Samus Aran

For fighter info, see Samus Aran (SSB), Samus Aran (SSBM), Samus Aran (SSBB), and Zero Suit Samus.

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran) is the protagonist of the Metroid series. Samus is the galaxy's most famous bounty hunter, constantly helping the Galactic Federation in their fight against the Space Pirates. She has appeared in all three Super Smash Bros. games to date.

Character History
Samus made her first appearance in Metroid for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game kept the fact that she was a woman secret, (with the intent of surprising gamers after they completed it) indeed as even the game's instruction manual refers to Samus as a male. Though believed to be created by Gunpei Yokoi, the original game concepts for Metroid were done by director Makoto Kanoh and designer Hiroji Kiyotake.

The original "Metroid" saw Samus on her first mission on the planet Zebes, sent to stop the Space Pirates and destroy Mother Brain, the mechanical life-form that controlled the fortress and its computers. Samus successfully completed the mission. Later, the remake Metroid: Zero Mission would reveal more about Samus's backstory, establishing that she was born on the Earth colony K-2L, and her parents died when she 3 years old, murdered by the Space Pirate known as Ridley, she was then raised by the Chozo who took her to planet Zebes. As she grew up, she was given a Chozo power suit and eventually left the planet to become a bounty hunter.

She was later sent to Planet Zebes to stop the Space Pirates on Zebes, who were attempting to use a newly discovered species called the "Metroids" and destroy Mother Brain, the computer who controlled Zebes's ecosystem. Samus successfully carried out the mission, destroying Mother Brain. (The original Metroid ends here, but in Zero Mission, Samus's ship is shot down after take off and Samus must fight her way out of the Space Pirates mother ship, it is here that Samus gets her most well known Power Suit and with it, she escapes from the Space Pirates.)

In Metroid Prime, Samus was responding to a distress call from the Space Pirate Frigate which had been studying a new form of mutagen called Phazon, and there she encountered Ridley who was thought to be destroyed in the previous battle. Samus pursued the reborn Meta-Ridley to Tallon IV where she learned that a meteorite had landed on the planet long ago, warping a sole Metroid into an evil creature known as Metroid Prime. Samus tracked down the creature, once again destroying Ridley and apparently destroyed Metroid Prime. Unbeknownst to Samus, Metroid Prime was reborn as "Dark Samus", taking on the bounty hunter's image.

In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Samus was sent to the planet known as Aether to find a lost group of Federation troopers. It was there that Samus encountered Dark Samus. Samus discovered Aether was split into two dimensions: one light and one dark. With the help of the Luminoth species, Samus destroyed "Dark Aether" and apparently Dark Samus as well, but her dark counterpart still lived...

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Dark Samus, now leading the Space Pirates, plots to corrupt the entire galaxy with Phazon, rendering them under her control. Dark Samus manages to "corrupt" Samus along with three bounty hunter allies, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda. The latter three are completely corrupted and Samus is forced to kill them as she makes her way to the Space Pirate Homeworld. Once there, she and the Galactic Federation travel to the planet Phaaze where Samus defeats Dark Samus once and for all and wipes Phazon off the face of the universe.

In Metroid II: The Return of Samus, Samus is sent to SR388, the homeworld of the Metroids, to wipe out what remains of them. Samus accomplishes this mission, destroying even the Metroid Queen, but after completing this task, one last Metroid egg hatches and follows Samus as though she were its mother. Samus decides to take the small Metroid to the Ceres Space Colony.

In Super Metroid, with the last Metroid in captivity, the galaxy is at peace. The scientists begin to study the Metroid and their scientific properties. Just as Samus leaves the colony, it is attacked by the Space Pirates. Samus turns back and witnesses a reborn Ridley making off with the infant Metroid. Samus chases him to Zebes where she once again defeats Kraid and Ridley, but is attacked by a giant Metroid on her way to Mother Brain. Recognizing, Samus just in time, the Metroid releases Samus, who goes on to confront Mother Brain once again. In a final epic battle, Samus is almost defeated, but she is saved by the Metroid at the last moment, though it is destroyed by Mother Brain. With her hyper beam, Samus easily defeats Mother Brain and escapes Zebes before the planet explodes.

In Metroid Fusion, Samus is assigned to collect samples of life on SR388 where she is infected by an X parasite. Samus's life is saved only after she is given a anti-X vaccine. After this, Samus is sent to the BSL Research Station to investigate an explosion in the Quarantine Bay. There, she encounters the SA-X, an X parasite that merged with her infected Power Suit. Samus is able to eliminate the X parasites by sending the space station crashing into SR388.

As a playable character

 * Main Article: Samus (SSB)

Samus makes her first appearance in the original Super Smash Bros. as a starting playable character. Samus is a heavy, yet floaty character. Her B move is the Charge Shot. Samus can fire small blasts but they do little damage, however if she charges it to full power, it is quite devastating. Her B Up is the Screw Attack which causes Samus to shoot up in the air, spinning her around very fast. Her B down is the Bomb which can be used as a recovery if timed correctly. However, Samus is considered the lowest ranked character in the game due to her lack of combo attacks.

In Single-player
In the game's Single-player mode, Samus is fought on the Brinstar stage.

As a playable character

 * Main Article: Samus (SSBM)

Samus returns as a starting selectable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Samus's skills have been tweaked. Her new B forward move is the Missile. Samus's tier rank is higher than the previous game due to her improved projectiles and edgeguarding capabilities.

In Single-player
In the game's Single-player mode, Samus is once again fought on the Brinstar stage, after Samus is beaten, the planet will start to explode and the player must evacuate to Samus's ship before the planet explodes, if not they will lose a life.

Samus is featured in the following Event Matches:
 * Event 3: Bomb-fest: This match pits your character against the team of Samus and Link with one stock each on the Princess Peach's Castle stage. Samus and Link only use their bomb special moves, but all the bomb (or likewise) items will appear on the stage.
 * Event 8: Hot Date on Brinstar: This match pits your character against Samus on the Brinstar stage. You have 3 stock and start with 102% damage, while Samus has 130%.
 * Event 15: Girl Power: The places a giant Samus alongside a giant Peach and a giant Zelda on the Fountain of Dreams stage with two stock each.
 * Event 17: Bounty Hunters: You play as Samus teamed up with Captain Falcon (with Friendly Fire turned off), and your shared opponent is Bowser on the Jungle Japes stage. With everyone receiving one stock and 2:00 as the time limit, your aim is to be the one to KO Bowser; you fail if Falcon delivers the finishing blow.
 * Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Samus is the first opponent you must fight in this series of staged battles. Your character battles her on the Brinstar stage, and your character has 2 stock while Samus has 1. With a timer of four minutes, you must defeat her and the other four characters with the overall time and life you have: Link, Zelda, Captain Falcon, and Fox.
 * Event 27: Cold Armor: This match pits Samus against three metal Samus's on the Brinstar Depths stage. The metal Samus's have two lives each while Samus only has one.
 * Event 36: Space Travelers: As Ness, the player faces Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon and Falco. Ness battles the first three on the Fourside stage while fighting the last two on the Battlefield stage. Each character has one stock.

Trophies
By tradition, Samus as a playable character is featured on her personal 3 trophies. Her normal trophy is acquired by beating the Classic mode with Samus on any difficulty, and her Smash Red and Smash Blue trophies are acquired the same way by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.

Another trophy that features Samus is the Samus Unmasked trophy.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 * Main Article: Samus (SSBB)

Samus returns in Brawl, but is visually updated to resemble her final Zero Mission appearance. She appears to essentially be the same fighter she was in Melee, but Samus also has a brand new ability. Once her Final Smash, the Zero Laser is used, Samus's power suit will be destroyed and will fall off, thus becoming Zero Suit Samus who will be less powerful, but with more speed than herself in her power suit.

Samus Aran
''The intergalactic bounty hunter named Samus Aran. Orphaned at an early age, she was taken in and raised by the alien race known as the Chozo. The Power Suit she wears is a product of their technology. Her unique combat skills combined with her athleticism and Arm Cannon have seen her through countless missions.''


 * Metroid (1987)
 * Super Metroid (1994)

Samus (Fusion Suit)
''During exploration of SR388, Samus is infected by an X parasite and nearly dies. A vaccine created from Metroid cells saves her, but her suit turns blue and loses most of its abilities and weapons. This new Samus must regather her special abilities and fight to neutralize the threat of the X parasites in the space station run by Biologic Space Laboratories.''


 * Metroid Fusion (2002)

Samus (Power Suit)
''Samus in the basic version of the legendary Power Suit, made for her by the Chozo race. Samus is most often seen at the beginning of each game in this suit. The normal Power Suit has the lowest level of protective power and features no additional functions. She can use the cannon on her right arm for power shots and build up her arsenal through item pickups.''


 * Metroid (1987)
 * Metroid Prime (2002)

Samus (Varia Suit)
''A suit with a higher level of protection than the Power Suit. It eliminates damage caused by very hot or cold areas. It is also more resilient to enemy attacks than the Power Suit and greatly differs in shoulder design. Recent visual depictions of Samus often show her wearing the Varia Suit.''


 * Super Metroid (1994)
 * Metroid Prime (2002)

Samus (Gravity Suit)
''A Power Suit that provides even more damage protection than the Varia Suit. This Gravity Suit also allows Samus to move without water resistance when underwater. In most games in the series, this suit also blocks lava damage and friction. In addition, it allows Samus to use item bonuses like the High Jump, Space Jump, and Speed Booster, even when underwater or in lava.''


 * Super Metroid (1994)
 * Metroid Prime (2002)

Samus (Dark Suit)
''A Power Suit that reduces damage taken from the atmosphere of Dark Aether. It is obtained after defeating Amorbis in the Dark Torvus Temple. With its increased protection, it greatly widens the range of exploration available in the toxic atmosphere. This suit was developed by the Luminoth, the native race of Aether.''


 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)

Dark Samus
''A twin image of Samus, encountered near the beginning of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Dark Samus is identical to Samus in every way but color-- she even uses similar attacks. There are many theories on the origin of Dark Samus, but none are proven. Dark Samus uses Phazon for energy and can absorb it to heal damage. Samus encounters Dark Samus a number of times.''


 * Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)