History Headscratchers / Metroid

** That was all before Samaus found out that the Federation had apparently started acting like the Space Pirates and we all know how she feels about the Space Pirates. When she brought the infant Metroid to the Ceres station, it was literally the only Metroid left in the universe and it was an infant, having only hatched mere hours previously so it was relatively harmless. Plus, Samus had assumed that the Federation would try to study and replicate the Metroids mysterious energy abilities for the betterment of the galaxy since, you know, they're supposed to be the good guys. Come Other M and Fusion, we find out that not only are they not doing that, but are in fact breeding them for military applications (which the Pirates tried and failed to do) but were also planning to use the much more dangerous X Parasites similarly. And even if the Pirates managed to keep the Metroids relatively secure and controlled, the Federation doing the same isn't the point. The point is the blatant hypocrisy of sending Samus on a genocide mission in order to prevent the Pirates from using the Metroids, and then turning around and pulling such an incredibly vapor-brained stunt, basically going "duh, we changed our minds, fuck you, Samus".

** Prime 3 shows that the arm cannon can open up like a claw to "grab" things, making clever use of the {{kibble|s and bits}} from how it opens up to shoot missiles. {{Retro| Studios}}[[{{Retcon}} active]] explanation?

* Why does Samus have such a drastic change in her stance towards trying to control and experiment on Metroids? In ''Fusion'' and ''Other M'' she seems to view the Federation experimenting on Metroids to be about as dangerous and stupid as Weyland-Yutani trying to benefit from xenomorphs. But earlier, she herself spared the last Metroid on [=SR338=] and delivered it specifically to be used for research! While the research station was destroyed shortly thereafter, it was not because of anything the Metroid itself did. Plus, the Space Pirates had previously domesticated Metroids very successfully. While Mother Brain's psychic powers were a major factor in that, this does not necessarily mean all attempts to control Metroids with other means are doomed to fail. The Federation was at least cautious enough to keep their Metroids contained on a space habitat, not on a populated planet.

* Why does Samus have such a drastic change in her stance towards trying to control and experiment on Metroids? In ''Fusion'' and ''Other M'' she seems to view the Federation experimenting on Metroids to be about as dangerous and stupid as Weyland-Yutani trying to benefit from xenomorphs. But earlier, she herself spared the last Metroid on SR338 and delivered it specifically to be used for research! While the research station was destroyed shortly thereafter, it was not because of anything the Metroid itself did. Plus, the Space Pirates had previously domesticated Metroids very successfully. While Mother Brain's psychic powers were a major factor in that, this does not necessarily mean all attempts to control Metroids with other means are doomed to fail. The Federation was at least cautious enough to keep their Metroids contained on a space habitat, not on a populated planet.

* Why do you pretty much never see non-humans in the Galactic Federation? Apparently it was founded by many species, but the ships you run into seem to be crewed entirely by humans.

*** Agreed. Think about it, considering HOW MUCH R&D dollars we already spend on penis pills, bust enhancement, and hair care products, there's no doubt much of modern-day hygienical troubles have been solved in the future! And then you add Chozo tech into the mix (at least for members of the military) and you have bodily maintenance that is quite possibly even easier than The Jetsons, even when in the midst of battle. See also Warhammer40k or at least the Sisters anyway (since most of the men have standard military cuts.)

** In the Prime Trilogy, there is an X-Ray Visor that allows us to clearly see the bones of Samus's right arm and hand under the cannon.

** Samus is "eating" the X the same way a Metroid does, turning it's mass into energy for herself, and thus for her suit (the two are linked, as shown in Fusion's opening stating parts of her old suit had to be surgically removed). The abilities, on the other hand, are not being absorbed directly into her, but rather into the suit (the X has to pass through the suit before Samus can "eat" it). The core of the Fusion suit is still the adaptable, modular Chozo tech, so it somehow analyzes and incorporates that data into a power-up for the suit itself.

*** It has already been confirmed in [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/06/the-art-of-prime?page=5 developer interviews that the Space Pirates '''are''' a single species]]. It's just that they are quite diverse (like dogs and humans, albeit far more exaggerated). It's also worth noting that they do perform genetic experiments on themselves in order to increase their combat ability, which might also further explain their visual diversity.

*** It has already been confirmed in [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2004/08/06/the-art-of-prime?page=5 developer interviews that the Space Pirates '''are''' a single species]]. It's just that they are quite diverse (like dogs and humans, albeit far more exaggerated). It's also worth noting that they do perform genetic experiments on themselves in order to increase their combat ability, which might also explain further all those biological differences.

* At the beginning of Fusion, the X infect the Power Suit and steal/copy it's abilities. When Samus absorbs one of the Core X into herself, she gets those abilities back. Does that mean that Samus no longer needs her suit to use those abilities? Like can she Speed Boost or Space Jump anytime she wants?

** Because it made its debut in the same time period as Mario and Zelda on the same console, was a very iconic game, and became at least critically successful if not financially. Though after ''Other M'' its status as one of the "Big 3" is eroding. If ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' is any indication, its replacement is either ''Franchise/{{Pokémon}}'' or ''Franchise/FireEmblem.''

** Helpful hint: women can and do change their hairstyles. They have been known to change clothing, too. On the other hand, if you're referring to the rather plastic-looking rendering that's cropped up in the latter two ''Prime'' games and ''SuperSmashBrothers Brawl,'' I'd chalk that up to [[ArtEvolution Art De-evolution.]]

*** That's another part of the issue. ''Fusion'' is after the ''Prime'' series, and ''[[SuperSmashBros Melee]]'' and ''[[SuperSmashBros Brawl]]'' are supposed to use her character from ''Prime'' and ''Prime 3'' (I think), whereas she looks potentially around nineteen in ''Fusion'' and... I'm not good with estimating ages, but at least mid-twenties in ''Prime 3'' and ''Brawl''.

* Why does the Gravity Suit no longer get any love? Samus is almost always depicted in the Varia Suit nowadays. Why do the folks at Nintendo forget that the Gravity Suit is, by definition, more awesome than the Varia? I can understand not ''always'' having her in the Varia Suit, but her [[SuperSmashBros SSB]] incarnations all have the Varia as the default, and even worse, ''Other M's'' intro (which is a cutscene depicting Super Metroid's final battle with Mother Brain, at which time Samus had the Gravity Suit and about a million other expansions) has her wearing the Varia, now, as well. It's like Nintendo is trying to {{Retcon}} the Gravity Suit out of existence...

* Why is Metroid usually considered on par with Mario and Zelda, despite the fact that its sales pale in comparison to theirs?

*** And then, when Samus unfolds[[TheFly ... BWARRRGH !]]

** If you want my headcanon about it, my guess is that Dark Aether is actually subspace, i.e. the dimension where starships go to circumvent the "no-going-faster-than-light" rule. Aether occupied an unstable region of space, and the Leviathan's impact caused it to occupy both dimensions at once. It damages Samus because of the extreme amounts of radiation there. As for where the dark lifeforms came from, that's explained in-game: they're native wildlife of Aether possessed by the Ing. As for the Leviathan seed, it's implied to be the Sky Temple, with the Emperor Ing as its Core Guardian.

* The Space Pirates probably brought them there, or maybe Dark Samus took them their, after appropriating Metroid stashes from the Pirates. The Leviathan is capable of reaching Phaaze very quickly, phazon can cause rapid maturation of Metroids, as seen in Prime 2 and Phaaze is made of the stuff.

* If you want my headcanon about it, my guess is that Dark Aether is actually subspace, i.e. the dimension where starships go to circumvent the "no-going-faster-than-light" rule. Aether occupied an unstable region of space, and the Leviathan's impact caused it to occupy both dimensions at once. It damages Samus because of the extreme amounts of radiation there. As for where the dark lifeforms came from, that's explained in-game: they're native wildlife of Aether possessed by the Ing. As for the Leviathan seed, it's implied to be the Sky Temple, with the Emperor Ing as its Core Guardian.

** That's a possible weight for someone that height, some track runners are like that. Samus may not be drawn completely accurate but that can be attributed to the weird art style. Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Women's champion Susan Green, for an athlete of a different sport, was only six foot one and not bulky but weighed in at 210 lbs. Assuming similar frames, [[SquareCubeLaw a skinnier person two inches taller]] could easily be 198 lbs with a healthy diet and regular exercise.

** That's a possible weight for someone that height, some track runners are like that. Samus may not be drawn completely accurate but that can be attributed to the weird art style. Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA Women's champion Susan Green, for an athlete of a different sport, was only six foot one and not bulky but weight in at 210 lbs. Assuming similar frames, [[SquareCubeLaw a skinnier person two inches taller]] could easily be 198 lbs with a healthy diet and regular exercise.

** That's a possible weight for someone that height, some track runners are like that. Samus may not be drawn completely accurate but it's not too far off.

** Alternately, it was a continuation of her mission from ''Metroid II'': exterminate all Metroids. That mission was not complete, as the infant Metroid still lived. ''OtherM'' makes it clear that Samus keeping the thing alive and giving it to researchers was a serious breach in protocol (though apparently not actually illegal). When she's giving her report to the Federation in the beginning of ''OtherM'' (right after ''Super''), she specifically cites the "Exterminate all Metroids" objective as being completed successfully.

*** You got your [[WontonSoup Space Trucker Cooking Opera]] in my ActionAdventure {{Platformer}}!

*** That explanation's from the BobAndGeorge fancomic ''Metroid: Third Derivative'', which is decidedly Fanon, even if the author did get a [[IKnewIt surprising amount of things right]] about ''Prime 3''