You know what would rule as a gimmick for a future Metroid game? Web-spinning. We know metroids spin webs, though we never see them outside SR388. Imagine if Samus was to get the ability to spin webs as an upgrade. It could have some of the functionality of the grapple beam, but it could also probably ensnare enemies like the ice beam, and maybe even be used to modify terrain. Evidence suggests that the maw of a metroid is the bit that functions as a spinneret, so it would make a lot of sense if it was her beam arm that could do it, too.
Metroids are predatory, energy-siphoning lifeforms created by the Chozo. Metroids comprise bioengineered to combat an even more menacing parasitic organism native to SR388, the X.
I like to think the Thoha Chozo had a very Jurassic Park moment when dealing with the Metroids' rebellion on SR388. Think of it this way; You need a bioweapon that can destroy the X, so you take DNA from a wide variety of other organisms on SR388, and splice them into a perfect chimera. You'll need a lot of these, so you program this creature to undergo mitosis when exposed to beta-rays for 24 hours. That way, your machines only need to create one 'Metroid' from scratch, and then it can be used to spawn the rest.
But here's the thing; After the Metroids devour the X, they start to transform and mutate. Turns out, using the DNA of other creatures has caused additional traits, originally deactivated in the creation process, to emerge thanks to the unique conditions of SR388 that nurtured and evolved the sources. This results in Metroids mutating into the Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, and finally Omega stages, with their original form retroactively relabeled as larval.
This isn't hopeless though, far from it; Unlike the X, the Metroids aren't natural creatures and can't reproduce on their own. They need beta-rays, and/or the device that spawned the original Metroid. Since SR388 doesn't have any natural source of beta-rays, all you have to do is turn off the devices that emit them, and the original Metroid creator, and there! The Metroid population will always be the same.
From there you just need to destroy them one by one. You all considered the possibility of having to destroy the Metroids one day, so you programmed these otherwise invulnerable bioweapons with a weakness to a common Chozo weapon, the Ice Beam. Even more luckily, the Mawkin have showed up to help; Normally your relationship with them is suspicious to the point of programming Metroids to be hostile towards Mawkin, for fear they would exploit the 'Ultimate Warrior' as a weapon. But instead, the Mawkin seem to have some genuine heart and are helping you handle the threat, and you need all the help you can get.
You accept them and conveniently don't bring up the anti-Mawkin programming, because as far as they can tell this aggression is indistinguishable from how metamorphosis has made the Metroids hostile towards you, their creators. Progress is slow yet tangible, and you keep track of how many Metroids the Mawkin have killed, and compare that number to the Metroids you created and cloned. You reach that number, and can now rest easy.
...Then you hear a report of a Metroid attack, and something definitely isn't right. How is there another Metroid, you killed all of them, you kept track of their numbers and everything! Is there something wrong with the original tally? It's not as if the Mawkin could've been mistaken on whether they killed a Metroid or not... But just in case, you engineer devices that absorb Metroid DNA whenever they die, just to have physical evidence; Otherwise, Metroids disintegrate completely upon death, so there's no physical 'proof' to reassure yourselves with.
The Mawkin keep finding more and more Metroids and now you're baffled. You check the original Metroid creation machine and it hasn't been used since the first and only time; But you take it apart, in case... Someone's been making Metroids behind your back, somehow? But the numbers keep continuing. You take apart all your beta-ray emitters, but there are still more Metroids. Is Raven Beak creating Metroids behind your back? But why let his soldiers die to them?
You scan SR388 for any beta radiation, and then you detect a big source deep underground. You send Mawkin soldiers to investigate it, and only one makes it back alive. You thought the Omega was the final stage in the Metroid lifecycle; But somehow, another one emerged. Of the many species whose DNA was used to create the Metroids, one of them relied upon a lone queen to produce offspring. Another was capable of emitting its own beta-rays.
You know how some real-life animals, if there isn't a member of the opposite sex, will adapt by having a few transform into that sex so reproduction can occur? Something similar happened with the Metroids. Without a source of beta-rays, one of their own mutated into a Queen capable of emitting beta-rays within her own body, which she uses to produce eggs that hatch into newborn Metroids. And this Metroid Queen has been filling in the ranks that the Mawkin have attempted to deplete. And now the original number of Metroids that the Thoha cloned has been exceeded; The man made Metroids have become more like the wild animals they came from, and are as wild and uncontrollable too.
At this point, the Metroids are too numerous and powerful to defeat. But they haven't ventured to the surface of SR388, being isolated to its caverns; So you opt to seal away the Metroids by filling passageways with poisonous water. In case anyone is foolish enough to try releasing all of them at once, you program these Chozo Seal mechanisms to require a certain amount of Metroid DNA to divert the poison; This way, the Metroid population needs to be lowered to access more. And this acts as a way to gauge if those who come back to destroy the Metroids for good are competent enough to get the job done, and don't just end up releasing all of the creatures onto SR388 in their failed attempt.
That last bit is important, because you and the Mawkin plan to retreat back to ZDR, and gather more weapons, troops, and resources to return to SR388 and properly destroy the Metroids this time; Because now they know about the Queen. Theoretically, the Chozo could just destroy the planet... But they want to minimize destruction, so confronting the Metroids head-on will spare the rest of the ecosystem, as was the intention.
Alas, seeing the continued power and adaptability of the Metroids on display has intrigued Raven Beak; He finds their potential impressive, and has changed his mind. It's been deduced that the source DNA of the Metroids reacted to the environmental stimuli of SR388, the world that evolved and nurtured those organisms. But without the cradle of SR388, the source DNA will not thrive, and will not activate the other suppressed traits; Larval Metroids can't access the rest of their life cycle in any other environment.
ZDR has powerful biomechanical supercomputers called Central Units, which have telepathic abilities that enable them to control machines; Given larval Metroids were designed to respond to Chozo commands, and the use of Chozo DNA in the organic aspect of the Central Units, these AI can be used to control larval Metroids. As long as Metroids of more developed stages aren't present to rally them -the authority of Alphas and beyond will naturally override any Central Unit's- the larval forms will remain obedient.
And while the larval Metroid is just the tip of an iceberg the Thoha had never intended, what they did intend was already incredibly dangerous and powerful in and of itself, being designed to combat the deadly X and the many forms they could assimilate. So Raven Beak wouldn't need his Metroid army to metamorphose beyond their larval stage; The first form was sufficiently powerful, especially with beta-rays to clone their numbers into the thousands, far beyond the original population of SR388.
Raven Beak slaughters all but one of the Thoha, leaving you, Quiet Robe, alive. He brings you back with him and the rest of the Mawkin to ZDR, as well as the Metroid DNA samples his soldiers acquired; A return trip to SR388 is no longer necessary, and Raven Beak is fine with that planet being overrun by Metroids resistant to his control, but otherwise unable to access other worlds. But amidst the chaos, a lone X emerged from hiding while the Metroids were busy fighting the Mawkin, and infected one of the latter. This parasite stowed away, returning to ZDR with the rest of the Chozo.
And without any Metroids on ZDR, it felt safe to reveal itself in Elun and begin infecting the rest of the tribe, resulting in a years-long war and quarantine effort between the Mawkin and X. The Mawkin attempted to clone Metroids using the DNA samples they had, but the X were intelligent and could absorb their victims' memories; They predicted this move, and were able to move quickly enough to destroy all Metroid DNA on ZDR before any of their predators could be cloned. Without any methods to destroy the X short of blowing up the planet itself, all but one of the Mawkin would end up infected -karma- before Raven Beak finally isolated the parasites within Elun, somehow.
There's no DNA samples to create Metroids from, not anymore. And you can't build another Metroid from scratch, not without the DNA of the original SR388 creatures that went into it... But you can definitely build beta-ray emitters. And there are still plenty of Metroid larvae back on SR388 to clone directly, instead of the more roundabout process; So Raven Beak flies the Itorash back to SR388... And finds a bunch of rubble where the planet used to be.
Eventually he puts together that the human warrior he helped Old Bird and Gray Voice hybridize blew up the whole damn planet, finishing what her fellow Thoha started. His plans to conquer the galaxy with Metroids is screwed, they're all extinct with any DNA samples eradicated. That is, until Raven Beak finds out that his "daughter" Samus has Metroid DNA, thanks to the Galactic Federation, and the very X that spawned the Metroids' existence (and yet also delayed Raven Beak's plans by infecting his entire tribe).
And now, after all that effort in creating and then trying to destroy the Metroids, you have to bring them back using the person who helped you destroy them. Or, maybe not... Over your dead body! Which turns out to be literal when an X absorbs your corpse and then helps Samus awaken her Metroid DNA by siccing the remaining EMMIs back on her. How did you even get to this point again???
So in stage 2 of Iceberg in Kirby's Dream Land 3 you will encounter some Metroids from the Metroid series. Just like in those games, they can only be defeated by freezing them.
At the end of the stage you will encounter Samus Aran, who will have their helmet on or off depending on if you have beaten the Metroids.
She ends up playing an active part in the plot outside of being a mere cameo, and gives Kirby the Heart Star. An object they need to complete their quest.
Now if one takes into account the fact they Kirby, is 20 cm tall, they may question how the heck is Samus and the Metroids so small?
Well unless the Samus we see in the Metroid games can shrink herself, and the Metroids can shrink themselves as well this is likely not the Samus Aran.
This is likely a variant Samus Aran, more than likely the creation of Master and Crazy Hand. As we know the Smash Bros. versions of characters like Samus are all toys brought to life.
We also know the hands do eventually interact with Kirby directly.
So what likely happened to the hands' recreation of Samus and some Metroid which are toy sized, ended up up Dream Land somehow. Thus making this interaction possible.
Written by Eris the Lorekeeper
You know, at first I thought the "Dread" in Metroid Dread was because of things like the EMMI's, and Raven Beak, and Samus having to "accept her helplessness" and run, and not knowing whether she would be able to take on this new opponent of hers.
But no. That wasn't it. She didn't dread facing new enemies. She's a practiced bounty hunter, and she's been on numerous missions involving both the Metroids and the X. She knows she will be able to find a way to fight them. And she must have already accepted the fact that she could die on any mission at any time. That's just the reality of the kind of work she does.
What she would dread is the awakening of her Metroid DNA. Of becoming something she's been taught to hate and hunt. Of becoming a threat to the universe.
But in the end, that's what saved her life. Becoming everything that she is, whether she wants it or not.
Fight is to the death, so Raven Beak will not be sparing Samus's life.
Samus's Metroid DNA is under control, so it will not be flaring up in the middle of the fight and potentially inconveniencing her like it did with the Power Bomb EMMI or her physical amnesia.
Samus has all the items she could collect from Metroid Fusion.
Raven Beak has everything he has in his boss fights at the start and end of the game.
Personally, I think Samus could actually win this.
Sure, she loses in canon, but in the cutscene she displays far fewer of her items than you would expect her to possess. Keep in mind, she went to ZDR to investigate the existence of the X parasites, so you'd expect her to bring all of her items.
But in the cutscene she only seems to have her: Varia or Omega Suit, Plasma Beam, Super or Ice Missiles, and Hi-Jump. You could argue that she chose not to use the Screw Attack, but there's literally no downside to using it.
The battle also displays some moments of plot-induced stupidity. Once Raven Beak grabs Samus by the throat, she apparently forgets that she's wearing the most advanced powered exoskeleton in the galaxy and starts whacking him in the arm with her Arm Cannon instead of, you know, SHOOTING HIM IN THE FACE WITH IT.
