History Analysis / Metroid

* ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'': Metroids were in the Agon Wastes on Aether. They were Tallon Metroids which had been brought to Aether by the Space Pirates. As usual, these were violent creatures, but they did not evolve into Hunter or Fission Metroids. Instead, they had the capacity to be possessed by the Ing, and thus become Dark Metroids found on Dark Aether. Besides their weakness to light, there wasn't that much different about Dark Metroids besides their appearance and loyalty to the Ing horde.

* ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'': Metroids were in the Agon Wastes on Aether. They were Tallon Metroids which had been brought to Aether by the Space Pirates. As usual, these were violent creatures, but they did not evolve into Hunter or Fission Metroids. Instead, they had the capacity to be possessed by the Ing, and thus become Dark Metroids found on Dark Aether. Besides their affinity for darkness and weakness to light, there wasn't that much different about Dark Metroids besides their loyalty to the Ing horde.

* ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'': Metroids were in the Agon Wastes on Aether. They were Tallon Metroids which had been brought to Aether by the Space Pirates. As usual, these were violent creatures, but they did not evolve into Hunter or Fission Metroids. Instead, they had the capacity to be possessed by the Ing from Dark Aether and thus become Dark Metroids. Besides their affinity for darkness and weakness to light, there wasn't that much different about Dark Metroids besides their loyalty to the Ing horde.

* ''Metroid/Metroid Zero Mission'': The Metroids were in Tourian, the center of the Space Pirates' hideout on Zebes. The Pirates had been cloning the Metroids using beta radiation; while it did yield plenty of Metroid larvae for them to use, none of them ever evolved past this stage. By the time Samus has arrived, the Metroids had somehow escaped captivity and were feasting on the Space Pirates. Being bred for use as bioweapons, these Metroids were naturally aggressive, and possibly resentful towards their Pirate captors.
* ''Metroid Prime'': The Metroids were found primarily in the Phazon Mines and Phendrana Drifts on Tallon IV. They had adapted to Tallon IV's environments and became a different strain called Tallon Metroids. These Metroids were likely cloned via beta-rays, since the Space Pirates had brought them there. These Metroids had weaker defenses than regular Metroids, being susceptible to weaponry besides ice and missiles, and could also evolve into Hunter Metroids over time. After exposure to Phazon, Tallon Metroids could also become Fission Metroids. Like the ones in Tourian, these Metroids were aggressive bioweapons that even attacked Space Pirates. Additionally, if a Tallon Metroid was exposed to a Leviathan Seed such as the one in the Impact Crater, it could transform into a dangerous Metroid Prime. Fortunately, only one of these was ever seen.
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* ''Metroid II/Metroid Samus Returns'': The Metroids were all over the vast Chozo caverns left in the crust of [=SR388=]. The Metroids were created by the Chozo here, making [=SR388=] their homeworld. They reproduced naturally via the Queen Metroid, and they were also apex predators, even beating out the terrifying X-Parasites. Here the Metroids were able to freely evolve, seemingly due to their exposure to the natural Aeion energy stored within [=SR388=]. These unexpected evolutions were part of why the Chozo failed to control them. However, it's also shown that these Metroids were not instinctively aggressive, as the Baby easily bonded with Samus upon sight. The Baby even protected Samus during her battle against [[spoiler:Proteus Ridley]].
* ''Super Metroid'': The Metroids were in the rebuilt Tourian, again part of the Space Pirate's hideout on Zebes. These Metroids were all relatively young, having been hastily cloned via beta radiation after Ridley stole the Baby from Ceres at the start of the game. When Samus arrives, the Metroids are roaming freely in Tourian, but it's unclear if they were released on purpose or another outbreak occurred. The Baby was also found again, though it had grown in size considerably. It's still unclear why this happened, but it's possible that the same growth would have occurred with its clones too. The Baby seemed to have become more ruthless during its time alone on Zebes, but returned to itself after seeing Samus and remembering its bond with her. Additionally, failed Metroid clones known as Mochtroids can also be found in Maridia.

* ''Metroid Prime'': The Metroids were found primarily in the Phazon Mines and Phendrana Drifts on Tallon IV. These Metroids were likely cloned via beta-rays, since the Space Pirates had brought them there. They had adapted to Tallon IV's environments and became a different strain called Tallon Metroids. These Metroids had weaker defenses than regular Metroids, being susceptible to weaponry besides ice and missiles, and could also evolve into Hunter Metroids over time. After exposure to Phazon, Tallon Metroids could also become Fission Metroids, which could divide into two separate Metroids and were weak to specific elements at a time. Like the ones in Tourian, these Metroids were aggressive bioweapons that even attacked Space Pirates. Additionally, if a Tallon Metroid was exposed to a Leviathan Seed such as the one in the Impact Crater, it could transform into a dangerous Metroid Prime. Fortunately, only one of these was ever seen.

* ''Metroid Prime'': The Metroids were found primarily in the Phazon Mines and Phendrana Drifts on Tallon IV. These Metroids were likely cloned via beta-rays, since the Space Pirates had brought them there. They had adapted to Tallon IV's environments and became a different strain called Tallon Metroids. These Metroids had weaker defenses than regular Metroids, being susceptible to weaponry besides ice and missiles, and could also evolve into Hunter Metroids over time. After being expose to Phazon, Tallon Metroids could also become Fission Metroids, which could divide into two separate Metroids and were weak to specific elements at a time. Like the ones in Tourian, these Metroids were aggressive bioweapons that attacked both Space Pirates and Samus. Additionally, if a Tallon Metroid was exposed to a Leviathan Seed such as the one in the Impact Crater, it could transform into the dangerous Metroid Prime. Fortunately, only one of these was ever seen.

* ''Metroid Prime'': The Metroids were found primarily in the Phazon Mines on Tallon IV. These Metroids, likely cloned via beta-rays, had adapted to Tallon IV's environments and became a different strain called Tallon Metroids. These Metroids had weaker defenses than regular Metroids, being susceptible to weaponry besides ice and missiles, and could also evolve into Hunter Metroids over time.

Metroids are similar to an indicator species in that they tell us about their environments, both in terms of lore and in terms of narrative themes. Let's take a look at the Metroids in each game in chronological order, and what they can tell us about those environments:

* ''Super Metroid'': The Metroids were in the rebuilt Tourian, again part of the Space Pirate's hideout on Zebes. These Metroids were all relatively young, having been hastily cloned via beta radiation after Ridley stole the Baby from Ceres at the start of the game. When Samus arrives, the Metroids are roaming freely in Tourian, but it's unclear if they were released on purpose or another outbreak occurred. The Baby is also found again, though it has grown in size considerably. It's still unclear why this happened, but it's possible that the same growth would have occurred with its clones too. Additionally, failed Metroid clones known as Mochtroids can also be found in Maridia.

* ''Super Metroid'': The Metroids were in the rebuilt Tourian, again part of the Space Pirate's hideout on Zebes.

* ''Metroid II/Metroid Samus Returns'': The Metroids were all over the vast Chozo caverns left in the crust of [=SR388=]. The Metroids were created by the Chozo here, making [=SR388=] their homeworld. They were also apex predators, even beating out the terrifying X-Parasites. Here the Metroids were able to freely evolve, seemingly due to their exposure to the natural Aeion energy stored within [=SR388=]. These unexpected evolutions were part of why the Chozo failed to control them. However, it's also shown that these Metroids were not instinctively aggressive, as the Baby easily bonded with Samus upon sight. The Baby even protected Samus during her battle against [[spoiler:Proteus Ridley]].

* ''Metroid II/Metroid Samus Returns'': The Metroids were all over the vast Chozo caverns left in the crust of [=SR388=]. The Metroids were created by the Chozo here, making [=SR388=] their homeworld. They are the apex predators, even beating out the terrifying X-Parasites. Here the Metroids were able to freely evolve, seemingly due to their exposure to the natural Aeion energy stored within [=SR388=]. These unexpected evolutions were part of why the Chozo were unable to control them. However, it's also shown that these Metroids were not instinctively aggressive, as the Baby easily bonded with Samus upon seeing her. The Baby even protected Samus during her battle against [[spoiler:Proteus Ridley]].

!! An Analysis of the Space Pirates' Culture and Ideologies

Unlike real-life pirates, the Space Pirates are all part of a unified galactic empire. They take over entire ''planets'', enslaving the races thereon and forcibly recruiting them into their ranks. The so-called Pirate Homeworld (also known as Urtraghus) found in ''Corruption'' is referred to as merely "one of the Space Pirate homeworlds" in the ''Prime Trilogy'' artbook. This explains why the Space Pirates look so different from game to game - they are often different races entirely that have been enslaved or recruited by the same empire, such as the native Zebesian soldiers found in ''Super Metroid''.

All of this points towards a society that is about power - military power, mental power, technological power, you name it. They are hungry for power. Shallow as it might seem, that's what they're after. And in some ways, isn't that understandable? Who ''doesn't'' want power? ''Metroid'' games are all about getting more powerful. Maybe the Space Pirates are a dark reflection of Samus. While Samus respects her past with the Chozo and works on equal footing with the Galactic Federation to achieve peace, the Space Pirates are ravenously biting at the heels of progress, never slowing down to smell the flowers but rather trampling all over them in a vicious stampede.

It's possible that they don't even have a united goal, and that their culture is simply built upon bullying and taking advantage of others. This could especially be the case during games such as ''Echoes'', when they don't seem to have a leader at all, besides their own greed.

In ''Prime'', we see that the Space Pirates are utterly incompatible with older technologies such as that of the Chozo, being unable to break the lock on the Impact Crater due to their unwillingness to play by its rules and find the Chozo Artifacts. Even when Samus is about to unlock it, Meta Ridley swoops in and destroys the totems, leaving both of them unable to access it. In retaliation, the temple's Chozo statues deal the finishing blow and defeat Meta Ridley while Chozo Ghosts unlock the crater for Samus, showing that Ridley's blatant disregard and even hatred for the past was his own downfall.

All of this points towards a society that is about power - military power, mental power, technological power, you name it. They are hungry for power. Shallow as it might seem, that's what they're after. And in some ways, isn't that understandable? Who ''doesn't'' want power? ''Metroid'' games are all about getting more powerful. Maybe the Space Pirates are a dark reflection of Samus. While Samus respects her past with the Chozo and works on equal footing with the Galactic Federation to achieve peace, the Space Pirates are ravenously biting at the heels of progress, never slowing down to even smell the flowers but rather trampling all over them in a stampede.

All of this points towards.

Ridley has been one of the Space Pirates' main enforcers for years, since Samus was a child. But for most of the game series, Mother Brain is the true leader of the bunch. If the manga is to be considered canon, Mother Brain is a rebel Chozo creation who helped the Space Pirates invade and enslave Zebes, installing herself as their leader with her psychic and technological might. Ridley takes a position as Mother Brain's subordinate while retaining a high position of power in the organization. After her defeat in the first ''Metroid/Zero Mission'', it appears as though Ridley takes up command as Meta Ridley while Mother Brain is recovering.

Once Dark Samus and the Phazon are gone, Mother Brain takes control again. Then she, along with Ridley and all the other Pirates on Zebes, are killed in the events of ''Super''. Interestingly, the Pirates aren't mentioned a whole lot after ''Super'', since ''Other M'' and ''Fusion'' both deal more with the Galactic Federation's dark side and their many experiments gone wrong on the Bottle Ship and the BSL Station. What the Space Pirates are up to at the current point in the series is unknown - their main leadership, Mother Brain and Ridley, are both gone for what seems like the last time, but it's unlikely that every single Space Pirate in the galaxy was on Zebes when it exploded.

For most of the series Mother Brain is the leader of the bunch. If the manga is to be considered canon, Mother Brain is a rebel Chozo creation who helped the Space Pirates invade and enslave Zebes, installing herself as their leader with her psychic and technological might. After her defeat in the first ''Metroid/Zero Mission'', it appears as though Ridley takes up command as Meta Ridley while Mother Brain is recovering. After Meta Ridley's defeat in ''Prime'', however, there is a power gap left in the organization. Dark Samus takes advantage of this in ''Corruption'', establishing herself as the new leader and infecting a large amount of the Pirates with Phazon. Meta Ridley comes back as Omega Ridley, becoming Dark Samus' subordinate - willingly or not.

For most of the series Mother Brain is the leader of the bunch. If the manga is to be considered canon, Mother Brain is a rebel Chozo creation who helped the Space Pirates invade and enslave Zebes, installing herself as their leader with her psychic and technological might. After her defeat in the first ''Metroid/Zero Mission'', it appears as though Ridley takes up command as Meta Ridley while Mother Brain is recovering. After Meta Ridley's defeat in ''Prime'', however, there is a power gap left in the organization. Dark Samus takes advantage of this in ''Corruption'', establishing herself as the new leader and infecting a large amount of the Pirates with Phazon. Meta Ridley comes back as Omega Ridley, reverting back to his position as a main enforcer rather than a leader.

For most of the series Mother Brain is the leader of the bunch. After her defeat in the first ''Metroid/Zero Mission'', it appears as though Ridley takes up command as Meta Ridley while Mother Brain is recovering. After Meta Ridley's defeat in ''Prime'', however, there is a power gap left in the organization. Dark Samus takes advantage of this in ''Corruption'', establishing herself as the new leader and infecting a large amount of the Pirates with Phazon. Meta Ridley comes back as Omega Ridley, reverting back to his position as a main enforcer rather than a leader.

The Space Pirates are really only pirates in name. They do raid and rob ships in space, that is certain, but they're hardly the kind of pirates you'd see in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''Literature/PeterPan'', or even ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. They don't have fancy clothes, peg legs, unkempt facial hair, or funny accents. They don't plunder for booty and make treasure maps. If anything, they're a lot more like an underground group of totalitarian extremists.

The Space Pirates are mostly just pirates in name. They do raid and rob ships in space, that is certain, but they're hardly the kind of pirates you'd see in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''Literature/PeterPan'', or even ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. They don't have fancy clothes, peg legs, unkempt facial hair, or funny accents. They don't plunder for booty and make treasure maps. If anything, they're a lot more like an underground group of totalitarian extremists.

The goal of the Space Pirate empire is left fairly vague. They seem to have an obsession with technology and military might, often seeking out progress despite the dangers it may present. The extent of how far they will go for more power can be seen throughout the ''Prime Trilogy'', as they continuously mutilate themselves with the grotesque Phazon mutations and willingly succumb to Dark Samus' influence in order to tap into Phazon more fully.

Despite the seeming lack of direction, the Space Pirates are very strict with one another and uphold a moral code. One can find lore scans of the punishments they have for disobedience, from docking pay to cutting food rations to outright execution. If a Pirate is found to be too cowardly, they are shot in the back for an ironic death. If a Pirate Aerotrooper is about to fall in battle, they will kamikaze dive-bomb their target, favoring death over dishonor. The Cargo Drones on Urtraghus even possess the brains and spinal cords of Pirates, likely placed there as a punishment for especially unruly soldiers.

But what are they actually trying to do? Conquer the galaxy? Destroy the galaxy? They clash with Samus and the Galactic Federation at every turn, but it seems like they just kinda wander the galaxy looking for worlds to exploit and destroy. It's possible that they don't even have a united goal, and that their culture is simply built upon bullying and taking advantage of others.

The goal of the Space Pirate empire is left fairly vague. They seem to have an obsession with technology and military might, often seeking out progress despite the dangers it may present. The extent of how far they will go for more power can be seen throughout the ''Prime Trilogy'', as they continuously mutilate themselves with the grotesque Phazon mutations and willingly succumb to Dark Samus' influence in order to tap into Phazon more fully.

It also explains why Ridley, a creature of a seemingly unrelated race to the Pirates, is given such a high position of power. But that leads us to the next question.

''Who leads the Space Pirates? What is their goal?''

Once Dark Samus and the Phazon are gone, Mother Brain takes control again. Then she, along with Ridley and all the other Pirates on Zebes, are killed in the events of ''Super''. Interestingly, the Pirates aren't mentioned a whole lot after ''Super'', since ''Other M'' and ''Fusion'' both deal more with the Galactic Federation's dark side and their many experiments gone wrong on the Bottle Ship and the BSL Station. What the Space Pirates are up to at the current point in the series is unknown - their main leadership, Mother Brain and Ridley, are both gone for what seems like the last time, but it's unlikely that every single Space Pirate in the galaxy was on Zebes when it exploded.

The Space Pirates are mostly just pirates in name. They do raid and rob ships in space, that is certain, but they're hardly the kind of pirates you'd see in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''Literature/PeterPan'', or even ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. They don't have fancy clothes, peg legs, unkempt facial hair, or funny accents. If anything, they're a lot more like an underground group of fascist extremists.