History Characters / MetroidMetroidPrimeAndDarkSamus

[[center: [-[[Characters/{{Metroid}} Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/MetroidSamusAran Samus Aran]] | [[Characters/MetroidTheMetroids Metroids]] ('''Prime''') | [[Characters/MetroidSpacePirates Space Pirates]] ([[Characters/MetroidMotherBrain Mother Brain]] | [[Characters/MetroidRidley Ridley]]) | [[Characters/MetroidXParasites X Parasites]] | [[Characters/MetroidGalacticFederation Galactic Federation]] |\\
[[Characters/MetroidTheChozo Chozo]] ([[Characters/MetroidRavenBeak Raven Beak]]) | [[Characters/MetroidBountyHunters Bounty Hunters]] | [[Characters/MetroidOtherAntagonists Other Antagonists]] | [[Characters/MetroidOthers Others]] | [[Characters/MetroidNoncanonicalCharacters Noncanonical Characters]]]]-]
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->''"The prophecies tell of the coming of the Worm. Born from parasites, nurtured in a poisoned womb, the Worm grows, devouring from within, until the world begins to rot. The words of the seers have come to pass, for there, in the depths of the world, the ravenous Worm lurks and feeds. From the stars it came, blighting Tallon with its Great Poison. We can but watch as the Worm grows, watch and wait."''
-->-- '''Unknown Chozo'''

Originally a Metroid who was heavily mutated by Phazon after a Leviathan landed on Tallon IV, Metroid Prime, and its reincarnation Dark Samus, serve as the [[BigBad main antagonist]] of the Prime Trilogy, as well as being one of the most dangerous foes that Samus Aran ever faced.

'''Beware of {{spoiler}}s.'''
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Both incarnations]]
* AmbiguouslyRelated: In the original release, Metroid Prime was named by Space Pirates who encountered it after arriving on Tallon IV and determined it to be "genetically similar to Metroids, albeit on a highly evolved level"; and as Dark Samus it sought to free captive Metroids as seemingly [[PetTheDog their only act of compassion]], further hinting at a connection. However, its early encounter with the Space Pirates was removed from future versions of ''Prime'' and [[CanonDiscontinuity decanonized]] due to contradicting how it was sealed away, making the name's origins unknown. Whether or not it is a mutated Metroid remains ambiguous in-game, only being confirmed in [[AllThereInTheManual the official art book]] released with ''Metroid Prime Trilogy'', but it being a Metroid seemingly runs afoul of the series' timeline.[[labelnote:Explanation]]As revealed in ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', the Metroids were created by the Chozo to contain the X Parasites on planet [=SR388=], so there's no reason or evidence for the [[SpaceAmish technology-rejecting Tallon IV Chozo]] to have had any when the Phazon meteor struck, and by the time the Space Pirates brought Metroids the Impact Crater containing Metroid Prime was sealed off by an [[SomeKindOfForceField impenetrable field]]. Dark Samus later states that Phaaze was their homeworld, substantiated by husks identical to Metroid Prime's exoskeleton being found there, but Phaaze was so far away that there was seemingly no way for Metroids to have gotten there before the Tallon IV meteor was launched.[[/labelnote]]
* TheDreaded: Metroid Prime is this to the disembodied Chozo, who cannot defeat it in the state they are in and are convinced their TailorMadePrison for it will eventually be escaped from. Dark Samus is especially feared by the Space Pirates of Aether and The Homeworld, as well as The Galactic Federation.
* EvilCounterpart: Dark Samus is an obvious one, but even the original Metroid Prime had similarities to Samus. Both wore mechanical suits with similar abilities (the beam weapons, missiles, the tractor beam attack similar to the grapple beam) and a blue 'true form' under it (the Essence for Metroid Prime and the Zero Suit for Samus).
* FromNobodyToNightmare: It started out as a simple Metroid before being heavily corrupted by the Leviathan that crashed on Tallon IV and turning into the monstrous Metroid Prime, a creature that the Chozo were forced to seal away. Years later, it would become even more of a nightmare by becoming Dark Samus, a dark mirror of Samus Aran made of pure Phazon, who took over the Space Pirates and came dangerously close to taking over the galaxy.
* TheHeavy: Serves as this for the Prime Trilogy, with Metroid Prime being [[BigBadEnsemble one of the antagonists]] of the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime first game]]. Despite Samus defeating it, Metroid Prime would be reborn as Dark Samus, who would also be one of the antagonists of the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes second game]], and would become the [[BigBad primary antagonist]] of the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption final game]], and by extension, the final antagonist of the whole trilogy.
* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Once Metroid Prime's armor is broken its core will periodically leak Phazon, and since Samus is infected with the vertigo strand she can produce the energy necessarily to injure Metroid Prime by standing in these puddles. Dark Samus is also defeated with her own Phazon twice, but she cannot necessarily help being composed of the substance necessary to do her in now can she?
* IHaveManyNames: Various factions call it different things, including Metroid Prime, The Worm, Dark Samus, and the Dark Hunter.
* ItCanThink: Both Metroid Prime and Dark Samus are deceptively smarter than their appearances (and origins) let on.
* LightningBruiser: Armored Metroid Prime puts more emphasis on the "bruiser" with its bulk and highly telegraphed movements, but it is still incredibly fast with bulk that makes it nearly impossible to dodge if you don't move during its tells. Dark Samus puts more emphasis on the "lightning", but is roughly as powerful as Samus herself while being much quicker, more maneuverable, having more defensive options and not above simply smacking her up close. Metroid Prime's core is more of a StoneWall though. It is highly maneuverable, quick (but still prone to telegraphing), stealthy but doens't hit ''too'' hard.
* PlotIrrelevantVillain: Despite being the AntagonistTitle character(s), they have almost nothing to do with Samus' adventure in Tallon IV and Aether. The former has Samus finding and stopping Space Pirate operations on Tallon IV before shifting to put an end to Prime per the last will of the planet's Chozo inhabitants and stop the Pirates from trying to weaponize it. The latter has her ending the war between Aether and Dark Aether with Dark Samus as a third party to the conflict out to grab Phazon while screwing over Samus at moments of opportunity, and ultimately Dark Samus fights Samus to the death ''after'' she's dealt the death blow to Dark Aether. The only time Dark Samus has to do directly with Samus' mission was in ''Corruption'' where she takes an active role to corrupt Samus and infect planets with Phazon.
* SequentialBoss: Metroid Prime has two forms to fight and the final shootout with Dark Samus goes through several phases.
* VillainousGlutton: Spends most of the first two games eating or looking for the next meal.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Metroid Prime]]
-> Debut: ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/metroid_prime_mp1_artwork_01.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see its Core Essence.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/734px_metroid_prime_mp1_artwork_2.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->''[[AC:"Investigations into a possible ingress point for the impact crater continue to meet with failure. The shield of strange energy that protects it is impermeable, and all attempts to tunnel past it have proved fruitless. Our continued futility in this matter is made all the more significant in light of recent life form readings we've discovered emanating from deep within the crater. Analysis of the readings indicates that a massive creature is gestating in there, absorbing enormous amounts of Phazon from the Phazon core at the heart of the impact crater. This discovery makes accessing the crater doubly important - not only will it open the door to the vast deposits of Phazon within, but it will also lead us to this creature, whatever it may be..."]]''
-->-- '''Log 11.156.9'''
Once a simple Metroid, this creature encountered a strange meteor that landed on Tallon IV. The strange radiation of the meteor warped and twisted it into a much larger beast, capable of absorbing and integrating technology into itself. The Chozo managed to seal it away along with the meteor, trapping it for untold years within the Impact Crater. There it remained until Samus sought the artifacts to unlock its prison and slay the beast within.
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* AllegoricalCharacter: Its ability to slowly corrupt the once-thriving environment of Tallon IV combined with the origin of its power being referred to as "the Great Poison" seem to point towards Metroid Prime being a physical manifestation of [[GreenAesop pollution and its consequences]].
* AllThereInTheManual: What and where it came from are extremely cryptic in its home game, and only revealed through the art book included in the steelbook release of ''Trilogy'', that it is a Metroid mutated into the Leviathan Guardian for Tallon IV.
* AntagonistTitle: Metroid Prime is the FinalBoss of, well, ''Metroid Prime''. Becomes an ArtifactTitle after it evolves into Dark Samus and leaves behind its former identity.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: The face on its armored form.
* BarrierChangeBoss: It can only be harmed by one type of beam. It routinely shifts which beam that is, indicated by the color of its armor.
* BeastWithAHumanFace: Its armored form has the top half of a human face serving as a weakpoint, and the core form has human facial features. Even clearer in concept art, which included the shape of a mouth.
* BreathWeapon: It can spit a large laser from a "mouth" on the underside of the armor of its exoskeletal form. Its color and effects depend on what screen it's currently using. It also has "ultra frigid breath" from another "mouth" on its armor.
* CombatTentacles: In its core form. They're just wide sweeping in "Prime" proper but in ''Metroid Prime Pinball'' the will eat through the power suit's energy shielding very quickly.
* CowardlyBoss: It spends the bulk of the FinalBoss running from Samus and blasting her from a distance.
* DeathGlare: The core form gives a rather menacing one to Samus when it emerges.
* DirtyCoward: What's the first thing that TheDreaded Metroid Prime does when Samus confronts it? It '''''runs'''''. Beyond that, it also spends the entire game hiding beneath the surface, uses its own Metroid spawn as fodder for the Hunter as she gets closer to its location, and [[CowardlyBoss repeatedly flees]] throughout the first half of its boss fight. Even when its core is exposed, Metroid Prime shifts between different forms to become invisible and continue hiding from Samus' attacks.
* TheDreaded: In their final days, the Chozo of Tallon IV lived fear of Metroid Prime, ominously referring to it as "the Worm" and desperately attempting to keep it from escaping the planet's core.
* EnergyBall: Can fire two energy orbs that home in on Samus. Their color and effects depend on what screen it's currently using.
* FinalBoss: It is the final boss in the first ''Prime'' game. Making it the third Metroid boss in terms of release date[[labelnote:*]]''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' and ''Metroid Prime'' were released on the same date in the US (November 17, 2002), though ''Fusions'''s final boss had been introduced prior as a regular boss in ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus''.[[/labelnote]] and the first in terms of chronology.
* FireIceLightning: Its energy attacks can use any of these three elements, as well as neutral energy if it mimics the Power Beam.
* FoeTossingCharge: It starts doing this later in the fight. It can only be avoided by going into Morph Ball form and diving into the ditches in the area.
* FreezeRay: It has a cryonic attack that can freeze Samus solid, which also does do damage.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: It's both the nobody and the nightmare at different points. It went from just another Metroid to a gargantuan monster capable of going toe to toe with Samus. Later, its death gives rise to Dark Samus, a foe that nearly toppled the Federation.
* GiantFlyer: The core can fly, as most Metroids can, but is possibly the largest flight capable Metroid, with The Super Metroid from its game being the only possible rival.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Its eyes glow bright red. They become yellow in its core form.
* GoingToGiveItMoreEnergy: The material that empowered it is the only thing that can harm its core.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Despite being the titular antagonist, Metroid Prime is relatively uninvolved with the main plot, which revolves around Samus trying to hunt down [[BigBad Meta Ridley]] and stop the Space Pirates' Phazon mining operations. However, Metroid Prime is still the being responsible for the horrific state of Tallon IV, the Space Pirates seek to harness its power for their own gain, and a Chozo prophecy guides Samus to destroy it once and for all as the FinalBoss.
* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: The Metroids were engineered by the Chozo to be simple predators that target the X-Parasites. They are incredibly dangerous, but not inherently malicious and can even be tamed and kept as pets. Metroid Prime, upon coming into contact with Phazon, completely abandons its natural instincts in favor of gorging itself on the Leviathan's energy and spreading throughout the planet. Then it [[FromBadToWorse becomes Dark Samus]], and its goals transform into something truly evil.
* HomingProjectile: The particle wave generator, stolen from the pirates, makes these. Also the core form in ''Prime Pinball'' could shoot some from its tentacles.
* InterfaceScrew: Being hit by its Wave Beam will temporarily blind Samus' visor.
* {{Invisibility}}: Its core form can become invisible to the thermal, x-ray, and visible spectrums, but only two at a time.
* LaserCutter: One of the forms of its BreathWeapon.
* LoadBearingBoss: Killing it causes the Impact Crater to collapse.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: It bombards the area with missiles as an attack.
* MegaManning: It absorbed various weapons and defensive technologies before being sealed away. This trait is what allows it to survive its initial encounter with Samus by absorbing her Phazon Suit.
* MetamorphosisMonster: It's implied in the latter entries, particularly ''Corruption'', that the Metroid Prime is a Metroid Hatcher that mutated even further to its current form, and thus could be considered the equivalent of an Omega/Queen Metroid for the Phazon line. In its core form, it can even spawn various types of Metroids at will, much like the Hatchers.
* MirrorBoss: Played with. Its armored form has it using variations of Samus' Wave, Ice, and Plasma Beam weapons and at the same time, it is vulnerable to whatever element it's currently using.
* MookMaker: Its core form can spawn various types of Metroid.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Its initial form has a fanged mouth that takes up its entire underbelly.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: In its death throes, it manages to absorb Samus' Phazon Suit, ultimately giving rise to the trilogy's main antagonist.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Metroids are already dangerous creatures which serve as [[BossInMookClothing Bosses in Mook Clothing]]; saying one is ''Prime'', as in superior to the rest of them, is quite intimidating. The Chozo called it "the Worm"; given the overall apocalyptic tone of their writings on Tallon [=IV=], that is very fearsome. The [[https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/Metroid_Prime_(creature) Metroid Wiki]] speculates the name to be derived from Wormwood, an angel of destruction in Revelation that comes from a starborne meteor and poisons a third of the planet. Given that this is a rough translation of Metroid Prime's exact history, that's damn scary.
* NighInvulnerable: Its exoskeleton can shrug off any attack, with only a small vulnerable opening. Its core form lacks the protective covering, but can only be harmed by Phazon attacks.
* NoMouth: Its core form despite its vainly humanoid face lacks a mouth.
* OhCrap: Seemingly its reaction when Samus finally reaches its lair, as it immediately flees upon seeing her.
* PoweredArmor: Of a sort. It has assimilated weapons attached to it's carapace, which are also modified through Phazon mutation to have beam shielding.[[note]]Even in the North American version, the carapace and its beam shields are a Phazon mutation, not Space Pirate technology.[[/note]]
* PredecessorVillain: Metroid Prime as anyone knew it died in the first game, but it still casts a large shadow over the remainder of the trilogy in the form of Dark Samus.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: In its plasma orientation, the version most often used in images.
* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Is sometimes referred to ''The'' Metroid Prime. Both it and "Metroid Prime" are acceptable terminologies.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Chozo couldn't kill it, so they sealed it in the Impact Crater. Unfortunately, that still [[LeakingCanOfEvil couldn't stop the Phazon from leaking out at a reduced rate]] to keep corrupting the rest of the planet.
* ShockwaveClap: It creates shock waves with these in its core form.
* TakingYouWithMe: After Samus overloads it with Phazon, it attempts to drag her to its death before exploding. Samus manages to resist its hold before it strips the Phazon Suit from her.
* ThemeMusicPowerUp: A rare villainous example. When the core emerges from its destroyed body, the title theme from ''Metroid'' and ''Super Metroid'' plays.
* TripodTerror: Its initial form moves on three insectoid legs with two smaller legs it uses to attack Samus directly.
* TurnsRed: As the fight with Metroid Prime's armored form wears on, its movements and attacks become more erratic and random, the screen shifts become more frequent and it starts mixing up its attacks.
* WaveMotionGun: The armored form of Metroid Prime has one whose color depends on the current barrier, and both forms of Metroid Prime in ''Metroid Prime Pinball'' regularly let off powerful shots that can quickly kill you.
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: It has a "snare beam", allowing it to drag Samus into melee range. However, Samus can escape by going into Morph Ball mode and planting a bomb near its face.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dark Samus]]
-> Debut: ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' (Only in TheStinger), ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes''
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1e0a8842ca3415c57252df20b0b0514f.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:The Black Demon]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here to see her appearance in ''Echoes''.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ssbu_spirits_dark_samus.png[[/labelnote]]]]
-->''"Our scanners have detected the remains of Dark Samus, who has revived herself within our Phazon storage. Surely, we are cursed. The fiendish shrew consumed all of the Phazon, then wiped out a third of the crew in a matter of minutes. Now she moves at will through the halls of Colossus, using her witchery to beguile the minds of my men. We are unable to call for aid, and only a few of us remain to stand against her. All is lost."''
--->-- '''Captain's Log'''
As a last-ditch effort to save itself, the Metroid Prime attempted to absorb Samus as it had other technologies and managed to steal her Phazon suit. Although this wasn't enough to preserve its body, Metroid Prime obtained both the Space Pirates' Phazon Strain 'Vertigo' (which Samus was exposed to when gaining the Phazon Suit from the Elite Pirate) and Samus' DNA, and was reborn as something even more dangerous: Dark Samus. A dark reflection of the Hunter empowered by Phazon, she seeks to use her newfound power and intelligence to find the source of the Phazon and harness it for her own gain.
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* AllYourPowersCombined: In addition to wielding her own versions of Samus's arsenal; in the final battle of ''Corruption'' she uses abilities stolen from the three Hunters battled earlier in the game. It's also implied that she escaped the destruction of Dark Aether in ''Echoes'' by copying the Ing's natural ability to cross dimensions in their intangible dark swarm form. Ing's ability to possess living creatures and machinery may have also allowed her to possess the Hunters and fuse with Aurora Unit 313.
* AntagonistAbilities: Dark Samus can fly, grow stronger by absorbing Phazon, use its Phazon energy to control others, and can regenerate from even the smallest piece of Phazon.
* ArchEnemy: To Samus during the ''Prime'' trilogy. She's an EvilCounterpart to Samus [[EvilKnockoff made in her own image]], and their rivalry takes on a personal edge when Dark Samus forces her to kill her corrupted allies in ''Corruption''.
* ArmCannon: Dark Samus' right arm is a biomechanical energy cannon, paralleling Samus' Power Suit.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: If her body is destroyed, Dark Samus is able to simply reform herself elsewhere in the galaxy, so long as any reasonable amount of phazon exists. This ResurrectiveImmortality is so potent she can ''cross dimensions'' this way, as evidenced when she reforms in the Phazon storage tanks of a Space Pirate ship despite having died in the collapsing Dark Dimension at the end of ''Prime 2''. In the end, it takes destroying Phaaze, the source of all Phazon in the known galaxy, to kill her off for good (due to NoOntologicalInertia being in full force).
* AwesomeButImpractical: Dark Samus' plan to spread Phazon once she highjacks the planet Phaaze is to have Leviathans (effectively giant spores sent out every century or so) sent to the planets of her enemies, effectively making them weapons that allow mass corruption very quickly. However this approach (as opposed to the [[BoringButPractical much slower but much more difficult to track]] method Phaaze originally used) broadcast Phaaze's existence much more and made it much easier for Samus to trace the Leviathons back to their source and destroy Phaaze once and for all.
* AxCrazy: Dark Samus during the events of ''Echoes'' was certainly depicted as being completely insane, namely due to being imbalanced at a molecular level, almost to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka Palazzo]] levels.
* BadBoss: She absorbs her three corrupted Bounty Hunters the second they lose to Samus, in Ghor's case, it's while he's still alive and screaming.
* BarefootLoon: She goes without boots for much of her screen-time. This design choice was made likely to accentuate her feral-ness.
* BeTheBall: She retains the Morph Ball ability from Samus's stolen armor. She uses this in the second fight with her in ''Echoes'', darting around the room much faster than Samus can. In the final battle with the Aurora Unit 313, it will summon Dark Echoes that will perform the Boost Ball attack.
* BewareTheSuperman: As a being with all of Samus' skills and abilities combined with her own Phazon powers and [[TheChessmaster deceptive cunning]], Dark Samus is a frightening reflection of how terrifying our heroine would be if she ever turned to the dark side.
* BigBad: Of the entire trilogy, which chronicles her birth from the remains of Metroid Prime and sees her gradually rise to power throughout ''Echoes''. She fully grabs the role in ''Corruption'', where she takes over the Space Pirates and uses them to launch an all-out war against the Federation, personally infects Samus and other bounty hunters with Phazon corruption, and ultimately merges with Phaaze to make Phazon a more omnipresent threat than ever before. It gets to the point that she even manages to hijack ''[[TheHeavy Ridley]]'', the series' main antagonist, and [[EvilerThanThou bend him to her will]].
* BishounenLine: The longer Dark Samus is active and the more Phazon she consumes, the more "complete" and Samus-like in appearance she becomes. In the final battle of ''Echoes'', it can be clearly seen that Dark Samus is beginning to develop a humanlike biology complete with skeletal system, nervous system and internal organs, but her suit is still acting like an outer skin or carapace. By the time Samus is all but wholly Phazon-corrupted in ''Corruption'', the game makes explicitly clear there is maybe one degree of separation left between her and entirely ''becoming'' an exact article for Dark Samus, which indicates Dark Samus herself may actually now so far as possess a humanlike form within her suit much as Samus herself does.
* BreakoutVillain: She (and her original incarnation, Metroid Prime) are self-contained to the ''Metroid Prime'' trilogy. While she was [[KilledOffForReal disposed of]] by the end of the trilogy, she's since found her way into the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' franchise, first as an [[AssistCharacter Assist Trophy]] in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', and then finally becoming a fully playable character in the next game, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
* CallBack: She possesses the ability to turn invisible during her second and final battle in ''Echoes'', much like Metroid Prime's core form was capable of doing in the first game. And just like in the first game, the only way to track her is to switch to one of your non-standard visors, then to the other as she becomes invisible to that too.
* TheChessmaster: In ''Echoes'' she lures Samus into an Ing ambush at their first meeting, but it's in ''Corruption'' that she really displays this. She takes control of the Space Pirates and the planet Phaaze; attacks three specific planets to cripple the Galactic Federation by removing their spy satellite network, fuel reserves, and garrisoned forces; and infects Samus and the other Hunters with Phazon corruption ensuring its only a matter of time before they're all under her control.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: In terms of chronology, Dark Samus is this to SA-X. Both are {{Evil Counterpart}}s to Samus, retain her weaponry and out for her blood. While the SA-X is merely using the tools as Samus would, Dark Samus puts a twist on almost every tool the two share and even displays tricks Samus lacks entirely. Where SA-X seeks to kill Samus knowing she possesses Metroid DNA that fully counters the X Parasites, Dark Samus seems to want to rule the universe through Phazon to infect every planet. Dark Samus was originally a Metroid while SA-X is an X Parasite. To further this contrast, Dark Samus was originally Metroid Prime, who is a mutated Metroid, the natural enemy of the X Parasites.
* ClingyCostume: The armor is part of her, essentially an outer carapace. When she starts losing control of her form in ''Echoes'' it becomes transparent, revealing organs, nerves, and bones connected directly to the armor without any intervening skin or flesh.
* CombatTentacles: Is seen projecting these from her armor in concept art. In fact, these are how Dark Samus was made.
* CurbStompBattle: Her skirmishes with the Space Pirates on Aether all see her quickly cut through them. Then she applies it to the Hunters from ''Prime 3'', in case anyone had doubts about her threat level already.
* DarkActionGirl: Sadistic and violent, Dark Samus is the antithesis of Samus Aran and one of her most powerful foes, as she's one of the few antagonists to nearly kill [[TheAce her]].
* DeflectorShields: All of her boss fights have her utilize a variant of this. Her "shine spark" produces a shield on impact to prevent immediate counter attacks. The first two fights in ''Echoes'' have her use a shield of Phazon energy to deflect Samus' missiles when she swats them(or swats Samus should she get too close). The final battle with her has her turn into a being of pure Phazon energy and create a barrier around her that will rain down small blasts of Phazon or unleash larger blasts. In ''Corruption'', she'll create a wall of Phazon tentacles that will deflect Samus' missiles.
* DemonicPossession: Tries her hand at it in the third game.
* {{Determinator}}: No matter how many times she is put down in Echoes, she keeps on coming back to manipulate the Aether situation to siphon as much Phazon as possible.
* DopplegangerAttack: In ''Corruption'', and it calls back to ''Echoes'' despite not being present there.
* EarlyBirdBoss: Some of her abilities are things Samus could duplicate or at least counter if the [[CallForward power-ups were present in the Prime series]]. She also uses super missiles long before the player can get them.
* EvilerThanThou:
** Even though she initially helps the Warrior Ing attack Samus, some of the Space Pirates she is seen fighting with over some Phazon were Ing-possessed, suggesting one of them went back on any possible deals that could have been made. Since Ing don't make much use of the phazon they already have, it can be assumed they were simply trying to halter Dark Samus. She then takes control of the source of Phazon itself in ''Corruption''!
** She usurps control of a vast portion of the Space Pirates in ''Corruption''... including '''[[TheHeavy Ridley]]''', which is [[OneManArmy no easy feat]].
* EvilKnockoff: Unlike the SA-X from ''Fusion'', Dark Samus isn't quite as much of a carbon copy, seeing as it used to be a Metroid and has several distinct abilities. [[spoiler:Although Samus herself ironically becomes closer to a "Good Knockoff" by ''Dread'' after fully integrating the Metroid vaccine/DNA from ''Fusion'', transforming into a human/Metroid hybrid just like Dark Samus.]]
* EvilMakesYouUgly: The FinalBoss battle in ''Echoes'' has Dark Samus visibly disfigured by Phazon overload (and the SkullForAHead [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100401140135/metroid/images/thumb/d/d5/Final_Dark_Samus_Profile.png/640px-Final_Dark_Samus_Profile.png even brings]], a CallBack to the original ''Metroid Prime'').
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: If one pays attention, they will notice her final form in ''Echoes'' has eyes on the back of her hands, just like TheStinger from the first ''Prime''! Her Morph Ball form even has eyes on each side of the sphere.
* FinalBoss: Of ''Echoes'' and ''Corruption'', in which she's the last boss Samus faces.
* {{Flight}}: A consistent ability she keeps after developing that Samus doesn't really have, though at points she can only hover over the ground. As she doesn't demonstrate the ability in ''Echoes'' beyond PowerFloats levels, it's possible she only graduated to full flight after her visit to Phaaze and subsequent powerup.
* FromASingleCell: Or single Phazon particle... ''Echoes'' claimed that nothing short of "[[NoKillLikeOverkill total atomic disruption]]" would finish her for good and she survived the destruction of Dark Aether, an entire separate dimension, shortly after her body was vaporized in the final battle with Samus. Once her particles hijacked some Space Pirate Phazon stores between ''Echoes'' and ''Corruption'' to restore her body she was back in action without missing a beat. It takes destroying ''every bit of Phazon in the universe'' to ''finally'' kill her.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Her predecessor, Metroid Prime, had some major significance, yes; but in the grand scheme of things it was the byproduct of just a random Leviathan. However, its attempt to survive gave rise to Dark Samus, who would go on devising a way to become the very mind of Phaaze itself...
* FusionDance: Dark Samus is the result of the remains of the Omega Pirate, Metroid Prime, and Samus's DNA merging together.
* GalacticConqueror: She tries her best in ''Corruption'', and very nearly succeeded.
* GeniusBruiser: Both a highly formidable fighter and surprisingly tactically-minded, Dark Samus is every bit as dangerous an opponent as [[ActionGirl Samus]] herself.
* AGodAmI: She takes over the Space Pirates in ''Corruption'' and forces them to worship her.
* GoingToGiveItMoreEnergy: Phazon attacks destroy her physical form, but do nothing to stop her from regenerating. She continually absorbs Phazon to grow stronger, but ends up destabilizing her body in the process. However, by the third game she manages to maintain her composure and can absorb Phazon directly from its source with no negative effects. In the end, it takes destroying the very source of all Phazon in the universe to destroy her, which is done by overloading its controller with Phazon energy.
* HeroKiller: Not only does she terrify the prophetic Chozo, tear through the pirates, casually dispatch Ing, break Luminoth technology and take over two planets basically single handed but she also takes down four named characters in ''Corruption''.
* HijackingCthulhu: Her ultimate scheme involves hijacking the very source of all Phazon in the universe, which is a [[GeniusLoci living planet]] and she succeeds. There's also the fact that she's technically ''made of'' Phazon, which is established to be SentientPhlebotinum, yet she maintains her own will separate from it.
* HisNameReallyIsBarkeep: Notably, she seems to self-identify with the name "Dark Samus". Originally, the Space Pirates merely called her "The Dark Hunter", in accordance with their established epithet for Samus. However, once the pirates who write the logs in ''Corruption'' are brainwashed, they switched to calling her "Dark Samus".
* HumanoidAbomination: She started out as the result of a [[StarfishAlien Metroid]] being heavily mutated by prolonged exposure to Phazon trying to save itself by absorbing Samus' Phazon Suit before being destabilized and exploding. The Phazon Suit enabled her to reform as a black, biomechanical doppelgänger of Samus bent on spreading Phazon throughout the universe and even other dimensions, and she was unkillable as long as Phazon existed.
* ImplacableWoman: Best displayed after beating her at the end of ''Metroid Prime 2'', where she uses the last of her strength to crawl and attempt to grab Samus one last time. Similar to another [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} example of this trope]]. Then she returns in ''Metroid Prime 3'' more dangerous than ever.
* {{Intangibility}}: She appears as a wraith in ''Corruption'' when she consumes the other hunters.
* {{Invisibility}}: Like Metroid Prime's core form; she tries a few different forms of it to counter Samus's constantly updating methods of tracking.
* {{Irony}}: Like her predecessor, Dark Samus is glaringly vulnerable to weaponized Phazon despite relying on the substance as a source of power and food. Even better, Dark Samus's outer shell is derived from the Phazon Suit, which was designed to ''resist'' damage from Phazon! Even after communing with Phaaze and taking control of all Phazon in the galaxy, she's barely any more resistant to the Phazon-powered Hyper Beam than Metroid Prime was.
* JokerImmunity: She can reform herself from Phazon particles. You destroy her for good in ''Prime 3'', though.
* LaserCutter: Her version of the charge beam. Rather than draw energy for a larger blast, she shoots a continuous blast and sweeps with it.
* LaughingMad: Dark Samus often laughs rather maniacally in some of her appearances in ''Echoes''. For a "woman" her voice is pretty deep. By ''Prime 3'', it's ascended to one of her main forms of "battle dialogue".
* LoadBearingBoss: Averted in ''Echoes'', you fight her in the countdown set off after you killed the actual LoadBearingBoss. Played straight in ''Corruption'', where her defeat causes Phaaze to explode.
* LoneWolfBoss: She appears as a boss several times throughout ''Echoes'' but doesn't really have a connection to the plot of that game.
* MadeOfPhlebotinum: Dark Samus is made of Phazon.
* MarathonBoss: How she operates as the final boss of ''Corruption'', especially in Hypermode. Once she splits into multiple bodies, if she is allowed to re-combine with them, she becomes invulnerable until she splits again, re-purposing the clones as barriers. Thus, she spends a lot of time splitting and un-splitting to deny a player the chance to deal consistent damage.
* MegaManning: She absorbs various technologies offscreen in ''Echoes''. We get to see her do it in ''Corruption'' when she absorbs the capabilities of the other hunters in their final moments.
* MindControl: Does a whole lot of it through Phazon infection in ''Prime 3'', managing to enslave the entire Space Pirate homeworld to serve as her personal army.
* MookMaker: In ''Corruption'' she could produce copies of herself.
* NighInvulnerable: Conventional weaponry is useless against her once she absorbs enough Phazon; pirate troopers were already helpless when Samus first encountered her and Samus's own weapons get progressively less useful until only Phazon-powered weapons have any real effect, and even then she takes a massive level of punishment before going down. Best shown in ''Corruption'' during the final battle, where despite the fact Samus is in permanent [[SuperMode Hypermode]] and discharging Phazon attacks like there's no tomorrow, Dark Samus takes damage comparable to what standard weaponry does to most foes.
* NoMouth: Not typically obvious due to the helmet, but in ''Echoes'' her skull is shown to lack a mouth. This just raises questions about how she laughs.
* NonIndicativeName: Despite the name, she isn't from Dark Aether nor is she a Darkling, but the remains of a Metroid from Tallon IV that has assimilated parts of Samus's Power Suit as a carapace. This means the Light Beam is worthless against her, but the Dark Beam is devastating.
* OneWingedAngel: In ''Corruption'', she possesses Aurora Unit 313 as a last ditch effort.
* OnlyICanKillHim: The first time you scan Dark Samus in ''Echoes'', the logbook entry will remark on Samus' genetic material within Dark Samus. The last time you scan her, in ''Corruption'', it mentions that she's vulnerable to Hypermode attacks, "likely a result of Hypermode being energized by Samus' body". So in other words, she'd become so powerful that not only was charged-up Phazon the only thing capable of harming her, but even that would've been ineffective had Samus' DNA not been a key factor in the attack. Samus is literally the only being in the universe that could've beaten Dark Samus, specifically because she ''was'' Dark Samus due to using Aran's DNA to reconstruct herself.
* OrganicTechnology: Whereas the biomechanical nature of Samus' Power Suit is beneath the surface, Dark Samus' is pronounced in appearance -- particularly in ''Corruption'', where it has Gigeresque ridging and glowing blue veins.
* PhlebotinumDependence: Her Metroid nature allows her to absorb Phazon and grow more powerful. She spends most of ''Echoes'' seeking out Phazon deposits to absorb in between fighting Samus. By ''Corruption'' she decides to stop seeking existing Phazon and instead turn every planet in the galaxy into pure Phazon.
* PistolWhipping: It is not entirely clear if her cannon makes contact, but she has a striking move she'll use on players who don't keep their distance as well as to stop their missiles, forcing them to wait for an opening if they are determined to hit her with them.
* PlotIrrelevantVillain: In ''Echoes''. Despite being her debut, she has very little to do with the Ing or the threat they pose and her main role in the story is as a RecurringBoss. [[spoiler:She ends up taking the mantle of FinalBoss from [[BigBad Emperor Ing]]]].
* PoisonousPerson: Heavily infused with Phazon but beyond that, she used to have missiles that left behind damaging green clouds (Metroid Prime's armored form). Green being a video game shorthand for "poison".
* PowerFloats: The number of time we've seen her walk can be counted on one hand. Most of the time she levitates a few inches off the ground, allowing her to zip around with incredible speed.
* PowerParasite: She absorbs each of the other three bounty hunters in ''Corruption'' after their defeats and uses variations of their techniques during the final battle: Phazon pillars similar to Rundas' ice ones; Ghor's plasma beam, and Gandrayda's ground-based energy wave attack.
* PoweredArmor: Dark Samus' body is a warped, Geigeresque version of Samus's armor.
* PunnyName: She is the 2nd incarnation of Metroid Prime and her doppelganger mooks are called Echoes, making them "Metroid Prime 2 Echoes".
* PurpleIsTheNewBlack: Although she is called "The Black Demon," her color palette mostly consists of varying shades of blue. She is mostly black when first seen on Aether but gets more and more blue as time progresses. However, she still takes on a mostly black wraith looking form when swooping down on the defeated hunters.
* RaisedHandOfSurvival: In TheStinger of ''Prime'' her hand rises from a pool of Phazon left by the explosion that destroyed Metroid Prime's core, made more ominous because there was nothing like a hand on the boss before it died.
* RedBaron: She is referred to by the Space Pirates as the Dark Hunter. After she took over, they take to calling her the Dark One, and the Black Demon. [[note]]These come from bonus material called ''Another Side Story''.[[/note]]
* RecurringBoss: Fought three times in ''Echoes''.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Initially appeared this way in TheStinger of ''Prime'', but averted when she appeared in a game herself.
* SanityStrengthening: She starts out as being completely insane in ''Echoes''. By the time of ''Corruption'', however, she has become sane enough to make complex plans to ensure that she succeeds, although she does retain a high degree of instability.
* ShadowArchetype: To Samus, obviously, but given the series continuity, this is partly retroactive. In ''Fusion'', Samus talks about how the SA-X must be stopped before it ever realizes its potential and becomes a threat to the galaxy, which is exactly what we see Dark Samus do. The kicker is that by becoming part Metroid, she is even more like Dark Samus, despite having an opposite motivation, and is fighting what functionally might as well be her old self, since it has most of her old abilities. [[spoiler:Driven home in ''Dread'', where after Samus fully integrates and awakens the Metroid DNA infused into her body, she pretty much ''is'' Dark Samus minus the Phazon and approaching hybrid status from the other direction (being a human infused with Metroid DNA rather than a Metroid infused with human DNA).]]
* SilentAntagonist: Not noticeable in her initial appearance, but even after cutscene voice acting was introduced in ''Corruption'' she never speaks. She's nonetheless able to communicate very intricate long-term battle plans and strategies to her Space Pirate followers, so whether she only speaks offscreen or uses some kind of telepathy is unknown.
* ShortRangeShotGun: Cruelly averted, she has a scatter shot version of the power beam fans call the "shrapnel beam". It's about as easy to dodge as it sounds (not at all without cover).
* TheSociopath: The only creatures she shows any sympathy for are Metroids. Everything else is a tool or obstacle in the search for her next meal, including the very source of her food.
* StandardPowerupPose: Does this regularly while using her Phazon powers.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Of SA-X. Although Retro declared more influence from the [[https://metroid.fandom.com/wiki/Ruins_Test "mirror boss battle"]] in ''Zero Mission''. That said, ''Fusion'' was in development before ''Prime'', and they were handled by different teams, so it's a bit nebulous which is the substitute of which.
* ThirdEye: She has three eyes under her helmet, as seen during her boss battle in ''Echoes''.
* UpliftedAnimal: She is ultimately a Metroid that has been given sapience and a humanoid body.
* VillainTeleportation: WordOfGod is that she possesses a short range warp ability, which is what allowed her to get to Aether from Tallon IV, though how short range it can be with an interplanetary range is debatable. She uses this in ''Corruption'' to show up after Samus defeats each of her fellow hunters and consume them.
* TheVoiceless: According to Space Pirate logs she can speak, but she never does so on-screen besides some alien-ish noise that vaguely sound like laughs or grunts. Given that she lacks an actual mouth, there's a possibility that she doesn't truly speak so much as individuals sufficiently infected with Phazon hear her voice in their minds.
* TheWomanBehindTheMonsters: Much more human-looking in comparison to the other Phazon monstrosities that she could be seen as indirectly responsible for, considering her mission to spread Phazon ''everywhere''. She also has a slightly more human shape than the already vaguely humanoid Space Pirates that she subjugated. This is only in comparison to her "subordinates", however, as she's still pretty much a spooky walking suit of PowerArmor.
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