Editing Samus Aran

{{Character
|image=[[Image:Samus.jpg|150px]]
|caption=Samus in ''[[Metroid Prime 3: Corruption]]''.
|bgcolor=#660000
|fgcolor=#FFFFFF
|name=Samus Aran
|hair=Blonde
|eyes=Blue
|species=Human
|voiced by=[[Jennifer Hale]] (2002-2007)<br>[[Alesia Glidewell]] (2008)<br />[[Jessica Martin]] (2010)<br />[[Nikki García]] (2021)
|debut=''[[Metroid (game)|Metroid]]''
|}}

'''Samus Aran''' is the a female bounty hunter who stars as the main character of the the [[Portal: Metroid|''Metroid'' series]]. She is notable as being one of the early female characters to be a star of a game.

=Background=

==Early Life==
[[Image:Samuschozo.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Samus meeting the Chozo]]
Samus originally lived at a colony known as of K-2L with her paretns. She was only a toddler when it was attacked by [[Ridley]] and the [[Space Pirates]]. The entire colony was killed by them, including her parents, which left Samus alone as the sole survivor and an orpohan. A group of [[Chozo]] found her and took her as their own. They raised her at their own home on the planet [[Zebes]]. During this time she was infused with Chozo blood. As established in ''[[Metroid Dread]]'', her Chozo DNA came from two sources: one from a [[Thoha Tribe|Thoha]] Chozo (most likely Old Bird) and the other from a [[Mawkin Tribe|Mawkin]] Chozo called [[Raven Beak]]. As Samus grew older, the Chozo fashioned a Chozo [[Power Suit]] for her to wear to defend her. Not only that, but the suit possessed the ability to assimilate other technologies (Chozo or otherwise) into itself and grant Samus further abilities.

For a time, she served in the [[Galactic Federation]], likely as a Federation Trooper (although she was originally described as being in the Galactic Police). During this time, her Commanding Officer was [[Adam Malkovich]], whom she admired and saw as a surrogate father figure. He would often refer to her as Lady and commonly ended his briefings by syaing "Any objections, lady?", which Samus thought of as respectful coming from him. When it came time for the officers to give a thumbs-up for their orders, Samus would always sarcastically give a thumbs-down in return. Another of her colleagues was [[Anthony Higgs]], who always called her Princess.

Tension eventually grew between Samus and Adam. There was one particular incident in which, in order to save 300 lives, Adam was forced to eject a drive unit containing his own younger brother Ian, sending him to his death. Samus objected to the order until it was carried out. She was desperate to find another way so that Ian did not have to die, but Adam remained adamant in his stance. This was implied to have been part of the reason why she eventually left the Federation and became a Bounty Hunter. Although her career as a bounty hunter has only lightly touched upon, it is known that she commonly worked for the Federation, and she soon became an enemy of the Space Pirates by taking on assignments which pitted her against them.

==Bounty Hunter Years==

Her [[Metroid (game)|first mission]] (or '[[Metroid Zero Mission|zero mission]]' as she refers to it) was to track down and destroy the [[Metroids]] that the Space Pirates had stolen from Federation hands, before the Space Pirates could finish weaponizing them. During her excursion into the heart of Zebes, she battled many monstrous enemies, the biggest of whom were [[Kraid]] and [[Ridley]]. Her final battle was against the rogue computer [[Mother Brain]] in their lair at Tourian. She then escaped from the area as it was destroyed along with the Metroids. In ''Zero Mission'', her ship was downed while she tried to leave the planet, and her Power Suit was destroyed. Reduced to her Zero Suit, Samus proceeded to prove her worth and merit by infiltrating a Pirate frigate with little more than a gun that only stunned the pirates. She was able to get a new suit (or have her original repaired) at a Chozo Shrine. She was then able to defeat the Mecha Ridley creature inside and escaped from Zebes.
[[Image:SSBBSamus.jpg|thumb|200px|Samus in her flight suit]]
After the defeat at Zebes, the pirates branched out their operations in order to rebuild. While some stayed on Zebes to rebuild, another group went to [[Tallon IV]]. Samus was able to track the pirate frigate in orbit around the planet in ''[[Metroid Prime]]''. Upon infiltrating the ship, she learned that the pirates had discovered something important on the planet, a powerful and dangerous substance known as [[Phazon]]. She then proceeded to land on the planet and wiped out the Pirate bases. In the process, she learned of the presence of Chozo ruins on the planet. She was able to defeat the strange [[Metroid Prime (creature)|Metroid Prime]] creature that was born of Phazon and put to rest the ghosts of Chozo warriors.

With the Space Pirates defeated yet again, the Galactic Federation received a telepathic message from the [[Alimbic Cluster]] that spoke of a great power. Knowing that others would go seeking it, the Federation sent Samus Aran to go find this power and make sure it did not fall into enemy hands in ''[[Metroid Prime: Hunters]]''. As it turned out, she faces fierce competition from [[Sylux]], [[Weavel]], [[Trace]], [[Noxus]], [[Spire]], and [[Kanden]]. All had their own reasons for gaining the power, some  for noble purposes - others for more sinister reasons. That Samus Aran and the others instead found was [[Gorea]] who had deceived them into freeing him from his prison. Although he defeated the other hunters readily enough, he was ultimately defeated by Samus Aran. The Oubliette containing him then destructed, just as Samus Aran and the other hunters made their escape.

Her next mission was to aid Federation Troopers who had gone MIA near Planet [[Aether]] during a conflict with Space Pirates in ''[[Metroid Prime 2: Echoes]]''. On the planet, she discovered the Federation Troopers had been wiped out by the [[Ing]], creatures created by an unfortunate incident involving the [[Luminoth]] who lived on the planet. With the guidance of [[U-Mos]], the only remaining Luminoth, she was able to restore Aether to light and defeat the Ing. Over the course of the journey, shalso clashed with [[Dark Samus]], an opponent that was born from Metroid Prime's remains.

==Phazon Crisis==

The battle with Dark Samus was not yet over though. Following the events on Aether, the Space Pirates had come across Dark Samus while bringing what Phazon they could from the planet. Their minds were enslaved, and they formed an alliance. After the [[Aurora Unit|Aurora Units]] were corrupted by Phazon, Samus Aran was hired by [[Admiral Dane]] to investigate in ''[[Metroid Prime 3: Corruption]]''. She was to work alongside fellow hunters, [[Rundas]], [[Ghor]], and [[Gandrayda]]. During their briefing, the ship was attacked and Samus Aran was forced to make way to the planet [[Norion]].

[[Image:Samus-darksamus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Samus Aran battles Dark Samus]]On the planet she worked with the hunters to enable the power generators to power the cannon that could destroy the [[Leviathan]], an incoming meteor filled with Phazon. During this process she came across Ridley and the two fell down a massive shaft. As they fell hundreds of feet, Samus Aran battled her for. Before they reached the bottom, Rundas pulled Samus Aran from harms way. The four bounty hunters then went to the operation tower to activate the cannon. Their efforts were hampered by Dark Samus who fired a powerful beam of Phazon energy that corrupted them. Samus Aran was just barely able to activate the cannon before passing out.

She awoke two weeks later. She learned that she had been corrupted with Phazon and that the Federation had installed a special suit upgrade to allow her to enter into Hyper Mode. The other three bounty hunters had went to investigate the other planets hit by the Leviathans, but had since lost contact. Samus Aran was sent first to [[Bryyo]] where she found a corrupted Rundas and was forced to defeat him. On [[Elysia]], she repaired Aurora Unit 217 and they worked to construct a bomb to destroy the Leviathan's shielding. Her efforts were hampered by a corrupted Ghor, who managed to deal critical damage to her gunship before he was defeated.

Following this she traveled to the [[Pirate Homeworld]]. Here she encountered a lone Federation trooper who knew the location of a suit upgrade that could withstand the acidic rain of the planet. However upon meeting him, she discovered it to be a corrupted Gandrayda. After defeating Gandrayda, Samus was able to disable the planet's defenses and allow the Federation to land a strike team that worked with Samus to wipe out the pirates and open up access to the Leviathan core. There Samus fought with Ridley once again before destroying the Leviathan.

The last branch of her mission took her to [[Phaaze]], the origin of all Phazon. Upon stepping on the planet, her PED Suit took her into permanent Hyper Mode that threatened to easily corrupt her. She was able to offset this corruption and defeat Dark Samus and a corrupted Aurora Unit 313. She then escaped the planet before it exploded and made a brief rendezvous with the Galactic Fleet to inform Admiral Dane of her success. Following this she spent some time on a planet reminiscing about her fallen comrades, the other three bounty hunters. Afterwards, she continued on into space, unknowingly pursued by the [[Sylux|Delano 7]].

She reappeared in ''[[Metroid Prime: Federation Force]]'' in a supporting role. She was hired to investigate the presence of the Space Pirates in the [[Bermuda System]]. She ended up being captured by the Space Pirates, who somehow managed to control her suit and used their techology to make her gigantic while in her Morph Ball mode. In this form, she acted as a boss who the Federation Force had to defeat. Samus ultimately recovered and saved the Federation Force at the end of the game.

==Metroid Extinction==

After repeated encounters with the Metroids, it became apparent to the Federation that they were far too much of a threat to keep alive. In ''[[Metroid II: The Return of Samus]]''/''[[Metroid: Samus Returns]]'', Samus was assigned to destroy every Metroid on their homeworld of [[SR388]]. She traveled deep into the planet and exterminated each Metroid as she found them. This ended with her battle against the [[Metroid Queen]], which was the source of the Metroids and the last surviving Metroid. After defeating the Metroid Queen, she witnessed the birth of one remaining [[Metroid Hatchling|Metroid]]. Instead of attacking her, the hatchling formed a bond with Samus and followed her to her ship. In ''Samus Returns'', she was attacked by Proteus Ridley near her ship and managed to defeat him with help from the hatchling, which absorbed some of Ridley's power for her. Afterwards, Samus handed the hatchling over to the Ceres Space Colony for research.

In ''[[Super Metroid]]'', she received a distress signal that the space station had been attacked. Ridley had raided it and successfully captured the hatchling just as Samus arrived. She attempted to fight him, but he escaped. Samus followed him back to Planet Zebes and discovered that the Space Pirates had rebuilt their underground operations. She again defeated Kraid and Ridley, along other beasts that guarded the caverns such as [[Draygon]] and [[Phantoon]], before she entered Tourian to find Mother Brain and the hatchling. Samus briefly battled the hatchling, which was initially hostile towards her, but it eventually came to its senses and retreated. When it came time to battle Mother Brain, the enemy unveiled a powerful new form that nearly destroyed Samus. She was saved at the last moment by the hatchling, which drained some of Mother Brain's energy and gave it to Samus. It was destroyed by Mother Brain almost immediately afterwards. Samus proceeded to destroy Mother Brain with that power boost. The entire planet then began to fall apart, and Samus escaped its destruction while saving several native creatures in the process.

==Other M==

[[Image:SamusHiggs.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Samus and Anthony Higgs fighting back-to-back.]]
Samus spent some time recuperating at a Federation facility after the battle with Mother Brain. They even went as far as to clean Samus's suit, although she had no idea at the time that this was actually so that they could obtain DNA samples found on her armor. Shortly after returning to space, Samus intercepted a Baby's Cry distress signal coming from the mysterious [[Bottle Ship]] in ''[[Metroid: Other M]]''. She arrived there to find that a Federation task force was already there. Anthony was there and greeted her warmly, but so was Adam, who acted cold and bitter towards Samus, initially rejecting her help. Being referred to as an outsider "pierced [Samus]'s heart". Samus insisted on following, and eventually all communications were disrupted except for communications with Samus's suit.

Given the circumstances, Adam reluctantly allowed Samus to help with the mission as long as it followed Federation protocol. She had to follow all of his orders exactly and could only use her various weapons and armors when he gave permission. Samus adhered to his rules as she explored the Bottle Ship, taking down several threats while looking for survivors. She eventually met a mysterious scientist who called herself [[MB|Madeline Bergman]], who was apparently the one who sent out the distress signal. Samus slowly learned the truth about the secret Federation experiments that were performed within the Bottle Ship, as the Federation was breeding bioweapons based on the Space Pirates and Metroids, with an android that had Mother Brain's brainwaves, known as MB, to control them. 

Because the experiment had gone out of hand, Samus also learned that the Federation had sent a Deleter whose purpose was to act as a mole among Samus's group to kill all survivors aboard the Bottle Ship as well as to destroy all traces of the experiment. Samus briefly fought the Deleter in a research lab when he manned construction equipment, but he then escaped. Samus never figured out his identity (although it can be inferred from most of the evidence that it was [[James Pierce]]), but this planted the seeds of suspicion towards her colleagues, especially after Bergman later claimed that Adam was the one whom had approved of the Metroid Militarization Plan. Samus faced another surprise when she found that a mysterious creature that she had been stalking was actually a clone of [[Ridley]] that had accidentally been created from the material on her armor.

Upon encountering Ridley, Samus initially froze up and had a panic attack, which Ridley took advantage of to brutally attack Samus by slamming her against the wall. HHiggs was present and attacked Ridley to call his attention. Ridley then tossed Higgs towards a lava pit, which enraged Samus and caused her to snap out of her condition. She proceeded to defeat Ridley, who then fled. At this point, Samus lost contact with Adam and began trying to seek him out. It was at this time that Bergman told her about Sector Zero, where the Metroids were contained. Samus headed there, starting to reactivate her weapons herself as she proceeded, and just as she encountered her first Metroid there, she was attacked from behind by Adam, who shot her in a specific way that temporarily drained her power. Adam informed her that he was not directly involved in the project and in fact had only written a report detailing the flaws of the project. He also warned her that Bergman was not to be trusted.

[[image:Samus2.jpg|100px|right|thumb|Samus during her Federation days]]
Adam informed Samus that the Bottle Ship had been sent on a collision course to Federation headquarters, and that only Samus could defeat Ridley and reroute the ship. Adam decided to stay behind and sacrifice himself to destroy the new Metroids, whom had been genetically manipulated to be resistant to the cold. Samus objected to these orders but was still unable to move until after Adam had sealed himself off from her and given his last, "Any objections, lady?". All Samus could do to respond was give him a thumbs-down as he ejected Sector Zero from the Bottle Ship with himself aboard, making it self-destruct. Samus then activated her Gravity Suit and made her way towards Sector 1 in search of Ridley.

She returned to the research center, only to find that Ridley was nothing more than a dried husk; something else had gotten to him. Samus found a mysterious red-haired scientist, who was frightened and fled from Samus. Instead, Samus wound up encountering what had killed Ridley: a [[Queen Metroid]] that had grown from the first of the Metroid clones. Samus was able to destroy it in a similar manner as the Queen Metroid she had faced long ago, but she also found during the battle that the Bottle Ship's collision course with the Federation headquarters was halted. Samus continued to follow the scientist and managed to earn her trust, but was shocked to learn that this red-haired woman was the real Madeline Bergman. The blonde scientist who Samus had met earlier was actually the android MB; MB (also called Melissa Bergman) had started to develop a soul, and when the Federation officers tried to take her away to reprogram her, she felt betrayed and rebelled against the Bottle Ship, which set the game's disasters into motion.

MB then showed up to confront Samus and Bergman, bringing several monsters to life in order to attack Samus, Bergman and the recently arrived Federation troops. This ended after Samus scanned MB and the Federation officers wound up shooting her up, destroying MB. Samus was initially distraught and felt somewhat sympathetic for MB. The Federation colonel then arrived and congratulated her for her work but refused to let her talk to the witness because she was an outsider, disapproving of her past actions such as carrying "illegal cargo like infant Metroids". But then Anthony arrived, revealing that he had survived and stopped the Bottle Ship's crash course, claiming he had orders from higher up to escort Bergman. Samus took the trip with them, while reminiscing about Adam and MB. At the Federation headquarters, she continued to question Adam's orders, but she heard his voice in her head and knew that he had made the right choice just like many years ago. Samus then gave a thumbs-up to the sky, at which point Anthony showed up and messed with her by giving her a thumbs-down.

In the postgame, Samus decided to return to the Bottle Ship on her own business in order to retrieve Adam's helmet as a keepsake of him, while the ship was set for destruction. She only found it after destroying [[Phantoon]] and then escaped from the Bottle Ship as it was destroyed.

==The X Parasite==
[[Image:Fusion-Samus.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Samus wearing the [[Power Suit#Fusion Suit|Fusion Suit]]]]
Her next mission was to escort a group of researchers on SR388. During that time, she winfected with the [[X Parasite]]. She was quickly rushed off to be operated on by the researchers. The X had quickly infected her Power Suit, which had to be surgically removed. In order to save her life, she was injected with Metroid DNA in order to combat the virus. Though effective, it left her in a strange version of her original suit and granted her the ability to absorb the X Parasite like Metroids. In the meantime, her damaged suit had been sent to B.S.L ([[BioLogic Space Labs]]) for research. When she went to the lab, it was discovered the X Virus had spread from the researchers and infected the entire space station.

With the aid of the AI (which she named Adam) installed on her replacement ship, she traveled through the space lab trying to defeat the virus in ''[[Metroid Fusion]]''. To complicate things, the X Virus had managed to infiltrate her suit and used her DNA to create '[[SA-X]]', a clone of Samus with all of her original powers. After powering herself up substantially, she was able to defeat SA-X and many other colossal creatures the X parasite had infected, including the remains of Ridley. She soon discovered Metroids had been cloned on the ship from the same genetic sample that saved her. With the advice of Adam, she decided to destroy the space station and wipe ouit the X Virus for good. Before she could return to her ship, she had to defeat an Omega Metroid. After the destruction of SR388 and B.S.L., she returned back to the Federation, and believed that she would face consequences for disobeying the orders to leave the X Virus alive for research. The exact fallout of that ordeal was unknown, but Samus was shown to be working with the federation again in the future.

Some time afterwards, the events of ''[[Metroid Dread]]'' occurred. While the X Parasite was believed to have been destroyed, video footage of one surfaced that was apparently taken on the remote planet of [[ZDR]]. The Federation initially attempted to send their state-of-the-art [[EMMI]] robots to investigate, but they all went offline. Samus was then sent instead to investigate what had happened. Once she reached the depths of the planet, she was attacked by the Chozo named [[Raven Beak]]. In this encounter, Samus's Metroid powers began to activate, due to the Metroid DNA she now possessed, but she was unaware of this at the time and passed out soon afterwards. When Samus woke up, most of her weapons and abilities were disabled, forcing her to start from scratch again. She navigated the regions of ZDR with the ultimate goal of finding her way to the ship. She was guided by Adam, although it was actually Raven Beak imitating the computer program in order to guide Samus's journey. Samus eventually realized the truth, but it was not clear when she began to have suspicions. She also met a peaceful Thoha Chozo named [[Quiet Robe]], who explained the history of the Chozos on this planet and the presence of the X Parasite, and he attempted to help her before he was killed by an X-possessed Mawkin Chozo. As Samus made her way through ZDR, she had various encounters with the EMMI robots, which had been reprogammed to hunt her down. Despite the terror of the advanced robots, Samus was able to defeat six of them by borrowing Omega Energy and using that power to destroy them. When she found the seventh one at Hanuba, she was able to absorb it with ease, due to her Metroid powers continuing to develop.

She ultimately made her way to the floating fortress of Itorash and confronted Raven Beak there. She learned the truth about her developing Metroid powers. When she received Metroid DNA in ''Fusion'', it should have made her into a Metroid and granted her special powers. They key was the Chozo DNA that she had received. One strand was from the Thoha Tribe, the only tribe with the power to possess the Metroid, so it was able to suprress the power from the Metroid DNA. Another strand was from the Mawkin Tribe, specifically Raven Beak himself, which influenced Samus's development as a warrior. Raven Beak had engineered this whole ordeal in order to force Samus's Metroid powers to awaken, and he wanted to work with her to conquer the galaxy. Samus refused and chose to battle Raven Beak instead. At the end of an arduous battle, Samus had seemingly defeated Raven Beak. Raven Beak suddenly gained the upper hand and tried to kill Samus, as his new plan was to create a clone army of her to act as his soldiers. But then Samus's powers fully awakened, causing her to transform into a being resembling an organic version of her Power Suit. With her new power, she was able to easily defeat Raven Beak. Raven Beak was then possessed by the X Parasites and transformed into a gargantuan Raven Beak X, but Samus was able to wipe him out with a Hyper Beam. She proceeded to escape to her Gunship while ZDR was in the process of exploding. Once she reached her ship, she found that shen could not control it in her new form, as she would only absorb the ship's energy. Quiet Robe appeared to her, having managed to somehow retain his free will after being possessed by an X. Quiet Robe sent his X Parasite into Samus and dissipated. With the X now within her, the Metroid gene's abilities were suppressed once again. This restored Samus to her original self and allowed her to escape from ZDR just before it exploded.

=Other Appearances=

==Video Games==

*In the NES version of ''[[Tetris]]'', Samus makes a cameo appearance along with various other Nintendo characters on the congratulatory screen that appears upon completion of the Type B mode. She is seen playing a cello.
*Samus Aran makes a small cameo appearance in ''[[Famicom Wars]]'' as an enemy CO.
*In ''[[Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]'', Samus makes a cameo appearance sleeping in a bed in a guest room at the Mushroom Kingdom's palace, seen after obtaining the fifth [[Star Piece]]. She wears her full armor in the bed, and when spoken to, she simply mentions that she's resting up for Mother Brain. A toy of Samus is also seen at [[Booster]]'s Tower.
*In ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'', Kirby can turn into a statue of Samus when using the Stone ability. Samus herself also appeared at the end of a level in ''[[Kirby's Dream Land 3]]'' which contained several Metroids. If Kirby used the Ice ability to destroy all of the Metroids, then Samus would appear without her helmet.
*In ''[[Animal Crossing]]'', Samus's Power Suit could be obtained as clothes for the player character by scanning an [[e-Reader]] card known as Samus's Suit. Samus's helmet and Varia Suit later appeared in ''[[Animal Crossing: City Folk]]''.
*Samus has made appearances in several microgames throughout the ''[[Portal: Wario|WarioWare]]'' series, which mostly involve playing out scenarios from existing games.
*Samus also makes a cameo appearance in a ''Metroid: Other M''-themed stage of ''Dead or Alive Dimensions'', in which she drops down in Morph Ball mode and releases a Power Bomb at the end of battles.
*In ''[[Nintendo Land]]'', Samus does not directly appear, but [[Mii]]s wear her armor and use her gunship while playing the "Metroid Blast" game.
*In ''[[Mario Kart 8]]'' and ''[[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe]]'', Samus's armor is available as clothing for Mii characters, and it can be unlocked by scanning any [[amiibo]] of Samus.
*[[Yoshi]] patterns based on Samus and Zero Suit Samus could be unlocked in ''[[Yoshi's Woolly World]]'' by scanning respective amiibos.
*In ''[[Super Mario Maker]]'', Samus and Zero Suit Samus's appearances can be unlocked as costumes that [[Mario]] can turn into when using a [[Mystery Mushroom]]. It can be unlocked by scanning the respective amiibo or at random from completing a 100 Mario Challenge (on Normal or harder for Samus in her armor, and Expert or harder for Zero Suit Samus).
*In ''[[Paper Mario: The Origami King]]'', Mario can obtain a giant paper mache replica of Samus's helmet, referred to as the Space Warrior Mask, from the staff room at Shogun Studios. When trying it on, Mario walks back and forth while pretending to shoot blasts from his hand, as classic ''Metroid'' music plays.

===Super Smash Bros.===

Samus Aran appears as a playable fighter in every game of the ''[[Portal: Super Smash Bros.|Super Smash Bros.]]'' series, making appearances in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee|Melee]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl|Brawl]]'', ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. She battles with a mix of energy shots and utilizing various weapons from the original series. ''Brawl'' introduced another form for Samus known as Zero Suit Samus, who was based on Samus's out-of-armor appearance. She wears a blue jumpsuit known as the Zero Suit, and she fights using a mix of physical attacks and equipment such as a blaster and an electrical whip. Initially, the player could choose which form of Samus to start the match as, and Samus could switch between her armored self and Zero Suit Samus through her Final Smash. 

After ''Brawl'', the following games no longer used transformations, and Zero Suit Samus was made into a separate character slot. Zero Suit Samus also received a number of tweaks to her gameplay, such as the addition of jet boots and a new Final Smash which involved temporarily donning her armor and blasting towards opponents from atop her Gunship. In ''Ultimate'', Zero Suit Samus was an unlockable character who had to be unlocked through the game's variable-based system for unlocking characters or by awakening her in Adventure Mode. ''Ultimate'' also made Dark Samus available as an Echo Fighter of Samus.

In the latter two games, Samus's armor was also available as a costume for [[Mii|Mii Gunners]].

====Trophies/Stickers/Spirits====

In ''Melee'', she has three unlockable trophies, and another Samus trophy (one of her unmasked) was given only through special promotional events in Japan. In ''Brawl'', Samus and Zero Suit Samus each have two trophies (one normal trophy and one of her Final Smash, as well as four other trophies depicting her in her Fusion Suit, Power Suit, Varia Suit, Gravity Suit and Dark Suit. There are also stickers of her from ''Metroid'', ''Metroid Fusion'', ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'', in her Gravity Suit from ''Super Metroid'' and in her Dark Suit from ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'', as well as two stickers of her in her Zero Suit from ''Metroid Zero Mission''. 

In the 3DS/Wii U games, each version of Samus has two standard unlockable trophies. The 3DS version also has trophies for Samus in her Varia Suit and Gravity Suit, and the Wii U version has trophies for each of her forms' Final Smashes. In ''Ultimate'', Samus and Zero Suit Samus each have a Fighter [[Spirit]] that can be unlocked through completion of Classic Mode with the respective character or through purchases from the Vault's shop, and there are also Spirits for her young self from ''Other M'' and of her in her Gravity Suit, Fusion Suit, Phazon Suit and Dark Suit (which enhances into a Spirit of her Light Suit).

====Brawl: The Subspace Emissary====

Within "The Subspace Emissary", the Adventure Mode of ''Brawl'', Samus was first seen infiltrating the Subspace Army's Research Facility on the Island of the Ancients in just her Zero Suit, as her Power Suit had been taken by the Subspace Army and was being held within the facility. After exploring the facility, Samus found and rescued [[Pikachu]], and together they explored the area further until finding the power suit. Samus retrieved it after defeating two shadow clones of her suit.

Back in her Power Suit again, Samus proceeded to fight through Subspace enemies but was then attacked by Ridley. Pikachu was able to save her from Ridley's grasp, at which point they fought him. Afterwards, Samus and Pikachu proceeded to attack the Subspace Bomb Factory, where they met with [[Donkey Kong]], [[Captain Falcon]], [[Diddy Kong]], [[Olimar]] and [[R.O.B.]]. They joined up with the group and proceeded to escape from the exploding factory, battling Meta Ridley along the way. After thi, Samus joined with the main party for the final battles in Subspace.

====Ultimate: Adventure and Classic Modes====

In the Adventure Mode of ''Ultimate'', "World of Light", Samus was first seen during the opening cutscene. She was among the forces assembled to confront [[Galeem]] and his [[Master Hand]] army. Once Galeem unleashed his beams of light, Samus was seen trying to fight back with blasts from her arm cannon, only to be overtaken by a beam of light. Samus could later be found on the eastern side of the bridge going over the Light Realm's chasm of light, while Zero Suit Samus could be found near the volcano in the northeastern part of the Light Realm. Each had to be defeated in battle to awaken them as their true selves and to recruit them into the playable roster.

Within the game's Classic Mode, Samus's route was "Another Planet, Another Bounty". This involved her battling a mix of antagonists, robots rogues with a loose sci-fi theme, including Ridley and a [[King K. Rool|K. Rool]] large enough to imitate Kraid. Zero Suit Samus's route was "Grapplers! Whips! Claws!". As implied by the title, the themes of her fights were opponents who employed tether recoveries, much like Zero Suit Samus herself. The final boss of the routes for both versions of Samus was [[Master Hand]] (joined by [[Crazy Hand]] on higher difficulties).

==Other Media==

*Samus Aran was absent from the ''Captain N'' cartoon series (despite one of her enemies, Mother Brain, being prominently featured as an antagonist) but she appeared regularly in the comics based on the show and acted as a rival with Princess Lana for the affections of Kevin/Captain N. Due to her nature as a bounty hunter, she was not easily trusted by the others. This led to a falling-out in the fifth issue (which was the last to be published) after evidence arose that Samus was the one who captured Lana's father for the League of Darkness, but unbeknownst to the N-Team, she was innocent.
*Multiple comics have been created featuring Samus Aran. One was released through [[Nintendo Power]] to coincide with the release of ''Super Metroid''. The comic went into her background while following the events of the game.
*A doll of Samus was featured in one ''Mario vs. Wario'' comic, where [[Mario]] and [[Wario]] fought over the doll after realizing the [[Princess Peach]] would want it as a birthday present. In the end, it was [[Luigi]] who succeeded in obtaining the doll for her.
*To coincide with the release of ''Metroid Fusion'', a two-volume manga was published in Japan (with the first two chapters also being adapted into E-Manga format). The story follows Samus Aran as an infant, to being found by the Chozo, to her life being raised on Zebes. It also shows her first encounters with Ridley and Mother Brain during her time in the Galactic Federation, then shows her early life as a bounty hunter and a compressed adaptation of ''Zero Mission'' ending with Samus confronting Mother Brain.  Although the e-Manga was created in Flash and featured sound, an english translation was made in image form. 
**The manga appears to be close to canon, as it is believed to have been written by [[Yoshi Sakamoto]], and the Japanese version of ''Fusion'' has several ending scenes that show Samus growing up which resemble scenes from the manga. The series also shows [[Adam Malkovich]] in person for the first time, and his physical appearance in ''Other M'' matches his manga appearance.

==Canceled Appearances=

*According to unused text from the game, Samus was originally going to make a cameo appearance at the Starbeans Cafe in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' that was removed in the final version for unknown reasons. She would appear to taste the Hoolumbian drink when it was first brewed and give the Energy Tank, which was changed to the Power Grip in the final version. She has no dialogue in this appearance.

=Trivia=

*Character designer [[Hiroji Kiyote]] named Samus Aran after the real name of famous soccer player Pelé, which is Edison Arantes do Nascimento. He mistakenly believed that the Pelé's first name was Samus instead of Edison, and "Aran" was derived from "Arantes".
* During ''[[Metroid Prime 2]]'', it is seen that most Federation Troopers think of Samus as more legend than reality. However, in later (chronological) games, she seems to be in close contact with the Federation.
* In the original ''Metroid'' manual, Samus is referred to as a 'he'. Combined with the fact that video games predominantly starred male heroes, Samus revealing herself as a female was intended to surprise players.
*Throughout the series, the only game in which Samus is not playable is ''[[Metroid Prime: Federation Force]]''. She does, however, make a non-playable appearance within the story.

{{Metroid Characters}}{{Super Smash Bros. Characters}}