Samus? I barely know us!

I’ve been playing through the Metroid Prime games in anticipation of Metroid: Other M. I wanted to have a solid basis for comparing Retro’s take on the series with Team Ninja’s, and a chance to solidify in my mind the character of Samus Aran before Other M (apparently) ruins it for me forever.

There’s lots to say about the Metroid Prime games—about how Prime 1 is a nearly flawless masterpiece; about how, if I had the tools, I’d excise the “dark world” from Prime 2 in its entirety; about how the art direction of SkyTown in Prime 3 is basically an elaborate extrapolation of Tik Tok from Return to Oz (and by the way, a blonde Fairuza Balk would be a great casting choice for Samus in a Metroid movie). But there’s one question that sticks with me, and I think it speaks volumes about the way Retro chose to depict Samus Aran in the Metroid games they created.

Why does Samus land on Tallon IV? Why does she stay and face the space pirates alone?

Her ship isn’t damaged at all. She doesn’t have an assignment from the Federation. Sure, she lost all her powers after the battle with the Parasite Queen, but presumably there are more reliable and convenient ways of getting those back than wandering around Chozo ruins and sneaking into pirate science labs. There is the small matter of the pirate base, and yeah, Ridley’s at large, but that isn’t necessarily her responsibility—and certainly there’s no reason she should deal with it by herself. So, why doesn’t she just watch the space pirate frigate crash and then say to herself, “welp, serves ‘em right,” and speed off in her fancy ship?

Metroid Prime is, as far as I can tell, the only game in the series that doesn’t have a strong narrative reason for Samus to explore the planet that she’s ended up on. In all the other games, she has a clear objective (whether assigned by the Federation or by Aether dudes, I forget what they’re called… Mothra? Mothmen? Luminoth, that’s it).

My two ideas for explaining this situation:

(1) Samus likes isolation. She enjoys exploration. Landing on the planet, she thinks whoa, this place looks awesome, I’m going to look around a bit. Wait a second, she continues to think, I think there might be Chozo ruins around here. That could be pretty cool to see. In other words, she’s doing a little sightseeing, a little amateur archaeology (anthropology? archaeochozology?). And hey, if she gets to bust some space pirate teeth while she’s at it, all the better.

(2) Samus just hates space pirates, and is compelled by vengeance to blindly seek them out and destroy them. If Ridley’s here, she thinks, I must destroy him. He killed my family. He must die. She doesn’t notify the federation of her whereabouts—or the space pirates’ plans—because she doesn’t want them to step in with their pesky ethics and laws. Nothing can stand in the way of her ultimate goal, which is nothing short of total space pirate genocide.

I like the first idea because it means that Samus is just like the player—the narrative of the game, and the game design, mirror our motivations when playing the game. There’s something elegant and immersive about that.

However, it is plainly the case that Samus hates space pirates, and even though they’re sentient creatures capable of language, affection, mercy, science, and civilized society (seriously, check the Metroid wikia page for Space Pirates under “Society”—they keep pets! they have freedom of speech!) she will stop at nothing to destroy them.

Space Pirate, shown here with his library of classics concerning philosophy and ethics. (Library photo from Stewart on Flickr)

So what I want to know is this: Has Samus ever even spoken to a space pirate? Has anyone tried to open a dialogue with them?

Here’s where we get into fan fiction territory, but hear me out. The main tension in the story arc comprising Return of Samus, Super Metroid and (apparently, I haven’t played it yet) Other M comes from Samus coming to terms with her constant battle against the Metroid species—how she nearly eradicates them all, but then serves as a surrogate mother for one, who later saves her life. What I’d like to see is a game where Samus has to cooperate with the space pirates against a common foe. Samus has to re-examine and overcome her prejudices to, say, help a space pirate rebel group take down the unjust space pirate government. I’m not saying this is less cliché than any of the other narratives in the Metroid timeline, but it’s nevertheless a story I’d like to participate in. (Maybe in the next game in the series, Metroid Other Other M.)

—Adam