Characters in the Metroid series facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Metroid is a super cool series of science fiction action games from Nintendo. In these games, you explore big, open worlds, often going back to old areas with new powers. You play as Samus Aran, a brave space bounty hunter. She fights against bad guys like the Space Pirates and strange creatures called the Metroids.

Main Characters

Samus Aran

Samus Aran is the main hero of the Metroid games. When she was young, her home planet was attacked by the Space Pirates. Their scary leader, Ridley, killed her parents. Luckily, a wise alien race called the Chozo saved Samus. They raised her to be a strong warrior.

Samus wears a special futuristic suit called the Power Suit. It helps her move easily and has powerful weapons like blasters and rockets. This suit also helps her survive on dangerous alien planets. Samus is so famous, she even appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. fighting games!

Chozo

The Chozo are a mysterious and very smart alien race in the Metroid series. They were once spread across many planets, and their home world was ZDR. The Chozo were super advanced in technology and built amazing statues. They also shared their knowledge with other alien species.

The Chozo were very important to Samus's story. They raised her, gave her some of their DNA, and created her famous Power Suit. They also created the Metroids to fight against a dangerous threat called the X Parasites.

In Metroid Dread, we learn that the Chozo had two main groups: the peaceful Thoha who were scientists, and the warrior Mawkin. The Thoha created the Metroids. The Mawkin leader, Raven Beak, wanted to use the Metroids for his own plans. He caused a lot of trouble for the Thoha and the galaxy.

Galactic Federation

The Galactic Federation is like the government of the galaxy. It's made up of many different alien species. They often hire Samus for tough missions, especially to stop the Space Pirates. Samus used to train in the Federation's military before she became a bounty hunter.

The Federation's soldiers wear special armor and use cool weapons. They have advanced technology, and their symbol is a unique cross shape.

Baby Metroid

The Baby Metroid is a very special creature. It's the last Metroid of its kind after the events of Metroid II: Return of Samus. In Super Metroid, a Metroid larva hatched from an egg and thought Samus was its mother! Samus took it to a science colony, but it was stolen by the Space Pirates.

Finding the Baby Metroid becomes a big part of the story. It even helps Samus in a huge battle against Mother Brain by giving her energy. Sadly, the Baby Metroid is destroyed by Mother Brain, but Samus gets revenge for it.

Villains and Enemies

Metroids

Artwork of the larval form of the series' titular alien species, from Metroid: Samus Returns.

The Metroids are floating, jellyfish-like aliens with three glowing parts inside. They can drain the life energy from other creatures, which usually kills them. The Chozo created Metroids as a weapon to fight the dangerous X Parasites.

Metroids are a big part of the Metroid games. Samus either fights them or tries to stop the Space Pirates or the Galactic Federation from using their powers for bad reasons.

Metroids change forms as they grow. They go through stages like Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and Omega Metroids. There's even a huge Queen Metroid! These creatures are usually weak against ice weapons, like Samus's Ice Beam. Freezing them often makes them easy to finish off with a missile.

Mother Brain

Mother Brain is a powerful boss and a major villain in the series. The Chozo first created it as a wise advisor. But during the Space Pirate invasion of Zebes, Mother Brain decided the Space Pirates were perfect for bringing "order" to the universe. It became one of their leaders.

Mother Brain looks like a giant brain with metal spikes and one eye, usually kept in a glass tube. Samus has to break this tube to hurt it. In Super Metroid, Mother Brain even reveals a huge, scary body after its tank is destroyed!

MB

MB, also called Melissa Bergman, is a copy of the original Mother Brain. Scientists on a place called the Bottle Ship created her using Mother Brain's DNA. They wanted her to control the Metroids and other creatures they were making as weapons.

MB was first just a computer program. But she was given an artificial human body to help her connect with the Metroids better, like Samus did with the Baby Metroid. MB started to have her own feelings, just like the original Mother Brain. This led to big problems and a dangerous rampage on the Bottle Ship.

Space Pirates

The Space Pirates are a mean group of "interstellar nomads" who look like reptiles, insects, or crabs. They are the main bad guys in the Metroid series. They raid colonies and ships, and live in a society like an insect hive.

Important leaders of the Space Pirates include the scary Ridley, Mother Brain, and the giant Kraid. The Space Pirates are very interested in Metroids. They want to use Metroids for energy, as soldiers, and for experiments.

Even though Samus defeats them many times, a secret group within the Galactic Federation later brings the Space Pirates, Ridley, and the Metroids back to life. They want to use them as their own weapons. This explains why they keep appearing in later games.

Ridley

Ridley is Samus Aran's biggest enemy. He's a smart, dragon-like alien. Even though Samus kills him many times, the Space Pirates (or sometimes the Galactic Federation by accident) always bring him back using clones or robots.

Ridley is responsible for attacking Samus's home planet and killing her parents. He is the main villain of the whole series, even if he's not always the final boss in every game. He's one of the few characters, besides Samus and the Metroids, who appears in almost all the games.

Kraid

Kraid is a huge, lizard-like monster and a high-ranking member of the Space Pirate's team. He's known for his giant belly! Kraid first appeared in the original Metroid game. In Super Metroid, he's so big he takes up two screens!

Kraid returns in Metroid Dread as a major boss in a lava-filled area called Cataris. He also makes appearances in the background of stages in the Super Smash Bros. games.

Metroid Prime / Dark Samus

Metroid Prime and its other form, Dark Samus, are the main villains of the Metroid Prime games. Metroid Prime is a strange, black creature with red eyes and a human-like face inside its shell. It can control and change anything it touches in a horrible way.

After Samus defeats Metroid Prime in the first Metroid Prime game, it steals parts of Samus's special suit to become Dark Samus. Dark Samus looks like a black version of Samus.

Dark Samus chases a dangerous substance called Phazon across different planets. She causes a lot of trouble for Samus and the Galactic Federation. She even brainwashes Space Pirates to follow her. Samus finally defeats Dark Samus on the planet Phaaze, which destroys all the Phazon in the galaxy.

Dark Samus also appears in the Super Smash Bros. games as a character similar to Samus.

Ing Horde

The Ing horde is a race of powerful and smart dark creatures. They appear mostly in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. They can possess anything, whether it's mechanical, alive, or even dead! The Ing appeared when a meteor hit the planet Aether, creating a dark, mirror version of the planet called Dark Aether.

The Luminoth, who live on Aether, fought the Ing for many years. Samus arrives and helps the Luminoth. She eventually faces the Emperor Ing, the leader of the Ing horde. Samus defeats the Emperor Ing, which destroys Dark Aether and the Ing horde for good.

Gorea

Gorea is a very powerful and evil being that crashed on a planet called the Alimbic Cluster a long time ago. In Metroid Prime Hunters, Gorea copied the forms and weapons of the Alimbics, the people who lived there, and destroyed their civilization.

The last of the Alimbics trapped Gorea in a special "Seal Sphere" and launched it into space. Gorea can change its shape many times during battle, making it a tough enemy.

X Parasites

The X Parasite is a unique and dangerous parasite. It's the main enemy in Metroid Fusion. X Parasites look like floating, gelatinous blobs about the size of a basketball. They can squeeze into tiny spaces.

X Parasites can infect other living things and copy their DNA and memories. They do this by taking over the creature's nervous system, which kills the host. Then, the X Parasite can perfectly mimic the creature it infected.

They can even copy technology, like Samus's Power Suit! After Samus was infected by an X, parts of her suit were removed. This allowed an X Parasite to mimic Samus and her suit, creating a dangerous copy called SA-X. SA-X was very powerful, like Samus at her strongest. It even had Samus's Ice Beam, which made it able to hunt Metroids.

Samus eventually defeats the SA-X. The X Parasites are believed to be extinct after Samus crashes a space station into their home planet, SR388. However, some X Parasites appear again in Metroid Dread on the planet ZDR, released by Raven Beak.

Raven Beak

Raven Beak is the leader of the Chozo warrior tribe called Mawkin. He is the main villain of Metroid Dread. He was involved in the spread of both the Metroids and the X Parasites from their home planet, SR388. He even donated his DNA to Samus, making them related!

Raven Beak wanted to create an army of Metroids to conquer the galaxy. When he learned that Samus had absorbed Metroid DNA, he changed his plan to capture and clone her instead. He fought Samus, but her Metroid powers fully awakened, allowing her to defeat him. In a last effort, he merged with an X Parasite, becoming a huge monster called Raven Beak X, but Samus destroyed him for good.

Helpful Characters

Adam Malkovich

Adam Malkovich was Samus's former boss in the Galactic Federation army. He appears in person in Metroid: Other M and is a very important character. He is usually calm and collected, even in dangerous situations.

Samus and Adam had a very close relationship, almost like a father and daughter. Adam made tough choices for the greater good, even sacrificing himself to save others. In Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread, Samus's ship computer has Adam Malkovich's consciousness, guiding her through missions.

Anthony Higgs

Anthony Higgs is a soldier in Adam's team and an old friend of Samus. He's a friendly and reliable guy who carries a powerful plasma gun. He affectionately calls Samus "Princess."

Anthony is very brave and even saves Samus from Ridley twice! He seems to die at one point but manages to survive against all odds. He is the only surviving member of Adam's team and helps Samus expose the secret bio-weapons research of a hidden group within the Galactic Federation.

Etecoons and Dachora

The Etecoons and Dachora are friendly creatures that Samus meets on planet Zebes in Super Metroid. They teach her special moves like the Wall-jump and Shinespark.

At the end of Super Metroid, Samus can choose to save them from the exploding planet. If she does, they fly off to safety. Samus meets them again in Metroid Fusion, and they even help her with her ship!

Quiet Robe

Quiet Robe is the only surviving member of the peaceful Thoha tribe of the Chozo. Raven Beak kept him alive to control the Metroids and special robots called E.M.M.I. units.

Quiet Robe helps Samus in Metroid Dread by explaining Raven Beak's evil plan and opening new paths for her. Sadly, he is killed by Raven Beak's soldiers. Later, an X Parasite brings him back to life, but even then, a part of his good personality seems to remain, helping Samus one last time to escape the planet.