Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Metroid series – 03 Ridley 

Debut

In the Metroid series

As Ridley: Metroid (1986)
As Meta Ridley: Metroid Prime (2002)

In the Super Smash Bros. series

As a Boss Fight: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
As a playable character: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Boxing Ring Title: Cunning God of Death

Theme Song: Vs. Ridley (Ultimate version)

The primary antagonist of the Metroid series. Ridley - also referred to as Geoform 187 - is the cruel and ruthless leader of the Space Pirates. Ridley is Samus’s arch-nemesis, and the hatred between the two is mutual.

Not much of Ridley’s past is known, but it can be assumed he began his life in the Space Pirates as a soldier before clawing his way up the ranks until he was designated the Space Pirates new leader, either through promotions or by taking it forcefully.

A couple of years before the events of the series began - as shown in the Metroid Manga - Ridley and his Space Pirate crew were silently stalking the Chozo, who were traveling to the planet K-2L. When the Chozo left the planet, the Space Pirates found out that the Chozo were trying to acquire some Afloralite there. Afloralite is a powerful-yet-unstable fuel source, and thus Ridley decides to invade the planet to obtain it for the Space Pirates.

As Ridley watches the ensuing carnage and chaos, a young blonde girl named Samus approaches him. Although she is noticeably terrified, Samus tries to befriend him. Once Ridley is informed by one of his troops that the Afloralite was safely stored in his ship, he decides to reveal his true colors to the young girl and tries to kill her with his Plasma Breath. However, Samus's mother arrives just in time to push her daughter out of the way, taking the full blast of the attack instead.

After that, Ridley would proceed to rampage throughout K-2L's colony, only to stop when he noticed that his spaceship has bursted into flames - thanks to Samus's father blowing up the collected afloralite in it - and is heading straight for him. While the rest of his troops get killed from the crash, Ridley ends up getting massively injured and buried underneath the wreckage of his ship. When he finally regains consciousness - during which he misses the Chozo returning to look for survivors, where they find and take the young Samus with them - Ridley takes to eating all the nearby human corpses to regenerate and recover his health before leaving the planet.

Some time later, Ridley and the Space Pirates would launch a plan to conquer Planet Zebes. To do so, Ridley sends some of the Space Pirates to conquer the Planet Jigrad to distract the Galactic Federation while he and his men head off to Zebes. The plan proves to be a success, thanks to one of the Chozo's creations, Mother Brain, betraying her creators, as well as Chozo named Gray Voice joining their cause. When the Galactic Federation learns of this, Samus and two of her friends head off to Zebes.  Her two friends rush off to find and rescue the Chozo while she heads off to reclaim the planet by visiting Mother Brain, completely unaware of Mother Brain's betrayal.

As Mother Brain tries to coax Samus into joining her, Ridley would enter the scene, scoffing at the idea of Samus joining them. However, his sudden appearance frightens Samus, and her Power Suit disappears, causing Ridley to recognize her as the little girl from Planet K-2L from so many years ago. While initially enraged by this, blaming Samus for the loss of his ship and his troops, Ridley then begins to taunt her with the possibility that he may have eaten her mother’s corpse to survive, only for Gray Voice to tell him to stop. Ridley then tries to coax Gray Voice into killing Samus, only for Gray Voice to reveal that he has a mental guard against performing violent acts. Annoyed at that answer, Ridley decides to kill the other Chozo for fun, only for some explosions to happen somewhere on the planet. With the possibility that the Galactic Federation may have arrived earlier than intended and are launching an assault, Ridley heads off to investigate.

A bit later, as Samus regains her composure and begins leading the Chozo to safety, Gray Voice would reveal his true colors, equipping himself with an Ancient Chozo Power Suit before heading into Tourian to destroy Mother Brain. Gray Voice has the upper hand until Ridley arrives. Enraged by Gray Voice's deception, Ridley would quickly turn the tide of the fight, severely injuring Gray Voice by using his tail to stab Gray Voice in the abdomen. Gray Voice manages to at least make it to the surface of Planet Zebes, where he – in a final act of defiance – fires a powerful blast from his weapon at one of the Space Pirate ships giving chase to Samus and the Chozo, allowing them to escape more easily. With their plans now completely ruined, Ridley, in complete anger, would fire his Plasma Breath on Gray Voice, killing him. After that, Ridley would quickly head off to fight against Adam Malkovich’s fleet, only to lose and be forced to retreat.

Some time later, the Galactic Federation would discover the Metroid species on Planet SR388. This info would attract the attention of the Space Pirates, who would steal the Metroid that the Planet Reclamation Division obtained. The Space Pirates Science Team would then learn about the Metroid’s ability to suck life energy from its host, as well as its near invulnerability to most weapons. With all of this, the Space Pirates begin to clone an army of them so that they can use them as bioweapons to take over the galaxy unopposed!

In Metroid, Ridley is the second boss the player fights, though one can theoretically fight him first if one wishes to. Ridley rules over the hot Norfair area, and he mostly spits fireballs at Samus. His fireballs can actually be frozen with the Ice Beam, which can make his fight a bit easier. His artwork for the game notably gave him a weird look that doesn't resemble his current depiction.

The game would also receive a remake called Metroid: Zero Mission. In this game, Ridley makes a few appearances in the game's cutscenes leading up to his boss fight. Here, it's shown that he's off-planet in the Space Pirate Mother Ship, but returns to Zebes upon receiving a distress signal the Space Pirates sent after Samus managed to defeat his comrade, Kraid. Ridley makes it back to the planet at around the time Samus arrives at Lower Norfair. Once she reaches his lair, he has his first real battle against Samus Aran. Despite his best efforts, Samus manages to defeat him.

Sometime after the game, the Space Pirate would find and retrieve Ridley, transporting him to Frigate Orpheon. Due to taking heavy damage from his fight with Samus, the Space Pirates High Command allowed Science Team to "resuscitate" Ridley by transforming him into the cyborg Meta Ridley. The process Ridley underwent was described as "excruciatingly painful" but it allowed Ridley to continue to live.

In Metroid Prime, Meta Ridley was still in the process of being rebuilt. However, once the space station he's on is set to blow up, Meta Ridley was awakened a bit earlier than intended. He would proceed to flee to the nearby planet Tallon IV, unaware that Samus was following him, though she eventually lost track of him. Once Samus arrives at Phendrana Drifts, she spots Meta Ridley flying high above, possibly flying off to either Glacier One or the Phazon Mines to warn the others that Samus had arrived.

Once Samus manages to shut down those operations and recover the twelve Chozo artifacts, she heads to the Impact Crater to open it up. It's here Meta Ridley ambushes her. He mostly stays in the air and tries to pelt her with missiles and his Kinetic Breath Weapon. Once his health has been reduced to about a quarter, he switches to fighting on the ground, due to his cyber wings burning up. While still utilizing his Kinetic Breath Weapon, Meta Ridley also mixes things up by creating shockwaves and trying to tackle Samus.

Despite his efforts, Samus manages to wear him out. The nearby Chozo statues suddenly come to life and start focusing a laser attack on Meta Ridley's chest as punishment for destroying the Chozo Artifacts, which leads to him falling off the arena and into the abyss.

Meta Ridley would then show up in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Notably, Meta Ridley has less cybernetics on him, suggesting he's slowly recovering his flesh. Some time before the events of the game, Dark Samus would invade the Space Pirate Ship Colossus and use her Phazon to corrupt and mind control the crew on it to work for her. Once she arrived at one of the Space Pirate's Homeworld, she used her Phazon again to force more of the Space Pirates into serving her. One of those members was - as you can guess - Meta Ridley, who loyally served under her. He and some of the Space Pirates are then sent to the planet Norion to conquer it.

Meta Ridley's first seen easily dispatching some of the Federation Soldiers. Later, he tries to attack Samus as she's rolling around in a Moprh Ball Tunnel, though Samus manages to get away from him using her bombs. At Generator C, Meta Ridley ambushes Samus with the intention of crushing her on the floor, but he ends up breaking it instead, causing them both to fall down the Generator Shaft where they do their battle. At the fight's end, Samus blasts three Charged Shots into Meta Ridley's mouth before getting saved by Rundas, while Meta Ridley continues to plummet to the bottom of the shaft.

Meta Ridley manages to survive the fall, but is seriously wounded. Managing to make his way to the Pirate Homeworld, he would be exposed to the Phazon Core, which not only rapidly healed his injuries, but also transformed him into Omega Ridley! With his new powers, he engages with Samus once more. After a fierce fight, he ends up being defeated. Before he could get completely disintegrated, Omega Ridley manages to escape.

Ridley would then show at the very end in Metroid: Samus Returns, this time as Proteus Ridley. More of his cybernetic enhancements have fallen off, meaning his flesh is almost fully restored! Not only that, but this game is the first time he serves as a final boss!

Learning that the Galactic Federation has sent Samus to the Planet SR388 to exterminate the Metroids, Ridley quickly rushes over to planet to snag at least one of them before Samus wipes them out. Unfortunately for him, Samus had just wiped all of them out... well, except for one, who she decides to spare. Just as Samus arrives on the surface of SR388 with the Baby Metroid and about to leave on her spaceship, Ridley arrives and snatches the infant. Noticing Samus, he decides to battle her, but after taking some damage, he decides it would be better to flee with his prize while he could. Samus gave chase, and after a small scuffle, blasts his chest until he releases the Baby Metroid. Before Ridley could react, Samus snags it and blasts Ridley towards a nearby mountain, where he then lands on the ground as rocks fall on top of him.

However, Ridley wasn't going to let that stop him and got back up, redoubling his efforts to defeat Samus. After another tough bout, Ridley manages to create an opening for himself and begins a violent beatdown on Samus before pinning her to the ground. Just as he's about to blast her point-blank with his Plasma Breath, the Baby Metroid quickly rushes in and attacks Ridley to save her "mama." Fully enraged at this point, he began to attack Samus with everything he had. During the third phase of the fight, the Baby Metroid would occasionally do an unexpected attack on him, which would blind Ridley with rage and make him throw out a hasty attack, which Samus could capitalize on by performing a counter on him to deal massive damage.

At the end of the battle, Proteus Ridley finally goes down. Samus and the Baby Metroid leave the planet. But after the credits roll, one of Ridley's mechanic hands are seen, revealing that he's dropped the last of his remaining mechanical parts and fully recovered! He heads off in hot pursuit of Samus's last destination: the Ceres Space Station.

Ridley would make his "final" appearance in Super Metroid. As the third game released, this game established Ridley's iconic dragon look, as well as introduced his iconic theme song, though said song also played during the Torizo and Draygon fights.

At the beginning of the game, Ridley invades the Ceres Space Station to snag the Baby Metroid. Here, he has a brief battle with Samus. After exchanging blows, Ridley decides to activate the space colony's self-destruct switch and flee the scene back to the Space Pirates' newly rebuilt hideout located on Planet Zebes. With the Baby Metroid, the Space Pirates begin to clone their Metroid army. The initial batch they cloned turn out to be failures - and are sent to patrol Maridia - but eventually they get the process working.

Ridley then stays put in his lair, which is located in the depths of Lower Norfair. Once Samus arrives, he has his final no-holds barred showdown with her. During the fight, he pelts her with his Plasma Breath, his tail, ramming into her, and also grabbing her with his talons. Despite his best efforts, Samus manages to best him yet again. However, in a desperate act of defiance, Ridley grabs Samus with his talons and let's out a mighty roar... before his body ends up - literally - falling to pieces, finally meeting his demise.

And yet, despite all that, Ridley would manage to return in Metroid: Other M. As Ridley fell apart during his battle in Super, some strands of his DNA fell on Samus's Power Suit. The corrupt side of the Galactic Federation ended up scraping some of it off of Samus's Power Suit, and unknowingly brought him back to life! However, his young infant clone ended up resembling a little bird-like creature - that Samus ends up calling "Little Birdie" - thus no one was the wise to his true identity.

Little Birdie notably took a very keen interest in Samus upon spotting her. Whether it was because he recognized her from his previous life, or simply detected her as a threat is unknown. He would soon grow into a big, furry lizard that Samus refers to as the "Mystery Creature." He would then attempt a successful ambush on Samus and the Galactic Federation Squad, only to flee after Anthony shot him with his Plasma Cannon. Finally, Mystery Creature soon transforms into Ridley. where he waits at the Geothermal Power Plant for Samus.

Once Samus and her friend Anthony arrive at there, Ridley ambushes the two of them. Taking pleasure in terrifying Samus at his unexpected return, he would end up tossing Anthony off the arena into his supposed death towards the lava. He would then turn his attention back to Samus, who was now enraged at what he had done. During their fierce battle, Ridley would slowly get worn out by Samus's Plasma Beam blasts and her other weapons, thus he decides to make a hasty retreat to recover his wounds.

...Only to come face-to-face with a cloned Queen Metroid! Ridley didn't stand a chance, and gets his life energy sucked dry, reducing him to a husk. At the end of the game, the corrupt side of the Galactic Federation arrive to transport Ridley's corpse away.

Ridley's clone would return in Metroid: Fusion, where it's reveals his frozen corpse is being held in the Sub-Zero Containment Unit at the Biologic Space Laboratories research station. When Samus happens to make her way inside his frozen prison, she happens to see his eyes briefly glow, suggesting he's still alive! Not that it matters, as a few seconds later an X Parasite escapes from his body, having entered it to absorb Ridley's DNA and memories. Its escape causes Ridley's corpse to crumble and shatter to pieces.

Much later, Samus finds the X Parasite mimicking Ridley's corpse deep within the SRX section. His eyes glow before the X Parasite transforms into Neo-Ridley X! Samus has a tough battle against her yet-again revived foe, but manages to overcome him once more and absorb the X Parasite, granting her the Screw Attack! And with that, Ridley is once again eradicated from existence.

Personality-wise, Ridley is mostly defined by his cruelty and bloodlust. He craves death and destruction, and enjoys tormenting anyone who gets in his way. He's also shown to be quite intelligent, as well as a competent battle tactician, able to come up with various plans that have helped get the Space Pirates to where they are today. Ridley is also very narcissistic, viewing himself - and the Space Pirate in general - to be superior to every other race in the galaxy, and has a very dark sense of humor. While these traits were mostly only mentioned in the game's manuals, the Metroid Manga would be the first installment to showcase these traits. The Metroid Manga also implies Ridley can talk, though in the games he mostly just roars and screeches.

Ridley has an intense hatred of Samus. Initially, this hatred was due to him placing all the blame for his failure to claim the afloralite on K2-L on her, despite the fact that she was too young to really do anything at that time. However, this quickly changed when she managed to become the first person who not only survived a battle against him, but also managed to best him, causing him to view her as "a nightmare that won't go away."

Despite Ridley's depravity, he seems to be on good terms with fellow Space Pirate commander Kraid, who was even referred to as Ridley's comrade in the Metroid Manga. Ridley's relationship with the other Space Pirate commanders is unknown.

Ridley's Clone is also shown to be pretty intelligent, even as Little Birdie, though he is notably a bit more feral in comparison to the original. Whether he retained the memories of the original Ridley or not is unknown; while he does notably hold an intense hatred for Samus like the original, it's unknown if it's because of those previous memories, or if it's just because he views her as a threat.

In Super Smash Bros., Ridley is the tallest of the fighters, though it might not be too noticeable since he’s constantly slouching. Ridley is able to dish out tons of damage to his foes, though his size means that he’s an easy target to hit, so don’t get too cocky.

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Plasma Breath

Pressing the Special button will have Ridley spit out a plasma ball that bounces along forward. Holding the Special button will have Ridley charge up his Plasma Breath. Depending how long you charge it, Ridley can fire up to five plasma balls.

If Ridley is attacked in the face during the charge, his Plasma Breath will “backfire” on him, stunning him for a sec and severely damaging him.

Inspired by his main method of attack in the first“Metroid,” where he would fire Plasma Balls that would bounce forward in the direction he’s facing.

In "Metroid Prime," attacking Meta Ridley's open mouth when he's charging up his Kinetic Breath Weapon would stun him for a bit. "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" would make his open mouth one of Omega Ridley's weak spots.

Side Special: Space Pirate Rush

Ridley lunges forward with his arm outstretched. If he manages to grab someone, Ridley then slams them into the ground begins scraping them while he rushes forward. This attack can quickly rack up damage, but opponents can escape from it depending on how damaged they are. The more damage they have compared to Ridley, the harder it is to escape.

Pressing the Special Button at any point while he’s holding his opponent will have Ridley jump into the air and fling the opponent away from him. He’ll also automatically fling them away if he approaches the edge of a stage.

While Ridley began using grab attacks as early as “Super Metroid”, the attack is more inspired by his intro cutscene in The Subspace Emissary from "Super Smash Bros. Brawl." During the game's story, he manages to grab Samus by surprise and slams her into the wall, where he begins to scrape her against it. Ridley would do something similar in his own series in "Metroid: Other M."

Up Special: Wing Blitz

Ridley hovers for a second before flinging himself upwards, unless you’re holding down, left or right on the control stick, in which case he’ll fire off in that direction, albeit at an angle. Downwards sends him in a slightly forward angle. Forwards sends him at a slightly downward angle. Backwards sends him in a slightly upward angle.

The sharp spikes on his wings will damage foes, and can even allow Ridley to destroy certain projectiles.

Inspired by one of his attacks in “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption”, where he uses it to fling himself at Samus. 

Down Special: Skewer

An all-or-nothing move, Ridley uses the sharp end of his tail to Skewer an opponent. If the sharp edge of his tail connects with the opponent, the screen will zoom in towards Ridley and his victim as the latter takes massive damage! However, it takes a second for Ridley to use the move, and if he doesn’t land the move on the opponent near the very tip of his tail, it’ll only do a pitiful amount of damage and leave Ridley open for a counterattack.

While Ridley has used his tail to help him in combat starting in "Super Metroid," he has never used anything similar to this in the games. However, in the "Metroid Manga," Ridley performs a similar-looking move on Gray Voice to severly injure him after learning that Gray only joined the Space Pirates in order to destroy Mother Brain.

Final Smash: Plasma Scream

Ridley lets out a roar and charges forward. The first two opponents that get hit end up getting flung into space, where they land on the right side of Samus’s Gunship.

Ridley then enters the scene and fires his Plasma Breath at the ship, engulfing it in flames!

Samus’s Gunship then explodes as Ridley watches in triumph. If the opponent has 100% damage by the end of the move, they are instantly KOed! Otherwise they get sent flying downwards back to the stage they were fighting on.

While Ridley has always been capable of firing Plasma Breath, it wasn’t until “Metroid Prime” where he was shown being able to fire it akin to a laser beam in the form of the Kinetic Breath Weapon.

Samus's Gunship made its debut in "Metroid II: Return of Samus," and is what Samus uses to get around in space. Samus's gunship has occasionally been shown getting shot down in some of the games, the first instance of this occurring was in "Metroid: Zero Mission."

Additional Notes 

Two of Ridley's alternate costumes are based on his Meta Ridley appearance.

Masahiro Sakurai – creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros. – initially didn’t want to add Ridley as a playable character to the Super Smash Bros. series, as he felt Ridley was more suitable being a boss character, not to mention the fact that Ridley was “too big” to be a playable fighter. Of course, by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sakurai and his team managed to find a compromise to make him work, and now he is playable!

Before becoming playable, Ridley has managed to appear in almost every installment except “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. He can occasionally be seen flying in the background of the stage Planet Zebes in Super Smash Bros. 64. He briefly appears in the opening movie for Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ridley is a boss fight in The Subspace Emissary story mode. Finally, Ridley's clone shows up as a Stage Boss in the Pyroshere stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Ridley’s backstory in the original Metroid game was that he was peaceful creature and a native life form of Planet Zebes that got brainwashed into serving Mother Brain. Obviously this part of his backstory is no longer considered true in the current story, but it’s an interesting footnote nonetheless.

Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Metroid series – 02 Zero Suit Samus 

Debut

In the Metroid series

Technical debut: Metroid (1986)
In the Zero Suit: Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)

In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

Boxing Ring Title: The Warrior Within

Theme Song: Ending (Metroid)

Samus Aran is the main protagonist of the Metroid series. She’s an Intergalactic Bounty Hunter, and the Galactic Federation consider her their best agent. When all else fails, they send her in to deal with the situation. Almost everyone knows about Samus, though some are shown to doubt her exploits, seeing her as nothing more than some “legend.”

Back when Samus was a very young girl, she lived peacefully on Planet K-2L alongside her parents, Rodney Aran and Virginia Aran. One day, a group of Chozo – a race of bird-like people – visited the planet, hoping that the workers there will spare them a large amount of “Afloraltite”, a powerful but unstable fuel source.

During the negotiations, Samus befriended an elder Chozo named “Old Bird“, who taught her that befriending and understanding others can be used to solve problems, which allowed Samus to befriend a creature called a rabbilis, which she names Pyonchi. Samus’s father, Rodney, refuses the Chozo’s request, and the Chozo leave empty handed.

It was only a couple of minutes later that the Space Pirates arrived, wanting to obtain the Afloraltite for themselves. Samus, who was in the nearby forest playing with Pyonchi, rushed over to see what was happening upon seeing an explosion. There, amongst the chaos, she happened to come face-to-face with the feared Space Pirate Commander, Ridley. Despite her fears, she recalled Old Bird’s words of wisdom and attempted to befriend the Space Dragon, only for Ridley to respond by trying to kill her right then and there.

Samus’s mother, Virginia, manages to arrive and push her daughter out of the way in time, taking the full blast of Ridley’s Plasma Breath. Elsewhere aboard the Space Pirate’s ship, her father, Rodney, sacrifices himself to stop the Space Pirates by blasting the unstable Afloraltite, causing a massive explosion from within.

The Chozo, having received K-2L’s distress signal, quickly fly back to the planet, where they find two survivors: Samus and Pyonchi. Taking the two with them back to their home on Planet Zebes, a Chozo named Gray Voice would donate some of his DNA to Samus after Mother Brain – an intelligent AI that the Chozo created – noted that she wouldn’t last long in the harsh living conditions of the planet. Following this, the Chozo would raise her like their own.

Once Samus became 14, she was given a Power Suit and trained in the Ancient Art of Chozo Combat by Gray Voice, who began to view her as his daughter, though he wouldn't admit it. During Samus's conversation with Old Bird, he suggest that she should head off on her own to become "the True Protector of the Galaxy."

Heeding his words, she heads off to enroll in the Galactic Federation Police, where she makes some friends - Kreatz and Mauk - and begins to establish a name for herself. During her recon mission at Planet Jigrad, she disobeys her orders and rushes off to save a young girl named Damara, who was to be executed by the Space Pirates with the excuse that she was "too small to work." With some help from her friends, Samus would defeat all of the Space Pirates there before arresting the Space Pirate's leader, taking him in to Galactic HQ for questioning.

Learning that the Space Pirate's raid on Planet Jigrad was a distraction and that their real plan was to invade Planet Zebes, Samus and her two friends rush off to Samus's home planet to rescue the Chozo, with her CO Adam Malkovich giving them 48 hours to do so before the Galactic Fleet arrives to start blasting at the planet to stop the Space Pirates. Upon arriving, Samus comes across a recording from Old Bird, who left it to explain that the Chozo'z secret project to create the ultimate warrior, "Metroid" has turned rogue, and that now it's up to Samus to achieve world peace.

Learning that there are still survivors, Samus decides would make her way to Tourian to try and find Mother Brain in an attempt to regain control of the planet back, while Kreatz and Mauk try to find and rescue the prisoners. Once she makes it to the depths of Tourian she learns that not only has Mother Brain betrayed the Chozo and sided with the Space Pirates, so has her mentor/father figure, Gray Voice. Mother Brain would try to convince Samus into joining them, but Samus refuses.

And then Ridley shows up. Upon seeing him, Samus falls into shock and loses her Power Suit. Ridley then recognizes her as that “little girl” from long ago, and taunts her with the possibility that he may have eaten her mother’s corpse to survive. Samus then gets dragged off by Ridley to the prisoner’s room, where she witnesses Ridley preparing to execute the other captured Chozo. However, some explosions go off nearby - which were made by Samus's friends - causing Ridley to halt his execution to go off and investigate.

Once Ridley left, the other nearby Chozo would comfort Samus in this stressful situation. Thanks to their reassurance and compassion, Samus slowly regains her composure and helps get the Chozo to safety. Elsewhere, Gray Voice reveals to Mother Brain that he only joined her side to destroy her and begins blasting away at her, only for Ridley to arrive and quickly turn the tables on him.

As Samus, her friends, and the Chozo escape, she manages to feel Gray Voice’s final moments, which is implied to be because she has his DNA. She also receives a final telepathic message from him, stating that she had grown strong and he’s proud of her, hoping that she’ll use her newfound strength to protect others. Some point after this, Samus would leave the Galactic Federation to go solo as an independent Bounty Hunter for hire.

A few years later, Samus would return to Earth to attend Keaton getting elected as the new Chairman of the Galactic Federation. During the trip, she comes across Damara again, who's now grown a bit older. Samus congratulates her and her two friends for getting accepted into the Federation Academy before heading off.

At the ceremony, Samus saves Chairman Keaton, who was going to be assassinated by a Mimicuria that had disguised itself as a bouquet of flowers that Damara was going to give to Keaton as thanks for allowing the people from her planet to attend the Federation Academy. Damara was unaware of this, and her female friend began to desperately apologize to Chairman Keaton for what they could've unknowingly done to him. Samus assures Damara that what happened wasn't her fault, and Keaton is simply thankful that Samus managed to save everyone in time.

Later, Samus attends a conference being held by Keaton, Adam Malkovich, and Chief Hardy. Samus learns that The Galactic Federation has discovered a mysterious life-form called Metroid on Planet SR388. They managed to snag one of the mysterious creatures and were planning to escort it back to their research team to learn more about it, but the shipment was interrupted by the Space Pirates, who stole the Metroid. The Space Pirates have learned how dangerous the Metroids can be, and have learned how to clonw them from a single specimen. With an army of Metroids, they'd be unstoppable!

Initially, they tried to deal with the situation themselves, but to no avail. Thus, they decided it might be a good idea to assign Samus Aran to deal with it, due to the reputation she built. She accepts it, and prepares to head for Zebes.

Before she heads off, she takes a small glance at Damara and her friend playing with her pet, Pyonchi. Content that Damara is growing into a strong girl, as well as the fact that Pyonchi has someone to look after him, Samus heads off to deal with what she refers to as her "Zero Mission."

In "Metroid," if you beat the game in under three hours, Samus would appear in the ending without her Power Suit. Additionally, in the American version, you could then replay the game as Samus without her Power Suit. This was mostly a cosmetic look, as there are no differences between them. You could also insert the famous password "JUSTIN BAILEY" to play as Power Suitless Samus.

While Samus has been seen out of her Power Suit in "Metroid," "Metroid II: Return of Samus," "Super Metroid," and "Metroid: Fusion" - specifically at the end of the game - it wouldn't be until "Metroid: Zero Mission" that her iconic Zero Suit would make its debut.

In "Metroid: Zero Mission". after defeating Mother Brain and escaping her lair, Samus would hop into her Gunship, fly off Planet Zebes, and then remove her Power Suit. Just as she's about to relax on the return trip home, the Space Pirates spot her Gunship and pursue her, shooting her out of the sky and near their Mother Ship. With both her Power Suit and her Gunship destroyed and faced with no other feasible options, Samus decides to sneak through the Space Pirate Mother Ship to get to the nearby Chozo temple: Chozodia.

As Zero Suit Samus, Samus has a - as she puts it - "rather useless emergency pistol" she can use to paralyze her enemies for a few seconds. Whether or not the enemy gets stunned or not depends on whether on whether or not her pistol is fully charged or not.

Upon reaching Chozodia, Samus battles the Ruins Test to prove herself. Upon doing so, she is granted the Legendary Power Suit, after which she then blasts through the entirety of the Space Pirate Mother Ship, defeats the Mecha Ridley Robot, then snatches one of their Escape Ships so she can head back to the Galactic Federation.

"Metroid: Other M" would also include a brief segment near the end of the game where you play as Zero Suit Samus. After obtaining Adam Malkovich's helmet, the space colony Samus is on - the Bottle Ship - is set to blow, so she decides to quickly hightail it out of there. She controls much like she does in her Power Suit, albeit without many of her upgrades. Once again, her "rather useless emergency pistol" can only stun enemies, though it can also cause some closing gates to open back up if she either shoots them enough times, or fires a charge shot at them.

Personality-wise, Samus is mostly defined by her courage. This has allowed her to face and overcome various odds that many considered impossible. One such example is near the end of "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption." The main antagonist, Dark Samus, decides to hide out on the toxic planet Phaaze, and it's more-or-less a death sentence to go there since no one can handle the toxic levels Phaase is emitting. Despite that, Samus chooses to go there anyway to stop Dark Samus's plans, fully knowing she won't be able to retreat afterwards upon arriving since the toxic Phazon on the planet corrupts her to such an extent that her spaceship can't recognize her.

Samus can also be rather wistful when talking or thinking about her past, as shown in "Metroid: Fusion" and the "Metroid Manga." In the latter, she reveals that sometimes she wishes she lived a normal life instead of the one she currently leads.

Samus holds a massive grudge against Ridley, who caused the death of her parents, and their hatred for each other is mutual. Although she has triumphed over him a multitude of times, there have been occasions that suggest a part of her still fears him a bit. Samus would finally defeat him for good during "Super Metroid," but Ridley would inevitably come back through cloning, thanks to the corrupt side of the Galactic Federation unknowingly doing that.

During her youth, the Metroid Manga reveals that Samus was a cheerful child before the K-2L Incident happened. When she became 14, Samus is shown as a bit of a hothead, becoming easily frustrated that she couldn't master the Power Suit's abilities as well as Gray Voice and Mother Brain expected her to.

In Super Smash Bros, using her athleticism, Zero Suit Samus can utilize various hit-and-run tactics, and use her gun, the Paralyzer, to stun foes and set them up for some punishment! Don’t underestimate her just because she isn’t wearing her iconic Power Suit!

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Paralyzer

Zero Suit Samus fires a shot from her Paralyzer. If you just tap the Special Button, Zero Suit Samus fires a weak blast that stuns opponents for only a second. If you hold it, she’ll fire a slightly stronger version that will stun the opponent a bit longer at the cost of taking a second to fire the fully charged blast.

Inspired by her only weapon in "Metroid: Zero Mission." Samus could use it to stun the Space Pirates for a few seconds. Charging it allows her to stun her them for a little bit longer. Amusingly, the pistol was unnamed until “Super Smash Bros. Brawl”, with “Metroid: Other M” being the first to adopt the name as official. 

Side Special: Plasma Whip

Zero Suit Samus uses the whip mode of her pistol and fires a yellow beam in front of her. Foes who are close to Zero Suit Samus as she unleashes her whip will get flung towards the very tip of her whip, where they will get flung away from her.

Zero Suit Samus can also use it to grab ledges.

Inspired by the Grapple Beam ability that debuted in "Super Metroid." While the Grapple Beam is pretty weak and can't damage stronger foes, it can allow Samus to swing on certain blocks. Zero Suit Samus has never been shown using a move like this with her pistol, though. 

Up Special: Boost Kick

Using the boosters in her high-heels, Zero Suit Samus flings herself upward, dragging anyone up with her before kicking them away.

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. 

Down Special: Flip Jump

Zero Suit Samus does a flip into the air. She’s briefly invincible to any attack thrown at her at the beginning of the move.

If Zero Suit Samus lands on top of her opponent while they're on the floor, she’ll bury them in the ground. (How long they staay stuck in the ground depends on how damaged they are.) Perfect time for a followup!

If Zero Suit Samus lands on top of her opponent while they're up in the air, she’ll send them flying downwards.

Alternatively, pressing the Attack or Special Button after Zero Suit Samus reaches the apex of her jump will have her deliver a powerful kick instead. Depending on the direction you’re holding will determine where she kicks.

If Zero Suit Samus Flip Jumps into a wall, pressing the Jump Button will have her perform another Flip Jump off of it, allowing her to gain some extra height. This can be done a total of four times, after which she’ll need to either grab a ledge or land on a platform to do so again.

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. 

Final Smash: Zero Laser

Zero Suit Samus equips her Power Suit and summons her Gunship. She then jumps on top of it and fires a powerful beam at the target reticle. You can move the reticle during this to have her aim her beam there. Any opponent caught will get dragged in, making it difficult to escape. Afterwards, Zero Suit Samus will fire one last strong blast, sending any opponents that get hit flying, before removing her Power Suit and returning to the stage.

May to be inspired by the Hypermode State from “Metroid Prime,” as it is quite similar to the Zero Laser, though the Hypermode State consists of two intertwined beams of Phazon Energy instead of one massive beam. Gandrayda uses something similar when she’s mimicking Samus in “Metroid Prime 3,” though that might be more of a coincidence then anything.

Alternatively, the move could be inspired by the Hyper Beam from “Super Metroid,” though beyond being a powerful attack, it has nothing much else in common with it.

Samus's Gunship made its debut in "Metroid II: Return of Samus," and it frequently shows up near the beginning and end of her adventures. In various games, Samus can enter it to rest for a bit, recovering her health, her ammo, and allowing the palyer to save the game. “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” would allow the player to control Samus’s Gunship during certain segments. In Super Smash Bros. Samus’s Gunship is mostly based on its design in “Metroid: Other M.”

Additional Notes 

When using her grab in the air, Samus will fire an energy whip stream from her Paralyzer. It’s not very strong compared to her Plasma Whip attack, but it can possibly throw opponents off. She can also use it to grab the ledge of a stage as well.

Two notable alternate costumes for Zero Suit Samus include her casual orange outfit in "Metroid: Zero Mission" and her casual blue outfit in "Metroid: Fusions."

Samus and Zero Suit Samus used to share the same character slot back in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl.” Zero Suit Samus could only transform into Samus by using her original Final Smash, Power Suit Samus. On the flipside, Samus could turn into Zero Suit Samus through by using her Final Smash "Zero Laser," holding the Shield Button when starting a match, or if you quickly press the Up and Down Taunt Buttons during battle. They were separated and given their own character slots starting in “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U” because the Nintendo 3DS version couldn’t handle transforming characters very well.