Samus Aran

Samus Aran is the main protagonist from the Metroid Prime franchise.

Samus is an intergalactic bounty hunter.

Orphaned during a Space Pirate raid on her home of K-2L, Samus was adopted by the mysterious Chozo and taken to Zebes, where she was infused with their DNA and raised to become a warrior. Once she reached adulthood, Samus joined the Federation Police and served under the Commanding Officer Adam Malkovich. Though she ultimately left to become a Bounty Hunter, she was nonetheless hired by the Galactic Federation on many occasions. Equipped with her cybernetic Power Suit, Samus has become famous for accomplishing missions previously thought impossible. Her most renowned achievements are the destruction of the Space Pirate base on Zebes, her role in ending the Galactic Phazon crisis, her extermination of the Metroid species, and her disobedience of orders at the Biologic Space Laboratories research stationwhere she chose to destroy the deadly X Parasites rather than turn them over to the Galactic Federation.

Appearance
Samus Aran is a human. According to the Super Metroid Players' Guide, she is 6 feet 3 inches tall (roughly 190 cm) and weighs 198 pounds (roughly 90 kilograms); however, the manual of Metroid II: Return of Samus attributes these measurements to her Power Suit instead. Physically, her body is quite lean under the armor, though her observed superhuman abilities may be accountable to her muscle/bone density given her hybrid genetics and augmentations. Underneath the helmet, Samus has green-tinged blue eyes, light skin, and typically wears her blond hair in a modified ponytail with a red headband, with a lock on either side. The exact hairstyle, however, can vary from game to game.

Samus's appearance varied widely in the early games. In the original Metroid, her hair was miscolored brown, though it would turn green once the player acquired the Varia Suit. If Metroid II: Return of Samuswas played with a Super Game Boy, Game Boy Player or Game Boy Advance, her hair would be miscolored red. It wasn't until Super Metroid that she officially became blond, although the non-canon comic colored her hair purple. In addition, the gamebook Metroid: Zebes Invasion Order depicted her hair color as largely being black.

Similarly, Samus's Hairstyle has varied in the early games and other media. In the original Metroid, her hairstyle was depicted as wavy and reaching just beyond her shoulder blades in the ending, while in Metroid II and Super Metroid, it was depicted as straight with a part on the left side of her forehead and bangs, respectively, with the former only reaching her neck and the latter reaching her shoulders. In Fusion, she has two bangs, one of which partially covers her left eye slightly, and is depicted as long enough to reach down her back. In addition, in Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's hair, similar to Fusion was depicted as long enough to reach down her back. Samus's signature hairstyle debuted in Metroid: Zero Mission, and has been present in every Metroid game released since. The only exception is Metroid Prime Hunters which, though it retained Samus's ponytail, lacked the two locks of hair on each side of her head. Previously, Samus had been depicted with a ponytail in Metroid Prime and (briefly) at the end of Metroid II and Super Metroid.

Samus's face structure has also varied between games. Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion gave her a wider face and larger eyes than later incarnations. In particular, her appearance for Super Metroid is stated to be based on American actress Kim Basinger. In Metroid Prime, her jaw was squarer, her eyes deeper-set and her lips more defined. Zero Mission gave her higher cheekbones and a thinner face than previous installments, and that template has been the basis for every game since. Echoes ' incarnation is possibly her most panned appearance, due to the in-game model suffering from the uncanny valley. Prime Hunters, on the other hand, gave Samus a face that appeared to be a blend of Zero Mission 's and Prime 's depiction. Samus retained the deep-set eyes, traditional ponytail, and fuller face from Prime, but also had Zero Mission 's higher cheekbones. Corruption 's is closer to that of Zero Mission, with a thinner, more stylized face. In other media, such as Zebes Invasion Order, Samus's face was rendered with a similar design to various Japanese anime, such as Speed Racer.

On the other hand, Metroid: Other M is perhaps the largest change Samus has ever had to her appearance since Zero Mission. She is depicted for the first time with short hair. While her adult appearance still gives her a ponytail, the two locks on either side of her head have been heavily reduced in size, her bangs have been altered and her ponytail has been moved to the nape of the neck. She also has the beauty mark that Yoshio Sakamoto alluded to in the Super Metroid developer interview, under the left side of her lip. A mole was marked in concept art for Metroid Prime, but was not added to the model. Before the credits, Samus is briefly depicted with her hair down, the first instance of this in 3-D. With her hair down, she has locks of hair hanging over her shoulders. After Anthony steps in, the lock over her right shoulder is no longer there. She then ties her hair back into her ponytail, mirroring the scenes in Metroid II and Super Metroid where she unties the ponytail. A development screenshot pictured her young appearance with black hair.

Personality
Samus' personality has never been explored in-depth within the context of the games, a conscious decision by Nintendo to help the player imagine themselves better as the in-game character. However, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Metroid: Other M are perhaps the most notable games in the series to give insight into Samus' personality, as well as other media formats such as comics and manga. Prior to Metroid: Other M, her voice would only be represented by text at the beginning narration, as well as throughout Metroid Fusion.

Typically, Samus is depicted as a melancholic, heroic loner of few words. Despite her great achievements, she remains lonely and brooding, and seeks revenge against the Space Pirates - especially Ridley, who was personally responsible for the death of her mother. Despite her tragic origins, Samus has been shown to have unparalleled willpower and resourcefulness, succeeding where thousands failed and stopping at nothing to save the galaxy from any threat that may arise. Such is Samus' determination that she was even willing to sacrifice herself to prevent the spread of the body-snatching X Parasites.

Despite her reputation for destroying even the deadliest of foes, Samus is also known for her compassion, and has consistently stood up to protect the helpless and downtrodden. Two notable instances of this were when she volunteered to single-handedly save the Luminoth race from the brink of extinction, and when she helped innocent Etecoons and a Dachora escape a self-destructing Zebes. In Metroid II, Samus also bonded with a Metroid who was born in front of her eyes, and decided to spare it, possibly recalling her three-year-old self during the attack on K-2L. It later sacrificed itself at the end of Super Metroid to save Samus, leaving her heartbroken and emotionally scarred for some time, as shown in Metroid: Other M.

Witnessing her mother's death at Ridley's hands left Samus with posttraumatic stress disorder, which manifested as a severe panic attack upon her first encounter with Ridley in adolescence. She appears to have since learned to cope with this trauma, as she has rarely hesitated to do battle with her hated nemesis since then: Upon learning that he had survived their first battle on Zebes, Samus expressed only anger and wasted no time rushing to her Gunship and chasing Ridley all the way down to the planet Tallon IV. Samus' PTSD resurfaced a second time when she encountered a cloned Ridley on the BOTTLE SHIP during the events of Metroid: Other M - a period of time in which Samus was already emotionally vulnerable following the death of the Metroid hatchling and the destruction of her childhood home of Zebes.

During the events of Metroid: Other M, Samus was depicted as going through a period of severe self-doubt after the destruction of her childhood home and the death of the Metroid hatchling. During this time, her behavior was more passive, less self-reliant, being uncharacteristically dependent on Adam Malkovich when she joined him and his platoon in investigating the BOTTLE SHIP, despite later stating that she dislikes the very idea of taking orders from a commanding officer. Her PTSD regarding Ridley also resurfaced during this mission, to the point that she could barely communicate when attacked by his clone, and could not regain her composure until Anthony Higgs was apparently killed trying to defend her. Other M's depiction of Samus has garnered significant criticism for being perceived as inconsistent with her depictions in all other games, as well as the questionable implications of her submissive behavior and interactions with Adam during the game's events. However, Other Mis the only time these traits have been observed; by the time of the events of Metroid Fusion, which takes place after Other M, Samus is once again portrayed as self-reliant and strong-willed, if somewhat more introspective.

Abilities
Samus Aran's infusion with Chozo DNA, as well as her warrior training since her childhood, has turned her into a superior athlete. Her training began at the age of 3 and continued up until she was 14 years old. As a result of the Chozo’s influence, Samus is capable of running and jumping heights far past normal human ability, as well as surviving falls that would otherwise kill an ordinary human. Samus is also more adaptive to foreign alien environments that normal humans cannot survive in, such as the majority of Zebes and Elysia.

Samus also demonstrates good sharpshooting skills. She is an excellent marksman, with incredible aim, and is tremendously deadly in combat. She exhibits prodigious puzzle-solving and hacking skills. She also possesses a lithe figure that allows her to crawl through tunnels and gaps that would normally require usage of the Morph Ball. All of these are, of course, augmented further by her Power Suit. If need be, Samus will engage in melee combat, often using kicks and wrestling tactics to weaken her foe for a point-blank shot.

The extent of Samus’ training after she joined the Federation Police is currently unknown, but it is clear that the Federation has made one major augmentation to her abilities: her infusion with Metroid DNA. This infusion was done in a last-ditch attempt to save her life after she was infected with the X Parasites, and thus it was not completely known at the time what the side effects would be.

As a result of the infusion, Samus gained immunity to X Parasites, as well as the ability to absorb them for energy. However, she also inherited the Metroid’s crippling weakness to cold, though this disability was negated after she absorbed the essence of the SA-X. However, Samus does not seem to have inherited the Metroids' ability to float, or to absorb bio-energy from life forms beyond the X Parasites.

Power Suit
Samus’ most notable piece of equipment is her Power Suit, which has become virtually synonymous with her own identity. This suit was given to her during her time with the Chozo, and was built to be fused with her mind, body, and spirit. The original Power Suit was destroyed when Samus crash-landed on Zebes after an ambush by Space Pirates, but her duel with the Ruins Test gave her a new, upgraded suit, which is able to absorb dozens of upgrades of alien origin. The Power Suit's main purpose is to protect Samus from adverse environments and enemy fire, and can be upgraded to dozens of other forms, each with its own different advantages. While some suits are stronger than others and have different abilities, they all maintain the same basic shape and usage.

Zero Suit
Beneath the Power Suit, Samus wears a skin-tight body suit known as the Zero Suit. Because of its negligible weight, this suit allows Samus to perform at top physical performance level, and gives some weak protection from enemy fire. She also owns an emergency pistol known as the Paralyzer, which auto-charges to fire stunning shots, though it has no lethal capacity.

Samus Aran's Gunship
For transportation, Samus uses her Gunship, which usually resembles her helmet. Samus has been seen in five gunships of unique design: Her first ship design was used and destroyed on her initial Zero Mission, while the second was used in her mission to Tallon IV and the mission to the Tetra Galaxy. She has had other two ships custom-made for her in Aliehs III's shipyard: Her modular ship used in the waning days of the Phazon crisis, which combined Chozo and Federation technology, and the ship for which she is best known. This gunship model was first seen in the mission to Aether, and stayed with Samus until its destruction in SR388's asteroid field. After its destruction, Samus was assigned a new ship from the Federation with an onboard AI for her investigation of the BSL.

It is currently unknown if/how her first two ships and the "iconic" ship are related, although information on the Metroid Prime website suggests that her ship in that game was the same one as her Zero Mission model, perhaps salvaged from the wreck on Zebes.

Misplacing Upgrades
A curious aspect of the Metroid series is that Samus begins most games with a minimal amount of equipment, even after accumulating a sizable number of upgrades in the preceding game that would help her on subsequent missions. This is evidently a necessary gameplay mechanic needed for every title in the series, but it is unknown why this occurs so frequently in-universe, and has become a subject of humor over the years.

Later games in the series have presented plot-related explanations for this: In games such as Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus starts out with a considerable amount of gear, but is quickly stripped of most of it by attacks or unfortunate incidents. Samus then regains these abilities over the course of the game, in addition to a vast array of other upgrades that expand her arsenal well beyond its initial size. Additionally, Samus seems to relinquish most of her upgrades in the end of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, explaining why she only has her basic abilities by the time of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Trivia

 * Samus, alongside Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Pikachu, Kirby, Fox, and Yoshi are the only characters that are starters in every single Smash Bros. title.
 * In most media, Samus' name is pronounced "SAHM-us". However, in Brawl, the announcer pronounces it as "SAM-us". This change in pronunciation is consistent with the way ‘Samus’ is pronounced in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
 * In Melee, if Samus is looked closely after she has used the Morph Ball Bomb, she will be in a blob-like form. This can be seen by pausing at the right time, or in Training mode by going at 1/4 speed.
 * Brawl is the only game where Samus cannot use her default color in Team Battles. This is due sharing a slot with Zero Suit Samus, whose default color is cyan, meaning that her pink costume must be used instead, as it gives both her normal and Zero Suit forms reddish colors.


 * n the North American version of Melee, her trophy, along with all other trophies of things that first appeared in the game Metroid, listed the release date as 1989, but Metroid was actually released in 1986 (1987 in North America.) The same mistake was also stated in the strategy guide for Melee.
 * Samus, along with Ness, made their only appearance on the Nintendo 64 in the original Super Smash Bros.