   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   Nothing beats the passion of a true fan writing about something they love.
   That's what you're about to see here: one of the richest, most amazing
   tributes to a great gaming series that we've ever run on Kotaku. Warning
   #1: this one might make your browser chug, so close your other tabs.
   Warning #2: This piece might make it hurt a little more than there are no
   new Metroid games from Nintendo on the horizon.

   Please note that this is the first half of Mama Robotnik's massive Metroid
   story. The second half can be found here. The entire post is a
   greatly-expanded version of a post that Mama Robotnik originally published
   on the NeoGAF forum before revising and reworking it for Kotaku. Take it
   away, MR...

   Nintendo’s Metroid series tells us of a malevolent and vicious universe.
   It’s a maelstrom in which benevolent races are routinely extinguished, and
   corrupt empires wage war for ownership of living weapons.

   It’s a place in which xenocide is a commissioned service, and grievances
   are resolved with planetary apocalypses. Everything is chaotically
   connected to a dead race of avian prophetic poets fighting a war
   throughout the cosmos. It’s a dark place to visit.

   There are two purposes to this article: to explore the expansive lore of
   the Metroid universe – with speculation to fill in the gaps – and to
   exhibit some extraordinary Metroid-inspired art. All artwork is credited
   to its original source – follow the links to see further works of these
   spectacular artists.

  Notes on Speculation and Lore

   The games tell us much about this hostile universe, but there are a lot of
   unresolved story points. In response to these mysteries, the article will
   provide a healthy amount of speculation. You can consider the piece to be
   either a makeshift timeline illustrated with fan-artwork, or simply an
   enthusiastic attempt to reconcile the series continuity into a cohesive
   whole. The article is informed by the extensive research previously
   performed by its author. The approach taken regarding speculation is thus:
   The logical inclusion of probable events that resolve mysteries, while
   maintaining the themes of the series.

   Before we begin, let’s briefly revisit the five points of essential lore:

     * Metroids are a genetically-engineered species, created by the Chozo in
       the prehistory of the games. By the time the first entry begins,
       Metroid creatures only exist on the planet SR388. At some point long
       before the games, there was also a Metroid presence on the planet
       Phaaze.

   (Metroid IL Return of Samus, Metroid Prime III: Corruption and Metroid
   Fusion)

     * At least some Chozo possessed a native ability to see into the future.

   (Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Prime)

     * The Chozo discovered the living planet Phaaze with their Elysian
       Research Outpost. We are not told what transpired immediately after
       this discovery, but something happened that caused at least one
       Metroid organism to appear on Phaaze. The planet then loaded this
       creature – along with pieces Chozo-style powersuit armour, into a
       Phazon seed and launched it towards a heavily populated Chozo planet.
       This seed impacted Tallon IV and is contained by the Chozo within an
       impenetrable shield. The mutated superevolved Metroid creature within
       – clad in crafted power armour – is trapped in the shield until Samus
       Aran deactivated it thousands of years later.

   (Metroid Prime EU release, Metroid Prime III: Corruption and Metroid Prime
   Trilogy)

     * There are living planets in the Metroid Universe. Phaaze is explicitly
       referred to as being alive, and could interact with a sentient mind –
       as shown when a Galactic Federation Aurora Unit is implanted. The
       planet SR388 could be interpreted as having some form of sentience –
       it shook with apparent anger when its creatures were killed by Samus
       Aran, and precisely manipulated its oceans to lure the bounty hunter
       into hostile situations. (Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid
       Prime III: Corruption). The immediate backstory to the first game in
       the series is the discovery of the planet SR388. The final event of
       the final game in the chronology is the final destruction of SR388.

   (Metroid, Metroid II: Return of Samus)

  Referencing

   Each story section includes one or more of the below superscript
   annotations, to help inform the reader as to where the lore or speculation
   comes from. A brief key:

   With all that said, let us begin.

Part One: The Wars in Heaven

  The Living Planet

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   On an unknown planet in the universe, a race of avian humanoids evolved.
   The species that will come to be known as the Chozo possessed great
   strength, agility and intelligence. The species is peaceful, and is driven
   by a social/religious value that nature is sacred. [M1 / MP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   Certain blessed individuals were born with a unique gift – the vague
   comprehension of events set to take place in the distant future. Driven by
   these prophecies, the race advanced quickly and became space faring. With
   abstract predictions of a hostile universe, the Chozo developed powered
   armour and armaments to defend themselves. Prepared for whatever hostility
   awaited them, the Chozo explored the stars. [M1 / MP / MP SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Elearia)

   The Chozo discovered that – despite their prophets’ visions of a chaotic
   and warring universe – the cosmos was enjoying a prolonged period of peace
   and enlightenment. First contact was made with a number of old and wise
   races, such as the Ylla, the N’kren, the Bryyonians, the Alimbic and the
   Luminoth. The species shared their cultures and technology, and gently
   colonised wild worlds such as Aether, Elysia, and Tallon IV. [MP / MPH /
   MP2 / MP3]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Slapshoft)

   Peace reigned through the cosmos. The alliance was a great universal
   renaissance, and lasted for a millennium. [MPH SP / MP2 SP / MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   During this calm, the Chozo prophets continued to receive increasingly
   severe visions of chaos. They foresaw a universe consumed by war, horrors
   evolving on distant worlds, and a great toxicity waiting to be unleashed.
   As the visions became more precise, the species isolated itself from its
   allies. The Chozo civilisation became intensely driven to fight this
   unclear threat. [MP / MP3 SP / M2 SP /MF SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: DanilLovesFood)

   The Chozo needed more potent tools to locate this unseen and distant
   danger. They expanded their SkyTown colony on the gas giant Elysia and
   remade it into a vast interstellar observatory powered by the planet’s
   endless storms. The facility was of such scale that an entire species of
   artificial life became necessary to maintain it. The Chozo created their
   first species – the mechanical Elysians. [MP3 / MP3 SP]

   Probes were launched across the universe, and the Elysians and Chozo
   scrutinised the data. The search took generations, while the planet’s
   tempestuous atmosphere battered SkyTown, weathering the station faster
   than the Elysians could maintain it. After countless probe launches, a
   partial transmission received from a decaying and distant satellite set
   prophecy in motion. [MP3]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Mechanical-Hand)

   The data received was terrifying. The blue planet registered as an
   organism, somehow existing as both mineral and flesh. Impossible radiation
   pulsed from the surface, which overwhelmed the Chozo satellite and
   rendered it inert. The location of the planet was immediately lost, and
   only a broad region of space could be established. [MP3]

   With this find, the Chozo purpose on SkyTown was fulfilled. The race
   departed the facility, leaving the Elysians to continue their monitoring
   of the stars. The abandoned race of robots continued to launch satellites
   to try and rediscover the blue world, hopeful that such a discovery would
   herald the return of their Chozo creators. The Elysians searched
   unsuccessfully until Elysia’s endless storms eroded their civilisation
   into a rusted remnant. [MP3]

   The Chozo reconciled their vague discovery of a blue living planet with
   their prophecies of toxicity. On this distant world of poison, could
   creatures have evolved so vicious that they endangered the universe? [MP3
   SP]

  The Invasion of Phaaze

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   Finding the exact location of the deadly planet becomes a priority for the
   Chozo civilisation. A gargantuan ship was assembled on the holy planet of
   Tallon IV, and dispatched to the dark corner of the universe where the
   Elysian satellite had been lost. The greatest Chozo warriors, scientists
   and prophets commenced a crusade for the hostile world, knowing that they
   would likely never make it back home. During their long journey, they
   conceive a name for their target: Phaaze. [MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: SesakaTH)

   Generations passed, and the Chozo expedition finally located the blue
   planet. As they approached, they witnessed the living world as it
   endlessly pulsed with blue and white energies. There was nothing like this
   place elsewhere in the universe. [MP3 SP]

   Their scans confirmed their worst fears – this atmosphere was a bath of
   radiation and mutation – and evolution had produced horrors. [MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: SamusMMX)

   For billions of years, Phaaze had mutated and irradiated life that evolved
   on its surface. The strongest creatures had survived to thrive in an
   ecosystem of beautiful poison. It was then that the Chozo understood: They
   had arrived at the home of the most devastating and deranged creatures in
   the known universe. [MP3 SP]

   If these monsters were to escape their containment on Phaaze, they would
   voraciously consume their way through the cosmos. With younger races only
   centuries away from space travel, the Chozo could not risk them finding
   this world and releasing its terrors. [MP3 SP]

   The Chozo expedition came to an impasse. The threat of Phaaze’s
   superpredators had to be neutralised, but severe action against the planet
   would be sacrilege. The Chozo held life sacred, and refused to destroy the
   unique living world. [MP3 SP]

   A dangerous plan was agreed upon. The expedition ship landed on Phaaze,
   exposing the crew to tremendous radiation. [MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Adoublea)

   Chozo Warriors in power suits fought the planet’s creatures as they
   swarmed the ship. The soldiers battled, watching their kin die around
   them, in a desperate mission to buy time. [MP3 SP]

   The scientists within the ship began to harness the intense radiation
   around them, to try and engineer an artificial predator that could
   neutralise the planet’s superpredators. With access to the unique Phazon
   mutagen that covered the poisonous world, genetic engineering that should
   have taken decades was done in days. The Chozo engineered the first
   Metroid. [MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Methuselah3000)

   The Metroid creature was unleashed onto the planet, and the radiation
   caused it to reproduce quickly. The resulting swarm of Metroids began to
   consume the planet’s monstrosities and established themselves as Phaaze’s
   apex predator. [MP3 SP]

   The Chozo mission was complete. The worst creatures were being hunted to
   extinction, and the Metroids were expected to die from starvation soon
   after. The cost had been enormous – most of the crew had been killed
   defending the ship, and the survivors were deathly ill from radiation
   poisoning. The burnt and damaged ship took off for the long journey home,
   but the crew soon succumbed to the radiation they had endured. The
   autopilot took the ship of Chozo bodies home. [MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   On Phaaze, the Metroid presence lasted decades as they consumed the
   planet’s superpredators. The corpses of Chozo warriors were absorbed into
   the planet, and their battle armour slowly became weathered and scattered.
   The planet’s slow sentience developed an outrage that seethed under its
   continents. It had been violated by the Chozo. As the Metroid infestation
   began to die out, Phaaze developed a very primitive concept of purpose and
   retribution. [MP3 SP]

   Phaaze established a vague awareness of concepts it had absorbed from the
   brains of the Chozo warrior corpses – and the location of two worlds from
   the Chozo’s memories. As the planet entered its reproductive cycle, it
   purposely directed two of its seeds towards the planets Tallon IV and
   Aether. In the seed sent to the Chozo world, Phaaze included one of the
   last surviving Metroid creatures and some ruined pieces of Chozo armour,
   intended as a reminder of the crime Phaaze had endured at their hands. The
   planet sent its second seed to Aether, as the absorbed memories informed
   the living planet that its inhabitants were friends of the Chozo, and
   therefore the enemies of Phaaze. [MP 1 / MP 2 SP / MP3 SP]

   The expedition ship – heavily damaged by radiation and lack of maintenance
   – was guided back to civilisation by an increasingly erratic auto-pilot.
   After decades it eventually approached the Chozo world of Zebes, and
   crash-landed onto its surface. The Chozo civilisation attempted to recover
   data logs from the wreckage with very limited success – they were able to
   understand the sacrifice that the heroic crew had made, and confirmed the
   apparent success of the Metroids in neutralising the creatures on the
   living planet. The Chozo authorities were unable to establish the location
   of Phaaze, or recover much in the way of scientific data concerning it.
   [MP3 SP / SM SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Methuselah3000)

   As the Tallon IV seed began its centuries of travelling through space, the
   lone Metroid within absorbed vast amounts of Phazon and radiation. It
   became self-aware, and grew in size, intelligence and strength. It used
   the ruined pieces of Chozo armour to construct itself an exoskeleton, and
   descended into madness. The exoskeleton failed to protect the creature
   from the endless radiation, and the Metroid became as exotic as Phaaze’s
   extinct superpredators: An undying tortured genius. [MP / MP2 / MP3 / MP3
   SP]

   The creature that would come to be known as Metroid Prime resented Phaaze
   for imprisoning it in the Leviathan. It resented the Chozo for creating
   and discarding the Metroids. It decided that it would survive, bring order
   to the chaotic universe that birthed it, and somehow enslave Phaaze to its
   will. In its solitude, immortal as a consequence of its mutations, Metroid
   Prime plotted its revenge against the universe. [MP / MP2 / MP3 / MP3 SP]

  The Dark Planet

   With a clear understanding of the danger of living planets, the Chozo
   authority commenced a search for similar threats. With far more advanced
   technology than their ancestors had during the Elysian era, the Chozo were
   unfortunate enough to find a planet of even greater horrors. [MP 3 SP /
   M2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: PeaceFistArtist)

   The Chozo detected strange readings coming from a world in a desolate part
   of the galaxy. The planet had been previously considered so obscure and
   unimportant that it didn’t have a name, merely catalogued with the
   codename SR388 and left to its obscurity. A detailed analysis picked up
   some extremely strange observations; though seemingly mineral, the caverns
   and liquids beneath the surface shifted with metabolic rhythm – as if the
   whole planet was somehow a living thing. A ship was dispatched, and the
   strongest Chozo warriors braved the caverns beneath the surface. [M2 / M2
   SP]

   Few made it back. They told of a cauldron of evil, an environment so
   hostile and vicious that it had birthed the most terrible things. [M2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: LightningArts)

   Beneath that planet, evolution had been won by an abomination that could
   steal the flesh, abilities, memories and strengths of all of its prey. The
   creature was a fusion of energy and plasma that parasitized on life
   itself. With no word suitable for the nightmare they had discovered, the
   Chozo simply called it X. If these X-Parasites somehow gained access to
   the wider universe, there would be no force that could contain them. [M2]

   The threat had to be dealt with. Remembering the apparent success of the
   Chozo expedition to Phaaze, a plan was put into action. The Chozo
   assembled their best and brightest, their strongest and wisest. They
   carved their way into SR388, and dispatched mechanical creatures to
   construct secure facilities. Robots and Chozo warriors repressed all
   instances of the X-Parasite as they found them, but casualties were high.
   The planet appeared to fight the Chozo at every turn, it drowned the
   invaders in acid and unleashed ambushes of creatures. The endless swam of
   X-Parasites gained strength from the corpses around them. [MP3 SP / M2]

   Deep in the planet, a glass laboratory was created, its walls highly
   resistant to SR388’s acid belly. Here, in dangerous proximity to the
   X-Parasites, the Chozo scientists began their work. [M2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   The Chozo tried to recreate the plan of their ancestors – the use of
   Metroids to pacify superpredators too dangerous to exist. Without access
   to the same planetary radiation and materials the Phaaze expedition had,
   progress was slow. As the war against the planet was raging around them,
   the Chozo scientists were able to engineer Metroids, but not a variant
   strong enough to overcome the X-Parasites. As more and more Chozo died
   protecting the laboratory, a different approach was needed. [M2 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Starshadow76)

   The Chozo succeeded in engineering a Metroid Queen, a colossal creature
   who would lay Metroid Hatchling eggs. When hatched, these resulting
   Metroids were strong and durable creatures, and finally potent enough to
   combat the X menace. The Chozo knew that to completely suppress the
   parasites, the Metroid presence on SR388 had to be permanent. To ensure
   that the species would not overfeed on the environment and wipe out its
   food chains, the scientists hardwired an instinct into the Metroid Queen’s
   feral mind: Only thirty-nine Metroids were to exist on the planet at any
   one time. This, it was hoped, would keep their numbers high enough to
   destroy any X re-emergence, but low enough so that they wouldn’t consume
   the rest of the life on the planet, and starve to death from lack of food.
   [M2]

   The scientists assembled a payload of Hatchling Eggs and the surviving
   Chozo warriors distributed them across the planet. The eggs hatched
   quickly, and the X-Parasites were immediately overwhelmed by the infant
   Metroids. The X-Parasites were quickly hunted to near-extinction, with
   only a few surviving cells entering a state of suspension deep in the
   planet. [M2 SP / MF]

   The Chozo had won their war, but only just. Most of the warriors and
   scientists had not survived, and those that were left had to make sure
   that the X-Parasites had been permanently suppressed. The planet shook
   with tremors; the earth shifted and acid poured, as if the world was
   trying to crush the Chozo in their glass laboratory. [M2 SP]

   The X-Parasites did not return, and the Metroid Queen continued to scream
   as her glass prison shook. The Chozo didn’t realise it, but her despair
   was being heard. [M2 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Hermax669)

   SR388 had been violated by the Chozo. Though very different to Phaaze,
   SR388 had its own vague sense of awareness. It perceived the Chozo as a
   viral infection, and the dead X-Parasites as part of itself. It understood
   loss, and shook with ancient rage. [MP3 SP / M2 SP / MF SP]

   It changed itself to change the Metroids. It adopted them to replace the
   X-Parasites, and quickly killed the weaker breeds. It moved its
   radioactive minerals closer to their eggs and soon mutated the species. As
   SR388 had done with X, it did with the Metroids. It made them strong. [M2
   SP / MF SP]

   Alpha, Gamma, Zeta and Omega Metroids spawned quickly, and responded to
   the screams of their Queen. With their bulk and strength, they smashed
   through the glass laboratory and slaughtered their Chozo creators. The
   Chozo warriors were hunted down and crushed. [M2]

   SR388 developed into a new cauldron of hostility. The Metroids served as
   the apex predator, and the robots of the Chozo decayed into machine
   madness and prowled the ruins, killing on sight. The Chozo mission to
   suppress the X-Parasite had been a success, but the planet had gained its
   revenge. [M2 / M2 SP / MF]

Part Two: The End of the Renaissance

  The Holy World

   The Chozo had devastated two planets for the good of the universe, and
   sustained many causalities. The superpredators of Phaaze were extinct and
   the X-Parasites were permanently suppressed. With the crisis over, the
   race became consumed with a collective sense of guilt over their necessary
   actions. The Chozo believed the life of the universe to be sacred, and had
   to reconcile their aggressive actions with their faith. [MP SP / MP3 SP /
   M2 / MF]

   Worse still, their prophets continued to have visions of endless conflict
   and death. War was coming to the universe, and it seemed that their sins
   had not saved them. Many began to doubt these visions, and a schism
   occurred. [MP/ MP3 SP]

   The bulk of the Chozo civilisation retired themselves from galactic
   affairs, leaving only a few scattered colonies amongst the stars. The race
   retreated to the holy planet of Tallon IV, to shun their technologies and
   begin simpler, poetic lives. These Chozo reconnected themselves to the
   natural world and tried to find a harmony with it. As time went on, the
   most potent prophets became manic, and tried to warn their fellows of a
   great poison that was to come. [M1 / MP]

   These visions were met with increasing dismissal, but the day finally came
   when the prophets were believed. After eons swimming in the stars,
   Phaaze’s seed entered the Tallon system. [MP / MP3]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Hameed)

   The Leviathan crashed down, and rained poison and death unto the world.
   The impact survivors watched as their sacred nature succumbed to the
   mutagens leaking from the seed, and barricaded themselves in their temples
   as the flora and fauna transformed. Phazon spread beneath the surface of
   the dying planet, and radiation storms battered the surface. [MP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Source: Riivka)

   The Chozos’ punishment for their sins, and the fulfilment of Phaaze’s
   wrath, reached biblical proportions. The Chozo of Tallon IV did not get to
   rest in peace. Their life energies suffered from Phazon disruption, and
   upon death they became mad ghosts who screamed forever as they were torn
   in and out of the material world. In this purgatory, the undead immaterial
   Chozo murdered anyone they could find. [MP / MP3 SP]

   As their numbers dwindled, the last of the Chozo constructed a great
   temple above the impact crater. Within this temple, they used what little
   technology remained to project an energy field around the Leviathan to
   slow the spread of contagion. As the Chozo civilisation on Tallon IV was
   extinguished, their dying prophets told of a hero who would one day
   emerge, to enter the crater and defeat the evil worm within. [MP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Source: Havoc-DM)

   Within the Impact Crater, Metroid Prime remained trapped within the Chozo
   energy field. In its armour constructed from ancient Chozo power suits, it
   continued its wait to be unleashed on the universe. [MP / MP3 SP]

  Dark Echoes

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   On the planet Aether, an ancient race of mystics known as the Luminoth
   received the horrifying data coming from Tallon IV. In distant times, the
   Luminoth and the Chozo had been steadfast allies – until the Chozo retreat
   ended their ties. Desperate to assist, the Luminoth began to organise a
   rescue mission. [MP2 / MP2 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: PugOfDoon)

   A dark transmission was received from Tallon IV. The image showed a
   screaming, ghostly Chozo figure, flickering in and out of the living
   universe. In its undead madness, it spoke for its kin. It raged that they
   would kill anyone who would set foot on their world. The planet was
   pandemonium, a cursed world on which the dead could not die. As the signal
   faded, the Luminoth realised that there was no one left alive to rescue.
   [MP SP / MP2 SP]

   The Luminoth were receiving strange readings from the devastated planet. A
   mutagen was spreading, unlike anything they had ever encountered. They
   scanned the stars for its source, and made a devastating discovery – a
   mass of the same mutagen was on a collision course with Aether. Phaaze’s
   second seed had nearly arrived at its destination. [MP2 SP / MP3 SP]

   The people of Aether turned to their technology to save them. Their planet
   had no native star of its own, and had been implanted millennia ago with a
   complex energy network that sustained all life. This system was reverently
   called the Light of Aether, and harnessed the light of the universe in its
   mechanism. The Luminoth realised that even with this great power, they
   could not destroy the Phazon Leviathan. A different approach was needed.
   [MP2 / MP2 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: SesaKath)

   The Luminoth used their great Light to engineer a small pocket universe, a
   dark lifeless echo of existence. The plan was bold: they would use the
   Light of Aether to surgically open the fabric of reality in the path of
   the Phazon seed, and allow it to harmlessly enter the pocket universe. If
   all went well, they would be saved. [MP2 SP]

   The day came, and the Leviathan entered Aether’s atmosphere. The Luminoth
   commenced their great plan. [MP2 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Adriencgd)

   Phaaze’s seed was a sum of living materials beyond Luminoth comprehension.
   It hit the pocket universe with incalculable force, and a tsunami of
   exotic energy ruptured space and time. The equipment containing the dark
   reality lost containment within moments, and the Luminoth were helpless as
   their creation expanded across the entire planet. A wave of dark energy
   absorbed creatures, structures and land into the dark universe, and what
   was once a single planet – was now two. [MP2 / MP2 SP]

   The Luminoth surveyed the devastation. The Phazon seed was gone – it had
   indeed collided with the dark universe. Entire continents, with millions
   of inhabitants, had vanished with it. [MP2 / MP2 SP

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: AzureParagon)

   In the dark universe, a grotesque world was being born. Previous
   inhabitants of Aether, having been absorbed when containment of the pocket
   universe was lost, found themselves twisted by the corrosive new reality
   around them. Most perished, and their flesh fed the strange carnivorous
   fungi that glowed sickly colours. Some survivors were mutated by the
   Phazon slowly spreading beneath the surface, and adapted to survive in the
   hostility. [MP2 SP]

   Aether and its echo, the Phazon-infested Dark Aether, existed in
   synchronicity. As the Luminoth tried to rebuild their planet, it took only
   decades for cracks to form in the ether separating the two realities. As
   rips in the universe shattered open, Aether became a battlefield. [MP2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Xxkiragaxx)

   A womb of Phazon mutation and dark energies had birthed a cunning and
   ferocious horde. The Ing erupted through the cracks between the two
   worlds, and commenced slaughter. They were fought back by the Luminoth,
   and a war began between the two parallel worlds. The Ing invaded Aether
   with regularity, and killed, pillaged and destroyed all that they could
   find. The Luminoth retaliated and crusaded into Dark Aether in their Light
   Suits, on suicide missions to exterminate the source of the Ing menace.
   Both sides suffered colossal casualties as the decades went on. [MP2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   The war was being lost by the Luminoth. The Ing had exterminated most of
   their race and had stolen too many vital technologies. With the theft of
   essential energy components from the Light of Aether power network, they
   had become a defeated people. [MP2]

   The Ing had destroyed all of Aether’s ancient ships, and condemned the
   Luminoth to no escape from their doomed world. With no other choice, the
   survivors sealed themselves in an inner sanctum, and entered a state of
   suspended animation. One custodian, U-Mos, volunteered to be their
   guardian. As Aether became weaker and weaker, the Luminoth waited for
   someone to save them. They would wait a very long time. [MP2]

  The Sacrifice of the Alimbics

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Kihunter)

   As the Chozo and the Luminoth fell, so too did other ancient races. In a
   distant part of the universe, the Alimbics were a militaristic society
   that maintained peace in their galactic cluster. Their order was shattered
   when a murderous entity, originating from someplace beyond the understood
   universe, plummeted into one of their worlds. The creature emerged from
   the devastation as a gaseous entity, and assumed an Alimbic-styled body to
   begin its onslaught. [MPH]

   This alien juggernaut was named Gorea by the Alimbic race, and they soon
   understood it brought only death. Gorea killed every Alimbic it could
   find, and destroyed everything in its path. Planet after planet fell to
   Gorea, and the Alimbics realised the creature would never stop. [MPH]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Sesakath)

   The Alimbics performed an act of supreme sacrifice. They combined the
   mental energies of their entire race to forge a prison for Gorea. The
   psychic prison held it bound, and it was transplanted into an organic
   vessel called The Oubliette. The vessel was launched into the void outside
   of the universe, a course that would keep its indestructible prisoner in
   exile forever. The systems of the prison ship were tasked to scan the
   every molecule of the imprisoned Gorea, and devise an Omega weapon that
   could be used to kill it. [MPH / MPH SP]

   The mental energies expelled in this plan consumed the physical bodies of
   the entire Alimbic race. They vanished from the universe in an instant.
   Their sacrifice protected all life in the cosmos from Gorea’s murderous
   rampage. [MPH]

  The War of Bryyo

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Sesakath)

   As the old races of the universe died around them, the lizard people of
   Bryyo faced their own challenges. The Bryyonians were an advanced,
   space-faring race who had learned much from their Chozo allies. Their
   society was a deeply polarised one, with tensions eternal between the
   scientific and religious factions.[MP3]

   Over the previous centuries, the scientific agenda had dominated, with
   space travel proving beneficial and enlightening. As the Chozo, Luminoth
   and Alimbics faced extinction, the religious Bryyonians believed more than
   ever that the universe was a hostile place, and became desperate to stop
   their scientific counterparts. [MP3]

   A great war exploded across Bryyo. By its end, the scholars had been wiped
   out and the survivors of both sides had regressed to a feral existence.
   The race devolved into animals, wandering around ruins that they no longer
   understood. Language vanished and strength ruled. Anyone who landed on
   Bryyo was meat, to be killed and eaten. [MP3]

  The Little Rainy Planet

   The onslaught of vengeances, conquerors, poisons and politics destroyed
   the old races. The Alimbics had lost their flesh, while the Bryyonians had
   lost their souls. The Luminoth had retreated into stasis, and the Chozo of
   Tallon IV had been condemned to a living death. [MP / MPH / MP2 / MP3]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Kaiquesilva)

   On a small, rainy planet called Zebes, the last known Chozo colony had
   watched the stars with impotence. This small settlement of the
   nearly-extinct avian race witnessed the end of the great universal
   renaissance, and the slow beginning of a new chapter in galactic history.
   Gradually, the younger races were launching their first satellites into
   space. In time, new empires would rise to take the place of the old. [M1 /
   M1 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: 3ihard)

   Zebes prophets’ saw the visions the Chozo had always endured: great wars,
   spreading poison and death. And suddenly, something bold was foreseen. [M1
   SP / MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Fddt)

   A great hunter, clad in orange, red and green. The Chozo glimpsed a future
   hero, alone in the darkness beneath worlds, fighting so that good could
   survive evil. They saw her curing poisoned planets, and ending galactic
   wars. They saw the universe’s one chance to survive its apocalyptic
   future. They saw the only one who could defy prophecy. [M1 / MP3 SP]

   And they saw her wearing Chozo armour. [M1]

Part Three: The New Empires

  The Humans

   On the planet Earth, the human race had finally developed a ship capable
   of leaving their solar system. A brave crew ventured into the universe to
   learn whether life existed elsewhere. Their discoveries fundamentally
   changed the human condition. On planet after planet, they found ruined
   tombs and cities, guarded by weathered statues of dead races. Most
   significant of all, they found technology. [M1 SP]

   The humans reverse engineered their salvage, and advanced with pace.
   Within another century, faster-than-light ships explored the stars, and
   colonies transformed hostile worlds into homes. Peaceful relations formed
   between other younger races, and a great Galactic Federation was founded.
   [M1 SP]

  The Space Pirates

   In a less hospitable region of space, a cabal of battered races joined
   their forces to survive. On planets where acid rain burned flesh and magma
   flowed, the alliance expanded into a hardened space empire. They ventured
   into nearby systems and took what they needed from anyone they could
   reach. They found the ruins of the old races and ransacked the ancient
   technologies within. They immersed themselves in science and unlocked the
   secrets of their finds. Within decades, they had advanced their spread
   with stronger and faster ships. The creatures enhanced themselves,
   rewriting their genetics and integrating mechanisms beneath their flesh.
   They were unique: a cybernetic race of furious murderers with a skill for
   patient scientific process. As more planets were invaded, their conquered
   civilisations were conscripted by force. [M1 SP / MP / MP3]

   The inevitable moment came when their Empire reached the borders of the
   vast Galactic Federation. [M1 SP / MP / MP3]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Mr-Corr)

   First contact was brief and furious. On that day, the warning went out to
   all the worlds of the Federation: Beware the Space Pirates. Though no
   state of war was officially declared, the empires attacked each other on
   sight. The Galactic Federation was large enough to repress any meaningful
   incursions into their space. [M1 SP / MP SP / MP3 SP / SM SP]

  The Massacre of Two Families

   The Galactic Federation discovered the last Chozo Colony on Zebes. The
   tired, ancient avians welcomed the humans and shared with them wisdom and
   knowledge. They offered the Galactic Federation new sciences, and taught
   them how to make organic computers. The Federation studied the Chozo’s own
   central processing unit, an engineered brain that mothered over their
   colony, and left with plans to assemble their own variants. On the nearest
   habitable planet of K-2L, a colony was established. [M1 / MP3 SP]

   On this world, the human Samus Aran was born. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Methuselah3000)

   Barely out of infancy, the young Samus witnessed her family die. A Space
   Pirate raiding party overwhelmed her colony and murdered everyone she ever
   knew. By staying silent while surrounded by horror, Samus survived as the
   Pirates ransacked the settlement and left. [M1]

   The Chozo colony on Zebes received K-2L’s automated distress signal. In an
   ancient dusty ship, they reached the planet and found Samus to be the only
   survivor of the massacre. The child was brought to Zebes, and the Chozo
   deliberated. Should she be returned to her own kind, or allowed to stay?
   [M1]

   Across the colony, the Prophets experienced a simultaneous moment of
   clarity. They understood immediately that they had found their prophesised
   hero. The young girl was their inheritor, and would grow strong. She would
   learn all she could from them, and take their strongest technologies into
   the universe. She would be the hero against the oncoming storm. [M1 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: R3dFiVe)

   Samus Aran reached maturity amongst the Chozo. She was trained in the
   combat arts of the great extinct races. She was infused with Chozo genetic
   material so she could employ their technologies. She was educated to be a
   scientist, an explorer, and a tactician. Everything that was good about
   the Chozo civilisation was allowed to live on in Samus. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Pyra)

   Samus became an adult, and the Chozo presented her with their greatest
   works: a toughened power suit and an agile spacecraft, both more potent
   than anything their race had ever made. The Chozo leader, decaying and
   blind, told Samus it was time for her to find her destiny in the universe.
   Samus Aran departed for the stars, and years pass. [M1 / M1 SP]

   As Samus tried to reconnect with her heritage on Earth, the last Chozo
   prophets on Zebes received a final vision: The Space Pirates were coming
   for them. It was time for the last Chozo to be extinguished from the
   universe. [M1 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Phobos-Romulus)

   The Chozo hid their technologies throughout the planet, in places that
   they were certain Samus would find them. They concealed a second Power
   Suit within the walls of their holy temple, having foreseen that Samus may
   require it in the future. They then returned to the surface to await the
   inevitable. [M1 SP]

   The Space Pirates invaded in force, and murdered Samus Aran’s second
   family. The Chozo became extinct. [M1 / MP SP]

  The Mother Brain

   Space Pirate scientists arrived shortly after the carnage and focused
   their attention on the legendary Chozo organic central processing unit.
   They rewrote its benign programming and injected stimulants into its
   flesh. They enabled it to form an artificial intelligence obsessed with
   strategy and conquest. They drove its computational potential towards
   absolute advancement of the Space Pirate Empire. [M1 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Jaagup)

   The results went beyond High Command’s most optimistic projections. The
   Space Pirates had created a leader, a desperately needed figure to unite
   their fragmented empire. They had created their Mother Brain. The great
   Space Pirate generals Ridley and Kraid arrived at Zebes, ready to pay
   tribute to their new master and to plan for the future. Mother Brain
   delivered to the Space Pirates knowledge and power. She told them of a
   world referenced in her oldest Chozo databanks, a planet bathed in a
   mutagenic poison waiting to be farmed. She instructed High Command to
   prepare an armada of ships and invade the planet Tallon IV. [M1 / MP SP]

   The order was followed immediately, and the High Command discovered a
   world deranged by contagion. Beneath its surface, endless pools of Phazon
   waited to be weaponised, and a great mining operation began. Mother Brain
   received data from their readings on the planet; even after thousands of
   years, the source of the Phazon was still contained in the Chozo force
   field. She scrutinised her records further, and was unable to ascertain
   any method of breaching the barrier. The Space Pirates could retrieve the
   Phazon, but were denied access to its source. [MP]

  The Metroids

   A perfect storm brewed. As the Space Pirates gained access to the most
   potent mutagen in the universe, the Galactic Federation made an equally
   eventful discovery: They found the dark planet SR388. [M1 / M2]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Fireborn Form)

   A Galactic Federation survey team studied the surface, and soon
   encountered a gelatinous creature that swam through air. The alien defied
   gravity and physics as it phased through dense rock with ease. It
   perceived the survey team, and made a few curious chirps in their
   direction. It then suddenly changed temperament, aggressively charging to
   latch itself onto the skull of one of the party. The victim died in agony
   as the Metroid fed on all the energy within, and could not be removed
   until its prey had been reduced to a dried husk of collapsing matter. The
   young Metroid had just killed, in a way that science could not explain.
   [M1 SP / M2 SP]

   With effort and casualties, the scientists contained a few infant
   specimens of the Metroid creatures, and left the planet without further
   incident. [M1]

   As their vessel went back to the stars, SR388 was aware their withdrawal.
   It harboured a great contempt for the invaders, an endless hate fuelled by
   the impotence it endured centuries ago when the Chozo had committed their
   great invasion. The living planet had spent centuries honing the Metroids
   into perfect killers, and knew the devastation they could cause upon
   maturity. The planet had intentionally allowed the humans to take a few
   Metroids away so that the creatures could grow up and kill anyone out
   amongst the stars who ever thought of returning. SR388 took any
   opportunity to gain revenge against an outside universe that refused to
   leave it alone. [M2 SP]

   As the scientists began to broadcast their findings back to the Galactic
   Federation, Mother Brain intercepted the transmission. She
   cross-referenced their data with notes buried in the Chozo’s ancient
   fragmented records. She deduced that the Metroids were a form of
   genetically engineered predator of incredible power, created by the Chozo
   for an unknown purpose. Mother Brain ordered High Command to get the
   creatures to her by any means necessary. [M1 SP]

   The Space Pirates overran the Galactic Federation vessel and stole the
   Metroid creatures. They divided their prize: some were sent to their
   nearest Homeworld; others were sent to the Tallon IV outpost; and the most
   potent were delivered straight to Zebes for the experiments of Mother
   Brain. [M1 / MP / MP3]

   With the arrival of the first Phazon samples from Tallon IV, the exotic
   substance allowed the Space Pirates to slowly produce stable cloned
   Metroids across their breeding sites. [M1 SP / MP SP]

  The Revenge of Samus Aran

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Ojanpohja)

   In her first mission as a Bounty Hunter, Samus Arran was commissioned by
   the Galactic Federation to neutralise the stolen Metroids. Through careful
   investigation, Samus discovered that the Pirates are operating from Zebes
   – her home. She concluded that the Space Pirates had murdered her second
   family, as they had done with her first. They have took from her everyone
   she ever loved, and destroyed her two worlds. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Stuart Hughe)

   Samus stormed Zebes and killed everyone in her path. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Immarart)

   As her defences were breached, Mother Brain unleashed the great generals
   Ridley and Kraid. Both were killled, and, desperate to stop the intruder,
   Mother Brain released the Metroids. Samus Aran exterminated the creatures,
   and invaded the inner sanctum. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Twigs)

   Samus confronted the malevolent Mother Brain and blasted apart her body. A
   power overload was caused, and the Tourian facility shook itself apart.
   Samus evacuated to her ship and tried to leave Zebes, but a Space Pirate
   battleship in orbit registered her ascent and opened fire. Samus’ gunship
   plummeted back towards the Zebes and impacted Chozodia, her former home.
   [M1]

   Extremely lucky to be alive, Samus crawled out of the remains of her
   destroyed power suit, and fled as Space Pirate forces stormed the area.
   Samus hid, crawled and ran to find sanctuary in the deepest part of the
   Chozo’s most revered temple. [M1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Eyes5)

   Samus found herself surrounded with murals of the dead Chozo, and accepted
   she was alone in the universe. Overcoming despair, she solved the trials
   of the Chozodian temple and a concealed power suit was revealed to her.
   This shining armour was even more potent than the one she had just lost,
   and was able to integrate the most exotic Chozo technologies. Samus
   realised the greater meaning of her find; the Chozo had left her gifts for
   her in places they had foreseen she would traverse. Her adopted family
   continued to protect her long after their deaths, and she would find their
   statues cradling survival equipment in the darkest corners of the cosmos.
   [M1 / MP / MP3 / M2 / SM]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Imachinivid)

   With her new armaments, Samus cleansed the Space Pirate presence from
   Zebes. She came to be known as “The Hunter”, and the Space Pirates learned
   that they will always be hunted down for what they did to her families.
   They fled the planet in terror. [M1 / MP / MP2 / MP3]

  Tallon IV

   As years passed, Samus Aran accepted further missions from the Galactic
   Federation. The bounty earned funded her personal vendetta against the
   Space Pirates. She improved her armaments, paid for black market
   information and stormed their outposts. Samus showed her enemies no mercy,
   and became the feared nemesis of their entire civilisation. With the
   income from her Federation services, Samus had soon amassed enough money
   to buy the most secret information regarding the Space Pirates: the
   coordinates of their stronghold on an old forgotten planet called Tallon
   IV. [MP1 SP]

   Samus guided her ship into the Tallon system and investigated an orbiting
   space station. She discovered a failed genetic engineering facility whose
   Space Pirate crew was murdered when they lost control of their own
   creations. Samus fought her way through the ferocious beasts scattered
   within, and discovered a half-insane cyborg recreation of the Space Pirate
   general Ridley. As the station began to collapse, the biomechanical dragon
   fled to the world below, and Samus pursued. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Lightningarts)

   Samus lost Ridley in the planet’s stormy atmosphere, and elected to land
   in a nearby jungle to conceal her presence from the Pirate ground forces.
   Exploring the surroundings, Samus discovered that the planet was once home
   to the bulk of the extinct Chozo civilisation. In a great temple Samus
   studied poetic murals that told of the Phazon comet that had struck their
   world. The scribblings informed her of a creature trapped deep in the
   comet that they referred to as “The Worm,” and of the powerful shield they
   erected to prevent its escape. Samus read their last prophecy; that a hero
   would traverse fire and ice, jungle and cave, and find twelve sacred keys
   that would deactivate the barrier and allow passage to the Impact Crater.
   This saviour from the stars would bring down the ancient shield, and
   destroy the worm that infected their planet. [MP1]

   She continued her exploration, and battled ferocious flora and fauna. The
   Hunter came to understand that the Space Pirates had established a complex
   military installation that descended far below the surface. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: R-Sraven)

   Samus hunted the Pirates and accessed their computer logs. The Empire had
   found quantities of an intensely potent mutagen called Phazon.
   Laboratories across the outpost experimented with the substance, and in a
   short space of time they had created prototypes for the next generation of
   their races: powerful Phazon-fuelled juggernauts. Should these advances
   continue, Samus knew that the Space Pirates would be able to conquer the
   Galactic Federation. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Greenstranger)

   In the most secure laboratory, Samus made a devastating discovery. The
   Space Pirates had used Phazon to create an army of stable clone Metroids
   and lost containment. The Metroid creatures were roaming the caverns deep
   in the planet, reproducing and mutating as the Phazon influenced their
   physiology. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Ohimseeinstars)

   Samus’ final discovery was the most horrific. The powerful, poisonous
   Phazon was not a rare material on Tallon IV. Despite the Chozo shield
   containing the Impact Crater, the substance had spread and consumed the
   world inside-out. The core of the planet presented the Space Pirates with
   a vast supply of Phazon, enough to fuel their conquest of the stars. [MP1]

   Samus destroyed the mining facilities and laboratories, and reconstructed
   the twelve parts of the ancient Chozo cipher. She destroyed living weapons
   such as the Thardus experiment, and annihilated the prototype Omega
   Pirate. She overcame corrupted Metroids, and banished the tormented Chozo
   ghosts from the living world. She fought the mad Meta Ridley, and on his
   demise deactivated the Chozo containment shield. As prophesised, Samus
   Aran entered the Impact Crater. [MP1]

  The Worm

   Samus Aran had opened Metroid Prime’s cage, and had no understanding of
   what she was about to unleash on the universe. The creature had been
   imprisoned in a different era, and had spent eons being tortuously
   transformed by Phazon into an undying mad genius. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Chrysaetos-Pteron)

   Samus and the ancient Metroid battled, and the bounty hunter shattered the
   creature’s metal armour. By channelling the surrounding Phazon deposits
   into a supercharged energy beam, Samus was able to devastate Metroid
   Prime’s gelatinous body. After a tremendous battle, the old creature began
   to collapse on itself. [MP1]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Sabretoontigers)

   Seemingly dying, Metroid Prime lashed out, grabbing a layer of material
   from Samus Aran’s armour. The creature melted into a pool of Phazon
   particles, and the bounty hunter evacuated the Impact Crater. [MP1]

   Samus Aran had seemingly succeeded in her mission. The surviving Space
   Pirates abandoned their devastated facilities and hastily evacuated the
   planet. With the defeat of Metroid Prime, the Phazon contagion was slowly
   stopping its spread. The tormented Chozo spirits that had been bound to
   the planet were finally able to achieve their rest. Leaving the world to
   recover from its devastation, Samus Aran headed back to the stars. [MP1 /
   MP1 SP]

  The Dark Hunter

   Metroid Prime’s exposure to millennia of Phazon had given the creature
   extremely exotic abilities, the most potent being its durability – to
   recreate itself after nearly any level of destruction. As it had collapsed
   on itself, the essence of Metroid Prime craved the strength and
   adaptability present in Samus Aran. In the Talon IV impact crater, Metroid
   Prime recreated itself as a dark copy of the woman who had defeated it.
   [MP 1 / MP2 / MP3 SP]

   Illustration for article titled The Spectacular Story Of emMetroid/em, One
   Of Gamings Richest Universes

   (Artist: Imachinivid)

   Dark Samus clawed its way out of the Impact Crater. It departed Tallon IV
   to spread its venom across the stars, and to sow the seeds of a great war.
   [MP1 / MP2 / MP3]

   Click here for the second half of this epic story.

     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

   Mama Robotnik is a video game historian living somewhere in the British
   Empire. He specialises in unearthing lost gaming media, but also enjoys a
   good long essay about his favourite games every now and then. He drinks a
   lot of tea, and has a horrendously naughty black and white cat called
   Blossom. If you would like to contact him, he responds to his private
   messages over at NeoGAF.
