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The current title is from a guide or other published source.
Silver Space Pirates[1] are the most resilient form of Zebesian Space Pirates encountered in Super Metroid.
Description[]
The first silver-colored Pirates are encountered as a pair stationed in Ridley's Lair in Norfair, specifically in the Monitor hall a few rooms prior to Samus's confrontation with Ridley, essentially making them his guards. They have a fully distinct behavior that sets them apart from all weaker Zebesians in the game, though the escape sequence in the rebuilt Tourian features a variant of these Silver Space Pirates that shares the same conduct as the latter.
The pair in Ridley's Lair attack by throwing their claws at Samus, somersaulting, and by using two kick variations: one is a dive-kick they perform after jumping straight upwards, and the other is a close-range standing kick. They also do a short run that may result in colliding with Samus after they land from their dive-kicks. Silver Space Pirates are invulnerable to all types of weaponry, including the Screw Attack, in their normal state. However, when they perform a diving kick at Samus, their armor briefly turns yellow; this makes them temporarily identical to the weaker Yellow Space Pirates, at which point they are vulnerable to Samus's Missiles, Super Missiles, or Charge Beam shots. They require three Super Missiles or two charged shots of the Wave Beam-Ice Beam-Plasma Beam combo to kill in this yellow state. Defeating them opens up a Metal Door, allowing Samus to proceed to Ridley. These Pirates are among the only enemies in the game to drop multiple pickups when defeated.
After defeating Mother Brain, Samus encounters more Silver Space Pirates throughout Tourian during the planet's self-destruct sequence, as well as a final pair stationed in the original Tourian's ruins (now part of Crateria). A single blast from Samus's newly acquired Hyper Beam is sufficient to kill them, its power enabling it to pierce through their armor. Curiously, only the final pair in Crateria shares the same attack patterns as Ridley's guards. None of them drop pickups upon defeat.
Development notes[]
Despite their identical appearances, the internal data of the game reveals that the Silver Pirates encountered after Mother Brain's defeat are actually a different group from the pair present in Lower Norfair. The Pirates inside the new Tourian behave like other colored variants by walking back and forth or climbing on walls, and responding to Samus's presence by firing beams, with their health amount being between a Pink Space Pirate's and a Yellow Space Pirate's. Meanwhile, the last two in the ruins of the old Tourian possess the same abilities as the original pair, but have the same health as Silver Space Pirates from the new Tourian.
Finally, although Samus's regular weapons are not intended to work after acquiring the Hyper Beam, they can be enabled through glitches, which reveals that all Space Pirates present in the escape sequence are actually vulnerable to her whole arsenal despite their silver rank. The lack of item pickups after killing them is likely intentional from the developers' part to prevent the use of other weapons such as Missiles, which are fully depleted when Samus is first struck by Mother Brain's most powerful attack.
Trivia[]
- Ridley's guards are in a room containing several monitors hanging from the ceiling. The screens display nothing, though the Silver Pirates' role as guards can lead to the assumption that the monitors are used for communication, and/or they are linked to security cameras.
- The fact that the Silver Space Pirates turn yellow when jump-kicking imply that they have some sort of temporary shield or force field around them, which disengages for a short moment during this quick attack.
- The Gold Space Pirates of Metroid Fusion behave very similarly to Silver Space Pirates in Super Metroid, as two of them must be defeated before access to Neo-Ridley is granted. These can only be damaged by attacking their backs, though the Screw Attack easily defeats them. The Gray Space Pirate from Metroid: Zero Mission is another resilient Zebesian type that must be defeated in order to open a door.
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