This article is a continuation of Mama Robotnik's epic telling of the story of Nintendo's Metroid series. Please make sure that you've read part one—and its official explanation of where this lore comes from—first. And make sure your browser is ready for a long piece stuffed with awesome images.


Top image here is from art by the talented Poojipoo. Back to you, Mama Robotnik...

Part Four: The Poison War

The Hunters

Samus considered the Tallon IV incident to be resolved, and returned to her duties. [MP / MPH]


(Artist: Imachinivid)

She was contacted by The Federation for a very unusual commission: Bounty Hunters throughout the galaxy were turning their attention to the supposedly dead Alimbic Cluster, home of the expired Alimbic civilisation. A telepathic message had been sent through space, promising untold power to whoever reached its source. Samus investigated, and discovered that the hunters were being guided to assemble ancient Alimbic relics into a great key, and were fighting each other for the components. [MPH]

Samus succeeded in acquiring the relics herself, and the key was activated. [MPH]


(Artist: Donchan)

They key brought the hunters to the void outside the universe, to the prison of the murderous Gorea. In its exile, the creature had spent incalculable generations trying to reach the living universe through telepathy, and had succeeded in manipulating the bounty hunters into assembling the keys to its prison and releasing it. Gorea absorbed the technologies of the bounty hunters and dispatched them with ease. [MPH]


Samus Aran scoured the prison ship for something that could save her, and discovered a great weapon. Over the millennia, the prison ship had studied every atom that formed Gorea, and had constructed a single weapon capable of disrupting its molecules and killing it. Samus armed herself with this Omega Cannon and finally killed the diabolic creature. [MPH / MPH SP]

During her escape from Gorea’s exploding prison, Alimbic spirits appeared to Samus. They silently thanked her for avenging the death of their race, and guided her back to the living universe. [MPH]


The Galactic Federation paid Samus generously for investigating and pacifying the Gorea threat. They also offered her a new mission: an investigation into the disappearance of Federation Squad Bravo, last seen near the ancient planet Aether. [MPH SP / MP2]

The Two Worlds


(Artist: R3v4n)

Squad Bravo was a Galactic Federation task force that had pursued a Space Pirate faction to the surface of Aether, with contact lost immediately after. Samus headed to the distant world to look for survivors and as her gunship entered orbit, she witnessed the surface of the planet in flux. One moment it would shine gentle blue, only to then alternate to a dark purple haze. Samus attempted a landing, but a powerful lightning strike forced a chaotic descent. [MP2]


(Artist: Imachinivid)

Samus was nearly killed after only a short time on the surface. Two worlds fought each other for dominance, and the bounty hunter was thrown chaotically between the dimensions. First attacked by a force of reanimated corpses, Samus overcame their assault to face an onslaught by a living mass of demonic Ing. The horde stripped her of her abilities and left her for dead. [MP2]


Severely depowered, Samus tried to progress in her mission and found a sanctuary. Within a secure temple, she discovered the one creature on the planet that didn’t want her dead. [MP2]


(Artist: Dealwithitnerd)

U-Mos, the last guardian of the Luminoth, told Samus of their history. She learned of the Phazon comet that came from the stars, and how its impact tore Aether into two warring worlds. She is told of the Luminoth survivors, and their centuries of sleep in a state of prolonged suspended animation. Samus developed a respect for the lonely U-Mos, who had acted as the Luminoth's protector as his race sought to wait out eternity in their sleep. [MP2]


The bounty hunter was taught of the monstrous creatures of Dark Aether, all ruled by their fearsome Ing Emperor. A plan was formulated; if Samus could brave the constant burn of the dark world and acquire the stolen Light of Aether, the energies of the planet could be reconciled. Dark Aether would collapse, and Aether would regain its stability. [MP2]


(Artist: Lancer-Idenoure)

Samus ventured between the two parallel planets and fought her way through the formidable Ing armies. She discovered the remains of the dead Squad Bravo, and slaughtered a terrified group of Space Pirates whose attempt to mine Phazon on the planet had met disaster. Samus began to acquire the energies of the Light of Aether. [MP2]


It was then, during her mission to destroy the dark form of Aether, when Samus Aran first met the dark form of herself. [MP2]


(Artist: Hexjohn)

Dark Samus had been on Aether for some time, absorbing the Phazon beneath its surface and gathering strength for its planned war. The creature had intentionally stayed in the shadows, but as Samus had become stronger, it chose to strike. It repeatedly engaged Samus in battles across the planet, and was repeatedly destroyed only to resurrect itself after a time and come back stronger. [MP2 / MP2 SP / MP3]


Eluding the pursuit of Dark Samus, the bounty hunter eventually reached the hive of the Emperor Ing. This creature had created its lair within the biggest Phazon vein on Dark Aether, and had been strongly changed by the mutagen. It transformed itself throughout its battle with Samus, growing and twisting in failed attempts to adapt and overcome her. Samus ended its reign, and drained the final energies of the Light of Aether from the dark world. The dark planet began to collapse. [MP2]

As Dark Aether shook violently, Dark Samus appeared once again to interrupt Samus’ evacuation. The creature’s repeated defeats and resurrections had rendered it invulnerable to the bounty hunter’s weaponry. The two battled as the planet slowly destroyed itself around them. Samus was able to channel Dark Samus’ energies against itself, absorbing the Phazon shards that erupted from its body and launching them back to create an overload of energy. Dark Samus was once again torn apart, and collapsed into Phazon particles. Samus evacuated to Aether, and Dark Aether and its cursed inhabitants were cast into oblivion. [MP2]


U-Mos released the Luminoth from their millennia of stasis, and the species returned to the waking world. As Samus Aran left for the stars, the species began to plan the restoration of their devastated planet. [MP2]

The Corruption of the Space Pirates

In Aether's orbit, Dark Samus recreated itself once more. The creature had come to this planet to consume its Phazon, and had absorbed enough to give it incredible power. During its time on Dark Aether, it had watched as the Emperor Ing controlled its chaotic brood through intense mental domination. Dark Samus taught itself this ability. [MP2 / MP3 SP]


A small Space Pirate vessel entered orbit; an opportunistic mission to scavenge any excess Phazon ejected from the destruction of the dark planet. Dark Samus stowed away on this ship, and remained hidden until the craft returned to the nearest Space Pirate Homeworld. [MP3]

On arrival, Dark Samus made its presence known. The Pirates sent entire armies destroy it, but the creature continued to recreate itself in stronger forms and slaughtered its way to the Space Pirate High Command. Dark Samus interfaced with their command networks and communications systems, and applied the mental domination it had learned from the Emperor Ing. Within moments, the collective races that made up the Space Pirates entered a state of religious fervour. They looked upon Dark Samus, and saw God. [MP3 / MP3 SP]


Now the new leader of the Space Pirates, it ordered an attack on a powerful Galactic Federation battleship, the GFS Valhalla. With the Space Pirates completely dominated by its will, Dark Samus enabled them to commence the assault in perfect harmony with each other’s actions. The highly coordinated force dominated the Federation ship and stole its Aurora Unit, a large organic computer system somewhat resembling a colossal brain in a containment tank. [MP3]

Dark Samus had grown strong enough to sense the location of the living planet Phaaze, the source of all Phazon and the cause of Metroid Prime’s tormented existence. The creature led a Space Pirate armada to the distant blue planet, and the creature once known as Metroid Prime finally had its revenge. [MP1 / MP3]


Phaaze had condemned a lone Metroid to millennia of pain and torment, as it launched it across the stars in its Phazon prison to Tallon IV. That small Metroid had survived, grown strong and intelligent, and had never forgotten its suffering. It took sadistic pleasure as it violated the living planet by painfully implanting the Aurora Unit into its crust. Dark Samus dominated Phaaze’s will with the organic computer’s reprogrammed artificial intelligence. [MP 1 / MP 3 / MP3 SP]


(Artist: Lightningarts)

Dark Samus forced Phaaze into an agonising accelerated reproductive cycle, and launched Phaazon Seeds to a multitude of planets across the universe. These seeds were ejected with tortuous force, and reached their targets in weeks instead of eons. One such seed crashed straight into the Space Pirate Homeworld, where the survivors of its impact worshipped it as a gift from God. [MP3]


(Artist: Imachinivid)

The Space Pirate civilisation changed under the rule of Dark Samus. The seed, now embedded in their Homeworld, gave them access to colossal quantities of Phazon, and the substance was imbued into their bodies and technologies. [MP3]


Dark Samus ordered her worshippers to distribute cloned Metroid creatures to all the worlds which Phaaze’s seeds had impacted. Having earned its revenge against Phaaze, it now intended to carry out its final plan. It would spread Phazon and Metroid creatures throughout the universe, and the Metroids would eventually mutate and evolve into self-aware creatures like Metroid Prime. [MP1 SP / MP3 SP]


(Artist: Rpowell77)

Dark Samus watched the first mutations. If all went well, it would no longer be alone in the universe. [MP3 SP]


The Corruption of the Galactic Federation

As Phazon appeared across the universe, the Galactic Federation was able to study its monumental properties. When intelligence informed Federation leaders of the advances of the Space Pirates, a consensus was formed: War was inevitable. Unless the Federation quickly weaponised the substance, they would be completely dominated by their Phazon-enhanced enemies. [MP3 SP]


Phazon retrieval operations were established on Tallon IV and other worlds, and the ore was extracted in great amounts. Federation vessels convoyed huge amounts back to the core systems, where the material was infused into all military technologies: weapons, armour, power generation, computational capabilities, propulsion and shields. [MP3]


(Artist: Karosu-Maker)

It took barely a few months for the Galactic Federation to corrupt itself with the poison. Soldiers guarded the border systems with suits powered by veins of liquid Phazon, while freight vessels shipped more and more ore with increasing frequency. Civilian industries planned Phazon farms to integrate the substance into the technologies of the general populace. The glowing blue aura of Phazon had reached the human imagination, and nothing was off limits. [MP3 / MP3 SP]


With Phazon demand accelerating exponentially, the Federation and the Space Pirates battled over infested border planets. When the war started, it wasn’t merely a conflict powered by Phazon; it was a crusade for Phazon. [MP3]

Luring the Bounty Hunters


(Artist: Sesakath)

As small skirmishes erupted across distant planets, the Space Pirates became a society of total war. Their embrace of their Phazon gift from Dark Samus was a spectacle: tendrils of living mutagen grew out of their world and reached into the acidic clouds above. The races that formed the Empire lined up to be injected with Phaaze-minerals, and endured the eruption of Phazon crystals from their flesh. They channelled their agony into battle fury. [MP3 / MP3 SP]


There was a stalemate: Both the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation were enhanced with Phazon. While the Pirates had more numerous, ferocious ground forces, the Federation were supported by their infamous alliance of Bounty Hunters – independent commandos of unparalleled skills, who could land on a world and bring its mining operations to the point of utter devastation. [MP3]


(Artist: Houstonsharp)

Samus Aran was perhaps the most infamous, but others, such as the changeling Gandrayda, the cyborg Ghor, and the cryokinetic Rundas were causing havoc across the universe, disrupting the Space Pirate war machine wherever they were sent. [MP3]


Dark Samus needed these agents to tip the balance, and a plan was put into action. Pirate agents led by General Ridley and Dark Samus discretely landed on the Federation border world of Norion. This force infected the planet’s Aurora Unit with a virus derived from Dark Samus’ studies of the Valhalla’s stolen system. Planetary defences fell as a precision-timed Phazon Seed entered the Norion system on a collision course for the planet. [MP3]

The Galactic Federation desperately needed to save the lives of Norion’s colonists, and commissioned their Bounty Hunters to crush the Pirate forces and reactivate the planet’s defences. The best hunters landed and apparently succeeded in reactivating the planet’s defence cannons with seconds to spare. Norion was saved as the Phazon Leviathan was blasted out of the sky. [MP3]


With the mission apparently accomplished, the Bounty Hunters were immediately taken by surprise. Dark Samus made its presence known and attacked them in a furious onslaught. She launched a Phazon seed into each of the hunters; a microscopic Phazon Leviathan that would parasitise on their flesh as the bigger variants parasitised on whole planets. The Space Pirate invasion of Norion, the infection of the planet’s Aurora Unit, the Phazon Leviathan entering the system; all were bait to lure the Bounty Hunters into this trap. [MP3]

Dark Samus left them to their horrible fates: the Phazon infection would slowly consume their bodies and souls. Soon the hunters would devolve into corrupted shells of their former selves, and would take their place by Dark Samus’ side. They would be the agents of its will, the generals of its armies, and would lead the Space Pirates to total victory. Federation medics arrived on the scene, and did everything they could to save them. [MP3]


The Corruption of the Bounty Hunters


(Artist: Guyleroy)

The four bounty hunters were comatose for a month as the Phazon infection spread through their bodies, rewriting their DNA and slowly metamorphosing their bones to blue crystal. The Federation medics were dealing with enormously challenging circumstances: they needed to reduce the spread of the aggressive mutagen as it transformed already-exotic physiologies into living minerals. The Phazon defied medical science, and increased in virulence with every drug and radiation therapy they exposed it to. [MP3 SP]


The Phazon could not be removed, and the medics repurposed themselves. They sought to prolong the lives of their patients, to give the hunters some control of the incurable infection. Using a new Galactic Federation technology known as the Phazon Enhancement Device, the medics rebuilt the hunters’ armour to monitor infection levels, and to channel excess Phazon into a potent fuel for their weapons and equipment. The Bounty Hunters were brought back from the brink of death, and made aware of their dire circumstances. They had weeks to live. [MP3]


(Artist: Monsieurbaron)

The Bounty Hunters were updated regarding the war: Phazon seeds had impacted multiple worlds accessible to the Space Pirates, and could provide them with the fuel they need to win the conflict. The Federation had spent the last month studying the remains of the Norion-bound Leviathan, and informed Samus that each seed was regulated by a Phazon core, a vital organ that, on destruction, immediately halted the spread of Phazon. The cores could be collapsed with a Phazon overload, a discharge of energy that the Bounty Hunters’ infections and PED suits would uniquely allow them to deliver. Dark Samus’ tactic to corrupt its enemies with Phazon has given the Federation the living weapons they need to fight the great planetary poison. [MP3]


Each of the Bounty Hunters set course for a Phazon-infested world to find and destroy the Phazon cores. Samus was soon informed that the Galactic Federation had lost all contact with her fellow hunters. They had already succumbed to the Phazon infesting their bodies, and were slowly becoming living avatars to the will of Dark Samus. Samus set out to the planets impacted by Phazon Leviathans, to try and complete the corrupted hunters’ missions herself, before she too was consumed by the Phazon madness growing within. [MP3]

Finding Phaaze


(Artist: Ludde740)

Samus Aran ventured across multiple planets and euthanised her fellow Bounty Hunters from their Phazon madness. She killed the deranged creatures within the Phazon Leviathans and collapsed the toxic cores at the heart of each seed. Her infection increased in severity, leaving her increasingly vulnerable to the tormenting projections of Dark Samus. At times her flesh glowed with a poisonous aura so intense that blue light shone out of the cracks in her armour. Samus Aran was a creature of walking poison, and death was near. [MP3]


(Artist: Stickerb)


(Artist: Brenoaxe)

Samus performed great heroics in her dying state, and these seemingly discordant endeavours led to the salvation of the universe. Samus discovered an erratic Federation Aurora Unit on the ancient Chozo colony of Elysia, and cured its infection. The Aurora Unit was able to reconcile current universal events with Skytown’s ancient data regarding the living world Phaaze, and retrieve the triangulated region of space where the poisonous planet was hidden. Samus then discovered the wreckage of the Galactic Federation vessel Valhalla, and learned from its logs that the Space Pirates stole an Aurora Unit to be implanted into Phaaze. Samus landed on the ancient planet Bryyo, and overcame its devolved creatures to restore the Federation access to the fuel gel mines needed for the war effort.


(Artist: Imachinivid)

Samus invaded the Space Pirate Homeworld. As acid rained down from its red skies, she battled elite Phazon Commandos that were being mass grown to invade the universe. Forcing her way into their command centre, the bounty hunter learned that the Pirates had created a prototype Phazon Leviathan warship; a wormhole-powered spacecraft made by implanting their space faring technologies into a living Phazon seed. [MP3]


Samus slaughtered her way through the Phazon-fuelled pirates and stole their fleet command codes. As a Galactic Federation fleet arrived to reinforce her efforts and pacify the Pirate threat, Samus relayed her discoveries and delivered to the Federation the means by which they could access the distant Phaaze. The fleet used the stolen codes to remotely activate the Leviathan wormhole drive, and entered the resulting space portal. [MP3]

The Federation fleet emerged to find themselves in orbit of Phaaze, and immediately under attack from the large Pirate fleet guarding the living planet. As the two sides battled, Samus used the distraction to land on the glowing blue world. [MP3]


(Artist: Orioto)

Samus explored the most poisonous planet in the universe. Juxtaposed with the chaos of the space battle above, other than a few hostile Metroids released by Dark Samus, the world was a strangely tranquil place. Samus expected terrors and superpredators, wholly unaware of the Chozo's history behind their extinction. The hunter came upon discarded shards of ancient armour, identical in material composition to the exoskeleton that Metroid Prime had clad itself in centuries before. [MP / MP3 / MP3 SP]


Samus was minutes away from death; her corrupted body generated Phazon at a faster rate than her suit could process it. She was more alien than human, a condition paradoxically both killing her, and keeping her alive. Without this unique, unstable physiology, Samus would have burnt alive the moment she set foot on Phaaze. [MP3 SP]

Samus followed the planet’s mineral nerves and witnessed the Leviathan maturation chambers. Beyond these, she finally arrived at the continental fault within which Dark Samus, the reincarnation of Metroid Prime, had violated the planet. It was here that the stolen Aurora Unit had been implanted into this world, to dominate its will and force it into an agonising, accelerated reproductive cycle. It was here that Metroid Prime tortured Phaaze for its imprisonment millennia ago. [MP 1 / MP3 SP]


(Artist: Davidstrife)

The two battled for Phaaze, with Dark Samus moving faster and attacking stronger than ever before. Samus weakened the creature, and it deviated from previous behaviour: During all of their past battles, Dark Samus was defeated and lost cohesion, fading into disparate Phazon particles and recreating itself later, stronger and more resistant. The creature would not face such a defeat again, and in its vulnerable state, it summoned the mad Aurora Unit 313 back to the surface. The organic computer burst out of Phaaze, and Dark Samus merged itself into it, stabilising and allowing the battle to continue. [MP2 / MP3]


Samus Aran, dying and alone on a planet of poison, crushed them. [MP3]

The End of the War

Samus blew apart the Aurora Unit, and the defeated Dark Samus once again lost cohesion and collapsed into atoms. The planet began to violently shake, and Samus evacuated to her ship. [MP3]


Phaaze had developed a symbiotic bond with the destroyed Aurora Unit, and the severed connection was the death blow for the planet. Already weak from the torturous forced reproductive cycle it had been made to endure by Dark Samus, Phaaze could suffer no more. As Samus ran to escape the upheaval, the ancient living world died beneath her feet. The Phazon energies within its belly lost their careful containment, and began a meltdown that would tear the entire local region of space apart. All local Phazon activity appeared to be disrupted; the Space Pirate fleet in orbit found that their Phazon fuel had ceased to burn, rendering their ships immobile. Meanwhile, Samus Aran’s Phazon infection suddenly faded into nothingness. [MP3 / MP3 SP]


(Artist: Novax2c)

The Galactic Federation fleet detected the imminent planetary collapse and hastily programmed the Leviathan ship to open an escape wormhole. The fleet fled into it, leaving the paralysed Space Pirate armada to their fate. Samus’ gunship entered the wormhole at the last second, and Phaaze’s corpse exploded with brilliant blue energies, burning the region and leaving no evidence that the living planet had ever existed. [MP3 / MP3 SP]


Phaaze and Phazon had defied known sciences. The older races, the Chozo and Luminoth, had been mystified by their existence and saw them as dangerous poisons. Millennia later, the younger races, the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirate Empire, had been equally unable to understand what they were dealing with. These younger races had unwisely taken this alien material beyond their comprehension, and injected it into their societies. They would very soon deeply regret this. [MP3 SP]

Phazon was anchored into this universe by its connection to the unique living planet Phaaze. With Phaaze now dead, all forms of Phazon across the universe immediately collapsed into their component energies, and vanished. [MP3 SP]


Throughout the Galactic Federation, Phazon-powered vessels and orbital stations immediately lost their fuel, leaving countless stranded. Phazon-powered troops found themselves trapped in their powerless armoured suits, and Phazon-based weapons went silent, never to work again. The Federation retreated all of its forces and consolidated all of their manpower to recuing powerless ships and resolving the crisis. They directed their industries to replace their now-useless Phazon technologies. The war was over. [MP3 SP]

The End of the Space Pirate Empire

The Space Pirates had embraced Phazon. They had welcomed a Leviathan as it crashed into their world, and made passage for its gargantuan Phazon tendrils to grow beneath the crust. They had converted all of their technologies to Phazon-powered, and had injected Phazon crystals into their own bodies. They had cloned an army of Metroids, and were a universal power to be respected and feared. [MP3 SP]


When Phazon vanished, their Empire violently imploded. The crust of the Space Pirate Homeworld shattered as the Leviathan and its tendrils disintegrated, sinking billions into an ocean of magma. Phazon technologies across the entire empire lost containment, and devastating explosions ripped through almost all infrastructures. Trapped on dark powerless ships, the Space Pirates felt the Phazon crystals within them begin to vanish. These crystals had long-since replaced the pirates’ bones, and they suffered agonising death as their bodies became puddles of boneless flesh. [MP3 SP]

All creatures created, enhanced or cloned using Phazon melted, as an essential component in their biology simply disappeared from the universe. The Space Pirates had been using Phazon in all of their cloning processes since its discovery, and as a consequence, every cloned Metroid they had scattered around the universe simultaneously died.[MP3 SP / M2]


The Empire was gone. The Metroids were gone. Everything they had was gone. [MP 3 SP / M2 / SM]


(Artist: Maximovlorenzo)

The few survivors gathered, and fled to the abandoned facility beneath the planet Zebes. As a stronghold not used at all during the Phazon war, Zebes’ infrastructure had avoided the devastation. The Space Pirates landed, rebuilt, and started the delicate recreation of their greatest generals. It was the darkest hour of the Space Pirates, and they needed to be led. [MP3 SP / SM]


The End of Metroid Prime

There was no creature like Metroid Prime anywhere in the universe. A genetically engineered animal from a forgotten era, it had outlived the race that engineered it. It had endured eons of agonising mutation in a prison-comet launched from a living planet. In the guise of Dark Samus, it had matured into an undying genius and brought two empires to their knees. It had crossed the cosmos to get its revenge on Phaaze, and had been worshipped as a God. It had survived. [MP1 / MP2 / MP3]


Its most exotic evolution was immortality. Every single time Metroid Prime had died, the creature faded into Phazon particles. Its consciousness would briefly exist in an immaterial state, guiding the Phazon particles to form a new body, and imbuing its mind into them. It assumed this cycle would go on forever, body after body after body. [MP1 / MP2 / MP3 / MP3 SP]

The mind of the ancient creature could not perceive any Phazon particles, anywhere. As its intellect and memories diluted across the enormity of space, it knew it would never again possess physical form. It existed in complete torment, a formless consciousness trapped in deep space, going mad and fearing eternity. [MP3 SP]


Part Five: The Infant Weapon

The Xenocide of the Metroids


(Artist and author of the supporting text: Kalapusa)

The Galactic Federation launched a highly classified inquiry into the Phazon War. The findings were absurd, and could never be made public: A now-dead Metroid organism had evolved consciousness, and had such power that it could plunge empires into war at its whim. The heads of the Federation studied the files pertaining to the Metroid creatures. Certain groups lobbied that the creatures must be controlled and weaponised to give the Federation the advantage should war erupt again. Others argued for the creatures to simply be left alone, as all evidence asserted that the Metroids could not be reliably contained. [MP3 SP / M2 SP / MF SP]


Finally, a decision was made from on high: The Metroids were too dangerous to live. The Federation could not risk clandestine factions in its own society, let alone any surviving Space Pirates, accessing and losing control of the creatures. More importantly, they could not risk another Metroid Prime. [MP1 / MP3 SP / M2]

With Federation forces greatly weakened by the war, the xenocide of the Metroids was commissioned to the expert: Samus Aran. She set course for the only place where they now existed: the dark planet SR388. [M2]


Beneath the Dark Planet

Samus journeyed to the isolated world, and began her mission.[M2]


(Artist: Stevietat)

Beneath the surface, Samus quickly learned that Metroids in their habitat differed to those she had encountered before. Unlike the Metroids transplanted to Zebes or the Phazon War, these creatures had a precise life cycle of repeated metamorphosis. Samus first encountered the alpha variety, an aggressive but easily-defeated creature. As she ventured deeper, more Metroid variations attacked her, ranging from flying electrical beasts to reptile-like juggernauts. [M2]


(Artist: Jofamo)

In the caverns of SR388, hordes of monsters and mad machines endlessly killed each other, while scavengers ate the dead. Surviving the chaos, Samus climbed great Chozo towers and descended into their crumbling foundations to track down the last of her prey. Samus’ suit informed her that the number of Metroids on the planet had entered single-digits. Her mission had nearly been completed. [M2]


(Artist: VegasMike)

Throughout, it seemed as if the entire planet was defying her. The caverns appeared to shift, confusing any attempts at map a logical path. SR388 shook seemingly with rage when an area was cleansed of Metroids. The ocean of acid within the planet rose and fell in precision response to her invasion. The planet itself abhorred her presence. [M2 / M2 SP]


Samus reached a forgotten place deep in the planet; a Glass Laboratory perched above a colossal chasm. This is the place in which the Metroids of SR388 were engineered, and the dark grave of the forgotten Chozo crusade to stop the X-Parasites. [M2]

Samus’ powersuit told her that only one more Metroid creature was detected. Samus armed herself for battle, and entered its lair. [M2]


(Artist: BillySan291)

The Metroid Queen was a huge animal, protected by an enormous carapace of natural armour. Samus fought the beast as it cornered her against the battered laboratory walls. The hunter launched hundreds of missiles into the creature’s roaring throat, eventually killing it. [M2]


Progressing behind the remains of the Metroid Queen, Samus found that SR388 had one more surprise in store for her. [M2]


(Artist: WolfEStranged)

During their battle, the Metroid Queen had laid a final egg to perpetuate her line. As soon as Samus approached, it hatched. A harmless juvenile creature emerged, and immediately imprinted Samus as its mother. Despite her mission objective, Samus could not bring herself to kill a creature that meant her no harm. [M2 / SM]


The hatchling consumed minerals blocking Samus’ path, and aided the Bounty Hunter in her return to her gunship. SR388 did not stop them. It did not raise its oceans of acid, and blocked all creatures from obstructing their path. It let them leave. It had honed the Metroids into durable killers, and intended for the last hatchling to grow strong amongst the stars, and slaughter its way through any strangers who dared to invade it again. [M2 / M2 SP]

Unsure of her next move, Samus secured the creature, and departed for the stars. [M2]


In the deepest part of the living planet, in a crack between miles of dense rock, a fossil of an X-Parasite had been safely concealed from the Metroids since ages past. SR388 resonated the rocks with a gentle tremor, and a single cell was awoken. [M2 SP / MF SP]

The Super Metroid

Samus delivered the Metroid hatchling to trusted Galactic Federation scientists on the Ceres Space Colony. Here, in careful containment, they studied it. [SM]


(Artist: M0dus)

They were astonished by their observations of the hatchling. It was durable enough to withstand concussive force, but could phase itself through solid walls. It could mutate, transform and enter metamorphosis to adapt to the most hostile environments they could theorise. Most impressive of all was its capacity for energy absorption and discharge. If the scientists could harness the mechanisms by which the Metroid manipulated energy, they could apply the techniques across their society. An energy revolution, not seen since the Phazon War, could benefit all the peoples of the Federation. [MP3 / SM]


Samus Aran left the scientists to their studies, and took to the stars to find a new mission. Barely hours away, a hectic distress call summoned her back at full speed. [SM]


(Artist: Zesiul)

The Space Pirates were thought to be mostly dead following the collapse of their society at the climax of the Phazon War. Ceres Colony was therefore completely unprepared for their presence. The pirates invaded with murderous force and, led by the great pirate general Ridley, killed everyone on the station. [MP3 / SM]


(Artist: Rundash)

Samus arrived to find corpses everywhere. She was soon ambushed by Ridley, who held the Metroid Hatchling and its containment cell tightly in his claws. After a short skirmish Ridley fled the station, travelling across the stars to a distant planet. Samus made her escape, and the colony finally succumbed to the damage and exploded behind her. [SM]


The bounty hunter tracked Ridley’s path and was astonished to learn he was going to Zebes. For the second time, Samus Aran was forced to return to the place where her Chozo family had been murdered. [M1 / SM]


(Artist: Methuselah3000)


(Artist: Orioto)


(Artist: Orioto)

Samus now understood where the surviving Space Pirates had fled after the Phazon War. They had come back to this rainy world, and recreated their hidden stronghold beneath it. They had made a sprawling facility, and populated it with bio-engineered reincarnations of their greatest generals. They had succeeded in obtaining the last Metroid, and by unlocking its secrets, the Space Pirates hoped to regain all that they had lost. [MP3 SP / SM]


She would not let this happen. [SM]


(Artist: Zesiul)


(Artist: Zesiul)


(Artist: Methuselah3000)


(Artist: Zesiul)


(Artist: Zesiul)


(Artist: Cooper)


(Artist: Elemental29)


(Artist: BillySan291)

Samus once again avenged the murder of her two families. She slaughtered the Space Pirates' armies, killed their generals, and exterminated a small number of Metroids that the cabal had been able to successfully clone from the stolen hatchling. [M1 / SM]


During her final assault against the formidable Mother Brain, Samus was unexpectedly overpowered by enhancements the Space Pirate leader had received since their last battle. A beam of devastating power was discharged into Samus, draining her energy levels and paralysing her. As Mother Brain charged herself for a killing blow, the Metroid infant burst into the chamber. It had been cruelly experimented on by the Space Pirates, and was now deformed to a huge size. It had never forgotten imprinting Samus as its mother, and had come to her rescue. [SM]

The Metroid latched onto Mother Brain’s cranium as she screamed and tried to shake it off in a state of frenzied panic. The Metroid absorbed her life energies and left her as a dry husk on the floor. [SM]


The hatchling then did something that had never been recorded before or since. It gently latched onto Samus Aran, and slowly transferred life energies into her, bringing her back from the point of death. [SM]

Mother Brain’s backup systems engaged and she restarted the assault, directing all of her weapons into the Metroid infant. The hatchling continued to heal Samus while it endured the barrage. Only when the Metroid perceived its mother was fully restored did it disengage and resume its attack on Mother Brain. [SM / SM SP]


It charged at the Space Pirate leader with all the speed it could, but had sustained too much damage. The infant’s gelatinous shell shattered and it fell apart in the air with a pained cry. Supercharged molecules of its flesh landed on Samus, channelling huge amounts of energy into her power suit systems. [SM / SM SP]

Samus Aran had lost her human and Chozo families to the Space Pirates. Now they had also robbed her of a unique creature that perceived her as its own mother. Enraged, Samus turned her supercharged weapons onto Mother Brain and furiously executed her. [M1 / SM / SM SP]


As she died, all the planetary power systems Mother Brain regulated started to fail. Within seconds, cooling pipes were shaking apart and energy levels were spiking in the reactors buried across the planet. Samus fled to her gunship and escaped Zebes as it exploded. [SM / SM SP]

The last stronghold of the once-mighty Space Pirate Empire fell to The Hunter, and the cabal joined the rest of the universe’s dead races in oblivion. [MP 3 SP /SM SP]


New Assignment

Samus Aran’s report to the Galactic Federation received a mixed response. Her destruction of the last bastion of the Space Pirates was deemed proper, as the entire Federation had standing orders since the Phazon War to shoot-to-kill on sight. The loss of the Metroid infant caused certain military research and development factions to publicly chastise Samus for putting her revenge above the careful retrieval of the last Metroid specimen, a charge The Hunter vehemently denied. The Galactic Federation did manage to find two Metroid cells still latched to her power suit, and Samus allowed their extraction with a proviso: they would not be used to create more Metroids. The promise was made and the cells were handed over. One was to be kept at Galactic Federation headquarters, and the other would be escorted by Samus as part of her new mission, should she accept. [SM SP / MF / MF SP]


Samus was briefed: A space station had been constructed in orbit of the dark planet SR388, former habitat of the now-extinct Metroid race. The private company Biologic Space Laboratories had Federation funding to study the planet’s creatures, and to learn if any of them possessed any remarkable qualities comparable to the Metroids. It was hoped that characteristics of the planet’s more unique and potent specimens could be harnessed for the betterment of civilisation. The scientists wanted to study the surface of SR388 directly, but needed a bodyguard. Samus Aran accepted the assignment and departed to their aid. As part of her mission, she was asked to escort the Metroid cell to the BSL scientists, so that its genetic material could be compared to the other creatures in their study. [MF / MF SP]

Infection

With the Metroids dead, and the Galactic Federation brazenly planning regular study missions to SR388, the apocalyptic scenario foreseen by the Chozo millennia ago was about to take place. [M2 / MF SP]


(Artist: Phobos-Romulus)

Samus led a team of scientists to the surface of SR388, and beneath them the world seethed. SR388 had been invaded time after time with abandon. The Chozo had violated the planet with their Metroids, Samus then slaughtered her way through its creatures, and now humans were coming and going with indifference. [M2 / M2 SP / MF / MF SP]


(Artist: Lightningarts)

The X-Parasites were still gestating within the planet, and were not strong enough yet to be unleashed on the invaders. Recalling the devastation that Samus had brought on her last intrusion, the will for vengeance overcame patience. SR388 released a single weak parasite to invade Samus Aran’s body and force upon her a slow and tortuous death. A fully grown X-Parasite would normally consume a flesh body in seconds, but in a calculated act of spite, the planet knew the weaker variant would instead spend a prolonged period eating her flesh alive. The X-Parasites were going to be unleashed on the universe, and she would be their first target. [MF / MF SP]


Samus showed no immediate signs of infection, but lost consciousness after departing the planet. Taken to a specialist Federation medical research facility, they did everything they could to fight the spreading infestation of alien cells. [MF]


(Artist: Tanooki128)

The medics were forced to cut into her power suit, destroying large parts of the the irreplaceable Chozo relic. Organic elements of the inner suit were so bonded to Samus that the lasering process mutilated layers of her flesh. With the partial removal of some of her armour, the medics were still unable to hold back the infection. It resisted every therapy they could find. Reaching out for help, the medics sent the severed parts of Samus’ power suit back to the BSL Research Station, to see if their experts could offer any insight, [MPF]


During a brainstorming session, the medics tried to deduce why Samus had not been infected during her previous excursion to the planet. A theory was advanced that this virulent life form had been repressed by the Metroid presence on SR388. The medical team requested access to the Metroid cell previously recovered from Samus after her last mission, and broke this down into a hugely experimental serum. The proposed treatment was tested with extracted samples of Samus’ flesh, seemingly curing them. The medics knew of no other option that could save the famous Bounty Hunter. They hoped for the best, and injected Samus Aran with Metroid genetic material. [MF]


(Artist: TheIllustrativeMan)

The X-Parasite infection died within a microsecond, and Samus woke. She tried to thank the medics, but they solemnly told her that she will soon endure the unknown side effects of the untested treatment. [MF SP]


The organic parts of Samus’ armour swelled outwards, heavily influenced by the infusion of Metroid DNA. The suit changed erratically in form, with the medics powerless to release the Bounty Hunter from the suffocating flux. The suit eventually settled into a stable shape, a blue fusion of her traditional armour with features resembling Metroid physiology. [MF]


(Artist: Andarix)

Within the suit, Samus’ DNA was being rewritten as the Metroid genetic material integrated into her physiology. It was very unclear what the final outcome of this treatment would be. She was alive, but did not know how much of her humanity she had sacrificed for her survival. [MF SP]


Apocalyptic Scenario

On SR388, the planet had finally completed its gestation of the X-Parasites. It unleashed them onto a Galactic Federation expedition, hopeful that they would spread the vile creatures across the cosmos. Since the dawn of time, SR388 had enabled the most dangerous creature in the universe to evolve in its gut, and would use them to cleanse the life out of a universe that would simply not leave it alone. [M2 SP / MF SP]


The expedition returned to the BSL Station, and masses of infected cells burst from their flesh. Soon, every creature on the station was consumed. The X-Parasites stole their forms, abilities and memories, and populated the station with parasite duplicates. [MF]


(Artist: JKujaryam)

The X-Parasites found the samples of Samus’ laser-removed power suit, and infected it. They used traces of her DNA and the organic elements of the suit to create a dangerous new parasite form: the SA-X. Eventually, a small army of these power suit-wielding titans roamed the corridors of the BSL Station. [MF]


Return of Samus


(Artist: Arrarra)

Samus had made an incredible recovery, and as a consequence of her treatment, had become completely immune to any further X-Parasite infection. When the Galactic Federation lost contact with the BSL Station, the possibility of an X-Parasite outbreak seemed remote. Caution persevered, and Samus was dispatched to investigate what had happened. If there had been an outbreak, her immunity would protect her. The Galactic Federation provided her with a powerful new gunship for her mission. [MF]


Recalling the devastation caused by Samus during her previous missions, certain factions of the Federation insisted she be supervised and controlled. An artificial intelligence was embedded into Samus’ new ship, modelled from the brain patterns of a senior officer she greatly respected. It was hoped that the AI could use these brain patters to control the wilful Samus, and guide her blaze of destruction away from certain sensitive projects that had taken place aboard the BSL Station. [SM SP / MF / MF SP]


(Artist: Lightningarts)

Samus arrived at the facility and found it had become chaos. Every corner of the structure was infested with strong X-Parasites. These creatures were far more powerful than the comparably weaker variant that had infected her earlier. Everyone was dead, and flesh copies roamed the corridors, endlessly searching for more life to consume. [MF]


The bounty hunter began to understand the true horror of the X, and old mysteries resolved themselves. Why would the Chozo, a peaceful enlightened race, have come to a place as hostile as SR388? Why would have they engineered a predator as potent as the Metroids? Samus deduced the Chozo’s ancient plan: the Metroids would eternally repress the X-Parasites, and the universe would go on. At that moment, she realised what she had done when she wiped out the Metroids. She had put the entire universe at risk of these creatures. The Chozo had foreseen the escape of the X-Parasites as the apocalypse, and it was happening now. [M2 / MF]

Samus explored the station further, and found out what happened to the second Metroid cell she had previously handed over to the Federation. [MF]


(Artist: Garrettbyers)

The Galactic Federation had promised not to use the cell to create more Metroids, and they had lied to her. The cloned Metroid creatures aboard the BSL Station would have been delivered to the military for weaponising immediately following their maturation. The creatures were killed shortly after Samus had discovered them, when a rampant SA-X stormed into their module and instinctively tried to gun down the enemy of its race. The weapons fire triggered an automatic safety protocol, and the module of Metroids was launched into space and detonated. [MF / MF SP]


Samus worked with her gunship’s embedded AI to try and control the situation. Discovering that the personality patterns of the AI were based on a Galactic Federation officer she once knew, a rapport formed between the two. The AI and Samus defied orders coming in from the Galactic Federation to wait for assistance, and worked to stop the X-Parasites before they could spread to the rest of the universe. [MF]


(Artist: Guu1993)

As Samus reached the deepest parts of the station, she discovered monstrous, powerful creatures. Some were the out of control products of the clandestine Galactic Federation weapons division. Others were X-Parasite recreations of her oldest enemies. They came in many forms, and the bounty hunter ended them all. The AI and Samus conspired to crash the BSL Station into SR388, hopeful that the devastation would wipe out the X completely. Samus disabled key systems on the station, and avoided pursuit from the extremely powerful SA-X creatures. Eventually, Samus grew strong enough to fight one of her doppelgangers directly, and battled an SA-X as it mutated into an abomination. [MF]


(Artist: BillySan291)

Samus defeated the SA-X and inputted SR388’s coordinates into the navigation system. With planetary collision imminent, Samus fled to her ship, only to be obstructed by another SA-X battling the final product of the Galactic Federation’s Metroid breeding plot: a colossal Omega Metroid. [MF]


(Artist: Maridia99)

The Omega Metroid tore the SA-X apart with a single swipe of its claws. The X-Parasite that had stoles Samus’ form and abilities was released, only to be immediately absorbed by the bounty hunter. This restored Samus Aran to her peak, returned her stolen weapons and abilities, and allowed her to defeat the mighty Omega Metroid. As the creature exploded, Samus and the AI evacuated the BSL Station in her gunship. [MF]


With a blinding flash of light, the station collided with SR388. The explosion killed the living planet and shattered it into atoms. The X-Parasites and their progenitor were dead. [MF]

On The Run


(Artist: Poojipoo)

Samus had defied the orders of the Galactic Federation and destroyed the Biologic Space Laboratories station. She was now a rogue Bounty Hunter, a criminal to be hunted down and brought to justice. The weapons divisions of the Federation had more pressing reasons to track her down; within her flesh was the only known Metroid genetic material in existence. [MF / MF SP]


The legendary Samus Aran, inheritor of the Chozo, hero of the Phazon War, destroyer of the Space Pirates and saviour of the universe, did the only thing she could. She vanished into history. [MF SP]

Over successive decades, on occasions when monsters crawled out of the darkness to threaten the light, sporadic reports of a mysterious hunter would be received by the Federation. They’d dispatch their fastest ships, but always arrive to find the monsters defeated and the hunter gone. They never caught her. [MF SP]


The story of Metroid, with its living planets, vengeances spanning millenia, collapsing empires, prophesised apocalypses and poisoned heroes, finally comes to its end.

Sources and Acknowledgements

The lore, speculation and theories above use the Metroid games as their primary sources. Secondary materials such as manga, strategy guides, developer interviews and instruction manuals are often in conflict with each other – and the games themselves – and are therefore not included. The article also does not include the events of Metroid: Other M; since that game was released, its story and characters have become impossible to resolve with the rest of the franchise.


The first Metroid Prime game was released with two slightly different stories – following the original USA release, Retro Studios changed some important lore entries regarding the nature of the Metroid Prime creature. This article uses the most recent and revised story, as present in the international Metroid Prime Trilogy release. In this version of events, the Tallon IV Leviathan shield was never breached by the Space Pirates, and the armoured Metroid creature within arrived with the Phazon seed from Phaaze.

The artists cited are stunning masters of their mediums. You are once again invited to follow the links provided and explore their magnificent portfolios. The images in the article are not as vast and as detailed as the artists’ portfolio pieces.


My heartfelt appreciation to hundreds of my fellow NeoGAF members; over the years, their encouragement and feedback led me to become increasingly ambitious with my writing and research. Thanks to Kotaku for reaching out to me, and their support in publishing my first professional article.