![]() Perhaps the most revered Metroid game of all, 1994’s Super Metroid, would show Samus outside her power suit mid-game for the first time in the series. The newborn Metroid imprints onto her and believes Samus is its mother – she spares the infant and takes it with her at the end of the game. Samus is tasked with slaughtering all the Metroids on their home planet SR388 after Samus kills what she thinks is the last one, she finds a Metroid egg that hatches in front of her. Like its predecessor, Metroid II features a female antagonist: the Queen Metroid. Metroid II: Return of Samus, released in 1991, introduced more complex themes of motherhood to Samus’ background while still retaining the minimalist approach to storytelling that the first Metroid game pioneered. Is it a feminist statement, or is it clear objectification of women pandering to the hetero male-dominated gaming culture? In the original Metroid, it’s a bit of both – many other strong female video game protagonists struggle with this dichotomy as well, most notably Lara Croft of Tomb Raider. Removing Samus’ armour to reveal her gender at the end of Metroid was a statement of female empowerment that surprised many players who assumed they had been playing as a man the whole time… however, it also sets up the strip poker-style challenge of “the better you perform, the more clothes she removes as a reward” that would become a staple of the Metroid series. To this day, games with both a female protagonist and antagonist are exceedingly rare, with Valve’s Portal being one of the most memorable modern examples. Not only did Metroid have a female lead, but it had a female villain as well: Mother Brain. ![]() Metroid provided hardly any exposition or storytelling, but Samus was a breath of fresh air – a strong, solitary female hero who single-handedly defeats an entire army of space pirates. When Metroid was first released in 1986, the standard for female video game characters was mostly restricted to damsels in distress. From left to right: Samus at the end of Metroid, Metroid II, and Super Metroid. If you input the famous “JUSTIN BAILEY” password, you can play the entire game with a scantily-clad Samus. If you finish in under an hour, Samus undresses all the way down to a bikini. If you finish the game in under five hours, she takes off her helmet to reveal she’s a woman if you finish in under three, she removes her power armour completely to reveal a form-fitting purple leotard. Most already know the story of the original Metroid: Samus was initially presented as a man, the instruction booklet even referring to her as a "he" to maintain the illusion when players reached the end of the game, however, she removed her armour to reveal her true identity. ![]() With that in mind, let’s take a look at Nintendo’s long, complicated history of depicting Samus Aran. When thinking of how to do this respectably, look at Alfonso Cuarón's film Gravity from last year: Sandra Bullock's character removes her space suit part of the way through the film, and even though she's still presented in an attractive manner, it's arguably respectful and realistic enough that it doesn't come off as sexualisation. ![]() yet when she's portrayed with the ridiculous proportions we see here, it's likely her humanity isn't the only reason Nintendo has decided to play up the Zero Suit aspect of Samus. Samus has to wear something under her heavy armour, and showing her out of the power suit can humanise her. To be clear: there's nothing inherently wrong with the Zero Suit. Defendants of the designs argue that disrobed Samus has been part of Metroid since the beginning, but this aspect of the series that had usually been reserved for the very end of each game has now become an integral part of Samus’ public image. for 3DS and Wii U: “From the ending of Metroid: Zero Mission, here's Samus in shorts!” Her skimpy two-piece outfit has rubbed some fans the wrong way, as Nintendo seems to be content to take perhaps its most iconic female character and continually present her in a sexualised fashion. director Masahiro Sakurai revealed the new alternate costumes for Zero Suit Samus in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Zero Suit Samus' alternate costumes in Super Smash Bros.
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