Unfreezable Metroid

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“	There's a strong likelihood that the Metroid's mortal weakness, the vulnerability to cold, has been overcome through genetic manipulation. And if that's true, there's no way you can destroy them.	„
—Commander Adam Malkovich

Unfreezable Metroid
An Unfreezable Metroid from a cutscene of Metroid: Other M
Featured in	Metroid: Other M
Location	Sector Zero
Homeworld	BOTTLE SHIP
Weakness	Powerful explosions
Life cycle	Preceded by: Baby Metroid
Stage	Stage 3: Larva

Unfreezable Metroids (also referred to as Sector Zero Metroids or Genetic Metroids) were Metroid larvae that had their genes manipulated by a corrupt faction of the Galactic Federation to overcome the species' major vulnerability to cold temperatures, therefore maximizing their potential as bioweapons. They are only seen in cutscenes in Metroid: Other M.

Shielding Metroids from their weakness had long been a desired goal of the Space Pirates, but the organization seemingly did not have the chance to do so or never had the same degree of success as the Galactic Federation which, ironically, is the very enemy the Pirates hoped to defeat with Metroids.

Physiology

An unfreezable Metroid in its tank. Note its unique coloration and spiked nuclei.

Unlike the green and red colors of its natural counterpart, an unfreezable Metroid's transparent membrane is blue and its skin (i.e. the structure holding its fangs along with its nuclei) has a purple pigmentation, respectively. The four spherical nuclei within its membrane are covered in spikes instead of having a raspberry-like surface, and its underside has a lamprey-like maw in between the four fangs.

It is unknown if the scientists alter the genes of a Metroid while it is developing in its egg or after it hatches, but Adam speculates that the creature will not manifest its resistance to sub-zero temperatures nor the above physical traits until it grows out of its infancy. In other words, a modified newborn is identical to a normal Infant Metroid and will supposedly transform into the unfreezable strain when reaching the next stage of its life cycle.

The process of making Metroid larvae immune to the cold is suggested to work also with any of their advanced forms seen on SR388. This is implied by Samus when she states that the Queen Metroid on the BOTTLE SHIP was left unaltered so it would act as a control specimen that gives birth to normal Metroids.

History & role

Pre-Other M

Following the events of Super Metroid, the BOTTLE SHIP's scientists secretly produced a Metroid clone from the deceased baby's organic matter preserved on Samus' Power Suit. Once it grew into a Queen, its offspring became part of a bioweapon program titled Project Metroid Warriors. Not wanting to repeat the Space Pirates' mistake of using bioweapons with a significant flaw, the ambitious ringleaders experimented on the young Metroids for an unknown length of time until they successfully removed their weakness to the cold. Regular larvae from SR388 can only be killed via a strict two-step method: the first is to encase them in ice, followed by blasting them with concussive weapons. Unfreezable Metroids render the first step inapplicable, thereby making the creatures invincible; nothing short of an unconventional, massive explosion powerful enough to eradicate entire areas can kill them.

The ringleaders' next step was to find a means to reliably control Metroids. To that end, a body was given to MB (an AI aboard the ship) to make her resemble a living entity in the hopes that newborn Metroids would imprint onto her: this would theoretically allow the creatures to be tamed and willingly follow her commands. If successful, the obedient Metroids would then, presumably, be turned into the unfreezable strain. However, MB went rogue and killed the majority of the ship's scientists using other bioweapons and planned to unleash the modified Metroids against Galactic Federation HQ. Sometime prior to MB's revolt, all unfreezable Metroids were stored within Sector Zero.

Other M

During the game's events, the existence of the Federation's unfreezable Metroids are first alluded to when Samus Aran came across a dead Gigafraug within the BOTTLE SHIP's Cryosphere. The creature's body featured evidence of its life energy drained by a Metroid, which was something that Samus commented as an impossibility not only because Metroids were extinct but also due to Sector 2 being a sub-zero environment.

Wireframe hologram of an unfreezable Metroid.

Eventually, the unknowing Samus meets MB, who posed as Madeline Bergman and revealed most of the information regarding the Metroid program and its origins. MB also proceeded to tell her the Metroids were in Sector Zero but intentionally withheld the crucial information regarding their immunity to the cold, hoping that the specimens would have the element of surprise and kill the unwary Samus. This plan was ultimately foiled by Adam Malkovich when he prevented entry to the area and warned Samus about the Metroids' modified genes. These Metroids were ultimately killed offscreen by Adam when he triggered Sector Zero's self-destruct mechanism.

It is never stated if the unfreezable Metroids within Sector Zero had imprinted onto MB or not. Taking into account that she was never found near them during Samus's visit on the BOTTLE SHIP, and that the creatures were kept in an enclosed location (within containers no less), all directly imply these specimens were not exposed to MB during their birth, or the theoretical method of control was ultimately unsuccessful.

Prior cold-resistant Metroids

Samus's previous missions featured Metroid strains with varying levels of resistance towards sub-zero temperatures, making them either impossible to immobilize in ice and/or were invulnerable to damage from cold-based weapons.

Metroid Prime series

Chronologically, the first of these were several of the mutants created through Phazon. These include the Fission Metroid, Metroid Prime and the Metroid Hatcher. The Fission strain had the ability to split into two Metroids that were each given a random, singular weakness to either the Power, Wave, Plasma or Ice Beam, thus the creature had a high probability of producing Metroids that were completely invulnerable to the cold. The Metroid Prime's first form was also immune to the Ice Beam except for the brief moments its exoskeleton shifted to a white color, during which its face could be harmed with said weapon and the Ice Spreader; the latter weapon had the bonus effect of immobilizing Metroid Prime temporarily despite only encasing its face in ice. Metroid Prime's second form, the Core Essence, had no such weaknesses. The Metroid Hatcher could not be frozen, but still received damage when its mouth and tentacles were hit with an Ice Missile.

Although the Space Pirates extensively experimented with Phazon, they played no role in the birth of the first two mutant strains, as they were created outside of Pirate laboratories and were therefore incapable of recreating them in a controlled environment. The Metroid Hatchers are the only ones the Pirates may have been involved in creating, as Samus finds a Hatcher in the research sector of a Pirate homeworld.

Metroid: Samus Returns

The advanced stages of a Metroid's life cycle on SR388, known as the Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, Omega and Queen forms, have exoskeletons and tissue that prevent their bodies from being completely frozen, making it impossible to immobilize them. However, their exposed membranes and mouths could still be harmed and/or covered in ice with the Ice Beam; a charged shot could freeze the membranes of Alpha and Gamma Metroids, slowing down their movements.

In the original version of the game, Metroid II: Return of Samus, the Ice Beam had no effect on any of the advanced forms.

Super Metroid

The Giant Metroid that Samus encountered on planet Zebes could not be harmed, immobilized or repelled with any of her weapons including the Ice Beam and stacked/charged variants.

Official data

Story

"Adam knows the Metroids in Sector Zero can't be frozen and decides to destroy them using a self-destruct protocol, which he activates, causing Sector Zero to detach and explode while Samus remains safely behind."

Hologram information

Common name: Genetic Metroid
Size: Length 1.5m
Classification: Metroid subspecies able to endure frigid temperatures.

Trivia

• Whether the Gigafraug's corpse in the Cryosphere of the BOTTLE SHIP implies that an unfreezable Metroid escaped Sector Zero, or was the result of an earlier test performed by the ship's scientists to verify the Metroid's invulnerability, remains unknown. It is interesting to note that a cutscene of a modified Metroid breaking its containment tank is shown during Adam's exposition on the organisms.
• The modified Metroids from the BOTTLE SHIP are unlikely to have the Zebesian larvae's alternate weakness to Power Bombs due to the fact that they're the offspring of the Metroid strain from SR388, which does not have this alternate weakness.
  • Other M's Power Bombs may have possessed enough firepower to damage Sector Zero and activate its self-destruct procedure, killing all unfreezable Metroids. However, this would have consequentially led to Samus' death as she would be required to detonate the Power Bombs from within the sector, trapping her inside when it would detach from the BOTTLE SHIP and explode.
• The model for the unfreezable Metroid is present in the game's data, possibly indicating that a non-pre-rendered version of the cutscene featuring it was intended at some point.
• After Samus receives Metroid DNA in Metroid Fusion, the Galactic Federation provides Samus with the Varia Suit upgrade which renders her immune to cold temperatures and prevents her from being frozen by the SA-X's Ice Beam, technically making her an unfreezable "Metroid" throughout the events of the game due to her being able to move freely in cold temperatures, merely taking damage in cold areas until she acquires the Varia suit. This happens again when she acquires the Gravity Suit on ZDR in Metroid Dread, though in a more genuine fashion than in Fusion, as she acquires the Metroid Suit soon afterwards, and is also able to move freely in cold zones even though she takes damage when she does so prior to obtaining the Gravity Suit. Whether or not the Metroid Suit confers immunity to cold temperatures is unknown, though based on how it looks similar to the carapace of Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, Omega, and Queen Metroids, this is presumably the case.
• Hacking into Metroid Fusion and accessing the debug menu reveals that the Metroid larva being housed inside the Restricted Laboratory are completely immune to both Ice Missiles and the Ice Beam (via debug menu). Due to the fact that players are not meant to have the Ice Beam at this particular point, it is likely the game developers simply didn't bother to program the Metroids to be affected by the Ice Beam.
• In the original NTSC release of Metroid Prime, a creature known as a Metroid: Alpha Type is able to thaw much quicker than that of other Tallon Metroids. As Scan Data may suggest, it is quite possible that this was the first, earliest known attempts of the Pirates attempting to create unfreezable Metroids (before being retconned).