Concept: Kriken Is Exiled From His Home For The Usual Coming Of Age Planet Conquering Ritual. He Decides

I personally doubt we’ll see Adam in Beyond. Other M is a direct follow-up to Super, which the calendar year listed in the trailer implies took place prior (though, with all the inconsistencies in timelines, that’s not exactly definitive). Adam dies there, and isn’t seen again until his AI recreation in Fusion, after Samus’s suit gets diced up to remove the X parasite attempting to consume her. Given that we see the after effects of that in Dread but not Beyond, it’s safe to assume this game takes place before Fusion, leaving no room for Adam Malkovich to show up save for some obituary or something of the like. It would be nice to see a little Easter egg in Samus’s gunship of Adam’s helmet she retrieved at the end of Other M, though.

Of course, whether we should be adhering to Other M for canon is its whole other debate that I shall not be delving into right now.

Sometimes I wonder if Admiral Dane could’ve been replaced by Adam Malkovich for Corruption, since we already knew about his character’s past with Samus and even got a glimpse of him in the Zero Mission manga. I feel like that would’ve actually endeared the original, human Adam to fans, more than Other M ever did… That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sakamoto said no because that’s his character, whom he already had plans and a specific vision + game in mind for. So Retro Studios had to make up Dane, who ended up becoming an actual fan favorite and often compared to Adam as the superior Federation commander to Samus. Maybe Adam can show up in Beyond with a different studio writing him this time.

That… makes an immense amount of sense. Don’t get me wrong, I’m team trans Samus myself (and trans myself), but that little detail does add a not insignificant amount of character and respectability to Adam. I actually showed some Other M stuff to my friends and we all laughed at how bad it is and made some points how things could be improved but this even makes Fusion and Dread better for it.

adam malkovich referring to samus as "lady" as a sign of respect always reads as a touch condescending and belittling until you look at young adult samus and realise she was a 6-months hrt effeminate twink just growing out her crew cut and its highly likely the rest of the force kept misgendering her. for their commander to respect her identity and refer to her as a woman would be a huge acknowledgement of her agency and personhood beyond her martial prowess, and for a girl who has only known war and was raised to be a weapon i would blow up a couple space stations with that guy too

Ya know, one thing I like to think of with Metroid Prime is that Samus lands on this planet full of Chozo history that she’s never seen before and starts scanning everything in site like an excited little kid at a museum. She grew up with the Chozo, learned their ways, and lost them all to the pirates. Now, she has a world full of the remains of her home culture. You can just imagine her scanning every single statue of a Chozo to find out this was, why their statue is here, and what they were like. And she wants to know what the people of Tallon IV did. What was life like there? What did the average citizen do there?

Basically, Samus getting brain rot over her own culture’s history of which she’s been deprived of information about until now.

To add a little fine detail to this, I like to think that Gandrayda’s whole shapeshifting ability needs a not insignificant amount of sourced energy. She would need to, say, tap into a ship’s power grid and siphon some energy out before transforming.

So imagine that scene aboard the Mothership where she reveals herself to Samus happening soon after a power flicker that cuts the lights out for a second, then it happens again as she leaves. Could be a really interesting tell for when she’s present, having a mini power outage.

Of course, with the PED equipped, that energy can be sourced from the Phazon growing inside of her, making her all the more deadly and capable. There’s no tell any more, no indication that she’s in your midst.

Headcanon that Gandrayda's been employed by the Federation as a spy for a long while; Specifically, to keep tabs on the Space Pirates. She was the one who reported that Mother Brain was responsible for controlling the Metroids, and with her destruction, the Metroids would turn on the Space Pirates, hence why they're used and prioritized a lot less in Prime and Echoes, and have a tendency to turn on their 'owners'.

(As for why we see Metroids feeding on Space Pirates in Zero Mission, it's because Mother Brain is a cruel entity who rules through fear and needs to feed her bioweapons; She doesn't mind disposing of lesser pawns, especially if some of them doubt her authority.)

If Metroid were to have a story adaptation... During the Zero Suit portion of the first game, Samus would find herself cornered at one point by Space Pirates; Only for one of their own to turn on them, shooting them down. Said Space Pirate reveals themselves as the spy the Galactic Federation alluded to, the one who dropped all of this key intel regarding the Space Pirates' Metroid operation.

Gandrayda isn't explicitly identified, not yet; But her wink, the way she calls Samus 'Sammy' and her leitmotif at the end; These hint to that. Plus, maybe she can take the form of an Urtraghus Space Pirate, adding to the implication and to allude to how Gandrayda debuted in Corruption and did take such an appearance there. Maybe the Space Pirates would have a more mixed army pulling from all the species we've seen, or they'd operate separately and in their own sectors, requiring Gandrayda to imitate a Zebesian idk.

The main reason why the Federation didn't notify Samus of Gandrayda is that she wasn't supposed to be on Zebes during the Zero Mission; She was stationed on the Space Pirate Mothership, which was locked in battle with Adam's fleet elsewhere (as shown in the manga). But when Ridley received news of Samus' infiltration of Zebes, he immediately flew the mothership back to that planet; Hence why in-game, he arrives about halfway through. Gandrayda stayed with the Space Pirates she'd infiltrated.

Otherwise, the Federation would've notified Samus of their spy on Zebes; Because they wouldn't want her to accidentally kill such a key asset. Plus they'd explain to Samus that the spy will introduce themselves as Gandrayda, since the Space Pirates don't know about her yet, but may suspect a spy; This is to play it safe so Samus knows she can trust whoever she comes across, because communications with the Federation are cut off on Zebes due to Mother Brain's monitoring and ability to intercept (This required Gandrayda to get off-planet to report intel).

But Gandrayda was supposed to be on the Mothership, which Adam was supposed to destroy after she fled through an escape pod, so none of these instructions were required at the time. So after saving Samus, Gandrayda leaves to maintain her cover, not bothering to elaborate on her exact identity. It's only in a future episode, somewhere between the games and before Corruption, that this Space Pirate spy is elaborated on to be a shapeshifting bounty hunter.

Gandrayda ends up playing a key role in saving the galaxy, acting as a turning point for the Federation's victory, much in the same way Samus herself did; Unlike other hunters like Rundas or Ghor (no offense), Gandrayda and Samus were both responsible for key, specific actions that nobody else could've done. And these actions shifted the tide drastically, changed the playing field definitively.

As a result, Gandrayda considers herself just as much the Hero of Zebes as Samus is to the rest of the galaxy; She can literally be the 'Hero of Zebes' herself by turning into Samus. And this helps drive her one-sided rivalry with Samus, especially since... Gandrayda can't take credit the way Samus does.

Not that Samus tries to; But in the end she's recognizable, she's a unique bounty hunter with iconic armor that anyone can see at a distance. She CAN be stealthy but she's also just as capable at blasting her way through an entire planet. Being well-known helps her career, it creates a bogeyman to terrify the Space Pirates, and a symbol of hope for the galaxy that the Federation can always remember if they're out of all other options.

Gandrayda can't be that; She's best suited as a spy, an infiltrator. Someone people don't notice, someone most of the galaxy, and even the Space Pirates, don't know about; So they can't suspect that someone they know they can trust has actually been impersonated by Gandrayda. She's meant to lurk in the shadows, she doesn't go the big and explosive, glamorous work. Her entire gimmick is being unrecognized, what is she without that?

And this feeds into this deep-down inferiority complex and resentment, including towards Samus. Not that she ever externalized it... Until Corruption, when Dark Samus took control and brought out the worst of Gandrayda through Phazon. That was when she actually revealed herself to the Space Pirates, many of whom still feared Gandrayda as secretly fooling their god into believing she was on their side; Not that they'd ever openly doubt Dark Samus' own evaluation of using Gandrayda. And it turned out they had nothing to worry about, alas... But the fear was in a way a form of recognition, validation even, for Gandrayda. She was otherwise a secret even to most of the Federation military, with only the upper echelons knowing of her.

As Samus learned as a child, dull Chozo claws make for excellent back scratchers. I cannot be convinced otherwise.

I tend to go for a middle ground between the two. Someone with scars from injuries that no human being should be able to survive, but also let her care about eyeshadow and lipgloss because it’s just a fun thing she can do to express herself in a busy life of hunting down criminals and super predators. Give her absolutely chiseled abs and towering height, yes, but let her smile with the people and little critters she’s saved along the way. I’m not saying you can’t have your buff, grizzled veteran of many battles with the scars to prove it, but she’s still human, she still needs to live a little. But yes, give her a massive co-

People who draw Samus Aran as a 5 foot nothing girl with an hourglass figure, flawlessly smooth skin, perfectly applied makeup, absolutely no musculature, and a bubbleheaded smile are cowards. That woman has been put through the ringer and should look like it. Give her towering height. Give her absolutely chiseled abs. Give her terrifying scars snaking across her skin. Give her weird feathers and scales covering her body. Give her a scowl that could shatter glass. Give her a massive co-

Kraid-soh

Nerdy the Artist’s Metroid Fanfic Spotlight part 2!

This is something I’ve been needing to do for a hot minute now. As I said last time, there are so many talented writers, artists, and musicians in the Metroid fanbase. The level of creativity and passion for the series is just astounding. Today we will be taking a look at some of the many fanfictions out there. I’ve read these stories myself and can personally attest that they are well worth your time to read. From the cute and fluffy to the grotesque and violent, these stories have earned their place on my recommendations. Without further adue, let’s start this thing.

1. Mostly Just a Power Suit

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17637701

This story, written by Planet_Bryyo, is short and sweet, diving into a fan favorite but rarely explored character of Weavel from Metroid Prime Hunters. In spite of his fan favorite status among the hunters, up there even with Sylux, you’ll be hard pressed to find many fics featuring him. This story shows off his reaction to being transformed into a Non-Zebesian form during his cybernetic reconstruction. The story also spends a great deal of time focusing on the reactions of other Space Pirates seeing this fallen commander, now a lone wolf who is more machine than… man? Alien terminology, ugh. In any case you can see their reactions to this loose cannon in a bar setting. Side tangent, the idea of a Space Pirate bar is actually really unique. We don’t see much of Space Pirates at rest anywhere, so this is actually a welcome touch.

2. Fallen from the Nest

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53675155/chapters/135874063

Going all in on Bounty Hunters this spotlight, I suppose. This story, written by PuriKuma, is much longer than Mostly Just a Power Suit, though still digestible. This is part of a larger series that I do recommend, but I’ll stick to talking about this entry for now. Keeping with the Hunters appreciation, this story depicts a shared mission between Samus and Noxus, the Vhozon Bounty Hunter from the same game as Weavel and Sylux. The mission brief is simple; a criminal organization called the Ashlings, lead by the physically imposing Andron, have taken hostages, including a Federation Senator, to barter in exchange for a precious and expensive ore. Samus is to go after the Ashling secret base while Noxus intercepts the hostages so that the criminals are not rewarded for their efforts. However, what gives Samus pause is the identity of one of their members. From there, the story takes plenty of intriguing twists and turns. The ways in which Samus and Noxus play off each other in this story are extremely entertaining and interesting to watch. It also adds a fair bit to the latter’s character which I have yet to see anywhere else, a sarcastic playfulness in his attitude that bounces well off of Samus’s stoicism. He’s able to taunt and poke fun at the emotional core behind the front that Samus puts on. Their interactions alone would be worth a read, but the plots twists and mysteries involved really take this story to the next level. This story, and the series it’s a part of, are an instant classic for me.

3. A Win

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48254998/chapters/121695439

Sometimes, we all just need a reminder that we’re doing good, that we aren’t a burden, that we are worthy, that our actions have helped people. This story, written by orphan_account, is that for Samus Aran. Taking place after the events of Metroid Dread, Samus is in a bit of a slump after feeling like she’s only seen as a threat or a tool for higher powers. To attempt some soul searching, she journeys to one of the few game settings that is left better than when she arrived; Aether. She wanders through a reinvigorated and rehabilitated world, free from the influence of Dark Aether and Space Pirates, seeing how the world has healed in her time away. Granted, I am not too familiar with Metroid Prime 2, so much of the reader’s catharsis is likely lost on me. Still, even as someone who has little prior knowledge of the past of Aether, this story still is a nice, sentimental journey, with an appearance from some old friends.

4. Hatchling

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29039376/chapters/71275923

Now, back to where it all began. This story, written by MetroidReploid, is a retelling of an old tale we all know, the story of Samus Aran losing everything. This retelling focuses more on Samus’s life as a child, going into detail about the life she lives, so that when the Space Pirates take it all away, we understand what exactly she’s losing. There’s also some further fleshing out of Adam here as well. He shows up as a young, bright Federation Officer with a preexisting connection to Virginia Aran, Samus’s mother, a connection which has strained her relationship with Rodney Aran. Unlike the simple housewife we see in the manga, Virginia is portrayed as a working mom, leading a security firm tasked with guarding K2-L. Rodney, by contrast, is a bitter, angry man who takes his public image, and that of his company, very seriously. It’s a story full of a lot of angst, but it does its job fairly well in terms of adding some reason to why things happen and when.

5. “Sammy”

Link:

Now, if you need a break from all the angst and dreariness, SeleneLawfulGood has you covered! This story is a short and sweet fluff story, featuring a young woman named Thae’Lia finding a tired but very attractive woman at a bar named Sammy. I think we all know the twist so I won’t beat around the bush. It’s really cute (and with some mild lemon toward the end but you didn’t hear that from me) and displays a rarely seen aspect of the series; how do the citizens of the Galactic Federation view Samus Aran? We rarely, if ever, see non-combatant intelligent life in any Metroid game, so we don’t really get much of that. It also gives a view into what the life of a Bounty Hunter is like. It’s a very lonely, tiring existence that, while it pays well when you save the Galaxy, like, 5 times, needs an extra aspect to be fulfilling. For Samus, it’s the moral obligation she feels. It’s a very cute read, and if you need something sweet, this’ll do the job. Also, trans Samus solidarity.

6. Let Me Tell You How Much I’ve Come To Hate You

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45854323

Getting back to Space Pirates, doorstopQuiet has delved into an aspect of the series that even Metroid Prime itself largely glosses over; Ridley’s reconstruction into Meta Ridley. In truth, it was largely not his idea. As the highest ranking survivor of Samus’s rampage on Zebes, Ridley got lobbed with the blame for the cataclysm. The only reason he had survived was a great shame for the Cunning God of Death. He played dead. He let himself sink into Norfair’s magma, slowly burning away his flesh, but at least he had some chance to survive. He was crippled, mangled, burnt to a crisp, but at least she would not kill him. Still, High Command’s punishment, their loathing of the failed god, was almost worse. He would not command armies, he would not have the same autonomy he once did. He would become a machine for their empire, reconstructed as a tool. It’s a great short story, filled with colorful language and allusions to his past to hammer home the gravity of how far he’s sunk. There are also plenty of references and quotations from Man on The Internet’s Ridley theme vocal cover, which I do find entertaining. I find this to be an excellent read, and really reimagines Meta Ridley in Metroid Prime as a fallen god, stripped of his authority, and sent after the one who felled him.

7. Independent Contractors

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40993332?view_adult=true

This story, written by ifThen_doWhile, shows off Samus in a post Fusion Federation, one that has grown far more wary of her. They still have need of her, however, and so an agent of the Federation is sent to hire a Samus who has not been returning digital requests for her services. The agent, named Aiden, is sent in with top of the line weaponry in case things go south, alongside surveillance of the Hunter’s activities. Upon finding her, Aiden is in for a big surprise. This story really hammers home how heart poundingly nerve racking it is to approach the Hunter who has destroyed 3 planets, especially when tensions are running hot. Samus is portrayed as pragmatic but quiet, her demeanor easily misinterpreted as callous indifference, a guise she leans into at times. It’s a very good, suspenseful story that I highly recommend.

8. Metroid: No Other

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59261113

This story, written by @dappercritter , is actually my most recent read. What’s this? An actual Tumblr link? For once, yes. I saw the announcement post on Tumblr that it was out and jumped at the opportunity to read it. It’s quite good, but quite long. Don’t let the 1 chapter limit fool you, you might not finish it in 1 sitting. In any case, No Other starts off with something of a trope among fanfictions; Other M as an in-universe film. I still find it amusing. However, as this story follows on after Dread, Adam comments on Samus not taking care of herself properly, not addressing any of the trauma from ZDR, avoiding social events, and generally withdrawing from the world around her, prompted by an increasing distrust of the Federation, and the Galaxy as a whole. We also see that Samus does not seem to trust Adam, both due to his origin as an AI made to spy on her, and increased by Raven Beak’s mimicry of him. It’s an angle I haven’t seen anywhere else and is a welcome change of pace. In any case, Samus further withdraws from Adam and into what she does best; Bounty Hunting. However, shortly after her arrival to planet Ohma-984, a new threat emerges, intent on bringing out her dark side. Without going into spoilers, the antagonist’s design is absolutely badass, and I might actually draw him some time. The action sequences in this story, likewise, are absolutely brutal and well thought out. There’s a lot of noticeable influences from other franchises like Godzilla, Metal Gear Rising, and Doom that feel well at home in this story and don’t take away from it at all though that may be me simply being a fan of those series. DapperCritter mentioned specifically Shin Kamen Rider, though I’m not a fan of that series, so I can’t attest to how prominent the influence is. Regardless, it’s a thought provoking story with plenty of brutal action packed in as well, plus I love the original character designs, which take from canon while tagging on further additions.

Honorable Mention: Kanden Story Pitch

Link: https://www.tumblr.com/sepublic/759167079922417664/kanden-debut-pitch

I’m putting this as an honorable mention as it is meant as an outline for a story, so it may not scratch the same itch for some people as a fully written out story. This outline, by @sepublic is meant for a hypothetical Metroid animated series, similar to the original Clone Wars series (not THE Clone Wars!) by Genndy Tartakovsky. This one off features another under appreciated Bounty Hunter, Kanden, facing off against Samus over a Metroid which could give him true power unrivaled. It’s an excellent read, though, once again, if you’re looking for something more completed/traditional, I can understand if this doesn’t suck you in as well. However, I am currently working on a storyboard of this story. I won’t be animating it in full, but there will be sound effects, music, and voice acting. So uh… stay tuned for that!

As I said at that start, these stories are great, and really show off the passion these writers have for the series. However, there are plenty more out there. In the comments, share some of your favorite Metroid Fanfictions you’ve read. I can always do with expanding my Metroid reading list and I’m sure some of you feel the same way.

SHE!!! IS!!! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Trans girl N that is all