Zebetite

Zebetite (also referred to as Zeebetite) is a powerful regenerative ore-like material located mostly in Tourian. They are featured in Metroid, Super Metroid, and Metroid: Zero Mission.

Description

It seems to be a powerful source of energy that powers Mother Brain. In Super Metroid's Tourian, they are not restricted to the Pirate leader's chamber, and can be seen in several rooms throughout the Pirate HQ. The only times Samus has needed to destroy Zebetites is to get to Mother Brain in all of her encounters; although they can be destroyed with Missiles and their stronger counterparts, Zebetites regenerate in a matter of seconds if Samus does not dispatch them quickly (also wasting ammuniton), making them excellent shields for protecting the Pirate leader. It is possible Zebetites are somewhat living tissue.

In the Metroid manga, Mother Brain states that her Zebetite shields can deflect particles, rendering Samus' Power Beam useless. [1] Interesting to note is that the Zebetites are shown as static, glass-like walls, while the games feature them as cylinder-shaped canisters.

Official data

Metroid manual

"This energy source is vital for keeping Mother Brain alive. It is no more than a life-supporting system and therefore won't attack, but it must be destroyed and only missiles will do the job. One missile blast is not enough. Other weapons are harmless against it. You have to keep throwing missiles or it will simply come to life again."

1986 manga

"Mother Brain's life support system. Nothing but Missiles can destroy them."

Official Nintendo Player's Guide

"This is Mother Brain’s energy source. It can be destroyed with continuous missile attacks."

Super Metroid Players' Guide

Zapping the Zebetites (page 70)

"You'll need to task out these barriers while avoiding the Zebetites if you're to make it to Mother Brain."

Matt Manchester design notes

"These hallways were designed to have destructible barrels throughout that you could shoot to damage enemies with. I wanted to tie in Space Pirate tech from earlier games, so I made them a variation of the "zebetites" from the first metroid, which were the collapsing canisters you had to shoot through to get to Mother Brain at the end of the game."

3-D appearances

'Zebetites' in Corruption.

Objects resembling Zebetites which also diminish in thickness when fired at appear in some Bryyo Thorn Jungle hallways in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. However these variants do not regenerate, and will respawn once Samus leaves the rooms in which they are found, unlike the Zebetites encountered in the 2D games. In the same game, a different structure containing a Ship Missile Expansion which diminishes in thickness when shot at can be found in the Processing Access room on the Pirate Homeworld. It is quite possible that Zebetite was in the vastly unexplored Sector Zero of the BOTTLE SHIP, a Metroid propagation area modelled after Tourian. However, unlike the Rinkas and Ring Beam Units (similar to Cannons) that were seen elsewhere on the BOTTLE SHIP, there is no encountered Zebetite or variant in Metroid: Other M.

Cameos

• Zebetite is referred to as Mother Brain's energy source for herself and the Metroid asteroid in the Captain N: The Game Master show and comics. In the episode Metroid, Sweet Metroid she managed to trick the team into thinking "Power Flowers" (really ordinary flowers) fueled her and Metroid, and when they cut off the supply of flowers that she was shut down for good so Kevin could warp back home (which ended up leading to a fake replica of his town). When he was captured, she said she had "enough Zebetite powered crystals to power Videoland ten times over." After that incident, the characters have tried to sabotage shipments of the Zebetite on a few occasions during the show and comics (Money Changes Everything). Shots from Kevin's Zapper are said to bounce off (similar to the later manga interpretation of it), while Samus states that only her missiles can affect it.

Trivia

• The theme of Mother Brain in Metroid and Zero Mission is called "Zebetite" on the Super Metroid: Sound in Action and Game Sound Museum ~ Famicom Edition ~ 12 Metroid CDs.
• Zebetite does not appear in the enemy list in Super Metroid Nintendo Player's Guide.
• A variation of Zebetites can be seen within the Wrecked Ship, most notably in the corridor at the front entrance. They are green in color and start to glow after power is returned to the vessel. Whether they were used as power sources (much like Mother Brain's) or not is unknown.

Gallery

Japanese Metroid guide

Canadian Topps card

Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order

Money Changes Everything

1990 The Power Game Calendar

Power Flowers

See also

• Zebetite Glitch