History Awesome / Metroid

* Speaking of the Hunters, each of them gets a [[CrowningMomentsOfAwesome CMoA]] of their own in that section. Rundas flies in on his [[RuleOfCool completely impossible ice slide]] and takes out a group of troop transports with a single shot each. Ghor takes out a boss monster with hand to hand combat while in his [[HumongousMecha humungous mecha]] body. Gandrayda takes out a group of Space Pirates while disguised as one of them. Samus herself fights [[TheDragon Ridley]] while in free fall and is trying to shove her armcannon down his throat when Rundas shows up to [[CatchAFallingStar give her a lift]].
** Just to reiterate that; Samus, Fights Ridley. In Free-fall. That sound you just heard was the Awesome / Cool continuum wetting itself in envy.
** Can anyone say [[LordOfTheRings "Balrog"]]?
* [=SkyTown=] Nuke Drop.

** Don't forget, that canonically, Samus [[spoiler:rescued said creatures in Super Metroid ''while Zebes was about to explode.'']]
* Metroid Prime 3. "Mission Completed". You know what I'm talking about.
** To elaborate, the planet Samus was last seen on just exploded ([[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds surprise]]) and the battle is won, but Samus is nowhere to be found. She is presumed dead, and Admiral Dane looks ready to give the eulogy right then and there. Cue Samus flying past the window, giving a thumbs up, and transmitting a single message. See above.

* In MetroidPrime 3, this troper hated fighting the Metroid Hatcher, an obnoxious tentacled Phazite-plated Metroid boss where you had to blast its tentacles with your guns (and your lock on targeted the body, which was useless to you), shoot it in the mouth before it vomits up [[DemonicSpiders Phazon Metroids]], and then tear its tentacles off one by one. There's no less then three of these in Normal alone. However, by the time this troper fought the third aboard the Valhalla, Samus was equipped with X-Ray Visor (vastly improved from MetroidPrime) and the Nova Beam, a comboo which lets Samus target weak spots on certain enemies (like Pirate Commandos) for an instant death effect. Guess what? That includes Metroid Hatchers. There's nothing quite like having a [[ThatOneBoss particularly annoying]] boss, with a health bar and everything, pop up in front of you, only to kill it with one shot.
** In other words, you basically get to lobotomize the enemies that have been giving you hell since you first met them. Revenge is awesome.
* [[EscortMission Escort missions]] are never fun. The escortee is useless, dies in one hit, and seems to go out of his/her way to get into trouble. That is, unless you are playing Metroid Prime 3. This may just be this troper's opinion, but the EscortMission near the end of the game is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for the ''trope''. You are tasked with protecting 12 Demolition Troopers as you make your way through a series of transit stations while being assaulted endlessly by an onslaught of Space Pirates of all ranks, and even a Berserker Knight towards the end. However, it turns out that these troopers are pretty damned skilled at battling. They can go toe-to-toe with many of the pirates. Sometimes, the tide even turn. Finding yourself cornered by five super pissed Space Pirates with nearly full health and their armor still attached? The troopers will assist you, shooting at the pirates until their armor comes off, and keep firing, draining the pirates health, possibly even killing them. When this troper finished the mission, he said to himself "''This'' is how an escort mission ''should'' be".
** YourMileageMayVary.
** This troper recalls having the engineers actually FINISH the Berserker Knight mini-boss after whitling it down to half health. BAD. ASS.
* The Wavebuster. Especially when used to lock onto and kill INVISIBLE BOSSES WHICH CANNOT BE NORMALLY LOCKED ONTO. (The Cloaked Drone of course)

* In ''Corruption'', you meet up with the Aurora Unit on [[FloatingContinent Elysia]] to get data on the planet-corrupting Leviathan Seed so that you can destroy it. Unfortunately the AU informs you that the Seed's shielding is far too strong to destroy with your ship's missiles. The answer? Spend the next hour or two ''constructing a nuclear explosive'' and planting it on a part of the city, so that you can ''launch your very own ColonyDrop''.
* Any time Samus and Dark Samus face off, when they point their guns at each other like they're going to have some epic duel (which usually does happen) to really funky music for a Metroid game (especially the second fight, where Dark Samus activates the elevator and for a bit you fight while it's going up to the highest point in the area). Or there's the mini-scene just before the third part of Emperor Ing - the chrysallis breaks open, and Samus is just standing there as smoke blasts past her, while the new, final form music (which has an incredible intro btw) begins, and the Emperor Ing just stands up imposingly.

* The MetroidPrime series has many of these, not the least of which is the fact that it's a 3D Metroid series that happens to [[PolygonCeiling not suck]]. But other examples include anytime Samus defeats a boss 10 times her freak'n size, then destroys a dark dimension, or leads a federation armada to the planet shooting living asteroids at other planets with one of those asteroids, and then blows the planet up.
* This troper will have to echo ''PennyArcade'''s statement that one of the best "whoa" moments is the first time an explosion goes off close enough to you for Samus' face to appear reflected in the visor. This happens ''again'', albeit in a [[PlayerPunch different way]], in ''Prime 3'' the first time you can see how Samus' reflection is... changing. It gets worse as the game continues: A few flecks of blue and a vein? Huh. Eyes turning [[{{Dune}} Fremen blue]]? Um.... A face covered in glowing cerulean scars as your character is consumed by Phazon? OhCrap.
* A [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome musical]] CMOA comes in the ''Prime 1'', when you get to the Magmoor Caverns. When those ominous male vocals first kicked up, this troper turned to his brother, grinned, and said "shades of Norfair, eh?" Then the door opened into the cavern complex proper, and that [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrO-GuXgmGg familiar drumbeat kicked in]]... Goosebumps.
** A early [[CrowingMusicOfAwesome]] happens at the Menu, the theme played there is so dynamic and atmospheric it alone fills many expectations of the game, and once when people come out of the Awesome induced shock and realize that "This is just the Menu Theme!" all other expectations are pointless, and they get ready for a Awesome Game.
* The ending for Prime 2 is pretty good. After saving their planet and their lives, Samus gets a bow from the crowd of Luminoths that gathers to greet her after the final boss. She pretty much ignores them and walks out the door, giving a sort of lazy salute/wave without turning to face them as she leaves.
** "All in a day's work, giant moth people."
* Samus gets another when you realize just how powerful her Scan Visor is in Metroid Prime. One of the Space Pirate logs is typed in an angry and frantic manner, alerting all pirates that the Hunter has broken their system, and that their best encryptions are nothing to her. Sure, the Visor occasionally said that it had uncovered "encrypted data", but this troper never realized just how much Samus was screwing with the Pirates. Incidentally, another log nets a small moment for the Pirates, when it becomes clear that they know where Samus is; the log essentially tells all the Pirates on Tallon IV that the Hunter is on the planet, and orders them to kill her on sight. It sent chills down this troper's spine.
** [[FinalGamer This troper]] especially got a chill from this considering his first name is very similar to Samus' last name, minus an R.
*** This is echoed, pun not intended, in ''Echoes'' as well when you scan one of the many terminals at their ops base at Agon Wastes. And I quote: ''The Hunter has hacked our datanet. All our secrets are now hers. She must not be allowed to leave. '''Kill her on sight!''' ''
**** Played with in the entertaining albeit [[DeadFic dead]] ''BobAndGeorge''-afiliated ''Metroid: Third Derivative''. Realizing that they can't do anything to stop her from hacking their systems, the Space Pirates just give her full access once the computer notices her scanning stuff, perhaps in an effort to entice her to go easy on them.
--> Foreign access detected! Analyzing... Intrustion source identified as ''Samus Aran''. Past encounters suggest that our strongest lockdowns can be circumvented by her hacking utilities, resulting in systemwide glitches and frequent maintenance. Alternate counterintrusion protocol initiated. Full access to console granted.
--> "Welcome to the Space Pirate Computer Systems. Make use of this terminal. In return, we ask you not to destroy it. We are not made of consoles. Here is an image of a kitten! ''(Loading Graphic Delicious_Kitten)'' Please enter command:
--> '''Samus:''' I can't tell if they're getting smarter or dumber...
** This troper seems to recall a Pirate log talking about how "The Hunter" was rampaging through their base and killing their personnel. At first you might think it's some alien creature, but then you realize the Pirates usually call Samus "The Hunter"...
** This gets more hilarious in Metroid Prime 2, when the pirates realize [[EvilTwin "The Dark Hunter"]] is not "The Hunter." They couldn't stop one Hunter, how will they stop two?!
*** "Surely, we are cursed."
* Prime 3 had another great moment: the battle with Mogenar. This is where you first start to suspect that something is really, terribly wrong with Samus, and that the corruption may well, in fact, kill her. What does she do? Take her helmet off, ''throw up concentrated Phazon,'' wipe her mouth off, put her helmet back on and go back to work, now sporting a visible Phazon scar down her nose and right cheek. Just another day at the office.
* The [[TheFederation Galactic Federation]] [[RedshirtArmy military]] finally gets one in Prime 3 as well, when they [[spoiler: Invade the Space Pirate homeworld.]] Also, a nameless friendly {{Mook}} gets one in an early scene- cornered by Space Pirates who kill all his squadmates, he cooly activates Hypermode and blasts his enemies away. Notable as this is the first time you see Hypermode in action, before you gain it for yourself...
* Prime 3 gave Samus yet another Crowning Moment early on, when Dark Samus shows up, shoots the other three Hunters, then tries to shoot Samus... who just moves her head to the side somewhat to dodge.
** Additionally, the other hunters get right back up after that, giving Dark Samus an "Oh Shit" moment of her own.
*** ...Until she turns it around by unleashing a massive blast that floors all four hunters. Samus, who took the entire blast, rather than splash damage like the others, then proceeds to crawl to the control panel and complete their objective. The entire scene is one crowning moment after another.
** This scene alone makes Dark Samus oddly unique; she just may be the only character, ever, to compeltely, absolutely invert a [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Heroes moment]]. The only villain, ever, to burst in at the last possible moment and ''ruin everything''.
*** We normally call that a DiabolusExMachina, but unlike those, Dark Samus makes sense and only comes out of nowhere physically. So it qualifies as an OhCrap CrowningMomentOfAwesome rather than Diabolus.

* Whenever you arrive at the Energy Controllers in the Aether temples, you come across the corpse of its last guardian. Scans reveal, for every one of them, that they went out fighting. The one in Agon died while fending off innumerable Ing hordes, finally succumbing to superior numbers. The one in Torvus was almost possessed numerous times, until the Ing realized that they couldn't break his will and killed him. And the one in the Sanctuary Fortress was so badass, the Ing had to turn his own weapons of war against him, unable to defeat him themselves. As awesome as all of that is, the real CMoA is when, after you've carried out their final wish and returned the Light of Aether to their temples, these elite Luminoth warriors, heroic titans in the struggle between light and dark, bow to ''Samus Aran,'' acknowledging her as the new Sentinel of their temple.

*** It was ''not'' pointless. Sure, [[spoiler: he]] turned out to be wrong about it stopping [[spoiler: MB herself]], but [spoiler: he]] ''did'' succeed in getting rid of the [[spoiler: ice-proof Metroids]]. That act still meant something. And as for MoralEventHorizon, remember ''why'' [[spoiler: he shot Samus.]] This ''is'' Samus Aran we're talking about; as her own subsequent actions prove, there was no other way to keep her from stopping [[spoiler: him.]] Besides, all [[spoiler: he did was incapacitate her briefly.]] Not ''nice'', maybe, but not exactly ''that'' horrible a thing, either.

** TroperTales-ish example. Through a combination of school being out,[[TooDumbToLive being a dumbass]], too much caffeine, a midnight release and not sleeping, I had gotten to the [[BaseBreaker Ridley cutscene]], at which point my friend, a more [[NoTrueScotsman "Hardcore"]] Metroid fan then me (despite having only played the Primes, on [[EasyModeMockery Normal Difficulty]], at less than [[HundredPercentCompletion 100%]], on [[WallBanger MY]] copy of Trilogy,) left to find something heavy and blunt to kill me with. He came back as I performed a Lethal Strike, dropped his weapon, and stared at the screen.
-->'''Him''': "Are you making him give your power beam a [[FreudWasRight blow job]]?"
-->'''Me''': "[[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne Nope]], [[InsistentTerminology it's the]] [[KillItWithFire Plasma Beam]], [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]]."

* [[spoiler: Adam Malkovich's]] HeroicSacrifice in Other M. Full Stop.

** Then turns it around by unleashing a massive blast that floors all four hunters. Samus, who took the entire blast, rather than splash damage like the others, then proceeds to crawl to the control panel and complete their objective. The entire scene is one crowning moment after another.

** [[http://www.onemanga.com/Metroid/13/08/ Walking with a]] [[BadassLongcoat longcoat]]. It just shows how awesome she is, especially when without her armor, she easily defeats several GF Marines.
** [[http://www.onemanga.com/Metroid/14/08/ Talking to the higher ups of the Federation...in a half tank top and shorts]]. Just like if someone can talk to the UN dressed like her.
** '''[[http://www.onemanga.com/Metroid/16/22/ THREE! I'll Defeat you by the count of three]]'''.

** [[spoiler: unless that was just another Heroic BSOD like from Other M]]

* This troper would like to nominate Super Metroid as an entire Crowning Moment of Awesome. That game defines the trope EvenBetterSequel.

* SkyTown Nuke Drop.

* Super Metroid has two characters get a CMOA in the same scene. The fight with Mother Brain isn't going too well--she transforms from a helpless brain in a jar to a towering, drooling, screeching beastie and has Samus at her mercy. Just as Mother Brain's charging up for the final blow, [[spoiler: the Metroid hatchling Samus saved from Metroid II shows up all grown up and drains Mother Brain into submission, then transfers the energy to Samus while taking heavy fire. It brings Samus back to full health before one last shot from Mother Brain kills it. After its heart-rending death squeal, Samus stands up. Hello, [[EleventhOurSuperPower Hyper Beam]]. Hello, ThemeMusicPowerUp. And hello, ''MamaBear''.]]

* Super Metroid has two characters get a CMOA in the same scene. The fight with Mother Brain isn't going too well--she transforms from a helpless brain in a jar to a towering, drooling, screeching beastie and has Samus at her mercy. Just as Mother Brain's charging up for the final blow, [[spoiler: the Metroid hatchling Samus saved from Metroid II shows up all grown up and drains Mother Brain into submission, then transfers the energy to Samus while taking heavy fire. It brings Samus back to full health before one last shot from Mother Brain kills it. After its heart-rending death squeal, Samus stands up. Hello, Hyper Beam. Hello, ThemeMusicPowerUp. And hello, ''MamaBear''.]]

* Metroid Other M. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome Full Stop]].

-->'''Me''': "[[ITakeOffenceToThatLastOne Nope]] [[InsistentTerminology it's the]] [[KillItWithFire Plasma Beam]] [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch Bitch]]."