In Other M, the locks are present but are thinner, her bangs are swept lower on her face, almost to her eyes, and her ponytail sprouts lower on her head. This style is retained in Samus Returns.
In Metroid Dread, Samus's bangs appear to be swept higher on her face to the side. While she never removes her helmet ingame, her bangs can be seen through her visor at several points.[2]
Hair color[]
Samus's hair has not always been blonde. Her Justin Bailey sprites in Metroid colored it red/brown (by default), blonde (when using the Missile Launcher with the Power Suit), green (when using the Varia Suit), and bright green (when using the Missile Launcher with the Varia Suit). Artwork for Super Metroid showed her with violet hair despite it being blonde in-game. She first had consistently blonde hair in the Nintendo Comics System. In the non-canonical gamebook Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order, which contained the earliest known depiction of Samus's face, her hair was black since Sumi Arisaka was not informed anything about her hair color.[3]
Development notes[]
While Samus's ponytail is intended to be long, the sprites for Zero Suit Samus in Zero Mission make it appear shorter.
A development screenshot for Other M showed a younger Samus with black hair. In Japan, dyed blonde hair is seen as a symbol of rebelliousness due to its association with stereotypical Western/American culture. As Other M was intended for Japanese audiences and one of the themes explored by the game is Samus's past rebellious streak, this may have been used to signify that Samus dyed her hair blonde later in life to symbolize her abandonment of the Galactic Federation.
For Metroid Prime Remastered, Samus's hair was created by Airship Images Limited,[4] specifically their Groom Artist Luis Cardenas.[5]
Trivia[]
- In Metroid Dread, the SA-X has bangs visible through its visor. This suggests that the SA-X likely has Samus's Hairstyle underneath its helmet. As it did not have visible hair in Metroid Fusion, this further implies a higher degree of resemblance to humans than was previously known for the creature.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ Metroid: Other M development screenshot (see Gallery)
- ^ https://twitter.com/glaedrax/status/1432788431860609025
- ^ 有坂 須美 (sumi_arisaka). "ここ一年近く体調の悪化のため放置だったので、通知も見てなかったんですが＾＾；先日見たらずいぶんと懐かしいものが、、、 当時サムスの容姿について知らされたのは『髪の長い女性』とだけだったので黒髪(個人的には濃い茶髪)にしたんですよね、ちなみに今描くとこんな感じ、、、かな？。" 22 April 2017 4:33 a.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/sumi_arisaka/status/855716082300076032
- ^ Airship Interactive (goairship). "The news is out 🚨
We're thrilled to see this #MetroidPrimeRemastered finally drop! We were incredibly proud to create the hair for the iconic gaming character, Samus Aran". Instagram. February 10, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Coex7ECOKKV/ - ^ Alejandro Angelone (memordiste). "Yes, I did Samus's hair❣️😁😎My first credits on a Nintendo game and it feels goooood!😌 Huge thanks to the team at @goairship for its support an [sic] guidance. Also big thanks to #retrostudios for bringing back to the present this clasic🤖🎮" February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/CofYZaKJWR3/