Samus Aran

Samus Aran is the protagonist of Nintendo's iconic Metroid series. She debuted in the original 1986 title on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), where the manual and promotional material depicted her as male before the game's ending revealed her true identity as a woman. Since then, she has starred in multiple hit titles such as Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and earned her representation as an icon in gaming history. Samus' presence as a member of the "Perfect Attendance Crew" in the ''Super Smash Bros. ''series has also contributed greatly to her legacy and status as an icon. Many have argued however that the Metroid series' poor representation in Smash has done harm to the reputation of Samus Aran in popular culture.

Origin
The original Metroid was primarily created by Yoshio Sakamoto (co-producer), Gunpei Yokoi (co-producer), Makoto Kano (director), Hiroji Kiyotake (artist), and Hirokazu Tanaka (musician). The player character was at one point nothing more than something for the player to represent themself with, before ideas was drawn to give them more agency. One of those ideas was to make this player character female, which was decided on by vote among the team. Further development is largely believed to have been inspired by the Ridley Scott film classic Alien, which led to Samus being based on its protagonist Ellen Ripley.

Samus' name is based on famous Brazillian footballer 'Edson Aran''tes do Nascimento. '''The word "Samus" is the female variant of the name Seamus- Celtic for James, which means: "He who supplants". Her last name Aran is most likely a reference to the Aran Islands on the west coast of Ireland. Combining these two names gives the meaning: "She who supplants an island"/"She who conquers an isolated area by force."

Though Samus is usually a silent protagonist, she has been voiced in a handful of games. Jennifer Hale, Vanessa Marshall, Gabrielle Carteris (Metroid Prime), Alesia Glidewell (Super Smash Bros. series from Brawl onward), and Jessica Martin/Ai Kobayashi (Metroid: Other M) have all contributed towards bringing the character to life.

Biography
Samus Aran was born to Rodney and Virginia Aran on Colony K2L. The colony received a visit from the Chozo species, during which Samus met their chief Old Bird. Disaster struck when the colony was later attacked by Space Pirates seeking to steal its resources. Led by Ridley, the Pirates' efforts were thwarted by Rodney, who sacrificed himself to destroy Ridley's flagship and the materials his forces sought. Ridley eviscerated Virginia as she protected Samus from him, but was forced to retreat following the explosion caused by Rodney's gambit. Samus, now orphaned and the only survivor of the colony, was found by Old Bird and the Chozo again. Old Bird decided to bring her to their homeworld Zebes to raise her in their image.

Samus was infused with their DNA and trained to become a warrior, surpassing peak human physical condition by age 14. With the Power Suit and confidence of the Chozo, Samus left them to join the Galactic Federation Police. She would serve in their forces for a time, during which befriending Anthony Higgs and serving under Adam Malkovich. While she proved herself to be a capable soldier, a key sacrifice made by Adam saw her leave the Federation and disappear for several years.

When Samus Aran did return, she had built up a reputation for herself as the galaxy's top bounty hunter, specializing in the defeat of Space Pirates. Now able to accept work from the Federation on her own terms, Samus would take up the mission to liberate Zebes from Pirate control. This mission saw her confront Ridley as well as his ally Kraid, and the ultimate Space Pirate leader Mother Brain. During this mission, she was also tasked with destroying the rogue Metroid creatures created by the Chozo and released into the wild by the Space Pirates. Samus was successful and the Pirate occupation of Zebes was quelled, although the Chozo would disappear forever. (Metroid, 1986, NES/Metroid: Zero Mission,undefined2004, Game Boy Advance)

Samus would later venture to Tallon IV following a Pirate distress signal, where she discovered Ridley living on as the cyborg Meta Ridley and leading the Pirate forces again. A new radioactive substance dubbed Phazon had infected the planet, and was being studied by the Pirates for use in their galactic conquest. Chozo ruins left behind indicated that Phazon had arrived via meteor and infected the planet generations ago, with the Chozo sealing it via their Artifact Temple. They left behind a prophecy that the "Hatchling" would one day arrive to destroy "The Great Poison". True to this, Samus shut down the operations, defeated Meta Ridley, and battled the Phazon-enhanced Metroid Prime in the planet's Impact Crater. Before escape, the creature stole her Phazon Suit upgrade for itself. (Metroid Prime, 2002, Gamecube)

While traveling space, a message promising "ultimate power" was sent out by an unknown source. Samus was contracted by the Federation again to investigate, battling multiple rival bounty hunters Spire, Noxus, Trace, Weavel, Kanden, and Sylux who had received the message as well. In truth, the message was a lure by the monstrous Gorea, who had wiped out the Alimbic race and sought to continue its reign of destruction. Samus defeated Gorea with help from the Alimbics, whose spirits thanked her for her efforts. The other hunters survived the experience, though unknown to Samus, Sylux would take a personal interest in her. (Metroid Prime Hunters, 2006, Nintendo DS)

The events on Tallon IV would come back to haunt Samus when Metroid Prime rebirthed itself as a mirror image of the hero. Calling herself Dark Samus, she journeyed the galaxy for more Phazon to consume for power. Samus' own travels would see them cross paths on the planet Aether, where a missing Federation troop led to her discovering the planet's own plight. A 50 year war between the native Luminoth and invasive Ing was about to conclude in the latter's favour, before Samus intervened and won back Aether on the Luminoth's behalf. Samus and Dark Samus battled several times, including on the unnatural Dark Aether where Dark Samus was supposedly destroyed. Dark Aether collapsed and the Luminoth, grateful for Samus' assistance, bade her farewell as she took back to space. (Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, 2004, Gamecube)

However Dark Samus survived, now stronger and more intelligent. Seeing what had happened on Tallon IV and Aether, Dark Samus hatched a plan to engulf the galaxy in Phazon by using Leviathan Seeds launched from the planet Phaaze. Samus Aran worked closely with the Galactic Federation again, in all-out war between them and the Space Pirates (now being led by Dark Samus). Samus battled Ridley again (called Omega Ridley) as well as fellow bounty hunters Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda. The conflict was brutal, but Dark Samus was ultimately thwarted and killed for good. All Phazon was eradicated from the galaxy and Samus returned to her independent life. (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, 2007, Wii)

Once again she was called upon by the Federation to investigate a new Pirate super weapon called the Doomseye. With assistance from the new Federation Force, Samus was able to destroy the weapon and ruin the Pirates' bid for revenge. The Pirates would go quiet for some time after this incident. (Metroid Prime: Federation Force, 2016, Nintendo 3DS)

Finally, the Galactic Federation deemed Metroids too dangerous to remain alive, and tasked Samus with rendering them extinct on their home planet of SR-388. Failing to rescue the team sent ahead of her, Samus nonetheless journeyed through the hostile planet. Here she learned that Metroids could evolve into larger and more monstrous forms, including a Queen form that ruled her species. Chozo ruins left on the planet also showed that they engineered Metroids to wipe out a super predator called X-Parasites, who could mutate and kill their hosts. While the Metroids were successful in their original mission, they grew out of the Chozo's control and were sealed away. By wiping the species out, Samus "fixed" the Chozo's original mistake.

However, she chose to leave a single infant alive, after it imprinted on her as its mother. Samus' departure from the planet was interrupted by the arrival of Ridley in his Proteus form. Proteus Ridley attemped to abduct the baby Metroid for his forces and kill Samus, but was defeated. Samus left the planet with the baby and headed for a new location. While Ridley followed her without her knowledge, SR-388 began being taken over by the X-Parasites again. (Metroid II: Return of Samus, 1991, Gameboy/Metroid: Samus Returns, 2017, Nintendo 3DS)

Samus left the baby Metroid in the care of benevolent researchers at the Ceres Space Colony. Before she could seek a new bounty, she rushed back to the colony upon learning that Ridley had invaded and massacred the researchers, still seeking to complete his goal. Samus arrived too late and Ridley was ultimately successful in stealing the baby Metroid, with all three escaping before the colony's explosion.

Ridley returned with his stolen quarry to Zebes, revealing that the Space Pirates had reoccupied the planet with a much stronger force this time. With Ridley and Kraid back in action, along with their new allies Draygon and Phantoon, and led by Mother Brain again, the Pirates made their ultimate push for victory. Samus wasted no time in invading Zebes and singlehandly exploring the planet to destroy the Space Pirates once and for all. All the generals died in combat, but not before the baby Metroid was cloned to herald the Metroid threat again. Samus nearly fell in battle against a much more prepared Mother Brain, only to be saved by the mutated baby Metroid. Mother Brain, furious with constant interference, slaughtered the baby in front of Samus. This proved to be her undoing, as Samus used the baby's transferred energy to annihilate Mother Brain with the Hyper Beam. Samus escaped with some local wildlife as Zebes was permanently destroyed, taking much of the Space Pirate force with it. (Super Metroid, 1994, SNES)

After being hospitalized following her near-death experience, Samus was experienced a state of depression. Her travels brought her into direct work with the Federation again, including a reunification with Adam and Anthony. On board the Bottle Ship, the group investigated the station's mysterious purpose, ultimately learning of a top-secret project: cloning Space Pirates, Metroids, a Metroid Queen, and a replica of Tourian complete with a Mother Brain AI known as MB. Ridley had also been cloned and appeared to menace Samus from beyond the grave, though met his demise once more. Adam sacrificed himself to destroy much of the station, and Samus worked to defeat MB with help from Federation reinforcements. Before the station could be destroyed, Samus returned to collect Adam's helmet as a momento, while battling a returning Phantoon. (Metroid: Other M, 2010, Wii)

With SR-388 supposedly at peace following the Metroid extinction, Samus was hired to lead a research team there. Though the mission appeared successful, Samus had unknowingly been infected by X-Parasites and nearly died when she lost consciousness mid-flight. Saved by Federation scientists, they used leftover DNA from the baby Metroid to make Samus immune to X-Parasite infection. The process of saving her life unfortunately saw most of her Power Suit removed for safety, creating the Fusion Suit. Once Samus had made a full recovery, she was given a new gunship with AI assistant and dispatched to the BSL research station.

Here, she learned that the X-Parasites infecting her suit had manifested themself as an entity called the Samus Aran-X (SA-X). The SA-X caused a viral outbreak on the station, letting its brethen run amok and killing all the researchers onboard. Samus was forced to contain the situation, battling false SR-388 creatures and even a replica of Ridley (presumably their final battle). When she discovered that the Federation was also cloning Metroids on the station, she witnessed the SA-X attempting to destroy them, only to be overpowered. Security features destroyed this part of the station, taking all but Samus with it.

Samus' discoveries led to her coming into conflict with her AI companion, who she had nicknamed Adam after it reminded her of him. When she vowed to destroy the station in its entirety and rid the galaxy of all X-Parasites as well as new SA-X replicas, "Adam" developed the original's persona and decided to let her carry out her goal. Along the way she defeated an enhanced SA-X, only for it to escape. Before she could escape the station- now set on a crash course with SR-388 itself -Samus was cornered by an Omega Metroid. When the SA-X from earlier intervened, Samus absorbed it to return to full power. The Omega Metroid was defeated, and Samus escaped from the BSL station as it crashed into the planet below, taking all of the remaining Metroids and X-Parasites with them. (Metroid Fusion, 2002, Game Boy Advance)

Samus is currently MIA, believed to be wanted by the Galactic Federation for directly interfering with their plans. She is also unknowingly being hunted by Sylux, who has an unknown agenda. (Metroid Prime 4, TBD, Nintendo Switch)

In MCD
Samus is of course the icon of Metroid Community Discord, having many emotes of her contributed by multiple users. Her character is discussed regularly in the #metroidgaming channel, and various fanart of her can be shared in the #art channel. A joke channel called #samus-appreciation has users repeatedly sending the :samsad: emote endlessly.

Trivia

 * Samus is the main of TyrantLizardKing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (as well as her Echo Fighter Dark Samus). He is also a persistent writer for this very wiki.